When I was a little girl, one of the few channels I was allowed to watch was PBS. (Seriously – I couldn’t even watch “The Facts of Life” until I was, like, 18.) From “Sesame Street” to “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” to “The Electric Company,” my parents thought I was safe. Little did they know (or DID THEY) that I was being brainwashed by… leftist pinko commies. Like Mr. Rogers and his comfortable sweaters.
“The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior.”
You start to get the feeling that Tom DeLay might start printing bumper stickers that say this.
The current “men responsible” are the writers and producers behind the insidious liberal echo chamber that is NBC’s Law & Order: Criminal Intent. On Wednesday night’s episode, one of the detectives, wondering how to find the right-wing extremist who murdered a judge says, “Maybe we should put out an APB (all-points-bulletin) for somebody in a Tom DeLay T-shirt.”
Delay, not typically one for the spotlight, cranked out a letter to NBC president Jeff Zucker, and threatened to whoop him good. “This manipulation of my name and trivialization of the sensitive issue of judicial security represents a reckless disregard for the suffering initiated by recent tragedies and a great disservice to public discourse.”
Far be it from Tom to stand idly by while the public discourse is disserviced.
Law & Order producer/ creator Dick Wolf congratulated Congressman DeLay for “switching the spotlight from his own problems to an episode of a TV show.”
I think congratulations are also in order on DeLay’s successful efforts to inform Americans, far beyond the 14 million who had their TVs on that particular station on Wednesday night, that he has made comments in the past that might indicate that he might sympathize with someone who may want to hurt judges.
Congrats, Tom. You shine like paint, daddy. It’s your summer!
Democrat Chris Bell, who may or may not be running for Governor, running neck-and-neck with KBH for “Most Coy” award, has focused his latest advertising blitz on… Texas blogs.
Meet Chris.
Husband.
Father.
Public Servant.
Texan.
Blog Farmer.
From the release: In the first major blogad buy by a statewide candidate in Texas, the Chris Bell for Governor Exploratory Committee placed its “Don’t Mess With Ethics” advertisement on four Texas weblogs this week. Reflecting the positive response Chris has received from the blogosphere, eight Texas blogs are posting the ad for free.
So I’m, what, chopped liver? See?! This blog is nonpartisan (rabidly, last I heard). Nobody pays me. (Seriously, nobody pays me. How long can a girl live on water and sarcasm alone? Note to self: Call Ann Coulter.)
Lesson #1: Give ‘em the old smile and nod.
Lesson #2: Lean forward slightly to appear to be listening intently to your fellow panel members.
Lesson #3: If you can’t think of anything to say, throw in the word “sideshow.” As in, “Well, there’s another example of a legislative sideshow.” And if the fellow panel members look at you like you’re talking out of your ass, just smile and nod confidently.
Lesson #4: Throw in the phrase, “I can tell you that much,” to appear like you know what you’re talking about. Follow up with a hearty insider chuckle. If possible, wink at the camera.
Lesson #5: If you want to keep your identity somewhat intact and mysterious, wear your hair over your face. And keep ‘em guessing.
If you missed last night’s Special Session, you are forgiven. If you missed last night’s Special Session party, you are a big loser. If you went to last night’s Special Session party wearing a crass (some would say *snarky*) In the Pink Texas t-shirt (available for sale at the ITPT Tease link to your right), and you drank a few too many beers, and you had to go home early after throwing a mini tantrum over who gets the last birthday cupcake, then you are either the Pink Lady or Smooch.
And, if so, then all is forgiven.
If you’re home tonight around 7:30 CST, and you’re scratching your head and thinking, who are these bloggers I keep hearing about and what exactly is their role in covering Texas politics, then you’re IN LUCK because KLRU has the show for you.
Tonight’s Special Session hosted by Paul Stekler features a panel on blogging.
And the panelists are… (envelope please… I’m so nervous):
So as not to offend my readers who are Coultered-out (not that I blame them), there’s a pic from Ann’s pre-speech reception after the jump. That’s me and Laura Stromberg, press flack for Kinky. The guy behind Ann is her bodyguard, I believe. Not that there’s much body to guard. Seriously. I dwarf her. Now you can see for yourself where the bones are.
Ann Coulter was on FOX’s “Hannity & Colmes” dog and pony show last night (and thank God the camera adds 10 pounds) to discuss the UT heckler who was arrested at
her speech on Tuesday night.
It was amusing to see Ann try to paraphrase his obscene question by saying, “what do you think of a man who goes home every night and ‘f’s’ his wife up the ‘a’ ?”
Say what?
Last night’s video included footage of the heckler being taken away by the cops (cry me a river) while a handful of protesters followed him out and chanted “Shame” at the police.
Shame? Seriously? The whole world is watching? Not. even. close.
The show closed out with Colmes (the hot one) telling Ann to “stay away from pies.”
Dude. Look at her. The last pie she ate was in 1982 and she’s still
kicking herself.
Last night, I went and saw the media darling of
the right wing, Ann Coulter (all 85 pounds of her), speak at UT, courtesy of the Student Events
Center Distinguished Speakers Committee. (I even got a VIP press pass – thanks to this guy.)
From all the things I’ve read about Coulter, and
a lot of the things she’s written herself, I figured that her head would spin around Exorcist-style
while she spewed venom. I mean, she says outrageous things — and yes, often times even hateful things. I get that. It’s her schtick.
But last night, she was articulate, intelligent, ballsy and, yes, even laugh out loud funny. You know who wasn’t funny? The student protesters who claim to love free speech but acted like kindergartners who just missed out on snacks and nap time. They held up signs (“Stop the New McCarthyism,” “Racist, Sexist, Anti-Gay,” “Ann Coulter speaks lies to the people” ) and they booed and hissed and kept yelling throughout her speech. I get that. That’s their schtick. Too bad it wasn’t more clever. How about some catchy chants or something?
Excerpts from Coulter’s speech:
Much more after More…
Hell hath no fury like a Texas woman scorned.
Remember that Houston woman, Clara Harris, who killed her cheating husband by running him down in a parking lot with her Mercedes?
She’s on today’s Oprah! Live, from Mountain View Correctional Center in Gatesville, we get to hear Clara’s side of the story.
The video, the Mercedes, the girlfriend, the deadly affair. Behind
the shocking headlines. For the first time, the Texas dentist who ran over her cheating husband reveals her side of the story.
In prison with Clara Harris—you just might be surprised.
You know what? The crazy woman RAN OVER HER HUSBAND. She’s serving TIME in JAIL. So, that’s how you get on Oprah these days… Does anyone really care why she did it? Let me guess.
a) She was mad that her husband was cheating on her, and she did the only thing she could – she killed him.
b) She was mad that her husband was cheating on her, and the girlfriend was younger and prettier, so she killed him.
c) She never wanted a Mercedes, she wanted a JAGUAR, you UNFEELING BASTARD.
I was in Dallas over the weekend and yesterday morning, I was driving around (like every other crazed Dallas suburban housewife in their huge SUVs) trying to find a Starbucks (not too hard – they’re on every corner in the Big D) and I turned on the radio.
That was my first mistake.
In Dallas, FM 90.5 is host to the Calvary Sky Network which broadcasts Sky Angel – Christian and Family programming.
Our Vision:
To provide a global communications platform as an instrument of unity to equip the Body of Christ to fulfill the Great Commission.
On Sunday morning, what do you think Christian talk radio would be rapping about? Well, yesterday they were talking about how major university campuses are actually hotbeds of communist indoctrination and training grounds for anti-American terrorists! Who knew?
I’ll tell you who knew! Husband-and-wife talk show hosts Bob & Geri Boyd, based out of Prescott, AZ and hosts with the mosts of Issues in Education.
Incidentally, the Boyds are not The Carpenters.
I was confused too. Plus, rainy days and Mondays always get me down.
According to Mr. and Mrs. Boyd, there are
“nutty professors” who are teaching college students ALL ACROSS AMERICA to HATE AMERICA. And all this time I thought students were just trying to get laid and do keg stands. NOT SO!
The influence of university professors on our culture is enormous. Professors instill patriotism or create terrorism. Some even call President Bush a terrorist. If young people
have no love for this country they won’t defend it.
Shocking, isn’t it? Absolutely *shocking* that these two crazies have a radio show and I don’t.
One of yesterday’s guests, Jerry Martin, used to be a professor of philosophy at UC-Boulder but now he spends his time chairing the American Council of Trustees and Alumni and warning people about how universities are failing America by turning co-eds into radical pinko commie terrorists. Martin thinks there’s a correlation between the attacks on 9/11 and college professors.
Bob & Geri’s (kind of like Ben & Jerry’s but not as tasty) next guest was David Horowitz, FOX News analyst and former “leftie” – EGADS! – and author of “Unholy Alliance: Terrorism & the American Left.” Horowitz thinks professors are guilty of TREASON! Horowitz’s parents were Commies, get it? That’s how they raised such a liberal!
Horowitz encouraged listeners to visit Students for Academic Freedom: “You can’t get a good education if they’re only telling you half the story.”
“They,” of course, being the leftist professors brainwashing our impressionable college kiddos to HATE AMERICA and JOIN THE TERRORISTS.
Cleave to no faith when faith brings blood.
–Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
HB 188, the Journalist Shield bill by Rep. Aaron Pena, considers the age-old question: should journalists be afforded certain privileges and, if so, do those privileges include drinking yourself silly, wearing outdated clothes (i.e. “Scoop” hats and suspenders), chain-smoking until your lungs turn black and turning into superheroes when needed?
There are 31 states which have laws protecting the freedom of the press and their deep throat-esque sources – oh, and DC, but no one ever really counts them. To be perfectly frank, come on – buy me a beer and I’ll give up my sources. But I suppose that other journalists need to be shielded, especially when they make up stuff and attribute it to “sources say.” (Who is this Sources Say guy anyway? He sure gets around… )
The shield bill was supposed to be heard in the House Judiciary committee at 2PM but it’s already almost 5PM, so the hearing was moved until “upon adjournment,” which means “after Krusee stops talking about his goddam transportation stuff.” *FTN.* Happy hour started 30 minutes ago.
In the meantime, you can read all about it (extra, extra, read all about it) on Pena’s blog (legislators BLOG?!).
The legislation defines a “journalist” as “a person, or an employee, independent contractor, or agent of that person, engaged in the business of gathering, compiling, writing, editing, photographing, recording, or processing information for dissemination by any news medium.”
Well… I’m a person, last time I checked. And, at times, I’ve been known to engage in that dirty business we call “gathering, compiling, writing, editing, photographing, recording and processing information” – including but not limited to, eavesdropping, wiretapping, going through the garbage of public officials, paying for gossip, and bribing cheating politicos with compromising, illegally obtained photos.
Look at me! *I’m a journalist!*
But… then again, so is this guy.
5:50PM: I cannot believe I’m still here. I got a chance to talk to Pena about his bill. He called me a muckraker. I’ll take that as a compliment.
5:53PM: They’re going to lay out other bills first! Before the shield bill! I’m using gratuitous exclamation points to help keep me awake!
5:56PM: 
The Chairman of the Judiciary Committee is Rep. Will Harnett. He looks a lot like another member of the committee, Rep. Bryan Hughes.
Rep. Hughes was supposed to post an entry on Pena’s other blog, Lone Star Rising (a legislator with multiple blogs?!) but he got too busy. Or else he has a thing against blogs. WHAT DO YOU HAVE AGAINST BLOGS? WHAT DID THEY EVER DO TO YOU?
6:05PM: It’s six o’clock. Where’s my beer and bowl of mixed nuts?
6:09PM: Oh. Good. Gravy. It’s Dwayne Bohac at the mic. What’s Perry trying to pass now?
6:11PM: I just met a reporter from Scripps. Real reporters are here! I should’ve known… there’s a distinct smell of stale coffee and cigarettes wafting through E2.028.
6:14PM: You know, these big carpeted blocks in the back of the hearing room that people sit on so they can make quick entrances and even quicker exits? Not so comfortable.
Rep. Craig Eiland just swaggered in, looking like he was expecting a
*zoot. suit. riot.*
6:22PM: Did I mention it’s freezing in here? Freezing. Ice cold. How cold is it? It’s so cold, I’m about to cozy up to some lobbyist for warmth. Anyone got an extra suit jacket they’re not using?
6:26PM: Ahhhh, the shield gets laid out.
Rep. Pena’s talking about privileges and freedom of the press. He decides to give us a brief history of how this bill came to fruition – something about a reporter in Rhode Island who videotaped a politician taking money from an illegal source.
In Texas, that’s not called a bribe… That’s called, like, Tuesday.
Pena says there are three questions we need to ask: Should we have a journalist privilege? Who should this privilege be extended to? And who is a journalist?
And, if Ann Couter is a journalist, who the hell wants to be one anyway?
6:34PM: We’re on to public testimony. I’m going to let the press freedom fighters duke it out with the DA lawyer folks.
I’ve got some wiretaps to plant.
Our Johnnys-come-lately bloggers, the Statesman’s Rich & Fred, are at the W Hotel in Atlanta, sampling body bath products and getting all slippery for their meetings with the Cox head honchos.
Yes, as he tells us in his bare-all blog (and really, it’s The Rich Blog… Fred has posted, like, once), Rich is shocked to find a hotel room that offers more than the requisite bar of soap. (Where has he been staying all these years? The Howard Johnson?!)
Longtime ABC Anchor Peter Jennings has been diagnosed with lung cancer, and Larry King decides to (what else?) do a show on it last night. Yes, LKL, that bastion (bastard?) of traditional journalism, continues to chip away at media credibility by hastily piecing together a lackluster panel to discuss lung cancer. Seriously — where else but CNN will you find Tammy Faye Baker (now Messner) hocking her new book and the “former Winston man” sharing screen space?
Tammy Faye, a lung cancer survivor herself, has this completely unsolicited and trivial advice for Jennings: “I want to tell Peter that cancer starts out with the word “can” so you hang in there and don’t you dare give up.”?
Here’s how Tammy found out she had lung cancer: “I was doing “Surreal Life,” and we went to do karaoke and I found out that I couldn’t sing.”
Now, being a Wake Alum and RJR girl myself, I think it’s only fair to remind you that smoking Winstons can not only get you laid…
…. it’s also patriotic.
Statesman reporter W. Gardner Selby’s first column premieres today in Metro/State.
“Why me, why here? And what’s with the capital W?”
Well, I can answer that second question – the capital W stands for “What-EVER,” man, as in “What-EVER, new Statesman columnist, too cool to show up to happy hour last night even though your colleagues were there… I guess you’re just TOO BUSY now…”
Gardner will be taking a weekly look at state politics and government – he could learn a thing or two from the DMN’s Karen Brooks & Chamber Music. The more columns like this, the better. In Gardner’s “inaugural column,” he says he “intends to show and tell.”
Well, as Tom DeLay said to the Dems, *Bring it.*
The new April issue of Texas Monthly features a cover shot of Thomas Haden Church in a cowboy hat and boots.
I just wish the Monthly featured more editorial content (read = “actual stories” ). I once commented right on this very blog that if the Monthly took out all its glossy ads targeting the big city elite, it would run about 6 pages max, including the table of contents. Well, that’s not exactly true.
I decided to conduct my own informal research using the latest copy of the Monthly. Here’s what I found…
Out of a total 232 pages in the April issue:
• 106 pages are original content (this is generous – some of this “content” belongs to the “Dining Guide” and “Around the State” )
• 124 pages are full-page ads
• 3 pages belong to Burka (paying homage to former Governor-That-Could-Do-No-Wrong Bush in his school finance article, “Disaster!” )
• 3 pages, Table of Contents (including contributor bios)
• 2 pages of letters to the editor
Now, some of the ads are more painful than others, such as p. 117, “Hormones, Health and Happiness,” from Hotze Health & Wellness Center… “Do you remember when you felt young, vibrant and brimming with energy?” – or – the 4-page lay-out devoted to Texas Pharmacists (pp. 88-92), “It’s the People. Not just the Pills.”
Don’t forget the plastic surgery! Because Texas Monthly certainly hasn’t. p. 57, (Westlake Dermatology & Cosmetic Surgery, “A National Botox Training Center”); p. 84, (usaplasticsurgery.com); p. 174, (Austin Skin Institute, “Refreshed. Not Frozen.”); p. 194, (Hill Country Facial Plastic Surgery Center, “Some visit Fredericksburg to see history. Others visit to erase it.”); p. 202, (The LipoSurgery Clinic, “Spot reduce frustrating areas.”); p. 209, (Texas Center for Cosmetic Dentistry and Spa, “How far will YOU go for a beautiful smile?”).
So, there are a LOT of HighlandPark/Tarrytown/Memorial Park women reading the Monthly whose expressions are frozen by one too many Botox treatments – but at least they look younger than their husbands’ mistresses… (or so they think).
This is not to say that the Monthly isn’t worth reading. Editor Evan Smith’s interview of Haden Church coming off his newfound Sideways-celebrity, Jordan Breal’s Q&A with Jonathan Franzen (Author of The Corrections, which I’m currently reading), Skip Hollandsworth’s story about Panhandle DA-addict Rick Roach, Pamela Coloff’s “Unholy Act,” concerning the murder of Irene Garza, and some incredible photos by Brent Humphreys accompanying “On the Road Again,” including a shot of an aging cheerleader in Terlingua.
Maybe I’m jealous that the Monthly is swimming in ad money. But, then again, maybe there’s a thin line between advertorial and editorial, and the Monthly is definitely walking it.
Am I being overly critical of Texas’ star magazine? Completely possible. One of my favorite magazines is Vanity Fair. Its latest issue, which features three (seemingly starving) Eastern European supermodels on the cover, contains 156 pages of ads out of 285 total pages.
Of course, Vanity Fair deals much more with pop culture than the Monthly, so I expect a fair amount of ads. And I’d rather look at ads for Prada and Versace than what I see in the Monthly (i.e. Brumbaugh’s Leather Gallery and Arkansas – The Natural State). One thing I like about Vanity Fair ad placement is that you can actually GET THROUGH AN ENTIRE STORY without trying to find the next page following 8 pages marked “Advertising.”
It’s all about goin’ with the flow.
Paul Burka’s column in the March Monthly, entitled That Blog Won’t Hunt, certainly makes some valid points. Bloggers do typically fancy themselves clever and cutting-edge but, truth be told, we’re a lonely bunch of misfits just trying to validate ourselves via the Wild Wild Web. We “work” in our pajamas, we rarely leave the house and we are never invited to parties covered by such flashy pubs as Brilliant and Tribeza.
Burka suggests that bloggers are a disillusioned crew, that we see ourselves as “the vanguard of a media revolution in which more and more of the public will get information not from professional media organizations like the New York Times, CBS, and, yes, TEXAS MONTHLY but instead from ordinary citizens who want their voices and their opinions to be heard but don’t have a prayer of breaking into the MSM, as the bloggers refer to the mainstream media.”
Now that’s just cruel – using our shorthand blogger language to mock us. LOL. And bloggers don’t have a prayer of breaking into the mainstream? Seriously? Many bloggers have worked as mainstream journalists in the traditional sense and got out because we were sick of eating stale donuts in crappy newsrooms with old crusty editors who still use typewriters.
(Sidebar: Does Paul Burka not realize he’s a blogger? That is, by far, the most dangerous kind of blogger… he actually thinks that his articles are pure journalism. Did you see last month’s Monthly? It was like a VALENTINE to all his cronies.)
Burka: “Make no mistake about it: This is war. As a foot soldier in the army of the MSM, unwitting though I may be, I am fascinated by the prospect of my own extinction.”
This is WAR? He’s a FOOT SOLDIER? Can’t you just picture it – all those old newspaper veterans on one side of the battlefield we call journalism, all those misfit goofy-looking bloggers on the other. Who could possibly win?
According to Burka, the strength of his magazine is all the filters that are in place – editors, fact checkers, etc. They filter out writing that doesn’t meet their standards. Too bad they don’t filter out more of that advertorial copy. Without all the glossy ads targeting the big city elite, the Monthly would run about 6 pages. Max. And that includes the table of contents.
By TJ Shroat
Postmark: Airspace above Minot, ND
Thursday night’s “news” special, Peter Jennings ‘Reporting’: UFOs – Seeing is Believing, started with this ominous ABC announcer voiceover:
“The UFO animations in this broadcast have been approved by eyewitnesses.”
Cue vaguely creepy music and let the journalistic integrity commence. Isn’t this the sort of crank “reporting” that’s supposed to reside in the infinite domain of, well, blogs? Jennings, as the last man standing of the Big Three network anchors, has apparently decided that he can now let himself go faster than a Dallas princess with a wedding ring. In a recent interview, he claimed this special had been a year in production. And what conclusions can we draw from the resulting two hours of programming?
The US military isn’t the most forthcoming of organizations. Is this really a man-bites-dog story, that the Air Force is reluctant to talk about some of its top-secret, Alias-clearance projects? Ever see a Pentagon press briefing, Pete? Ever look Secretary Rumsfeld square in the eye and realize there’s nobody home?
Here’s another news flash from the special: apparently, sometimes, at night, people see far away objects that they can’t clearly identify. The only conclusion must be that these are the vehicles of beings from other planets, who also happen to be proctology enthusiasts. Ahhhh, the abductees. They’re the craziest crazies around. From the moment the special started, I was waiting for a “probing” reference like a portly Friar anticipating a lame punch-line. The “abductees” didn’t disappoint.
While those who have sighted UFOs came across as well-intentioned, if a little confused and liquored up, the abductees were mere objects for pity. Check out the latest Scientific American column from Michael Shermer, editor of Skeptic Magazine and my personal favorite debunker of pseudo-science crap for an explanation of alien abduction and repressed memories.
Perhaps a better title for the show would have been UFOs – Believing is Believing (and for UFOs, you could substitute Sasquatch, the Loch Ness Monster, the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, Well-Meaning Politicians, etc.).
People have a need to believe in something greater than themselves and this world. They won’t let things like “science” or “facts” dissuade them.
Sound like any world leaders from Texas?
Paul Burka’s Texas Monthly cover story profiling the “Top 25 Most Powerful People in Texas” – reads like a high school yearbook’s superlative list.
Burka makes such a monumental effort to stipulate the new parameters of Texas power that we thought his choices warranted a closer look at the individuals he anoints as kings or kingmakers.
According to Burka, there are four components of power: money, institutional knowledge, relationships and, apparently, knowing Paul Burka.
For instance – there are only three elected officials that made Burka’s grade as the most powerful people. This either says something about the people we’re electing, or it says that Burka doesn’t like them all that much, except Speaker Tom Craddick, who graces the cover, the word ‘Power’ emblazoned across his chest like a legislative Superman.
Pundits like Burka seem so cozy with certain officials that they completely ignore the people who actually harness legitimate power, not to be confused with your lobbyist lapdogs or leadership groupies.
In his search for the proverbial eight-hundred-pound gorillas in the mist, Burka misses the real power-brokers. Not the ones pounding their chests but the silverbacks who are actually taking names and kicking ass.
So here’s our take on Burka’s list…
Ronnie Earle, Second in Command?
Ronnie Earle is the Travis County District Attorney, the Big D who has made plenty of noise with a mess of indictments against cronies of House Majority Leader Tom “Tub Thumper” DeLay and corporate honchos. Money laundering? Check. Corporate contributions? Check.
Ronnie’s gotten a lot of press, both national and statewide, but if media attention makes you powerful, then Paris Hilton would be President.
Respected? Of course. Tough attorney? No doubt. Risk taker? Clearly. Newsworthy? Oh yes. Gifted and dedicated politician? Certainly. More swat than anyone in the state except Speaker Craddick? Now that’s just crazy talk.
If Earle even gets one indictment under his belt, not only will we be shocked and awed, but his power will be zapped. Couple this with Earle’s imminent retirement, and he’s a one trick pony.
Drinks Now Being Served in the Lobby: Buddy Jones, Rusty Kelly, Bill Messer, Mike Toomey
Been there. Done that.
Sure, these four guys in their 50s are powerful lobbyists. They’ve been around the old block more times than DPS. But when do you become old news?
Buddy Jones, Co-founder of HillCo Partners. I guess this is what happens when a one-term legislator loses a Senate race. Now he runs with the big dogs. Note: One time he made me shake his pinky. It weirded me out a little but I guess that’s just how he rolls.
Rusty Kelly, Public Strategies, Inc. Earned his lobbying chops by passing a bill establishing a taxing district for the Texas Rangers baseball club. Maybe he can tell us a thing or two about steroids.
Bill Messer, Texas Lobby Group. There’s just something inherently evil about someone who represents the Texans for Lawsuit Reform and McDonald. Isn’t that a conflict of interest? What about that scalding hot coffee they serve?!
Mike Toomey. Hmmmm… from Lobbyist to Perry Henchman to Lobbyist. He didn’t even have to change his business cards.
If you want to talk real power, how about those lobsters in the higher education tank?
We’re talking about UT Chancellor Mark Yudoff, A&M Chancellor Bob McTeer and Texas Tech Chancellor David Smith.
These universities produce our doctors, lawyers and engineers. They employ high profile researchers, manage multi-billion dollar investment houses and oversee dozens of institutions of higher education around the state, as well as powerful and vocal alumni associations.
The Chancellors own this town. They probably own you. Perhaps you’ve driven past their prime waterfront properties along Lake Austin, or their hundreds of sections of land holdings out in West Texas. These are the men who impact the tuition our kids and parents pay.
McTeer’s a former president of the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas. Yudof’s comfy public housing in Tarrytown is just a stone’s throw away from the Governor’s “Mansion.” Smith is a respected doctor and former state Health Commissioner. It’s not like we’re talking about the three stooges – but somehow, they didn’t make Burka’s cut.
These guys broker the deals and move legislation – and not only in the public sector. (Been out to UT’s swanky new golf course in West Travis County? FORE! Talk about your country clubbin’. )
But most importantly and above all else – are you ready for some FOOTBALL? Hook ‘em Horns, Gig ‘em Aggies, and Fight Red Raiders.
Hell. Yeah.
Harvey Kronberg – Don’t You Need a Quorum to have Power?
Uh, what? The publisher of Quorum Report is among the 25 most powerful people in the state? You’ve got to be kidding. Yes, Harvey is a talented reporter who commands respect for his daily buzz alone. Hey, if we could afford him, we’d subscribe ourselves. That said, we have to get our daily buzz in other ways.
Any of Harvey’s colleagues at the major dailies have a wider readership and greater reach. Wayne Slater and Karen Brooks, Dallas Morning News. Jay Root, Fort Worth Star-Telegram. R.G. Ratcliffe, Houston Chronicle. Not to mention Ross Ramsey (Editor, Texas Weekly), who had been doing this for years before Kronberg showed up.
And, if being a gossip hound gets you on the most powerful list, then where’s the right Honorable James E. Pete Laney, the former Speaker? With all due respect, Speaker Laney is such a gossip, he should be hocking Tupperware with the soccer moms in Tarrytown.
Steve Murdock – The Prophet? Tell Us More, O Soothsayer
Murdock is the state demographer. If you want numbers crunched, he’s your man. If you’re talking population characteristics, he’s the go-to guy. But power player?
As one lobbyist told me, Murdock’s the most unassuming man on the planet. As smart as he is, he’s not influencing anybody. His findings during the interim on school finance? They’re being ignored, not leveraged. The one person who might be intimidated by Steve Murdock? Steve Murdock.
Deirdre Delisi – The Better Half of the So-Called Power Couple
We think it’s a little early to call Deirdre one of the most powerful people in Texas, given her short tenure as the Governor’s Chief of Staff. We also find it puzzling that someone’s Chief of Staff can wield so much power when her boss didn’t even make the list.
And seriously, couldn’t the Governor find a native Texan for this job? Deirdre’s Canadian and she attended (gasp) DUKE and STANFORD. Talk about your latte liberals.
As soon as the 32-year-old starts busting some balls Toomey-style, we’ll reconsider.
Instead of Delisi, Burka could have chosen Senate Parliamentarian Karina Casari, an Argentine, in terms of a young up-and-comer with bona fide power. Karina’s a veteran staffer, a Dewhurst confidant, and has every single bill the legislature processes at her direct disposal. The 31 rely on her daily to protect them and the institution that is the Senate. Plus her links to Sibley, a powerful lobbyist and Bush confidant, are no secret.
Scott McCown – the Conscience (but who ever listens to their conscience)…
Scott McCown and the Center for Public Policy Priorities (try saying that one five times fast) have a long list of distinguished work. The CPPP is more than competent, and the analysts there are incredibly smart, and they work incredibly hard. That said, however, their comprehensive research projects and policy pages are largely ignored by the members of this Legislature. Since their liberal views are so conflicting with the folks in the pink building, CPPP can never quite close the deal.
If you have to throw a bone to the non-profit community, the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation fits the bill. Bill Jones. John Nau. Jim Leininger. These guys ain’t Jiminy Cricket, but they’ve definitely got influence.
And now, for your consideration…
Albert Hawkins – State Health and Human Services Commissioner
Burka laments that there’s a lack of diversity in his choices for most powerful, claiming that “power politics in the Capitol is still a white guy’s world.” We beg to differ. At the very least, why not include the state commissioner who oversees 46,000 employees and a total budget of $20 billion?
Albert Hawkins is no white guy. Before coming back to Texas, Hawkins served as the Assistant to the President and Secretary to the Cabinet. His close ties to Washington (and the President) alone should have made him at least as powerful as, say, the town crier. Hawkins is an expert on the data, and, even if he is pushing all the Governor’s programs like a used car salesman, he’s still a highly respected and gifted administrator.
The Rocket Man is our next pick. We’re not even going to give you his name — that’s how powerful he is.
Here are some hints: Montford. Ratliff. Perry. Dewhurst. Tech. Certainly with the exception of Craddick, Jack Martin and, possibly, Billy Hamilton, we could level a credible argument that the Rocket Man wields more day-to-day influence (and has for two decades) over major decisions of public policy matters and public officials than anyone on Burka’s list.
Perry, Dewhurst and Strayhorn
It’s almost laughable that these folks aren’t on the list. Sure, Perry’s personality may have peaked in college, but he’s got the Legislature’s panties in a wad right now. And Dewhurst is the Lt. Governor. Has Burka forgotten Texas Politics 101? That Craddick is powerful does not mean that Dewhurst isn’t. The inherent powers of Dewhurst’s office matter, and just because he’s new to the job shouldn’t keep him off the list. Meanwhile, Strayhorn is the only statewide elected official that can jack with the Governor and the Legislature at the same time, and she’s been doing this like a million-dollar baby.
