Texas' members of Congress fend off anti-incumbent sentiment
Posted Tuesday, Mar. 02, 2010

By ANNA M. TINSLEY

atinsley@star-telegram.com

Area Republican members of Congress were all comfortably ahead in their re-election bids Tuesday night, appearing to buck the anti-incumbent sentiments being pushed by Tea Party groups nationwide, according to early and incomplete election results.

In congressional races across the state, Tea Party activists were falling behind in their efforts to unseat GOP incumbents ranging from Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, to Ron Paul, R-Surfside.

A five-way GOP race to determine who will challenge longtime Democratic Rep. Chet Edwards of Waco, whose district includes Johnson and Hood counties, appeared headed to a runoff.

"This shows the Tea Party [activists] probably don't have enough votes to take over the Republican Party," said Jim Riddlesperger, a political science professor at Texas Christian University. "The Tea Party effort has gotten a lot of press, but now it's a long time until November.

"History is littered with movements that were able to maintain frustration over a [short] period of time," he said. "But we still have seven months until the next election. I'm not sure they'll be able to maintain their enthusiasm."

Texas' primary comes a year after people fed up with federal spending and big government took to the streets nationwide in Tea Party gatherings to show Congress they are unhappy with what's going on in Washington. Some said this election in Texas would be a gauge of how effective those grassroots activists were in translating their unhappiness into votes.

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At some point it all becomes (sic)kening.

This is where the Texas School Book folks are leading the nation. Excellence is only a word in an unused dictionary. Belief is the only seemingly buoyant anchor to grab hold of.

It is not a wonder the country, the government, the people are broken beyond repair. Paraphrasing W. Churchill: A country divided by a common language. It has become babel, as in the shinning tower on the hill, again a paraphrase.

This will not end well.

That rabid idiots cannot organize and have no idea how to pursue long-term goals that would benefit their movement.

was for the old Houston newscaster?

http://mauberly.blogspot.com/

is at full throttle: Schools down to four days a week; four less weeks a year; alternative stay at home use a computer to go to school schools; teachers laid off; no music; no art; no PE in elementary schools; hey, but we have H.S. football big time.

New York Times, By Leslie Kaufman, March 3

Critics of the teaching of evolution in the nation’s classrooms are gaining ground in some states by linking the issue to global warming, arguing that dissenting views on both scientific subjects should be taught in public schools.

In Kentucky, a bill recently introduced in the Legislature would encourage teachers to discuss “the advantages and disadvantages of scientific theories,” including “evolution, the origins of life, global warming and human cloning.”

The bill, which has yet to be voted on, is patterned on even more aggressive efforts in other states to fuse such issues. In Louisiana, a law passed in 2008 says the state board of education may assist teachers in promoting “critical thinking” on all of those subjects.

Last year, the Texas Board of Education adopted language requiring that teachers present all sides of the evidence on evolution and global warming.

[...]

The linkage of evolution and global warming is partly a legal strategy: courts have found that singling out evolution for criticism in public schools is a violation of the separation of church and state. By insisting that global warming also be debated, deniers of evolution can argue that they are simply championing academic freedom in general.

[...]

“Wherever there is a battle over evolution now,” he said, “there is a secondary battle to diminish other hot-button issues like Big Bang and, increasingly, climate change. It is all about casting doubt on the veracity of science — to say it is just one view of the world, just another story, no better or more valid than fundamentalism.”

And from Salon:

Republican Party's 2010 fundraising strategy: fear
Leaked document gives look into way RNC thinks of its donors; what's revealed isn't pretty
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/03/rnc_fundraising

If you are going to base a national fundraising strategy on the premise that your supporters are easily manipulated idiots, then it's good to make sure you have a steady of supply of them.

Once again, it's logic with just enough truth in it to be, at least to some degree, workable. After all, finding dumb people can't be that hard, and finding dumb people with money is like discovering a treasure chest.

Maybe the Dems real problem is they try to appear intelligent. Dems give lots of brilliant reasons for doing stupid things. You got to hand it to the GOP - if they are going for stupid, at least they don't BS everyone about it.

Look at Palin, Limbaugh, GWB, etc; just plain old, over-the-top, out there stoopid, and they get great mileage out of it.

What worries me is how we got to the point in this country where stoopid became a family value.

In all fairness, I know lots of well-educated and well-informed homeschoolers. And some who aren't.

I think the public schools deserve all the support we can give them. Nonetheless, I hardly see the public (or private, for that matter) school system in its present state doing a very good job of preventing ignorance, bigotry, or illiteracy.