Why do Congressional Republicans act like 8 year olds?

I just watched Republican house leader Eric Cantor use the word 'Democrat' as an adjective. Republicans use that word like racists use the n word or the s word or the w word. All the Republicans in Congress seem to do that now. All of the time. How can they expect to be taken seriously when they act like spoiled rotten little boys?

They were having a temper tantrum over the health care bill. All ego and no consideration for the needs of millions of American citizens.

We should be addressing drug cartels in a sane, adult manner

If sane adults address the drug cartel violence, one answer pops up to the top: Legalize drugs. Take away the profit motive, make drugs safer and provide for rehab. Why is that so hard? Because craven political actors are appealing to a batsh*t crazy base for some pseudo moral superiority. Get over it. It didn't work during prohibition and it's not working now.

There is more violence just across our border.

Two people died during a gunfight between Mexican soldiers and members of organized crime in [Reynosa’s] southwest side, where several shootouts have been reported in recent weeks.

And,

In Miguel Alemán, state officials found the body of a man strangled with a plastic cord on the banks of the Rio Grande across from Roma. Tamaulipas state police continue to investigate the homicide and no further information was available.

The two homicides in the small cities across from Starr County were joined by several other incidents reported across Tamaulipas state.

People are scared.

El Paso Mayor John Cook is telling Americans to stay out of neighboring Juárez, Mexico because of escalating drug cartel violence.

"Personally, I am advising people not to go to Juárez unless it is absolutely necessary," Cook said in an interview Wednesday with the El Paso Times. "I feel sorry for those who have to live in Juárez."

Read more

More fear here. Then, there's the politics.

Democrat Bill White pressed for help with federal border security in a call to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and he said Thursday that Republican Rick Perry, the governor he is challenging, also should have picked up the phone.

In a critical statement issued by his campaign, White said that solving problems and protecting against spillover violence from Mexico is better accomplished by talking and coordinating with local and federal counterparts.

White said he asked Napolitano for more resources and airborne surveillance along the border – requests similar to those that have been made by Perry.

Rick Perry sends helicopters to the border. Henry Cuellar touts drones.

An unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, will be flying over South Texas from Corpus Christi to Brownsville to El Paso before year’s end to help patrol the U.S.-Mexico border, a South Texas congressman said Thursday.

More politics here.

Merida promotes business interests.

Those in attendance stressed the need for continued support of the Merida Initiative, a security cooperation program between the two neighboring nations that aims to help Mexico in its fight against illegal narcotics trafficking and organized crime. The program also focuses on boosting law enforcement agencies and judicial institutions and on promoting the rules of the law.

We have to recognize that there is a problem. Arguing how much, if any, spill over violence isn't helpful. There is fear and there is carnage associated with the drug cartels business. There is the threat that drug cartels will buy out our politicians.

Lets start looking at the problem as sane adults who have no other agenda than to promote the general welfare. Take the first step and legalize drugs.

Will the military stop future wind farms?

The U.S. military is growing increasingly concerned that proposed wind farms can disrupt or block radar designed to detect threats and protect America's skies, a problem that is stalling the alternative energy projects around the country.

A top U.S. general told Congress on Thursday that federal agencies need to work better together on a formal vetting process for the wind projects to prevent them from being built where they will interfere with radar defenses.

Weasel Carlos Valdez lets Perry appoint his replacement as Nuece County DA

Thanks for all the years you were supported by loyal Democrats.

Hours after Gov. Rick Perry announced Anna Jimenez was his choice for Nueces County district attorney she was surrounded by fellow Republicans and some Democrats, as she was sworn in.

Court case against Cameron County Sheriff continues

The legal battle brought on by chaplain Gail Hanson against Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio is not over.

A federal judge earlier this year rejected arguments to dismiss the civil rights lawsuit brought by Hanson against Lucio and Cameron County. The move has heartened Hanson’s counsel but has not dispirited her opponents.

The federal lawsuit was heard in court January by U.S. District Judge Hilda G. Tagle. In the case, Hanson alleges that Lucio retaliated against her in 2008 after she publicly criticized him and the county for the operation of the county’s jail system, court documents show.

In any case, Hanson will get more coverage for the Cameron County jail conditions.

More here.

Democrats working on border security

Eliot Shapleigh is all over it.

Over the last few weeks, approximately 250 experts from Washington, D.C. and Mexico, D.F. representing a dozen agencies have been on the ground in Juarez, San Diego, Tijuana and other Border communities on a fact-finding mission to inform a policy review and assessment of the fundamental policy changes critical to US-Mexico bilateral relations.

Their basic plan is to frame Merida II around four key policy objectives: federal security, local/state security, jobs, and socioeconomic concerns. Key interest groups here and in Mexico want to broaden the policy discussion further to include the trillion-dollar annual (and growing) demand for drugs in the United States.

It is past time to legalize drugs. That should be the central idea going forward. Take out the profit motive. The business interests driving Merida II should understand profits very well.

Hillary Clinton is going to Mexico City.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will be part of a Cabinet-level U.S. delegation visiting Mexico City next week to discuss the drug war and other matters.

State Department officials said the meeting next Tuesday has been in preparation for several months, but it comes days after three people with ties to the U.S. Consulate in Juárez were killed.

The El Paso Times wants more than talk. The border citizens do, too. Legalize drugs. You know you have to do that to begin solving the problem of border violence.

Chet Edwards thinks constituents should STFU

Rep. Chet Edwards of Waco, a prime target for House Republicans this fall who has dug in as a "no" vote despite a personal plea last week from President Barack Obama, is getting flooded with calls prompted by Organizing for America – the offshoot of the president's 2008 campaign organization.

He's not happy about it.

"When they know I'm voting no, for them to have people call our base and discourage base Democratic voters shows a lack of political consideration," Edwards said Wednesday evening.

Chet, you're the one discouraging base Democratic voters.

The health care fight should include veterans

Remember them? Bring a VA hospital to the Valley. And, while we're at it, the Valley deserves a medical school, too.

The most important part of the article on the meeting between Bishop Flores and Veterans Alliance of the Rio Grande Valley is the third to last paragraph, which reads in part:

Veterans told him that the VA required that a VA hospital be close to a medical school, that it required for the local population to be large enough to sustain a hospital and that land be provided. The latest news, the Bishop was informed, is that the Harlingen VA Outpatient Clinic is expanding and that all those requirements are being addressed. The Regional Academic Health Center is expanding also, the Bishop was told, and the state of Texas is supporting the establishment of a medical school through the University of Texas Health Science Center facility in Harlingen. The Bishop was also told that the City of Harlingen has provided land for the VA clinic expansion and for the proposed medical school. There is still some land available and the veterans would be approaching the city for support in the very near future, Gallegos said.

San Antonio Express News thinks Perry is running for president

Just what we need, another contestant for the batsh*t crazy crowd. Weren't Palin and Liz Cheney enough? Even Texas only liked Perry about 39% last election.

Gov. Rick Perry is gearing up for a re-election campaign against Democrat Bill White, but at a Tuesday night panel discussion he sounded more like a man running for president.

I have lost any respect I have had for Republicans

That thought struck me as I read the headlines about Hutchison and Cornyn asking for Obama's plans to address the violence in Mexico and at our border. Republicans have behaved so badly for years ignoring the public good while looking and acting only for the immediate good for themselves. My first thought - Republicans are using the violence to attack Obama. They don't care what happens to people at the border. In fact, the more violence, the more they can attack Obama. Clearly, Republicans hope for more violence, not solutions.

These are horrible thoughts to have about fellow Americans. Yet, Republicans have earned these thoughts and more over the years since Reagan ascended power. Would a decent Texas Senator acting on the public behalf ask questions about border security plans? Absolutely they should. But, I hear only craven politicos making hay.

Texas’ U.S. senators called for more openness from President Barack Obama’s administration Wednesday on its response plans for escalating violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

But the exact terms of the situation to which they asked the federal government to respond remain a matter of confusion.

In a letter to the president, Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, both Republicans, urged him to provide a full briefing on the border security situation and to visit the border region himself in the near future. They also asked Obama to outline a concrete plan to members of Congress addressing the ongoing violence.

Here is their letter. Republicans have a very, very long way to go to earn back my respect. [Senator John Cornyn, as you may recall, is one of the 30 white male Republican senators who voted to enable rapists.]

B'bye to virtual fence

Why can't they say that about the real one?

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Tuesday froze the effort to build a virtual fence along the southern border.

She cited cost overruns and missed deadlines as she halted what is known as Secure Border Initiative Network (SBInet).

Judge says fine against BP too high

Poor British Petroleum. They're only trying to conduct business at a low cost with high profits. If people die or get sick, that's not BP's problem.

A federal judge on Tuesday set aside a $100 million judgment against BP Texas City that had been awarded to 10 contract workers for injuries they suffered from a leak at the refinery in April 2007.

More than 100 workers were overcome by fumes from a leak that never was identified.

Businesses, especially rich businesses, are people now. People who are more equal that the kind of people that breath air.

Perry has a 'secret' plan to combat spillover violence at the border

You just have to snicker. 'Secret' as in 'we haven't figured out what to do, but we'd like you to think that we have it all under control.' More on Perry's plan here.

Meanwhile, the 'violence is the only tool we know' crowd is advocating - ta da - bringing troops into Mexico.

Citing the escalating drug war in Juarez and other Mexican border cities, the founder of the Minuteman Project is suggesting the U.S. government deploy the U.S. Army Airborne Rangers into Mexico to fight the drug cartels, according to a news release from the Minuteman Project.

Like that will help in any way. Just legalize drugs. It's simpler and much, much safer.

What will hapen to Juárez?

Mexicans are not responsible for our drug habit. We are. It is time to legalize drugs in the US. Provide regulated doses at cheaper rates. Provide accessible rehab. Eliminate the profit motive and start addressing addiction. It's that simple.

Mexican President Felipe Calderón on Tuesday offered his plan to "rescue" and "rebuild" the city, which has been plagued by 4,700 slayings since 2008.

His plan would attack poverty, improves education, health facilities and offers financial assistance to families in an effort to combat organized crime and the drug war that has turned Juárez into the most dangerous city in Mexico.

Corpus Christi Caller Times, AP provide GOP propaganda on health care bill

Don't you just love the right wing echo machine. 'Associated Press fact check: Premiums would rise under Obama plan ' Fact check my a**.

Here's what the White House said about this lie.

If you’re watching the bipartisan healthcare meeting today, you’ve seen some people leaning on a talking point that premiums will increase under health care reform. Let’s be clear: our approach will lower costs for American families and businesses, and slow the growth of costs for the country as a whole.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal all found that our approach will substantially lower the cost of health care premiums for the vast majority of Americans for three reasons: because it lowers administrative costs, it increases competition, and spreads the cost of health care fairly across millions of Americans.

Under our plan, Americans buying comparable health plans to what they have today in the individual market would see premiums fall by 14 to 20 percent. And most Americans buying coverage on their own would qualify for tax credits that would reduce their premiums by an average of nearly 60 percent – even as they get better coverage than what they have today. This is going to encourage people to purchase better coverage.

What about that reference to the AP? That was earlier. Today's cr*p comes to you via Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar,

More here and here.

Dallas Morning News tries to chastize SBOE. Fails

This Dallas Morning News editorial exhibits a common, pernicious defect in modern media.

But it's also clear in reading the standards – which cover such areas as economics, history, citizenship and culture – that the board's right-wing faction has an agenda and is using this debate to jam it through. Like liberals who use panels at colleges to drive home their point of view, the Texas right-wingers are pushing hard to teach ideas about religion, history and economics.

Why does the DMN have to make up a counterpoint? What liberal panels at colleges? Name 2 or STFU.

Drug cartel violence is the price for snooty, ineffective drug war

It is time to legalize drugs. Not only will you take away the profit motive for the cartels, you can start to treat drug addiction for real. Why did we have a war on drugs? To persecute people perceived to be less than. Haven't we jailed enough black men for whatever reason? Haven't we spent enough money? Haven't enough people suffered?

What are we reaping now? Border residents are scared.

The ongoing struggle in the northern part of Mexico between drug cartels has created an atmosphere of fear in the general public, many of whom have relatives just across the border. The main concern surrounding those fears is that the violence could spill over to the U.S. side.

Mexican President Felipe Calderón will visit Juárez today for the third time this month.

Spillover has already occurred in McAllen with shootings at the WalMart.

"The jury is still out as to who is involved here and what happened," said John Johnson, who heads the FBI’s office in McAllen. "In general … the vast majority of kidnappings we get involved with are drug-related. That’s the way this threat has evolved here."

Mexico and the US become more isolated.

While ongoing border violence is not the specific reason for a drop in crossings at the three international bridges operated by Cameron County, it could be a contributing factor, Cameron County Judge Carlos H. Cascos said Monday.

Do you feel like having lunch across the border today? People near Juarez don't.

Would you give tax breaks to a business that brings carcinogens into your city?

Nueces County commissioners are scheduled to vote Wednesday on $40 million in tax abatements for Las Brisas Energy Center.

Under the tax reduction proposal, the company would receive a $40 million tax break and pay $14 million to Nueces County during its first 10 years. The company would pay full taxes to the county beginning in 2022.

The Nueces County Hospital District, however, would levy full taxes from the start of construction, totaling a projected $23.6 million by 2021.

Were they being funny when they kept the Hospital District taxes?

See previous posts.

Republicans want your water to be dirtier

Republicans like their polluting cronies more than they like you.

In a move that it says will save money and is a practical strategy for monitoring the state's waterways, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has proposed loosening its water quality standards.

Houston police department slowly becoming more diverse

Despite clear gains made during years of recruitment campaigns to diversify the Houston Police Department, the force still is not fully reflective of the ethnic makeup of the city.

Nonetheless, today there is roughly a 50-50 chance a Houston police officer responding to a call will be Hispanic, African-American or Asian.

Law enforcement experts, community activists and HPD commanders say a diversified police force is a powerful asset for reducing crime, noting that minority officers can more easily get cooperation in ethnic communities when crimes are committed there.

Tuition and fees up at UT

Expect two waves of increases with 5.4% this year and 3.89% next. While your wallets open, expect additional fees to go green.

Republicans are doing their best to kill public education. How can we be like Haiti, if just regular people can receive and education?

Cartel violence erupts at McAllen WalMart

Look folks, it is past time to legalize drugs. Take the profits out of drug running and the scary shooting stuff will go away.

Police have detained one man suspected of a drug cartel-related shooting outside a Walmart store late Sunday night.

Two men were shot and possibly kidnapped during the incident, which occurred about 10:30 p.m. Sunday near the 1200 block of Jackson Avenue, said McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez.

There's more on the way.

This border city [Reynosa] and others near the eastern end of the U.S. border escaped the worst of Mexico’s bloody drug war for years, but now the bodies are piling up, several journalists are reportedly missing or dead and once-busy streets are empty after dark.

The crumbling of an alliance between two Mexican drug gangs has plunged the 200-mile stretch of border into violence, raising fears of a new front in the drug war, a U.S. anti-drug official told The Associated Press.

State Department employees and their families are at risk.

The State Department authorized U.S. government employees at six U.S. consulates in northern Mexico to send their family members out of the area because of concerns about rising drug-related violence. At least 18,000 people have been killed since Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against drug traffickers in December 2006.

The State Department said it would allow family members of diplomatic staff to leave the border cities of Tijuana, Nogales, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey and Matamoros.

More on the Juarez shooting here.

The victims were identified as Lesley A. Enriquez, 25, who worked for the consulate and was four-months pregnant, her husband, Arthur H. Redelfs, 30, a detention officer for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, and Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, 37, whose wife also worked for the consulate.

It's Monday TPA blog roundup time.

The Texas Progressive Alliance heads into March Madness with its own bracket of news and links for the week.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders how Republicans can be so violently against having services they desperately need?

Off the Kuff analyzed county returns in the primaries for Governor, Lite Guv, and the Commissioners.

When are you "too gay" for your job? The Texas Cloverleaf finds out.

WhosPlayin broke the story of a Tea-Partying Lewisville City Councilman who has failed to pay his business property taxes for the 28 years he has been in business. On the same weekend, the story came out that the son of the Flower Mound mayor and her public school Bible class promoting husband was busted with marijuana, a BB gun, and stolen property in his car. (But don't worry, he wasn't actually arrested.)

Bay Area Houston says When Capitalism Works we buy from China.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson says it's Time for Democrats to go all in on health care.

This week, McBlogger brings you Tom Pauken, Moron (NSFW).

Karl Rove is "proud" that the Bush administration tortured suspected al-Qaeda terrorists. That -- coupled with the Obama administration's recalcitrance to prosecute Rove, Cheney, Bush, et.al for their admitted war crimes -- has PDiddie at Brains and Eggs a little more pessimistic than usual.

Attention all Breathers! It's URGENT that you attend the EPA Public Hearing on the proposed new ozone standards. The hearing is Tuesday in Arlington and to help get you motivated TXsharon posted a video on Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.

Neil at Texas Liberal says that with one-in-three folks in Houston lacking health insurance, Houston Mayor Annise Parker should be speaking up in favor in health care reform. Mayor Parker has already spoken up on the federal issues of the census and EPA air quality standards. So why not speak up on this federal issue that impacts Houston?

Lightseeker at TexasKaos tells us, again, why Rick Perry Must Go. It seems his cronies want the private sector bozos who messed up the validation procedure for Food Stamps, to advise on fixing the system, and they don't understand what all the fuss is about. I mean doesn't every vendor get a no-bid contract?

Republicans put their revisionist illusions in our children's textbooks

Hispanics? Nope. Not in Texas. We're white. Blacks are dangerous anarchists. Women? Shouldn't play sports, but should admire Phyllis Schafley. The US of A was always meant to be a Christian nation run by Republicans, the natural ruling class. That's what the barking mad Republicans want in our children's books.

When did it become ok to blatantly propagandize our education? If Republicans had their way, Americans would be ignorant, poor and unhealthy. Why do Republicans want us to live like Haiti?

Scary, silly headline

'Despite buzz, Perry says he has no interest in running for president'

Whaa? Perry won last time with 39% of the vote. In reality, Perry isn't that popular in Texas.

Gov. Rick Perry insists that his sole political ambition is to serve the people of Texas for another four years, but his triumph over U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the March 2 Republican primary is propelling his name onto the list of potential Republican contenders in the 2012 presidential race.

Batsh*t craziness.

Super crony f*ck up given contract to 'fix' welfare

Why do Republicans hate the poor so much? Why do Republicans love their incompetent, greedy cronies so much?

A former state official who played a major role in the state's biggest privatization fiasco is now making money trying to help Texas fix the problems that resulted.

Gregg Phillips was the state's No. 2 social services official several years ago, and he led a push to hire a private company to evaluate applications for public assistance.

Now his Austin-based company, AutoGov Inc., has received $207,500 since November to help the state eliminate errors in deciding whether an applicant gets food stamps or other aid and how much recipients get. AutoGov was hired without other companies having a chance to bid for the work.

Psst. Republicans want government services to fail. Oh, for the days when the classes knew their places. Democracy? Meritocracy? What does that matter when the ruling class controls all of the wealth?

Barking mad Republicans

I attended a seminar at a luxury hotel where a few prominent Democrats were going to speak. I had my badge on while waiting in line for the breakfast buffet, when a woman using a walker asked me what my badge meant. I told her and she spat 'I wouldn't go hear xxx speak!'. My breakfast companion explained that she wasn't, in fact, invited to hear him. Then she went on about how she just hated Obama and wanted to punch Democrats out. Her companion said perhaps we shouldn't talk politics. Then, the lady in the walker, complained that she had a degenerative disc and could not get health insurance. Really, she just volunteered that. She, also, mentioned that she couldn't afford a house in Irvine, California where she lived. Barking mad. Barking, barking mad.

Later, at lunch, another pair of women next to our table asked about our badges. We explained, they sneered and dug into their lunches. Soon they were talking about a friend of theirs who had reached her lifetime expenditure limit with her insurance company while she was still battling a life and death illness. Barking mad. Barking, barking mad.

Hidalgo election machine irregularities

Hidalgo County Elections Department employees on Wednesday manually verified the total ballots cast in Tuesday’s primary elections after a misstep in the vote-tallying procedure sparked late-night confusion in countywide races.

The protocol for any election calls for the verification process to take place the morning after the polls close, county elections administrator Yvonne Ramón said at a news conference Wednesday. But candidates angry with the results had a heightened interest in the process this year.

Do you trust electronic voting machines? I don't. Nothing to see here. Just move along.

In one race, Precinct 5 justice of the peace candidate Hilda Caceres thought she had easily won election by an 1,100-vote margin. But the corrected tally posted at 11:22 p.m. showed incumbent Speedy Jackson with a narrow, 40-vote victory.

Gonzales had troubles, too.

Voting machine malfunctions in a justice of the peace race forced election workers to hand count ballots on Wednesday.

The final unofficial report on Tuesday night showed a 10-10 tie in the race for the Democratic nominee for Gonzales County Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3 between incumbent Eulogio "Lacho" Melchor and challenger Avery Williams.

"We knew that couldn't be right. The machines fouled up and weren't reading the ballots. So they were hand counted," said county clerk Lee Riedel.

After Wednesday's hand count, Melchor led with 260 votes to 139 for Williams.

'We knew that couldn't be right.' Is that the fail safe check?

Hutchison says she feels pressure to stay in the Senate

Oh, please. We all know that you were hedging your bets when you realized your bid for governor wasn't going to be the cakewalk you envisioned. Now, you're just 'sacrificing' for your fellow Republicans? Yeah. Right.

Republican U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is getting some GOP pressure to change her mind about resigning her seat, but a close friend predicted Wednesday that her decision will hinge on whether she can balance her service with what is best for her young children.

Republican hack at Caller Times slurs again

Republicans like to use the word 'Democrat' as an adjective. It is very much meant as a slur, just like the N word. The Corpus Christi Caller Times 'political reporter' just couldn't resist using 'Democrat' as the first word in her story and three times again, later on.

Democrat and Republican candidates heading into an April 13 runoff election will have a massive obstacle to overcome: voter apathy.

...

On the Democrat side, voters will choose nominees for Precinct 2 county commissioner and justice of the peace Precinct 1, Place 1.

...

This year, Barrera said she expects Republican turnout to exceed Democrat because of the runoff for the District 27 U.S. House nomination between James Duerr and Blake Farenthold.

...

On the Democrat ballot, Gloria Caceres and Joe A. Gonzalez also could generate some political heat in the runoff for the Democratic nomination to replace Precinct 2 County Commissioner Betty Jean Longoria, Barrera said.

It's Democratic, Jaime, you hack.

Corpus Christi RTA bosses punished

Two senior managers resigned from the Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority earlier this week after a three-week internal investigation, officials said. Two other senior managers will return to work after a five-day suspension without pay.

The four managers had been on paid administrative leave for about three weeks after allegations of inappropriate behavior during and after an off-site Christmas luncheon. Ruth Willey, human resource manager, and Alfonso Carrillo, manager of operations, resigned, said John Bell, the RTA’s legal counsel.

I predict a whistleblower lawsuit from Gloria Allen Smith.

Republicans win tuition hikes at more Texas colleges

Another win for the Republicans! The more expensive education is for the students, the better it is for the power elite to maintain their class distinctions. Too bad about the loss for our middle class when Republicans relish the idea of a backward, empty shell of a country with a large poor class and a small, very, very, very, very wealthy class.

The University of Texas Board of Regents approved tuition and fee increases for its nine academic institutions for the next two years and six health institutions for the next academic year during a special-called meeting Wednesday. But the board agreed to review tuition and fee costs for the 2011-2012 school year should the Texas State Legislature make changes in its appropriations to higher education when it convenes next year.

For Texas Republicans, whites need only apply

That's the news from soon to be former Republican railroad commissioner, Victor Carrillo. "Given the choice between "Porter" and "Carrillo" -- unfortunately, the Hispanic-surname was a serious setback from which I could never recover although I did all in my power to overcome this built-in bias. I saw it last time but was able to win because the "non-Carrillo" vote was spread among three Anglo GOP primary opponents instead of just one."

Bay Area Houston observed the whiteness of the Republican party from his vantage point as an election judge.

...The Grand Old Party should change their name to the Whites Only Party, WHOP. I was a judge at a heavily republican precinct and was counting the number of non-whites voting in their primary. After 12 hours and over 200 voters, only 4 were non-white....

More at Texas Liberal and Dog Canyon.