Talk.

BRAMANTI UPDATES (7:31 p.m.): As of this writing, Obama is leading Clinton 58-41. Huckabee has about a third of the GOP vote. And I’m happy to report that our campaign of voter suppression against Ron Paul is working, helped by our close friends at Diebold.

BRAMANTI UPDATES (8:11 p.m.): Here’s a rundown of some key local races, with early votes in:

• County Judge: Emmett leads Bacarisse, 58-42 percent
• District Attorney: Siegler leads Lykos, 40-35 percent
• U.S. Senator: By some weird fluke, Larry Kilgore snagged 15 percent of the vote?! Cornyn wins.
• U.S. House, District 22: Olson is leading. Manlove, Sekula-Gibbs and Herbacek are in a 3-way tie for 2nd.
• U.S. House, District 14: RON PAUL RON PAUL RON PAUL RON PAUL RON PAUL, 68-32 percent.
• Texas House, District 130: Fletcher leads Van Arsdale, 55-45 percent.

BENZION ADDS (8:23 p.m.): As a courtesy to the long-suffering Bob42, the Peden campaign blogad has been pulled.

Let the healing begin.

RICKG ADDS (9:34 p.m.): Kilgore us up to 17%. Is Cornyn in trouble?

McCain has clinched. Huckabee was giving a concession speech and was telling a long-winded story about baseball player George Brett, but I didn’t get to hear the conclusion because my wife got annoyed and changed the channel.

TV news stories are now talking about problems at some Dem caucuses. Police have been called but it’s unclear what’s going on. It appears that caucuses have been delayed seriously because the regular voting took so long. Some lady is now telling Channel 11 that she is still waiting outside with others for the caucusing to begin - several hours late.

BRAMANTI ADDS (9:39 p.m.): Several readers have asked where to find the most up-to-date results as they come in. The Texas Secretary of State site appears to be overwhelmed. I’m monitoring KHOU and the Harris County Clerk’s Office.

RICKG ADDS (9:45 p.m.): HillObama in a dead heat currently. There are already accusations of voting irregularities flying between the Dem camps. See here.

10:17 p.m.

Here is the story on Huckabee giving up. He called McCain and said he would “do everything possible to unite our party.”

RICKG ADDS (10:35 p.m.): It appears Hillary has stopped the bleeding. After the race in Ohio tightened up, the Dems broke for her in the late going - with 68% of the vote in, she has an impressive 56% to 42% lead. She is neck-in-neck with Obama in Texas and could pull it out. If she does, has she become the second Clinton “Comeback Kid”?

RICKG ADDS (10:45 p.m.): Obama is addressing supporters in San Antonio. He effectively conceded Ohio and said Texas’ results probably won’t be known until the morning. Of course, he added the obligatory “yes, we can” in Spanish. The man can talk longer without saying anything than anyone I can think of at the moment.

RICK ADDS (11:20 p.m.): Ron Paul is cleaning up in his congressional district, with about two-thirds of the vote. Curiously, he is underperforming in the presidential race, with under 5%. That’s less than he’s gotten in a number of other states.

Hillary has opened up a 50,000-plus vote lead on Obama in Texas. However, 35% of the votes are still to be counted. She is maintaining her 14 percentage point lead in Ohio (where she was projected as winner long ago) with over 80% of the votes counted.

I wonder which side is winning the fistfights at the caucuses.

BRAMANTI UPDATES (11:57 p.m.): Congratulations to Allen Fletcher, who’s on pace to unseat Corbin Van Arsdale. Memo to ostensibly Republican legislators: Don’t raise taxes, or we will fire you.

After escorting many fallen soldiers to their final resting place, I’ve learned that nothing is more heart wrenching than the cries of a grieving widow.

As the rifle shots echoed and the bugler played, the cries of April Perez, widow of Spc. Orlando “Tony” Perez could be heard above the sound of flags whipping in the brisk, chilled wind. Dreams of a life with her husband, of future children jumping into their Daddy’s arms, shattered by the cold reality of war.

By all accounts, Tony was a model soldier and citizen. His parents emigrated from El Salvador to the U.S. in search of a better life. Tony took advantage of their dream and avoided the crime ridden gang life that so often befalls young men. He joined the ROTC at Bellaire High School and later attended the University of Houston Downtown. But the call to see the world and participate in a higher calling was too strong and interrupted his education to join the Army.

On Sunday, Feb. 24th, Tony was killed in action in Iraq as he was trying to rid neighborhoods of insurgents, making them safe for everyday life, for people he’d never met but knew, deep down, it was the right thing to do. He was a leader, taking on the challenge of entering rooms first, with unknown danger lying in wait. His platoon members recognized his bravery, earning their respect and friendship.

I asked a young boy of 8 or 9 today if he knew Tony. He replied, “my cousin? Sure, he lived with us for three years. He was fun. He was cool.”

I suspect that Tony’s family will surround his young widow and let her feel some of the love that she has lost. In time, her hurt will subside and she will recognize that she is not the only person that lost time with Tony. We all did.

You see, it is men like Tony Perez that make this great nation great. Men that seek a higher calling and are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for you and me.

Perhaps, as LST member LizBV said about the Patriot Guard Riders, “The families are so grief stricken, these days are a blurr - but the heart “takes pictures.” One day they will hold onto the picture YOU and your brothers have provided.”

Rest in peace, soldier. Godspeed to your family.

Background:

Houston Chronicle

Stars and Stripes

Stryker Brigade News

This is great. Leave it to Texas conservative Sen. John Cornyn to lay out the truth about John McCain being the presidential nominee for the Repubs.

“I sort of liken it to a grieving process. You come to acceptance,” said U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, ticking off the conventionally accepted stages of mourning.

Suwheet! Let’s see now, this site lists five steps of mourning.

1. Denial and Isolation - That sounds about right. I know a lot of Repubs that were afraid to acknowledge that Mcain was the guy.
2. Anger - see Rush Limbaugh (and every other “conservative” commentator and talk show caller).
3. Bargaining - Absolutely. How many times have you heard, “we must make McCain come to us”.
4. Depression - conservative Republicans are loading up on Prozac.
5. Acceptance - Reaching this stage of mourning is a gift not afforded to everyone. LOL, ain’t that the truth! How many times have you heard a “conservative” say they’d rather vote for Hillary or Barack?

Are you suffering from PFS? Primary Fatigue Syndrome affects millions every primary season as political ads run endlessly for months on your favorite radio and television stations. Repetition drums vapid campaign messages into your brain until you enter a trance-like state in which you are highly susceptible to suggestion. If you are willing to vote for just about anyone in order to stop the ad madness, you may be suffering from PFS.

Fortunately, there is hope. In order to assist our readers in making it through the day until the polls close and the mind-numbing ads finally finish their runs, we offer LST’s Non-Election News. Yes friends, Non-Election News is guaranteed to distract you from the endless rhetoric of “change.”

Our Non-Election News subject for today is: religion. We have good news for all you pagans, atheists, and tree worshippers. You can throw out that pesky Bible because it turns out that that whole Moses and the Ten Commandments stuff was just a drug trip.

High on Mount Sinai, [Clever choice of words] Moses was on psychedelic drugs when he heard God deliver the Ten Commandments, an Israeli researcher claimed in a study published this week.

Such mind-altering substances formed an integral part of the religious rites of Israelites in biblical times, Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem wrote in the Time and Mind journal of philosophy.

Shockingly enough, the good Professor does not believe in the supernatural.

“As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don’t believe, or a legend, which I don’t believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics,” Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.

Moses was probably also on drugs when he saw the “burning bush,” suggested Shanon…

Now prepare yourself for a real shocker.

…who said he himself has dabbled with such substances.

The Professor’s dedication in the name of science is compelling.

He mentioned his own experience when he used ayahuasca, a powerful psychotropic plant, during a religious ceremony in Brazil’s Amazon forest in 1991. “I experienced visions that had spiritual-religious connotations,” Shanon said.

The good Professor knows what he is talking about too, with extensive experience in the subject.

Since that time, he has used [ayahuasca] hundreds of times, and has published a book about the plant.

There you have it, friends. All that old-time religion is just the result of folks imbibing loco weed. And now that the foundation of religion has been swept away, there is no need to concern yourself with commandments or doing unto others or any of that nonsense. In fact, there is just one simple commandment to keep: Thou Shalt Inhale.

A little less excitement in the NFL next year:

After flirting with retirement for years, Brett Favre means it this time. The Green Bay Packers quarterback quit after a 17-season career in which he dazzled fans with his grit, heart and rocket of an arm.

I was wondering if this day would ever come.  But the members of the media seem to have finally pulled themselves from the buffet line long enough to decide that maybe, just maybe, the Messiah Barack Obama should have to answer a real question or two.  And apparently he wasn’t quite ready.

In a piece cleverly headlined, “Ask Tough Questions?  Yes, They Can!” the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank describes the mood:

The day before primaries in Ohio and Texas that could effectively seal the Democratic presidential nomination for him, a smiling Obama strode out to a news conference at a veterans facility here. But the grin was quickly replaced by the surprised look of a man bitten by his own dog.

Reporters from the Associated Press and Reuters went after him for his false denial that a campaign aide had held a secret meeting with Canadian officials over Obama’s trade policy. A trio of Chicago reporters pummeled him with questions about the corruption trial this week of a friend and supporter. The New York Post piled on with a question about him losing the Jewish vote.

Obama responded with the classic phrases of a politician in trouble. “That was the information that I had at the time. . . . Those charges are completely unrelated to me. . . . I have said that that was a mistake. . . . The fact pattern remains unchanged.”

When those failed, Obama tried another approach. “We’re running late,” the candidate said, and then he disappeared behind a curtain.

Up to now, it seems not only has Obama been getting a relatively free ride, but many in the media have actually been fawning over the Golden Child - and nauseatingly so.

Thus, it must have been quite the shock to Obama to see his lapdogs suddenly turning into pit bulls (and the not so gentle kind at that).  First, he (naturally) blamed Hillary Clinton.  Then, while making his escape, he left us with one last whine:

An aide called out “last question,” and Obama made his move for the exit — only for reporters to shout after him in protest. “C’mon, guys,” he pleaded. “I just answered, like, eight questions.”

Oh, my, how taxing!  Eight whole questions?  We can only hope that Milbank’s last words were prophetic: “The questioning, however, has only just begun.”

Wouldn’t it be ironic if it turned out to be the MSM that saves us from Obama?

Those who have been hoping for the GOP to crash and burn, you may have to wait no longer than November to see Harris County controlled by Democrats.  According to the poll reported in the Chronicle Sunday, Republicans have ample cause for alarm.

Of the 604 voters surveyed Wednesday and Thursday, 42 percent said they will vote for a Democrat for county leadership positions, and 40 percent said they will vote for a Republican.

Similarly, 41 percent said they will vote Democratic in local judicial races in November and 37 percent said they will vote Republican.

The numbers effectively represent a tie, since they are within the margin of error.  However, that is a lot better prospect than the Democrats have faced in many an election - that party has not won a county wide contest in 10 years.

But the numbers have been trending toward the Dems and we have had warnings this was coming - like the complete takeover of the county judiciary by the Democrats in Dallas County in 2006.

Imagine:  A Democratic White House (occupied by the man who is currently the most liberal Senator in the country), a Democratic US Senate, a Democratic US House of Representatives, possibly a Democratic Texas House, and a Democratically-controlled Harris County.

If you think the business tax was an outrage, wait until you get a load of life in that scenario.

Get your checkbooks out, folks.

And we’ll see how long it takes to try to get any of these back from the Democrats.  One to two decades maybe?

Although HD130 is getting the most press (and tons of lobbyist money), another Texas House race to look at is 129. The incumbent, John Davis also voted for the idiotic business tax. Check it out here. And for a nice bit of irony, look at his website and read this:

Helping small business
Upon replacing the franchise tax with a new business-margins tax, the state has doubled or even tripled the tax burden for thousands of small businesses. With no corresponding increase in revenues or profits, many of those businesses are threatened with failure. John Davis supports such relief measures as increasing the tax threshold from $300,000 to $1 million, cutting in half the tax on businesses that gross less than $20 million a year, and requiring a supermajority to raise the margins tax.

So, Rep. Davis votes for the monster tax and now he says:

the state has doubled or even tripled the tax burden for thousands of small businesses

I’d suggest that someone loan Rep. Davis a mirror. Recall that he also introduced a bill to expand the CHIPS program, not exactly at the top of the Republican Party Platform.

Rep. Davis has a credible challenger this year. It’ll be interesting to see if Jon Keeney is able to unseat him. Probably the best thing I found on his website was this:

I will consistently use our Party Platform, as prepared by the grass roots, as a starting point for decisions.

Mr. Keeney’s task is even harder than Allen Fletcher’s. We’ll know tomorrow if Republican voters are interested in change.

Today’s the day!

Harris County Election Information
Fort Bend County Election Information
Galveston County Election Information
Montgomery County Election Information
Brazoria County Election Information
Statewide Election Information

——————–

——————–

Get paid to tell us what you think– Register to participate in one of our focus groups; earn money telling us what you think about politics, your community and consumer goods. Click here to learn more and sign-up!

——————–

——————–

Dawn Wolf Design– LST’s full-service graphic designer of choice. Talented, professional, competitively priced; a generous LST volunteer, we could not recommend her more highly. | 713-984-9200 | website

——————–