Why Texas politics is such fertile ground for writers

It's not new information, but until I read today's Chron I didn't know that Land Commissioner and Republican candidate for Lt. Governor David Dewhurst worked for the CIA in Bolivia in the early 1970s. There were some bad things going on down there in that era, such as the US-backed coup that overthrew the Bolivian government in 1971, but no evidence that Dewhurst was involved in any of them. He says he was basically a "glorified clerk who read newspapers and wrote reports to send back to CIA headquarters". The CIA, for its part, is typically helpful:

A Houston Chronicle Freedom of Information request to the CIA seeking information on Dewhurst's service received a reply that the agency could neither confirm nor deny that he had ever worked there.

Considering that Dewhurst and his Democratic opponent John Sharp combine to have less charisma than Norman Mineta on antihistamines, we should be thankful for stories like this. It's a long time until November.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on April 15, 2002 to Election 2002