Category Archives: Show Business for Ugly People

Impeachment trial update: The Senate’s long weekend

Posted on September 16, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Closing arguments have been made. The prosecution and defense made their closing arguments Friday morning in the impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton, telling wildly contrasting tales of the eight days of witness testimony. The House impeachment managers insisted … Continue reading →

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Ken Paxton’s sleaze goes beyond his (alleged) crimes and misdemeanors

Posted on September 9, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Just a reminder, in case you needed it. When Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton held a news conference in May decrying state lawmakers’ anticipated vote to impeach him, he framed the decision as not only a threat to his political … Continue reading →

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The long line of shitty people who prop up Ken Paxton

Posted on July 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

There’s no end to these assholes. Hours before the Texas House overwhelmingly voted to impeach Ken Paxton in May, a well-funded supporter of the attorney general issued a threat to his fellow Republicans. A vote to impeach Paxton, Jonathan Stickland … Continue reading →

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Another interim AG appointed

Posted on July 11, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

All hail the latest temporary overlord. Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday that a longtime aide, Angela Colmenero, will serve as the second interim attorney general following Ken Paxton’s impeachment. After the House voted to impeach Paxton in May, he was … Continue reading →

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No pay for Paxton while he’s on the sidelines

Posted on June 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Poor baby. The Texas attorney general’s office attempted an end-run around a ruling from the state’s top accountant to pay Attorney General Ken Paxton despite his impeachment, documents indicated. Paxton has remained suspended from duty since the House overwhelmingly voted … Continue reading →

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UT/Texas Politics Project poll: Half of Texans think Paxton impeachment was “justified”

Posted on June 25, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s one poll, yadda yadda yadda, but here you go. As the Texas Senate begins the historically unprecedented process of trying the suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton on 31 articles of impeachment, a majority of Texas’ registered voters think the … Continue reading →

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Tarrant County picks a new elections administrator

Posted on June 18, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It could have been worse Tarrant County picked a new elections administrator Friday to replace Heider Garcia, who resigned earlier this year after he said he faced political pressure from Republican County Judge Tim O’Hare. The Tarrant County Election Commission … Continue reading →

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Justice Department follows up with Tarrant County

Posted on June 15, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Officials at the U.S. Department of Justice have committed to meeting with Tarrant County’s top Democrats to discuss the letter they sent requesting an investigation into voting rights. The Democrats, under the lead of U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey of … Continue reading →

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Abbott names former SOS John Scott as temporary AG

Posted on June 1, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I honestly wasn’t sure he was going to bother with this. Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday appointed Fort Worth lawyer and former Secretary of State John Scott as interim Texas attorney general, temporarily replacing Ken Paxton, who was suspended as … Continue reading →

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Tarrant County Dems seek Justice Department investigation of voting rights issues

Posted on May 17, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Elected officials who represent Tarrant County’s minority communities have asked the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to investigate County Judge Tim O’Hare and other county officials over concerns that their actions will diminish voting rights. The letter, signed by … Continue reading →

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Least-surprising headline of the week

Posted on April 20, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

From the Chron: “GOP donor tied to Clarence Thomas has given Texas lawmakers $19M”. The Texas billionaire in the middle of the controversy around U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has a long history in Texas politics, donating more than … Continue reading →

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The “True The Vote Freedom Hospital of Ukraine”

Posted on January 25, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This story has broken my brain. Gregg Phillips and Catherine Engelbrecht are best known as the election deniers behind True the Vote, a Texas-based nonprofit responsible for amplifying conspiracies that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. But soon after Russia … Continue reading →

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Here at last is that updated report on maternal mortality

Posted on December 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We’re still really bad at preventing it, especially for Black women. At least 118 women dead and nearly 200 children left without a mother. This was just a portion of the death toll from pregnancy and childbirth in Texas in … Continue reading →

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So why wasn’t that report on maternal mortality released when it was supposed to be?

Posted on December 10, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll never really know, mostly because there’s no one with the power to compel an answer from those who do know that cares enough to use that power. State health officials had completed a long-awaited report on maternal deaths and … Continue reading →

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Abbott bans TikTok on state-issued devices

Posted on December 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Honestly, I’m fine with this. Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday a ban of the popular app TikTok from all government-issued devices. In a news release, the Republican said the Chinese government could use the app to access critical U.S. infrastructure … Continue reading →

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Abbott to nominate Jane Nelson as next SOS

Posted on December 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

That was quick. Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday he will nominate retiring state Sen. Jane Nelson to be secretary of state. The announcement comes one day after John Scott said he would step down from the role at the end … Continue reading →

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Time for the biennial salute to the new Secretary of State

Posted on December 6, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

So long, John. Hope the next guy is better than you were. Texas Secretary of State John Scott will step down from his role as the state’s top elections official at the end of the year. “When I took office … Continue reading →

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The Paxton subpoena-fleeing saga gets more ridiculous

Posted on October 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Because of course it does. Lawyers in an abortion lawsuit tried for days to subpoena Attorney General Ken Paxton before sending a process server to his home Monday, and notified his office that their server was there before Paxton fled … Continue reading →

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In which I indulge in a bit of schadenfreude

Posted on September 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A base instinct, I admit, but I’m going to do it anyway. The district director for Texas’ newest congresswoman, Mayra Flores, R-Los Indios, recently resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment. The far-right website Current Revolt first reported a series of … Continue reading →

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More on the Gillespie County elections office resignations

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

From Votebeat, how this mess got started. Last November’s sleepy constitutional amendment election nearly came to blows in Gillespie County, a central Texas county known for its vineyards. A volunteer poll watcher, whose aggressive behavior had rankled election workers all … Continue reading →

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Whither the Log Cabin Republicans

Posted on August 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

A whole lot of words about a group of people that make no sense to me. In June 1998, a group of gay and lesbian conservatives, pushing for greater representation at the Texas Republican Party convention in Fort Worth, found … Continue reading →

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All of Gillespie County’s elections staff resigns

Posted on August 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Who could blame them? Citing threats and even stalking, all three employees at the Gillespie County elections office have resigned from their positions, leaving the office empty with less than three months before the primary election in November. The Fredericksburg … Continue reading →

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Vote No and take the credit anyway

Posted on August 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a tale as old as time. Republicans in Texas are proud to stand and announce local grants from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The problem is they all voted against it. All of them. For the second time in two … Continue reading →

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Texas is sooooooooo gerrymandered…

Posted on August 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

How gerrymandered are we? By this measure, we’re literally as gerrymandered as we could possibly be. But just how biased have modern-day maps become in the state of Texas? The map that was approved last October is so highly biased, … Continue reading →

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Meet the new billionaires in charge of Texas

Posted on July 28, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Somewhat worse than the old billionaires, who were already pretty bad. Gun owners allowed to carry handguns without permits or training. Parents of transgender children facing investigation by state officials. Women forced to drive hours out-of-state to access abortion. This is Texas now: … Continue reading →

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Grifters always stick together

Posted on July 24, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Two shitty tastes that taste even shittier together. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is pretty familiar with Catherine Engelbrecht. He’s been a guest on her podcast, chatting about their shared passion: rooting out voter fraud. They both have gone to … Continue reading →

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There’s only so much that Austin (or any other Texas city) can do to protect abortion rights

Posted on June 4, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I appreciate this, I really do, but it’s important to remember that it can only ever be a band-aid, and very likely a temporary one. The city of Austin is attempting to shield its residents from prosecution under a Texas … Continue reading →

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It’s called “talking out of both sides of your mouth”

Posted on June 1, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

It’s an old and effective trick, but that doesn’t mean it has to work. For a moment Friday afternoon, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was in two places at once. At about 3:30, the National Rifle Association played videotaped remarks from … Continue reading →

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Another look at how Galveston County disenfranchised its voters of color

Posted on May 30, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib takes a deep dive. Carver Park in Texas City, created during segregation, is considered the first African American county park in the state. It sits on land donated by descendants of freedmen who survived slavery and pioneered one … Continue reading →

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Ken Paxton finds a new thing to lie about

Posted on May 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This counts as personal growth for him. The state police made him do it. That’s the excuse Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton gives on his Texas ethics disclosures in place of revealing, as required by law, the addresses of properties … Continue reading →

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The polling data on abortion in Texas

Posted on May 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

From the Trib: At a time when Texas is poised to outlaw the vast majority of abortions if the nation’s highest court overturns constitutional protections for the procedure, a recent University of Texas at Austin poll shows most Texan voters … Continue reading →

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Texas misses the train

Posted on May 4, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Greg Abbott’s border hostage-taking has a cost. The Mexican government said it intends to shift long-range plans to build a trade railway connection worth billions of dollars from Texas to New Mexico in the wake of Gov. Greg Abbott’s stepped-up … Continue reading →

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Keeping the world safe from low tire pressure

Posted on April 23, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Such a visionary. State troopers ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott to inspect every commercial truck coming from Mexico earlier this month — which clogged international trade with Mexico — found zero drugs, weapons or any other type of contraband, according … Continue reading →

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Abbott ends his border hostage-taking

Posted on April 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I cannot get over how stupid and cynical this was, and yet it may be politically successful. Gov. Greg Abbott reached a fourth and final deal — this one with Tamaulipas’ governor on Friday — to end state troopers’ increased … Continue reading →

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