Discrimination Abounds

Here:

A radio ad for a handgun training class that bars Muslims and Obama voters has sparked an investigation in Texas.

“We will attempt to teach you all the necessary information you need to obtain your [Concealed Handgun License],” the ad says. Then towards the end, it adds: “If you are a socialist liberal and/or voted for the current campaigner in chief, please do not take this class. You have already proven that you cannot make a knowledgeable and prudent decision under the law.”

And then: “If you are a non-Christian Arab or Muslim, I will not teach you the class with no shame; I am Crockett Keller, thank you, and God bless America.”

And here:

A Wisconsin attorney known as the country’s king of lemon law litigation said he will no longer represent any Republican clients because he’s disgusted with a bill working its way through the state Legislature designed to cap lawyer fees.

Vince Megna of Milwaukee said Friday that he has already turned down one potential client he had been talking with since this summer.

No More Choosing Last Meal

This is sensible.

Texas death row inmates will no longer be permitted to choose the menu for their last meal.

The decision came after state Sen. John Whitmire took issue with the meal ordered by Lawrence Russell Brewer, who was executed Wednesday for the infamous dragging death of James Byrd Jr., a black man from East Texas.

Whitmire said he has always disapproved of catering to inmates, but this case seemed especially outrageous. On Thursday, he called the director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and followed up with a letter, recounting Brewer's meal choice of two chicken fried steaks, a triple meat bacon cheeseburger, a cheese omelet, a large bowl of fried okra, three fajitas, a pint of Blue Bell ice cream, and a pound of barbecue with a half loaf of white bread.

TDCJ Executive Director Brad Livingston responded: "I believe Senator Whitmire's concerns regarding the practice of allowing death row offenders to choose their last meal are valid. Effective immediately, no such accommodations will be made. They will receive the same meal served to other offenders on the unit."

[...]

"No death-row inmate prior to execution should be catered to," he said. "It's just common sense."

As for Brewer's last meal, Whitmire said it was an act of manipulation. Prison officials reported he ate none of it.

“Obama has done for the economy what pantyhose did for foreplay”

Kinky.

Rick Perry has never lost an election; I’ve never won one. Maybe that’s what’s wrong with the world. On the other hand, I’ve long been friends with Bill Clinton and George W., and Rick Perry and I, though at times bitter adversaries, have remained friends as well. It’s not always easy to maintain friendships with politicians. To paraphrase Charles Lamb, you have to work at it like some men toil after virtue.

I have been quoted as saying that when I die, I am to be cremated, and the ashes are to be thrown in Rick Perry’s hair. Yet, simply put, Rick Perry and I are incapable of resisting each other’s charm. He is not only a good sport, he is a good, kindhearted man, and he once sat in on drums with ZZ Top. A guy like that can’t be all bad. When I ran for governor of Texas as an independent in 2006, the Crips and the Bloods ganged up on me. When I lost, I drove off in a 1937 Snit, refusing to concede to Perry. Three days later Rick called to give me a gracious little pep talk, effectively talking me down from jumping off the bridge of my nose. Very few others were calling at that time, by the way. Such is the nature of winning and losing and politicians and life. You might call what Rick did an act of random kindness. Yet in my mind it made him more than a politician, more than a musician; it made him a mensch.

These days, of course, I would support Charlie Sheen over Obama. Obama has done for the economy what pantyhose did for foreplay. Obama has been perpetually behind the curve. If the issue of the day is jobs and the economy, Rick Perry is certainly the nuts-and-bolts kind of guy you want in there. Even though my pal and fellow Texan Paul Begala has pointed out that no self-respecting Mexican would sneak across the border for one of Rick Perry’s low-level jobs, the stats don’t entirely lie. Compared with the rest of the country, Texas is kicking major ass in terms of jobs and the economy, and Rick should get credit for that, just as Obama should get credit for saying “No comment” to the young people of the Iranian revolution.

More to the point, could Rick Perry fix the economy? Hell, yes! Texas is exhibit A; Rick’s fingerprints are all over it. He’s been governor since Christ was a cowboy. The Lone Star State is booming. The last time I checked, Texas is kicking in a hell of a lot of the U.S. GDP. Unemployment is lower than the vast majority of the other states. Hell, we could probably even find a job for Paul Begala.

As a Jewish cowboy (or “Juusshh,” as we say in Texas), I know Rick Perry to be a true friend of Israel, like Bill Clinton and George W. before him. There exists a visceral John Wayne kinship between Israelis and Texans, and Rick Perry gets it. That’s why he’s visited Israel on many more occasions than Obama, who’s been there exactly zero times as president. If I were Obama I wouldn’t go either. His favorability rating in Israel once clocked in at 4 percent. Say what you will about the Israelis, but they are not slow out of the chute. They know who their friends are. On the topic of the Holy Land, there remains the little matter of God. God talks to televangelists, football coaches, and people in mental hospitals. Why shouldn’t he talk to Rick Perry? In the spirit of Joseph Heller, I have a covenant with God. I leave him alone and he leaves me alone. If, however, I have a big problem, I ask God for the answer. He tells Rick Perry. And Rick tells me.

So would I support Rick Perry for president? Hell, yes! As the last nail that hasn’t been hammered down in this country, I agree with Rick that there are already too damn many laws, taxes, regulations, panels, committees, and bureaucrats. While Obama is busy putting the hyphen between “anal” and “retentive” Rick will be rolling up his sleeves and getting to work.

A still, small voice within keeps telling me that Rick Perry’s best day may yet be ahead of him, and so too, hopefully, will be America’s.

Hat tip Lance Burri.

Packin’ Perry

I am greatly amused by liberal reporters’ fearful fascination with Governor Perry’s excercise of his Constitutional rights.

When Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry goes for a jog in Texas, the governor doesn’t just throw on a pair of gym shorts and tennis shoes before dashing out the door. He also packs a concealed .380 Ruger loaded with deadly hollow-point bullets, fully equipped with a laser-sight for precise killing. (What, you don’t?)

He says he keeps it on him in case of an attack from wild animals. Last year, the Texas governor sent a coyote to canine heaven with a single shot while he was exercising in Austin, claiming it had threatened his dog.

But if he were elected president, could Perry hypothetically continue to pack heat on his morning run? You’re damn right he could.

The Ticket asked several constitutional scholars and presidential experts if a sitting president would be allowed to carry a gun if he wanted to, even if it meant breaking local law. Since the White House is located in Washington, D.C.—a city that bans carrying firearms—the answer isn’t perfectly simple. As presidential scholar Kenneth R. Mayer of the University of Wisconsin put it, the legal questions would get “big, fat, and hairy in a hurry.”

The short answer is that if the president really wanted to run around Lafayette Park with a revolver strapped to his leg, the legal barriers would be easily surmountable.

He’s So “Manly”

I think Ben Smith has a bit of a man crush.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is a leading advocate of gun rights who likes to boast of having dispatched a coyote on a recent jog, so I asked him during today’s walking press conference at the Iowa State Fair whether he was armed.

“I never comment on whether I’m carrying a handgun or not,” he said. “That’s why it’s called concealed.”

(If he was armed, he could have found himself in hot water with the state police over a ban at the fair that has rankled some local gun groups.)

Perry’s appearance at the fair, where he challenged reporters on whether they were “tough” enough to walk with him, chomped on meat and a hard-boiled egg and struck rugged poses was a well-staged political triumph. (The word “manly” got thrown around a lot, with varying degrees of irony, in the press pack.) It was also an opportunity to explore Perry’s politics, and reporters are currently transcribing their long recordings of his free-flowing comments.

How to be “Open for Business”

It’s no secret why Texas is kicking economic butt while other states languish.

And so it was awkward last week when Sullivan told a packed auditorium of civic leaders that he needed to make a “confession,” something he’s kept quiet for years. Finding qualified, factory-grade welders in an old-line industrial city such as Milwaukee had become arduous to near impossible. Calling himself a “killjoy,” Sullivan said he quietly phoned a few contacts in Texas to see whether the Lone Star State could provide him enough welders who are qualified to piece together the colossal mining machines that Bucyrus ships to India, China and elsewhere around the world.

A delegation of senior Texas government authorities met Sullivan at the airport, including the mayor of the town of Kilgore. In a one-hour lunch, they matched Bucyrus with a ready-to-occupy factory with every possible amenity.

More important, they asked Sullivan exactly what sort of workers he needed. Sullivan said 80 with specific skill. The state gave Sullivan a guarantee that the workers would be waiting when the doors opened at the expansion site in Kilgore. State officials customized a recruitment, training and certification program. One year later, when the expansion site in Kilgore opened its doors, the 80 welders were waiting.

In the two years since then, the Texas site has more than doubled to 184 total workers and plans to keep hiring. And back in Milwaukee, Sullivan has said next to nothing in public about the Kilgore expansion.

Perry?

I’d get behind Perry for president.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the longest serving chief executive in the state’s history and a politician who has never lost an election, said Friday he will consider seeking the Republican nomination for president.

The outspoken conservative, who for months said he wasn’t interesting in running for the White House, said he will consider entering the race after the Texas Legislature adjourns Monday.

Young Crook Killed in Burglary Attempt

Sorry, but a “good person” doesn’t try to pry his way into another person’s home with a crowbar.

The homeowner said shortly after he returned home from work he heard a noise at his back window.

The man said he pulled back the blinds and saw a young man with a crow bar trying to pry the window open.

“He was coming in the house. He scared me. I didn’t know what else to do,” he said. “I put the clip in the gun and I clicked it thinking that he heard all that.”

But that didn’t work, he said.

“When I raised the blinds he was still there, like he was still coming in. He was almost in then. I didn’t know what else to do,” the man said. “When I raised the blinds up I shot him.”

Police believe that’s when 17-year-old Ernest Morris turned around and jumped over the fence. But he didn’t make it far. He died behind the house from a bullet wound to the chest.

Jacqueline Morris doesn’t believe her son had to die. She wants justice for him.

“He was a wonderful son and I’m gonna miss him,” she said.

Morris said her son played football for Meadowbrook Middle School and Eastern Hills High School. But he seemed to be getting in trouble more often and ended up in an alternative school.

“They said he got a ticket and go to court messin’ up, havin’ fights at school. That’s the normal thing childs do. But other than that he was a good person,” she said.

She wants answers as to why the homeowner didn’t do more to scare him away. She believes her son may have known the man’s daughter.

“I think it was the girl. To visit somebody, I think,” she said. “Some people like my sister, if I don’t answer the door my sister and them go and knock on my window.”

Real Cuts

Awesome.

Via the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the Texas Legislature has reached a deal for the upcoming fiscal which actually cuts government spending. This is not a reduction in the rate of growth, it is not a cut based on a proposed budget, it is not a series of accounting gimmicks, the State of Texas will actually spend less money next fiscal year than it did last year.

Hat tip Dad29.

Texas Senate Passes Concealed Carry for College Campuses

Excellent news.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republicans in the Texas Senate on Monday approved allowing concealed handgun license holders to carry weapons into public college buildings and classrooms, moving forward on a measure that had stalled until supporters tacked it on to a universities spending bill.

Bear in mind that you still have to be 21 to get a carry permit in Texas. Everyone who would exercise this right is an adult with all of the rights and responsibilities that it implies.

Governor Good Hair

Nice piece on my governor (and fellow Aggie), Gov Rick Perry.

One point they column makes that I’ve agreed with for a couple years—if he was the governor of any other state, he’d be a frontrunner for the Republican nomination.

Heh.  I went to grab a picture, and this one popped up on Google Images.  That’s Perry on the right, standing in almost the same spot Owen and I are in our pic, though facing the opposite direction.

Speed Limit

Works for me.

The Texas House of Representatives has approved a bill that would raise the speed limit to 85 mph on some highways. The bill now goes to the state Senate, the Austin Statesman reports.

We suspect Sammy, shown at right back in 1995 when California raised its speed limit from 55 mph to 65 mph, would be pleased.

Texas currently has more than 520 miles of interstate highways where the speed limit is 80 mph, according to the Associated Press. The bill would allow the Texas Department of Transportation to raise the speed limit on certain roads or lanes after engineering and traffic studies are conducted. The 85-mph maximum would likely be permitted on rural roads with long sightlines.

Texas to Allow Concealed Carry on Campus

Great!

Texas is preparing to give college students and professors the right to carry guns on campus, adding momentum to a national campaign to open this part of society to firearms.

More than half the members of the Texas House have signed on as co-authors of a measure directing universities to allow concealed handguns. The Senate passed a similar bill in 2009 and is expected to do so again. Republican Gov. Rick Perry, who sometimes packs a pistol when he jogs, has said he’s in favor of the idea.

Texas has become a prime battleground for the issue because of its gun culture and its size, with 38 public universities and more than 500,000 students. It would become the second state, following Utah, to pass such a broad-based law. Colorado gives colleges the option and several have allowed handguns.

Aggies Organize for Concealed Carry On Campus

Gig ‘em!

A team of Texas A&M students will be heading to Austin to lobby state legislatures to support the concealed carry on campus bill on behalf of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. The group has yet to determine a date of departure.  

Though Senate Bill 354 was rejected in 2009 by state legislatures, the issue is being readdressed. One of the primary authors is Republican Sen. Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio, who said those who carry concealed handguns on campus would hinder a shooter from acting. 

The officers of the group said arming students and staff would make campus safer.

“We feel it is a good time to start sending constituents to meet with their representatives down at the Capitol and share their story to show how removing this self-defense prohibition is important to them,” said Derek Titus, a senior industrial engineering major and co-chairman of the group.

The organization is planning on sending those students who have contributed most and are most knowledgeable, or as State Director Chase Jennings said, the organization is planning to send “as many as can fit in the car.”

DeLay Convicted

Well deserved.

A Texas jury on Wednesday convicted former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on charges of illegally funneling corporate money to help elect GOP candidates to the Texas Legislature.

DeLay was found guilty of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering, court bailiff Gilbert Soto said. He was accused of funneling $190,000 to help elect Republicans to the state House and Senate in 2002.

[...]

DeLay’s sentencing was set for December 20, and he faces a possible maximum prison term of 99 years on the money laundering charge and 20 years on the conspiracy charge.