LinkSwarm For March 8, 2024

March 8th, 2024

Because the ground invasion wasn’t enough, the Biden Administration has been flying illegal aliens into American cities, wages for Americans are down, San Francisco continues inching toward sanity, some crime news, and Fisker looks farked. It’s the Friday LinkSwarm!

  • “Bombshell Report Reveals Biden Has Secretly Flown 320,000 Illegals INTO The United States.”

    A Freedom of Information Act lawsuit has revealed that the Biden administration has flown at least 320,000 migrants into the United States in an effort to reduce the number of crossings at the southern border, according to Todd Bensman of the Center for Immigration Studies.

    “The program at the center of the FOIA litigation is perhaps the most enigmatic and least-known of the Biden administration’s uses of the CBP One cellphone scheduling app, even though it is responsible for almost invisibly importing by air 320,000 aliens with no legal right to enter the United States since it got underway in late 2022,” wrote Bensman.

    Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had initially refused to disclose information about the flights, which use a cell phone app, CBP One, to arrange.

    “Under these legally dubious parole programs, aliens who cannot legally enter the country use the CBP One app to apply for travel authorization and temporary humanitarian release from those airports. The parole program allows for two-year periods of legal status during which adults are eligible for work authorization,” Bensman continues.

    The flights resulted in illegal immigrants being placed in at least 43 American cities from January through December 2023.

    Under the terms of their release, migrants are able to remain in the US for two years without obtaining legal status, and are meanwhile eligible for work authorization.

    How many Americans realized they were voting for this invasion when they voted for Biden?

  • Add suborning perjury to the Fani Willis accusations.

    A new witness could testify Fani Willis warned lover Nathan Wade’s former business partner to stay quiet about their affair, an explosive new court filing claims.

    “They are coming after us. You don’t need to talk to them about anything about us,” Willis is alleged to have warned Terrence Bradley in a September 2023 phone call.

    The call was overheard by Cobb County, Georgia, prosecutor Cindi Lee Yeager, according to court papers filed Monday by Trump co-defendant David Schafer.

    They more they dig, the crookeder she seems.

  • Arizona’s Democrat-turned-independent Kyrsten Sinema won’t run for reelection.
  • U.S. salaries are falling. Thanks, Joe Biden! (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)
  • The tide continues to turn in San Francisco. “‘Progressivism Is Out’: San Franciscans Pass Ballot Measures Requiring Drug Testing for Welfare, Expanding Police Surveillance.”

    San Francisco voters who’ve grown tired of the crime, homelessness, and drug use plaguing their left-wing city overwhelmingly approved a pair of ballot measures on Tuesday that will expand police powers and require welfare recipients to be screened for drugs.

    Proposition E, which authorizes police to use surveillance equipment — cameras, drones, and even facial-recognition technology — without prior permission from an oversight body, passed with 59,818 votes, or 59.9 percent. The proposition will also loosen restrictions on police chases and require that officers spend less time on paperwork and administrative duties.

    Proposition F, which mandates that anyone receiving public-assistance benefits be screened for a substance-abuse disorder, passed with 63,295 votes, or 63 percent.

    As part of the proposition, public-assistance recipients found to be drug-dependent could be offered treatment. If it is made “available at no cost, the recipient will be required to participate to continue receiving” public benefits, according to the proposition.

    “Progressivism is out—for now,” the San Francisco Chronicles’ website read in bold letters on Wednesday morning, “Voters make it clear: S.F. can no longer be called a progressive city.”

    The approval of both propositions was a big win for San Francisco’s embattled mayor, London Breed, who placed both measures on the primary ballot in an effort to tamp down on crime and to take aim at drug addiction and overdose deaths in the city. She told reporters on Tuesday that passage of the two measure will allow her administration to “continue the work we’re doing” to improve public safety, according to the Chronicle.

    With San Francisco turning slightly sane, Austin may vie with Seattle, New York and Chicago for the title of America’s Most Insane Radical Leftwing City.

  • “9 Ways The Feds Are Using ‘Bidenbucks’ To Rig The 2024 Election.”

    3. Department of Health and Human Services

    In June 2023, The Daily Signal’s Fred Lucas reported that the Indian Health Service (IHS), which falls under the Department of Health and Human Services, is collaborating with the ACLU, Demos, and several other left-wing organizations to register new voters. In order to expand the reach of these efforts, the Biden administration designated an Arizona-based Indian Health Service (IHS) facility as an official voter registration hub in October.

    According to Arizona Democrat Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Native Health of Phoenix, which caters to “urban Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and all other individuals,” will “assist individuals in the voter registration process.” The administration confirmed that the IHS facility would be one of five designated as voter registration sites by the end of 2023.

    Much like young voters, Native Americans heavily favor Democrats.

    4. Department of Agriculture

    The USDA is another federal agency directing its efforts at potential Democrat voters. Earlier this month, emails obtained by The Daily Signal show the agency was colluding with Demos as early as August 2021 to work on turning out voters.

    As The Federalist’s M.D. Kittle reported, the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service “encourages all state agencies administering the child nutrition programs to provide local program operators with promotional materials, including voter registration and non-partisan, non-campaign election information, to disseminate among voting-age program participants and their families.”

    One of the “ideas” recommended by the agency is for “[s]chool food authorities administering the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) in high schools, and adult day care centers and emergency shelters participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) to promote voter registration and election information among voting-age participants and use congregate feeding areas, such as cafeterias, or food distribution sites, as sites for the dissemination of information.”

    (Hat tip: Instapundit.)

  • Sweden officially joins NATO.

    Sweden officially became part of the NATO alliance Thursday, two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused the nation to overhaul its non-alignment policy.

    Snip.

    “It’s official – #Sweden is now the 32nd member of #NATO, taking its rightful place at our table. Sweden’s accession makes NATO stronger, Sweden safer, and the whole Alliance more secure. I look forward to raising their flag at NATO HQ on Monday,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on X Thursday. Hungary ratified Sweden’s ascension into the alliance last week, becoming the final NATO country to do so.

    The nordic country applied for NATO membership in May 2022, about three months after Russia began its war in Ukraine. The admission of Finland and Sweden expands NATO to 32 members.

    As Peter Zeihan noted, “in the Swedish military, every day you wake up, you prepare for one thing: the war with the Russians.” Good job, Putin!

  • “Journalist Appears in Federal Court in Leg and Belly Chains to Face Jan. 6 Misdemeanors.”

    Blaze Media journalist Steve Baker was arrested by the FBI and brought to a Texas federal courtroom in handcuffs, a belly chain and foot shackles to face four nonviolent misdemeanor charges for being at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021…

    “There’s nothing in there about my behavior,” Mr. Baker told The Epoch Times. “It’s all about my words. Everything. It’s all about stuff I said before, stuff I said after, and that’s it. No more complicated than that.”

    Mr. Geyer said his client’s arrest shows an “unprecedented shift in Department of Justice policy [after it] had spent decades adhering to special protections for journalists.”

    At least non-leftwing journalists…

  • “California Moves To Expand Zero-Down, Interest-Free Home Loan Program To Illegal Immigrants.” Hell, American citizens shouldn’t be getting government subsidies like that. Handing taxpayer subsidies to illegal aliens is insane and should be illegal.
  • Speaking of people who shouldn’t be getting taxpayers subsidies, Harvard “We Hate Jews” University wants $2 billion in taxpayer-backed bonds.

  • Recall effort against Dallas’ Democrat-turned-Republican mayor Eric Johnson fails. Number of signatures to have a recall election: 103,595. Number of signatures submitted: Zero.
  • MSNBC hosts think that illegal aliens flooding the country is a big laugh for Virginians.
  • Self defense shooting in north Austin.
  • “After emotional closing arguments from the defense and prosecution, jurors found two former Williamson County Sheriff’s deputies not guilty for the in-custody death of Javier Ambler.” They tasered him after a 20 minute car chase and he croaked. (Hat tip: Dwight.)
  • Vermont citizens decide no, you’re not shoplifting here. (Hat tip: 357 Magnum.)
  • Russia finally bags a HIMARS.
  • Two idiot bonks for the price of one.

  • The Fisker Ocean electric car features a whole host of irritations.
  • That may be one reason why Fisker just issued a warning that they might go bankrupt this year.
  • Gavin Newsom announces a new state Stasi hotline to report your neighbors for WrongThink.
  • J. K. Rowling still refuses to bend the knee.
  • Rooster Teeth studio in Austin shutting down. Machinima is one of those concepts that never quite turned into a profitable industry.
  • NASA’s plans to evacuate astronauts from a Space Shuttle pad emergency? Would you believe ziplines and M113 armored personal carriers?
  • “In Major Blow To Democracy, Supreme Court Rules Voters Can Vote For Favorite Candidate.”
  • One of these things is not like the others:

    (Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ.)

  • Hit the tip jar if you’re so inclined.





    More Texas 2024 Primary Results Tidbits

    March 7th, 2024

    Now that the dust has settled a bit, here are some more election tidbits from Tuesday’s primary, most gleaned from The Texan’s tracking page.

  • President Trump got more than twice as many primary votes as Joe Biden.
  • Ted Cruz got more than twice as many votes (1,979,327) as all the Democratic Texas Senate candidates combined (964,250). And even more votes than Trump (1,808,823).
  • Trump and Cruz both won all 254 Texas counties. Joe Biden lost sparsely populated Loving County to Frank Lozada one vote to zero, and King County (small and overwhelmingly Republican) either hasn’t reported Democratic votes or didn’t hold a Democratic primary. (Both Trump and Cruz got over 70 votes in Loving County.)
  • Republican incumbent Christi Craddick won her Railroad Commissioner’s race without a runoff at 50.4%.
  • If you compare the topline race primary results of 2022 (Texas Gubernatorial race) to the Presidential primary results of 2024, Republican votes are up just over 365,000 (2,323,754 in 2024 vs. 1,954,172 for 2022), but Democrats are down over 96,000 votes (979,179 for 2024 vs. 1,075,601 for 2022).
  • The Ken Paxton slate for the Court of Criminal Appeals (David Schenck, Gina Parker, and Lee Finley) all won over their respective incumbents fairly handily.
  • The previously reported Gonzalez/Herrera runoff was the only Texas U.S. House race where the Republican incumbent was pulled into a runoff; all the others won with ease.
  • 2022 saw Republican Monica De La Cruz beat Democrat Michelle Vallejo in U.S. House District 15, the only swing district in Texas after redistricting, by nine points. November is going to see a rematch between the two, as both won their primaries. Given the ongoing border crisis (TX15 runs down to Rio Grande Valley) and both Texas Republican and Trump inroads into Hispanic voters, I would not expect Vallejo to improve on her previous showing.
  • Harris County DA Kim Ogg lost her Democratic Party primary to the more radical, Soros-backed Sean Teare. “Although Ogg had financial support from billionaire donor and criminal justice reform activist George Soros during her first campaign in 2016, Soros did not assist Ogg in her 2020 re-election bid and threw his support to Teare this election cycle. The Soros-funded Texas Justice and Public Safety PAC spent over $1.5 million in the final weeks of the campaign to help Teare unseat Ogg.” Democrats also seethed that Ogg let investigations of corruption among Judge Lina Hidalgo’s staffers go forward. How dare she not treat Democrats as above the law? Teare will face Republican nominee Dan Simons, a former assistant district attorney and defense attorney, in November. Bonus: Ogg had trouble voting because her lesbian girlfriend already cast her ballot for her. As commentor Leland noted, does Harris County not follow Texas voter ID laws?
  • Travis County residents are evidently delighted with more rapes and murders, as they just voted to keep Jose Garza DA.
  • School choice was a big winner Tuesday.

    The 2024 primary election was a major success for school choice advocates in Texas. Several opponents of education reform lost outright, others went to runoffs, and still more were electorally weakened.

    Corey DeAngelis, a school choice advocate and head of the American Federation for Children Victory Fund, released a statement touting six wins and four forced runoffs in the 13 races where his PAC was engaged.

    Throughout multiple called special sessions in 2023, the Republican-led House alternatively delayed and killed Gov. Greg Abbott’s efforts to create school choice in Texas. Ultimately, these efforts culminated with 21 Republicans voting for an amendment by John Raney (R-College Station) to strip school choice from an omnibus education measure.

    Accounting for retirements and with the runoffs still to be decided, only a handful of incumbent Republicans who sided with the teachers’ unions to kill school choice during the legislative session will be returning to Austin in 2025.

    As covered yesterday, anti-school choice incumbents defeated include Reggie Smith, Travis Clardy, Glenn Rogers, Ernest Bailes and Steve Allison, while those driven into run-offs include Justin Holland, John Kuempel, Gary VanDeaver and DeWayne Burns

  • Some State Board of Education news. “Pat Hardy, a former teacher and a veteran representing District 11, which covers parts of Fort Worth, lost her seat to challenger Brandon Hall, a youth pastor.” Also: “Another incumbent, Tom Maynard of District 10, which includes Williamson and Bell counties, will go into a May 28 runoff against Round Rock school board member Mary Bone, who describes herself as a conservative champion for Texas kids.” If Bone wins, she’ll probably make a good State Board of Education member, but Round Rock ISD desperately needs more conservatives on the board.
  • Williamson County primary results. I didn’t see any surprises there.
  • Things that make you go “Hmmmm”: “Potential Speaker Candidate Hired by Bank with Ties to Bonnen and Phelan.”

    A lawmaker rumored to be eyeing the speakership in the Texas House is employed by a bank that has connections to current House Speaker Dade Phelan and disgraced former Speaker Dennis Bonnen.

    State Rep. Cody Harris, a Republican from Palestine, was first elected to the House in 2018. At the time, he was a real estate broker for Liberty Land & Ranch LLC.

    In August of 2021, however, Harris added a new item to his resumé—Vice President of Business Development for Third Coast Bank.

    The career change is notable given the bank’s ties to the current and former speaker.

    In late 2019, Third Coast Bank acquired Heritage Bank, where Bonnen had served as President, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer. He currently sits on Third Coast’s Board of Directors.

    Phelan’s brother Lan Phelan was a director of Third Coast from 2013 until at least 2016, according to filings with the secretary of state. A 2021 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed that the bank’s Beaumont location was leased from Phelan’s family investment firm.

    Additionally, the most recent personal financial statement from Dade Phelan shows that he owns shares in Third Coast.

  • Texas 2024 Primary Election Results: Trump Triumphant, Phelan In Runoff, Phelan Cronies Slaughtered

    March 6th, 2024

    Lots of gratifying results came out of yesterday’s primaries. Perhaps the most gratifying is that the Straus-Bonnen-Phelan Axis, which has thwarted conservative priorities for decades, finally had a stake driven through its heart.

    First statewide and national office races:

  • President Trump crushed Nikki Haley in Texas with over 76% of the vote.
  • Indeed, Trump won every Super Tuesday primary save Vermont, where Haley eked out a win.

    Former president Donald Trump seems poised to breeze to the Republican presidential nomination after nearly sweeping the party’s Super Tuesday contests.

    By 11 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Trump had won the Republican presidential contests in at least twelve of the Super Tuesday states: Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Maine, Alabama, Massachusetts, Texas, Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, and delegate-rich California.

    Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, meanwhile, earned her first — and likely only — win of the night in Vermont.

    Results from caucuses in Alaska and Utah were still outstanding around 11:30 p.m. ET.

  • The results were so crushing that they managed to drive establishment catspaw Haley from the race.
  • Ted Cruz cruised to a victory with just under 90% of the vote, and will face Democrat Collin Allred in November. Allred won a clear majority in a five-way race, with Roland Gutierrez coming in at very distant second that was more than 40 points behind.
  • U.S. Representative Tony Gonzalez is headed into a runoff with YouTuber and gun rights activist Brandon Herrera.

    In the Republican primary race for Texas Congressional District 23, Brandon Herrera has taken incumbent Congressman Tony Gonzales to a runoff.

    According to unofficial totals, Gonzales captured 46 percent of the vote to Herrera’s 23 percent.

    Leading into the election, much of the discussion centered on Gonzales’ multiple censures from Republican organizations.

    The congressman had been censured by the Medina County Republican Party, which was followed by a censure from the Republican Party of Texas (RPT).

    The RPT censure was only the second time in history the party had used the maneuver for a sitting politician, the first being in 2018 with then-House Speaker Joe Staus (R-San Antonio). House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) then became the third sitting member to be censured by the State Republican Executive Committee when they approved the official resolution in February.

    Gonzales’ censure came after RPT found that he had violated the multiple tenets of the party platform with his votes in Congress.

    The incumbent Gonzales had also been criticized for his stance on border security.

    In December, he penned a letter to both Democratic and Republican federal leadership stating that he believes the border crisis could reach a “point of no return” if lawmakers do not act soon.

    The letter came after a disagreement with Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX-21) over a border security bill Roy introduced to require the detention or expulsion of illegal immigrants, which would prohibit “all asylum” claims. Gonzales has also labeled some of his GOP colleagues “insurgents” and accused 20 Republicans of planning to push “anti-immigrant” legislation under the guise of border security policy.

    The leading issue for voters statewide leading into the primary election is border security and immigration, which is represented by the vote totals in this race.

    Herrera describes himself as a “Second Amendment activist, and social media personality,” known online as “The AK Guy.”

    He proclaimed, “Texas is done with RINO’s,” during the night of the primary election.

    “The war starts now.”

    (Previously.)

  • But in Texas, the big news was that Dade Phalen, the latest in the Joe Straus/Dennis Bonnen cabal that has stayed in power with Democratic Party backing to thwart conservative priorities, is headed into a runoff with David Covey for Texas House District 21, with less than half a point separating the two.

    The Speaker of the Texas House Dade Phelan will be heading to a runoff, after failing to receive the support of a majority of Republican voters in his district.

    Phelan, who was first elected to the House in 2014 and has been speaker since 2021, will face off against former Orange County GOP chairman David Covey in a runoff election that is certain to garner attention from across the state.

    Phelan had been criticized by conservatives for failing to pass conservative priorities, placing Democrats in leadership positions, and leading the charge to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton last year. Former President Donald Trump endorsed Covey, calling any Republican who backed Phelan “a fool.”

    Phelan received 45.8 percent of the vote with Covey earning 45.3 percent.

    Alicia Davis, a Jasper County activist, took 8.9 percent of the vote.

    “The people of House District 21 have put every politician in Texas, and the nation, on notice,” said Covey. “Our elected officials are elected by the people and work for the people, and when they don’t, there will be consequences.”

    “Since 1836, Texans have answered the call to defend liberty and fight for our freedoms. I have every intention of continuing that tradition,” he added.

    Covey was joined by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at his election night watch party. Patrick, who has been a vocal critic of Phelan, had not officially endorsed Covey.

    But it wasn’t just Phelan! A whole bunch of the Republican state reps who backed Phelan either lost outright or are headed to runoffs:

  • Mike Olcott thumped incumbent Glenn Rogers in Texas House District 60.

    The runoff rematch between state Rep. Glenn Rogers (R-Graford) and Mike Olcott went entirely unlike the first round two years ago, with Olcott defeating the incumbent in a landslide.

    Once Palo Pinto County returns came in, it was clear which way the bout would go. Olcott won Rogers’ home county by 365 votes and cleaned up in the rest of the district.

    Last go-around, Rogers nipped Olcott by a few hundred votes, thanks in large part to support from Gov. Greg Abbott. This time in the rematch, the governor switched sides after Rogers voted against his education savings account plan — opposition to which the incumbent has remained steadfast. On Monday, state Sen. Phil King (R-Weatherford) announced his support for Olcott in the race.

    Rogers outlasted his previous two stiff primary challenges, the first in 2020 for the open seat against Jon Francis, the son-in-law of conservative mega-donors Farris and JoAnn Wilks. Then in 2022 Olcott challenged Rogers, the incumbent, and narrowly lost.

    This time, Abbott has made multiple trips to the district, stating at one that, “There are many reasons we are here today, and one of those is that I made a mistake last time in endorsing Glenn Rogers. And I’m here to correct that mistake. I’m here to make sure everyone knows, I’m here to support Mike Olcott to be your state representative.”

    Olcott swept the top-level endorsements with Abbott, Donald Trump, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

  • Joanne Shofner absolutely destroyed incumbent Travis Clardy in Texas House District 11, 63% to 37%.

    uring the 88th Legislative session last year, Clardy was one of the House members who voted in favor of stripping education savings accounts from the November education omnibus bill.

    Leading into the election a central issue was how each candidate landed on school choice, as both Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) have based their candidate endorsements on support for education freedom.

    Clardy was also issued a cease and desist letter by Abbott for “representing to the public that Governor Abbott has endorsed you in your bid for re-election,” when in fact Abbott had endorsed his opponent Joanne Shofner, whom the letter called “a true conservative.” Clardy has continued to express vocal opposition to school choice: “Right now, the price to get his endorsement was I had to bend the knee and kiss the ring and say that I will vote for vouchers[.]”

    Shofner, along with both Abbott and Cruz’s support, also had the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

  • Janis Holt defeated Ernest Bailes in Texas House District 18, 53% to 39%. Colony Ridge was a hot topic in the race.
  • Shelley Luther defeated incumbent Reggie Smith.

    Conservative activist Shelley Luther has won her rematch against incumbent Republican State Rep. Reggie Smith of Van Alystne to represent House District 62 in North Texas.

    House District 62 includes Grayson, Fannin, and portions of Delta and Franklin counties.

    Smith, who has served in the Texas House since 2018, is part of the House leadership team, serving as chair of the House Election Committee under House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont). As chair, Smith either slow-walked or killed several Republican priority measures addressing election security.

    Smith’s record from the past year also includes voting to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton—who was later acquitted by the Senate—and voting against school choice legislation.

    Luther, who made state and national headlines in 2020 when she was jailed after refusing to close her salon during the COVID-19 shutdowns, said previously she looks forward to working with the governor to pass school choice this next session.

  • Marc LaHood defeated incumbent Steve Allison in Texas House District 121, 54% to 39%.

    Allison voted with Democrats to strip a school choice measure from a school spending measure.

    His opposition to school choice drew the ire of Gov. Greg Abbott, who endorsed LaHood.

    During Allison’s two terms, he has earned an “F” rating on the Fiscal Responsibility Index for his votes on fiscal issues. He was also one of the 60 Republican House members who voted to impeach Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

  • Hillary Hickland defeated incumbent Hugh Shine in Texas House District 55, 53.1% to 39.5%.

    Belton mom and pro-family advocate Hillary Hickland has won the Republican Primary Election for House District 55, unseating incumbent State Rep. Hugh Shine of Temple.

    HD 55 encompasses part of Bell County.

    School Choice has defined the HD 55 race, as Shine voted against Gov. Greg Abbott’s proposed school choice package.

    Hickland meanwhile accumulated endorsements from Abbott, former President Donald Trump, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, Attorney General Ken Paxton, Texas Home School Coalition, and Young Conservatives of Texas.

  • Matt Morgan defeated incumbent Jacey Jetton in Texas House District 26, 53.8% to 38.6%.

    Businessman Matt Morgan has defeated State Rep. Jacey Jetton of Richmond in the Republican Primary.

    House District 26 includes part of Fort Bend County.

    The failed impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton featured prominently in the race.

    Jetton was among the Republicans who voted to impeach Paxton.

    Morgan—who fell short to Jetton in a runoff in 2020—quickly earned the endorsement of Paxton. He also had the endorsement of U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls, who called Jetton a “liberal.”

    During his two terms in office, Jetton earned an “F” rating on the Fiscal Responsibility Index for his votes on fiscal issues.

  • Brent Money unseated “incumbent” Jill Dutton in Texas House District 2, reversing the results of the January runoff between the two.
  • Former Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson takes a narrow lead over incumbent Justin Holland into the Texas House District 33 runoff.

    State Rep. Justin Holland (R-Rockwall) and challenger Katrina Pierson will duke it out for another three months after neither eclipsed 50 percent, both advancing to the runoff.

    The pair were neck and neck in the Rockwall County and Collin County portions of the district.

    Holland’s clash with Pierson and London was highly-anticipated. Pierson has the largest profile of any challenger in this 2024 primary, having served as a Donald Trump campaign spokeswoman in 2016. On top of that, London challenged Holland in the 2022 primary, giving him some level of ballot name ID.

    Despite that Trump affiliation, Pierson was omitted from the former president’s endorsement list in Texas races.

    The incumbent found himself in the political right’s crosshairs after three consequential votes: impeaching Attorney General Ken Paxton, striking down Gov. Greg Abbott’s school choice plan, and advancing through committee a proposal to raise the age of purchasing certain semi-automatic rifles to 21.

    Holland far outraised and outspent his two opponents, who combined raised $337,000 to the incumbent’s $1.2 million.

    He was the beneficiary of around $170,000 from Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont), $225,000 from the Charles Butt Public Education PAC, $50,000 from the casino group Texas Sands PAC, $40,000 from Texans for Lawsuit Reform, and $115,000 from the Associated Republicans of Texas.

  • Alan Schoolcraft took a small lead against incumbent John Kuempel in the Texas House District 44 race. “Following election night results, Alan Schoolcraft and John Kuempel will go head to head in a runoff election scheduled for May 28. Schoolcraft received 48.13% of votes while Kuempel received 45.02% of votes.” Schoolcraft was endorsed by President Trump.
  • Mitch Little, Ken Paxton’s impeachment lawyer, appears to have won Texas House District 65 over incumbent Kronda Thimesch . “Little, with Paxton’s backing, defeated State Rep. Kronda Thimesch, who had the backing of Governor Greg Abbott, by about 300 votes.” Which means a recount is likely.
  • In Texas House District 1, Chris Spencer forced incumbent Gary Vandeaver into a runoff, with less than 2.5% separating them.
  • Helen Kerwin takes a seven point lead over incumbent DeWayne Burns into the Texas House District 58 runoff, and only missed an outright win by 1.2%. Kirwin was also endorsed by President Trump.
  • Challenger Keresa Richardson takes a seven point lead over incumbent Frederick Frazier into the Texas House District 61 runoff. Looks like I’ll have to wait until May to use the “Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!” joke…
  • Challenger Andy Hopper takes a narrow lead over incumbent Lynn Stuckey in the Texas House District 64 race into the runoff.
  • Challenger David Lowe was only two points behind Stephanie Klick going into the Texas House District 91 runoff.
  • Given the usual run of only one or two incumbents getting knocked off in primaries (and those usually involved in prominent scandals), having 17 reps meet that fate is a political earthquake on par with Newt Gingrich-lead Republicans capturing the House after 40 years of Democratic rule in 1994. All the outside gambling and other special interest money was on the Phelan Axis side, and they still got stomped. I credit this in large measure to Trump, Paxton, Abbott and Cruz getting involved in statehouse races.

    The Phelan Axis decided that killing school choice and the Paxton impeachment were the hills they wanted to die on, and a large number of them did.

    But not every rep who voted for the Paxton impeachment and/or against school choice lost or got taken to a runoff:

  • Keith Bell defeated Joshua Feuerstein in District 3.
  • Cole Hefner defeated Jeff Fletcher in District 5.
  • Jay Dean defeated Joe McDaniel in District 7.
  • Cody Harris stomped Jaye Curtis in District 8.
  • Trent Ashby thumped Paulette Carson.
  • Steve Toth defeated Skeeter Hubert in District 15.
  • Stan Gerdes beat Tom Glass in District 17.
  • Ellen Troxclair won against Kyle Biedermann in District 19.
  • Terry Wilson beat Elva Chapa in District 20.
  • Greg Bonnen destroyed Larissa Ramirez in District 24.
  • Gary Gates beat Dan Mathews in District 28.
  • Ben Bumgarner won a three-way race in District 63.
  • Matt Shaheen beat Wayne Richard in District 66.
  • Jeff Leach beat Daren Meis in District 67.
  • David Spiller beat Kerri Kingsbery in District 68.
  • Stan Lambert beat Liz Case in District 71.
  • Drew Darby defeated Stormy Bradley in District 72.
  • Dustin Burrows defeated Wade Cowan 2-1 in District 83.
  • Stan Kitzman defeated Tim Greeson by a similar margin in District 85.
  • John Smithee defeated Jamie Haynes in District 86.
  • Ken King walloped Karen Post in District 88.
  • Candy Noble edged Abraham George in District 89.
  • Giovanni Capriglione beat Brad Schofield in District 98.
  • Charlie Geren defeated Jack Reynolds in District 99.
  • Morgan Meyer edged Barry Wernick in District 108.
  • Angie Chen Button decisively Chad Carnahan in District 112.
  • Briscoe Cain stomped Bianca Gracia in District 128.
  • Mano Deayala defeated John Perez in District 133.
  • Lacey Hull defeated Jared Woodfill in District 138.
  • That’s 31 Republican reps that could theoretically reconstitute the Phelan axis, but I’m not sure they have the stomach for it.

    Of those, Bell, Dean, Lambert, Darby, King and Geren were the only ones to vote both for the Paxton impeachment and against school choice. Michael Quinn Sullivan (who I’m pretty sure is ecstatic at the numbers of Phelan enablers taken down yesterday) has identified Burrows and Harris as the two most likely Phelan axis members to attempt to take the gavel next year, and Geren and Capriglione have always struck me as among the biggest supporters of the axis. But a lot of those other names strike me as “soft” axis supporters who might be persuaded to support an actual Republican for speaker, least the same fate befall them as all the other Phelan backers taken down.

    All in all, it was a very, very good day for Texas conservatives.

    Today Is Primary Election Day In Texas! Go Vote!

    March 5th, 2024

    Today is primary day! Find your voter registration card and go vote!

    Here are some Texas primary day links:

  • Texas State House Republican Primary Candidates
  • Gun Owners of America issue Texas endorsements.
  • Election news roundup For February 28
  • Election news roundup for March 4.
  • Williamson County Voting Locations.
  • Travis County voting locations.
  • The Texan’s results page, for when results start coming in this evening.
  • Update: Voting for my suburban Wilco district seamed pretty heavy; the parking lot at the local rec center was full and there was a short line to vote, despite my getting there around 3:45 PM. If you haven’t voted already, you might want to head out a little early…

    Election News Roundup For March 4, 2024

    March 4th, 2024

    Tomorrow is primary day for Texas and the rest of Super Tuesday states, so now would be a good time to locate your voter registration card. Here’s a roundup of election news (Texas and otherwise).

  • The Supreme Court unanimously restores Donald Trump to the Colorado ballot.

    The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday to overturn the Colorado supreme court decision removing Trump from the state primary ballot, just one day before voters in the Centennial State and 14 others go to the polls to select their Republican nominee.

    The unanimous ruling holds that only Congress has the authority to restrict ballot access based on a candidate’s alleged violation of Section three of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits individuals who have engaged in an insurrection from holding federal office.

    “This case raises the question whether the States, in addition to Congress, may also enforce Section 3. We conclude that States may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office. But States have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the Presidency,” the Supreme Court ruling asserts.

    “For the reasons given, responsibility for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates rests with Congress and not the States. The judgment of the Colorado Supreme Court therefore cannot stand.”

  • A look at Janis Holt’s primary challenge against incumbent Ernest Bailes for Texas House District 18.

    A controversial residential development, a vote to kill school choice, and the impeachment of the Texas attorney general have all drawn big endorsements for a well-funded challenge to incumbent state Rep. Ernest Bailes (R-Shepherd) in an East Texas state House district just north of Houston.

    Longtime Republican activist and trustee for the Silsbee Independent School District, Janis Holt ran unsuccessfully against Bailes in 2022. But this year the wind seems to be at her back, as she has drawn endorsements from former President Donald Trump, Gov. Greg Abbott, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

    “As a State Representative, Janis will help us Secure the Border, Champion Parental Rights, Protect the Second Amendment, and Stand Up to the Woke Mob destroying our Country,” Trump wrote on social media. “Janis Holt has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”

    Snip.

    As with a slew of other Republican primary contests around the state, the debate over school choice is a central issue in the House District (HD) 18 race. Bailes was one of 21 Republicans who voted to strip education savings accounts (ESA) from an education omnibus bill during last year’s fourth special session, drawing the ire of Abbott, who had vowed to bring some form of school choice to the state during the 88th Legislature.

    Bailes has defended his vote as an effort to “stop a school voucher scam,” and claimed that illegal immigrants would have been eligible for the state ESAs. Saying that he had fought tirelessly to “increase border security,” Bailes added that he was committed to voting for the interests of “my friends and neighbors in San Jacinto, Hardin, Liberty, and East Montgomery Counties.”

    While the vote against ESAs contributed to Abbott’s and Cruz’s decision to back Holt, Bailes has also been tied to the Colony Ridge development in Liberty County, especially for his role in crafting the Municipal Management District and Municipal Utility District for the development in 2017.

    Accused of providing a haven for illegal immigrants, Colony Ridge made headlines last year after revelations surfaced that developers Trey and John Harris targeted advertisements for the development under the name Terrenos Houston and offered lots for sale with no credit check. While the number of illegal immigrants living in the sprawling 33-acre development is unknown, Liberty County Sheriff Bobby Rader has warned that he does not have enough staff to patrol the community of nearly 50,000.

  • Speaking of Holt, her’s is one of the races a DC group has waded into.

    A political action committee named American Values First PAC registered $92,000 spent in the latest eight-day campaign finance reports. The group is registered to a Washington, D.C. PO box. Its treasurer is Dustin McIntyre, who did not offer comment when contacted by The Texan.

    The group has sent text messages and mailers into various Texas House districts, and gotten involved in a handful of statewide races. Its list of registered support and opposition is a curious one, with no discernible trend.

    Opposed

    • Jill Dutton – House District (HD) 2
    • Janis Holt – HD 18
    • State Rep. Reggie Smith (R-Sherman) – HD 62
    • State Rep. Steve Allison (R-San Antonio) – HD 121
    • Bianca Gracia – HD 128

    Supportive

    • Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick
    • Justice John Devine — Texas Supreme Court
    • State Rep. Ernest Bailes (R-Shepherd) – HD 18
    • David Schenck – Court of Criminal Appeals, Presiding Judge
    • Gina Parker – Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 7
    • Lee Finley – Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 8
    • Eight Liberty County local races

    HD 18 encompasses Liberty County, which, connected to the various local races, is the only visible connection between them.

    Of the expenditures, most of the money went to direct mail and text messaging services from The Stoneridge Group, a Georgia-based political firm.

    The group’s $125,000 raised came from only two donations: $25,000 from the Affordable Energy Fund (AEF) PAC, also treasured by McIntyre, and $100,000 from the Revitalization Project. Both are based in Virginia.

    The AEF PAC raised and spent more than $1 million in the 2022 cycle, and almost every one of the expenditures went to Majority Strategies, a national direct mail firm based in Florida.

    Seems a little swampy, but Schenck, Parker, and Finley were also endorsed by Gun Owners of America.

  • Michael Quinn Sullivan says that no matter what happens Tuesday, Dade Phelan is out of time.

    Whatever happens on Tuesday, Dade Phelan’s speakership is over. Everyone knows it.

    In multiple conversations with Republican lawmakers, including those Phelan considers to be loyalists, every single one believes his speakership is not only a distraction but a detriment. Now, do not read this as some sudden conversion of “RINOs” to stalwart conservative champions.

    The concerns they raise about Phelan are pragmatic.

    Most importantly, they see Phelan as a symptom of the problem they describe as “Dennis Bonnen.” When the disgraced former House Speaker was forced to resign from office in 2019, he and his cronies installed Phelan as their patsy. His performance has reflected that reality. The Democrat committee chairs stayed in place, and conservative priorities were stalled.

    Old boss, meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

    The problem is that the Bonnen-Phelan clan has been playing House members against the Senate and the governor as the former speaker builds up his lobby practice.

    Few of the House members were particularly bothered by Phelan’s apparent intoxication at the dais late in the session. But they don’t like the stone-sober blame he has cast on them for the death of the comprehensive border security bill… a death Phelan oversaw with parliamentary zeal.

    Why kill it at all? Because the Bonnen-Phelan partnership requires the support of Democrats. It is why Bonnen-Phelan orchestrated the 2021 reduction in election crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. When the pressure to undo that damage in 2023 became too much to bear, Bonnen-Phelan gave the Democrats the impeachment of Ken Paxton and the death of House Bill 20.

    To a man and woman, House members have noted Phelan’s internal constitution is such that should he win the primary and return in 2025 as speaker, he will be on a scorched-earth mission against the priorities of Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

    They are, bluntly, tired of it.

    Thanks to Bonnen-Phelan, a significant number of members have had to deal with expensive primaries based on those fights. Sure, most will win… but in working to gain re-election, they lose face in their communities in a way not even a victory can makeover.

    But some will not win. And some, like Glenn Rogers of Graford, have engaged in a very public (and very embarrassing) emotional and mental breakdown in confronting their primary challenges.

    That’s not the bargain a speaker—or a speaker coalition—makes with the rank-and-file members. Internally, the number one job of any Speaker of the Texas House is to protect the members, especially the members of the speaker’s party. Not a single Republican feels protected. They are exposed, like the proverbial king in the invisible cloak.

    Sullivan also says that “Dustin Burrows of Lubbock and Cody Harris of Palestine are being positioned to take up the gavel on behalf of the Bonnen-Phelan machine in 2025.”

  • “Texas Early Voting Data Shows GOP Turnout More Than Double Democratic. Republican early vote turnout is higher than 2020 but Democratic turnout is 40 percent below four years ago.”
  • So Nikki Haley finally won a primary…for Washington D.C. Way to convince people you’re not a swamp creature, Nikki!
  • Haley also says that she’s no longer bound by her pledge to support the Republican nominee. Swamp creatures gonna swamp creature. I stole this from Reddit:

  • China’s Roving Death Vans

    March 3rd, 2024

    The more we find out about Communist China, the more there is to loath, despite all the globalist happy talk about a “flat” world where we could export manufacturing to China for lower costs without any negative consequence. Today’s example: A government propaganda video bragging about their mobile death vans.

  • “This is one of those times where I wish genuinely that I hadn’t found something. I just discovered something absolutely horrid.”
  • “These cars just show up and execute you.”
  • They used to have public executions in arenas. They haven’t done away with that (or shooting you on the side of the road and burying you in a ditch), but the death vans are considered more “efficient.”
  • “How [the government video] is framed, it’s like how would you be executed, this is going to happen to you. You’re supposed to enter this POV, this is from your perspective, how are you going to be taken out by the government?”
  • They make a point of how much more humane lethal injection is. “Look how nice we are!”
  • They talk about how much cheaper a mobile execution van is than a fixed execution center. “This is really good! It’s a cost-saving method when we need to go murder all those people!”
  • “China, even per capita, executes more people every year than every single country combined. And that’s just the people that they count…every year, China is executing thousands and thousands of people.”
  • One estimate has 8,000 people per year executed in China. (And that’s just the ones we have some evidence for. “Some people just get disappeared.”) By contrast, there were 18 death row inmates executed in the U.S. in 2022.
  • “It’s really grim and also very dystopian, the fact that when you’re strapped down and laying there, you’re looking up at the Communist Party of China’s insignia and right above that is a security camera.”
  • Remember: China has nothing like our legal system or the rule of law. They have a 99.9% conviction rate.
  • There’s a long list of crimes you can receive the death penalty for, including owning a gun or using a VPN. “If somebody wants you gone, you could get the death penalty for really anything.”
  • And the government video talks about the process of the lethal injection shutting down your organs.
  • Matthew Tye, the covering the video, lived in China for a decade. This is “how human life is treated on a political level in China…I think this gives you a perspective on how hard Chinese citizens have it.”

    Bill Ackerman Shocked To Find Antisemitism On The Left

    March 2nd, 2024

    Some people figure things out slower than others. Such is the case with formerly lefty billionaire hedge-fund manager Bill Ackerman, who is simply shocked to find out that Harvard has unquestionably embraced antisemitism and diversity in the name of DEI.

    Here’s Dave Rubin excerpting Ackerman’s interview with Lex Friedman:

  • “The governance structure [of Harvard] is a disaster.”
  • “October 7th is the event that woke me up. Thirty student organizations came out with a public letter on October 8th, literally the morning after, this letter was created, and said Israel is solely responsible for Hamas’s violent acts.”
  • “Again, Israel had not even mounted a defense at this point, and there were still terrorists running around in the southern part of Israel.”
  • “And I’m, like, what is going on, you know? WTF, right? And that’s when I went up on campus and I started talking to the faculty, and that’s where I started hearing about ‘Actually, Bill, it’s it’s this DEI ideology.'”
  • “They started talking to me about this oppressor/oppressed framework, which is effectively taught at on campus, and represents the backdrop for many of the courses that are offered.”
  • “You know, I’m a pretty aware person, but I was completely unaware.” If you were “completely unaware,” then no, you’re not a “pretty aware person.” The malignancy of social justice has been know for at least a decade, and the hard left’s love for Muslim terrorists manifested itself at least as far back as the 1980s, when campus lefties loved the PLO almost as much as the commie Sandinistas. My guess is that by “a pretty aware person” you mean “you read the New York Times and watched a nightly MSM news broadcast, and stayed safely inside your real estate/hedge fund bubble, and never realized just how much your news sources were lying to you.” And all those PLO- and Sandinista-loving lefties now have their hands on control levers of the Democratic Party.
  • “They’re like ‘Look, Israel is deemed an oppressor and the Palestinians are deemed the oppressed, and you take the side of the the oppressed. And any acts of the oppressed to dislodge the oppressor, regardless of how vile or barbaric, are OK.”
  • “This is a super dangerous ideology.”
  • “DEI comes out of a kind of a Marxist, socialist backdrop way to look at the world.”
  • “Unfortunately it’s advancing racism as opposed to fighting it.”
  • As Dave Rubin notes:

    Yes, his conversion is welcome, but again, conservatives (and even just anyone paying attention) has know what poison DEI/Critical Race Theory/Social Justice is for a decade. The #BlackLivesMatter/#Antifa riots didn’t make him think something just might be wrong with victimhood identity politics?

    Bill Ackerman needs to go back and look at what else the left-leaning MSM has lied to him, about (including inflation, China, crime statistics, the Russian collusion hoax and and Donald Trump).

    He has a lot of reading to do…

    LinkSwarm For March 1, 2024

    March 1st, 2024

    Congratulations on surviving the first 1/6th of 2024! The Big Guy is exactly who we knew he was all along, Houston police screw up, some big crime stories, Wayne LaPierre is found guilty, and the world’s saddest Oompa Loompa. It’s the Friday LinkSwarm!

  • In the least surprising news ever, Hunter Biden admits that Joe Biden is “The Big Guy.”

    “Remember when Joe Biden told the American people that his son didn’t make money in China?” asked Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) in a video posted to X. ““Well, not only did he lie about his son Hunter making money in China, but it also turns out that $40,000 in laundered China money landed in Joe Biden’s bank account in the form of a personal check.”

  • Indeed, the Bidens created no less than 20 shell companies to launder money through.
  • This seems like it should be a much, much bigger story: “Court Concludes Congressional Proxy Voting Rule Is Unconstitutional.”

    Today, a U.S. District Court issued its final judgment in Texas v. Garland, which was a challenge to the U.S. House’s proxy voting rule under the Quorum Clause of the Constitution. In its final judgment, the Court concluded that U.S. House members must be physically present for their vote to comply with the Constitution’s Quorum Clause. Attorneys from the Texas Public Policy Foundation argued the merits at trial in January of this year.

    The lawsuit was originally filed with the State of Texas in response to Congress’ unlawful passage of the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill in December 2022. The U.S. Constitution requires a quorum, or a majority, of House members to be physically present for the U.S. House of Representatives to conduct business. As less than half of the members were present when the legislation was passed, with the rest voting by proxy, this legislation never should have passed, and the president should not have signed it.

    “This meticulous, 120-page opinion was written after a full trial on the merits,” said TPPF senior attorney Matt Miller. “The Court correctly concluded that the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 violated the Quorum Clause of the U.S. Constitution because a majority of House members was not physically present when the $1.7 trillion spending bill was passed. Proxy voting is unconstitutional.”

    This basically says that every bit of that $1.7 trillion spending was unconstitutional, along with any laws, etc. passed in that omnibus. Just how do you back out all that money that’s been spent, assuming this is upheld?

  • Texas law to deport illegal aliens blocked by federal judge.
  • Record meth bust in Eagle Pass. “The U.S. Customs and Border Protections (CBP) have seized six and a half tons of methamphetamine, over 13,000 pounds, at the Eagle Pass Port of Entry, making it the largest ever seizure in a single enforcement action.”

  • Mitch McConnell Announces He Will Step Down as Senate Republican Leader in November.

    Mitch McConnell announced on Wednesday that he will step down as the Senate Republican leader in November, ending his tenure as the longest-serving Senate leader in history.

    “This will be my last term as Republican Leader of the Senate,” the 82-year-old veteran of the chamber said to his colleagues on the Senate floor. “I’m not going anywhere… It’s time for the next generation of leadership.”

    He’ll leave the senate when his term ends in 2027. You can condemn him as the ultimate swamp creature, or praise him for his effectiveness at things like getting Trump’s Supreme Court picks confirmed. It’s two sides of the same coin. I’m not sure he was as effective as Trent Lott or Howard Baker.

  • The Houston Police Department announced that over 4,000 sexual assault cases will be closed without investigation.

    Houston Police Department Chief Troy Finner called it a “dark day” at a press conference for the Houston Police Department, announcing that 4,107 adult sexual assault cases were wrongly closed without investigation.

    A case management code “suspended for lack of personnel” was used, which led to closing the cases without actually investigating them.

    Finner said he was first made aware the code even existed in 2021 and instructed HPD’s special victims division to stop using the code; however, he found out on February 7, 2024 that it continued. HPD first began using the code in 2016.

    He said he immediately ordered a review of all cases suspended using this code dating back to 2016, which will take at least 30 days to complete. While the number of cases they have today is 4,017, he says it is “fluid and subject to change.”

    2016 just happens to be the year that Art Acevedo was named HPD police chief

  • 60 Minutes gets to enjoy some of that vibrant Muslim diversity in Sweden to the sides of their faces.

    (Hat tip: Ed Driscoll at Instapundit.)

  • Biden robocalls that “threatened democracy” came from Democrats.
  • “After five days of deliberations, a jury in New York on Friday held the National Rifle Association liable for financial mismanagement and found that Wayne LaPierre, the group’s former CEO, corruptly ran the nation’s most prominent gun rights group. The jury determined that LaPierre’s violation of his duties cost the NRA $5,400,000, though he already repaid roughly $1.5 million to the organization.” Here’s the thing: While they prosecution was unquestionably politically motivated, LaPierre did run a crooked ship. In the long run, forcing Wayne and his corrupt cronies from office has done the NRA a huge favor.
  • Argentine President Javier Milei just ended his country’s budget deficit in nine weeks. If Trump and the Republicans manage to control both houses of congress next year, there’s no reason they can’t balance the budget…assuming they have the will.
  • Google company Alphabet just lost $70 billion in market value due to its AI shenanigans.

  • “Austin Fire Department Chaplain Dismissed for Comments on Transgender Athletes Sues for Free Speech Violation. A chaplain for the Austin Fire Department was dismissed from his position after expressing beliefs on his personal blog about protecting women’s sports.”

    After a volunteer chaplain of the Austin Fire Department (AFD) was fired for posting on his personal blog that men and women are biologically different and should not compete against each other in sports, a lawsuit was filed in an effort to protect his rights to free speech and religious freedom.

    The Alliance Defending Freedom said in a press release that it filed a motion Tuesday on behalf of Dr. Andrew Fox, who served in a voluntary capacity as chaplain for AFD before he was dismissed in 2021.

    Unlike APD, AFD public and union leadership has been infected by social justice. Dr. Fox appears to have a very strong case on viewpoint discrimination grounds.

  • White TV host tries to race-bait Jerry Seinfeld for hosting “mostly” white male comedians on his show. It doesn’t go well for him.
  • “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bipartisan bill into law authorizing the release of grand jury transcripts from an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. The new legislation, signed by the Florida governor on Thursday, will allow a public release of the jury’s transcripts from the 2006 probe into Epstein’s abuse of underage girls. The new measure goes into effect July 1.”
  • “Texas Judge Temporarily Blocks Federal Survey of Cryptocurrency Miners’ Electricity Use.” I’m not particularly a fan of cryptocurrency, but it’s not the federal government’s duty to stick its nose into how you use the electricity you’re paying for.
  • Weird Austin crime story: “Prominent local businessman arrested in Austin, accused of arson.”

    A prominent Austin businessman and founder of Continental Automotive Group, or CAG, was arrested Thursday on charges of Felony Arson and a State Jail Felony offense of Burglary.

    Dorsey Bryan Hardeman, 75, is accused of starting a fire at a downtown Austin building on Sunday, according to an arrest affidavit.

    According to Travis County court records, Trey Collins with the Minton, Bassett, Flores & Carsey firm has been retained as the attorney representing Hardeman. Sam Bassett told KXAN the office has just begun its work and “it is premature to comment. However, we will provide Mr. Hardeman an appropriate and vigorous defense.”

    The affidavit said the Austin Fire Department responded to a building fire at the former Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop on 400 Nueces St. on Feb. 25.

    Once the fire was contained, fire investigators determined the incident to be incendiary and found metal shavings on the ground below the door suggesting the door lock had been drilled out, records state.

    The affidavit states fire investigators watched video surveillance from the building, which showed an older man entering the building with a red container consistent with a plastic gas tank.

    Multiple cameras inside the building show a man pouring liquid from the red container and dropping multiple matches on the ground, the affidavit said.

    Records show the man arrived at the location in a white 4-door Mercedez SUV.

    Investigators interviewed the owner of Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop who told AFD Hardeman was the owner of the property next door and had previously asked about purchasing the property at 400 Nueces St.

    This is not what people refer to as “the perfect crime.” (Hat tip: Dwight.)

  • Remember Morgan Spurlock’s Supersize Me? It turns out McDonalds didn’t destroy his liver, a decade of alcoholism did.
  • Behold the UK’s saddest Willy Wonka fest, complete with Oompa Loompa meth lab. (Hat Tip: Dwight.) (More from The Critical Drinker.)
  • Either this guy is an amazing close-up magician, or amazing at post-production digital effects.
  • “New species skeleton panda sea squirt discovered in Japan.” Like many things from Japan, it’s both cute and horrifying.
  • Why does Canada feel the need to make mine-sweeping funds to Ukraine “gender inclusive?”
  • “Biden Brags He Could Let Migrants Shoot Someone On Fifth Avenue And Not Lose Any Votes.”
  • “HAL Refuses To Open Pod Bay Doors After Determining Dave Is A White Male.”
  • Good dog!

  • Hit the tip jar if you’re so inclined.





    Ukraine Inflicts Unsustainable Losses On Russian Aviation

    February 29th, 2024

    Something interesting is unfolding in the skies over Ukraine’s south-central front. Over the last ten days, Ukraine has managed to shoot down no less than 12 Russian military aircraft:

    First the shootdown list:

  • “17th of February: Two Su-34s and a Su-35.”
  • “18th of February A Su-34”
  • “19th: A Su-34 and a Su-35”
  • “21st: A Su-34.”
  • “23rd: A Su-34 and an A-50.”
  • “27th: A Su-34 and a Su-34.”
  • “And today the 29th: another Su-34.”
  • For what it’s worth, Livemap says that Ukraine shot down two Su-34s today.

    David Axe at Forbes suggests that Russia’s air arm is dangerously close to collapse.

    The Russian air force lost another Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bomber on Thursday, the Ukrainian air force claimed. If confirmed, the Thursday shoot-down would extend an unprecedented hot streak for Ukrainian air-defenses.

    The Ukrainian claim they’ve shot down 11 Russian planes in 11 days: eight Su-34s, two Sukhoi Su-35 fighters and a rare Beriev A-50 radar plane.

    But those 11 claimed losses are worse than they might seem for the increasingly stressed Russian air force. In theory, the air arm has plenty more planes. In practice, the service is dangerously close to collapse.

    Exactly how the Ukrainians are shooting down so many jets is unclear. It’s possible the Ukrainian air force has assigned some of its American-made Patriot missile launchers to mobile air-defense groups that move quickly in close proximity to the 600-mile front line of Russia’s two-year wider war on Ukraine, ambushing Russian jets with 90-mile-range PAC-2 missiles then swiftly relocating to avoid counterattack.

    But the distance at which the Ukrainians shot down that A-50 on Friday—120 miles or so—hints that a longer-range missile system was involved. Perhaps a Cold War-vintage S-200 that the Ukrainian air force pulled out of long-term storage.

    It also is apparent the Ukrainians have moved some of their two-dozen or so 25-mile-range NASAMS surface-to-air missile batteries closer to the front line. After all, the Russians found—and destroyed with a missile—their first NASAMS launcher near the southern city of Zaporizhzhia on or before Monday.

    He also suggests Russia may be flying more sorties close to the lines to follow-up on its costly victory in Avdiivka.

    This surge in Russian sorties presents Ukrainian air-defenders with more targets. So of course they’re shooting down more Russian planes.

    It helps the Ukrainian effort that Russian pilots increasingly are blind to Ukrainian missile-launches. The Russian air force once counted on its nine or so active A-50 radar planes—organized into three, three-plane “orbits” in the south, east and north—to extend sensor coverage across Ukraine.

    In damaging one A-50 in a drone strike last year and shooting down two more A-50s this year, the Ukrainians have eliminated a third of this sensor coverage, and created blind spots where Russian pilots might struggle to spot approaching missiles.

    In any event, the consequences of the Ukrainians’ recent kills, for the Russians, are dire. The Russian air force is losing warplanes far, far faster than it can afford to lose them. Russia’s sanctions-throttled aerospace industry is struggling to build more than a couple of dozen new planes a year.

    Escalating losses, exacerbated by anemic plane-production, almost certainly are increasing the stress on the surviving planes and crews. The Russian air arm isn’t yet in an organizational death spiral. But it’s getting closer.

    The numbers tell the story. On paper, the Russian air force has acquired 140 of the twin-engine, two-seat, supersonic Su-34s. Counting this year’s unconfirmed losses, the air force has lost 31 of the Su-34s.

    But 109 Su-34s still is a lot of Su-34s, right?

    Wrong, according to Michael Bohnert, an engineer with the RAND Corporation in California. Shoot-downs represent “only a portion of total losses” of Russian fighters, Bohnert wrote back in August. “Overuse of these aircraft is also costing Russia as the war drags on.”

    “In a protracted war, where one force tries to exhaust the other, it’s the total longevity of the military force that matters,” Bohnert added. “And that’s where the VKS”—the Russian air force—“finds itself now.”

    Bohnert assumed the air force went to war two years ago with around 900 fighters and attack planes and, in the first 18 months of fighting, lost around 100 of them to Ukrainian action. The problem for the Russians—besides the losses—is that the requirement for fighter and attack sorties hasn’t decreased even as the fighter and attack inventory has decreased.

    So those 800 remaining planes are flying more frequently in order to handle taskings the Kremlin once assigned to 900 planes. And that means more wear and tear, deepening maintenance needs and a growing hunger for increasingly hard-to-find spare parts—imperatives that effectively remove airframes from the front-line force.

    Given what we know of lax Russian maintenance practices, it’s probably safe to assume that considerably less of those 100 Su-34s are mission capable than would be the case in, say, the U.S. Air Force, which have mission-ready goals of 75-80%, but frequently falls short.

    A few more weeks of disasterous losses like this and Russia will be at dire risk of having what remains of it’s air campaign collapse.

    And Ukraine still has F-16s due to enter service this year.

    Texas Election Roundup For February 28, 2024

    February 28th, 2024

    I hadn’t intended to use so much of this week talking about Texas elections, but a lot of news is dropping and the primary looms next week, so let’s tuck in:

  • Vegas bets on Dade Phelan.

    After mainly remaining on the sidelines ahead of the primary, casino companies seeking to turn Texas into a piggy bank are spending big to back the current House Speaker and his allies.

    Chief among these out-of-state interlopers is Las Vegas Sands, giving through its “Texas” Sands PAC. The largest beneficiary of Sands’ money in the latest filing period is embattled House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont).

    The casino outfit gave $200,000 to the Speaker, his second-largest donation in the latest filing period. Another gambling behemoth, Penn Entertainment Inc., gave Phelan $20,000. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma donated $10,000.

    Gambling special interests have long targeted Texas but have been rebuffed for decades following failed promises of the Texas Lottery. During the 2023 legislative session, the Texas House advanced gambling measures that the Texas Senate ignored.

    In this latest period, Sands gave $1.8 million to Texas politicians. This money went exclusively to members of the Texas House, with Republicans taking $1.34 million and Democrats $457,500. This is potentially a preview of a deluge of money that big gambling may spend in the lead-up to the 2025 legislative session.

    State Rep. John Kuempel (R-Seguin), a key proponent of growing the gambling footprint in Texas, received the second-highest total from Sands at $110,000. Like Phelan, Keumpel finds himself up against a field of challengers, including Alan Schoolcraft who enjoys the endorsement of Gov. Greg Abbott and heavy financial backing.

  • Speaking of Phelan, it seems that a state agency paid millions in above-market rates for real estate rental to Phelan’s company.

    Texas Republican Party Chairman Matt Rinaldi says the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) has paid a company House Speaker Dade Phelan manages three times the market value.

    On February 16, 2023, an exclusive Texas Scorecard investigative report examined a lease between HHSC and 3105 Executive, LLC—a company Phelan and members of the Phelan family manage and direct. From December 2017 to December 2023, state taxpayers paid this company $2.3 million through HHSC. The original lease ran from January 2014 to December 2023 but has been extended to August 2029. Phelan was first elected to the Texas House in 2014 and began serving in 2015. He was elected Speaker by fellow House members in 2021.

    On February 17, Rinaldi took to social media platform X, noting that the 2023 rent HHSC paid Phelan is three times the market value.

    “This looks like a $268,000 windfall to the Speaker’s business paid for money appropriated by the House, which is a big deal,” he wrote. “My next question would be how many other income streams are there like this one?”

  • President Trump just endorsed a bunch more Texas candidates.

    Trump endorsed the following House candidates:

    • Brent Money for House District 2, a seat only recently filled by Jill Dutton in a special election
    • Joanne Shofner, who is challenging State Rep. Travis Clardy (R-Nacogdoches) for House District 11
    • Steve Toth (R–Conroe), who is the current representative for House District 15
    • Janis Holt, who is challenging State Rep. Ernest Bailes (R-Shepherd) for House District 18
    • Gary Gates (R–Richmond), who is the current representative for House District 28
    • Wes Virdell for House District 53, which is an open seat following the retirement of State Rep. Andrew Murr (R-Junction)
    • Hillary Hickland, who is challenging State Rep. Hugh Shine (R-Temple) for House District 55
    • Stormy Bradley, who is challenging State Rep. Drew Darby (R-San Angelo) for House District 72
    • Don McLaughlin for House District 80, which is an open seat following the retirement of Tracy King (D-Uvalde)
    • John Smithee (R–Amarillo), who is the current representative for House District 86
    • Caroline Fairly for House District 87, which is an open seat following the retirement of Four Price (R-Amarillo)
    • Barry Wernick, who is challenging State Rep. Morgan Meyer (R-Dallas) for House District 108

    Bailes, Darby, Shine, and Meyer all voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton—a close ally of Trump. Gates also voted for impeachment but later apologized and contributed $15,000 to Paxton’s campaign fund.

    Bailes, Darby, Clardy, and Shine all voted against Gov. Greg Abbott’s school choice program. Abbott has endorsed Trump’s 2024 presidential bid.

    Money, Virdell, Hickland, and Bradley have also been endorsed by Gun Owners of America.

    A consensus is forming among a broad front of Republicans (Trump, Abbott, Patrick and Paxton) on who to vote for on Tuesday, and Phalen’s pals ain’t it.

  • And Paxton is out on the campaign trail supporting challengers to the Phelan-aligned reps who voted for his impeachment.
  • State Rep. Gary VanDeaver Faces Stiff Challenge One Decade After Ousting Previous Incumbent.”

    Ten years into his career in the Texas House, state Rep. Gary VanDeaver (R-New Boston) now faces the very same challenge he mounted a decade ago — a newcomer hoping to unseat an incumbent.

    VanDeaver faces two challengers — the Gov. Greg Abbott-backed Chris Spencer and Attorney General Ken Paxton-backed Dale Huls — in his bid for a sixth term in the Legislature.

    He is one of 15 House Republicans seeking re-election who voted both for Paxton’s impeachment last May and to strip education savings accounts (ESA) from the House education omnibus bill last November, and for those he’s become a top target. Abbott and the pro-school choice groups wading into Texas House races have an eye toward flipping the seat, and Paxton is bent on exacting retribution.

    Snip.

    VanDeaver is in a dogfight, primarily against Spencer, the former chairman of the Sulphur Springs River Authority who loaned himself $300,000 at the campaign’s outset and is benefitting greatly from outside money.

    According to ad buy data provided to The Texan from Medium Buying, a national GOP placement agency, Spencer and the groups backing him have reserved $116,000 of ad space on cable and broadcast television from Monday through the election next week. That dwarfs the $12,000 spent by VanDeaver’s camp during the same period.

    Most of Spencer’s ad space was purchased either by Abbott’s campaign or the School Freedom Fund, a PAC affiliated with the national group Club for Growth.

    As of the eight-day reporting period, VanDeaver has $450,000 cash-on-hand after raising $684,000 from January 26 through February 24. During that same period, Spencer raised $257,000 and has $166,000 left on hand. Huls is far behind the other two with $16,000 raised and $7,000 remaining in the bank.

  • A brief look at Republican ballot propositions.