Just over a month until the runoff, and the ObamaCare decision seems to have energized the Ted Cruz campaign:
But unlike some of Dewhurst’s other ads, at least that one probably won’t cost him votes…
34 minutes? No time to listen tonight…
Watch The Texas Debates: Race for U.S. Senate, Democrats on PBS. See more from KERA Specials.
According to this DSM story. The other material in that story should be familiar If you’ve been reading this blog.
On reason I’ve kept on this story is that once I uncovered the Ron Paul connection, it was obvious the MSM would run with Chi as a “Right Wing Extremist.” Which is already happening in the comments for various stories. But, as I showed, it’s not that simple. Chi is also on record as supporting organic food and opposing religion, corporations and genetically modified food, all of which are hardly typical Ron Paul positions. I wanted to get the facts out there before the MSM clouded the issue.
For those just joining in, on Monday an explosion seriously injured a man near a gas pipeline in Plano. Police investigating the incident concluded that the man hadn’t been hit by a car (as he claimed) but that an explosive device had detonated (possibly early) near a gas pipeline. The police bomb squad also disposed of a device taken from the suspect’s house. Using information in the various news stories and public records, I deduced that an Anson Chi was the likely suspect. Today I posted some background on Chi, in that he seems to be both a Ron Paul supporter, and an opponent of religion, corporations, and genetically modified food.
Now, the latest news: The FBI was back at the suspect’s home today, carrying out another search.
I’ve been skimming through Chi’s novel (actually, based on length, more of a novella) Yellow on the Outside, Shame on the Inside: Asian Culture Revealed, which you can download for free. As you might deduce from the title, it’s largely about the pressures of being expected to succeed as an Asian in America.
Take the opening on the first page for example:
Doctor or lawyer—my only two options. These would be your only two options if you have Asian parents. You would think that you would be able to pick your own career, since you know, it is your own damn life. But not when you have Asian parents. So my only two options: doctor or lawyer.
It’s partially a first person Roman a clef about growing up Asian, partially an indictment of The Way We Live now, partially rants about status, privilege, and what the protagonist (and presumably the author) sees as a lack of moral compass among Asians. Here’s an example:
I hate grocery shopping by myself, especially when my parents make me come here to Culver Plaza, the Chinatown of Irvine and ergo Orange County. It’s always crowded with Asian people of course, all looking for a wide selection of cheap Asian goods. Now when I say cheap, I don’t mean just the price; I also mean the quality. Many people are aware of lead toys manufactured in China, but not many are aware of cadmium-laden kitchenware, which has been linked to birth defects and cancer; or chopped up pieces of bleached cardboard in frozen wontons; or contaminated, toxic pet food that has killed a copious number of animals here in the United States; or milk and baby formula laced with melamine, a banned industrial chemical, the same chemical used in the contaminated, toxic pet food; or the extreme levels of formaldehyde normally for embalming dead bodies used in clothing, and unbelievably, also in noodles, which prompted the shutdown of one of the biggest noodle manufacturers in China. Not to mention the complete violation of human rights and the advocacy of slave labor, but of course, Asians don’t care because it’s always about the money, so ethical and moral values go out the window.
The story concludes when the protagonist and a fellow Asian student friend prepare to commit suicide because they scored too low on the MCAT.
Not exactly the feel-good book of the year.
It’s a stark contrast with Chi’s generally cheerful Facebook page, though the same sense of irony can be found in each.
He even puts in supplemental material at the end of the book, just in case you didn’t get the message:
Question: Why would you write a book that’s not true?
My Answer: This book is a didactic novel, aka literary fiction. But I know what you mean. I wrote this book based on my cognizance and on the lives of others, including my own life. There are people who wouldn’t agree with what I say just like I wouldn’t agree with what they say. Life goes on…
Question: Why did you write this book?
My Answer: The suicide rate for Asian Americans is astronomically higher than Caucasians, African Americans, and Latin Americans. In fact, Asian Americans have the highest suicide rate among women. Moreover, two million women attempt suicide in China every year, with many more not counted due to saving face. This needs to change, and I believe my book is conducive as a start for that change. I see too many Asian children indoctrinated and conditioned like overachieving robots, here in the United States and in Asia. This won’t stop until we all work together, as I have luminously delineated in the last chapter (Détente) of my book.
We will refrain from critiquing the literary value of the novel, or the author calling his own work “luminous,” and note that this, combined with his disenchantment with the current state of politics (and possible job issues, since his resume doesn’t list any paying employer since 2006, unless he was on the Ron Paul payroll in 2008), may start to provide possible motivation for his actions.
Let’s just say he seems to have some issues.
It’s been more than a week since the primary, and we’re finally getting a trickle of information about the mysterious Grady Yarbrough, the man who garnered 127,971 votes in last week’s primary and will be face Paul Sadler in the runoff to determine the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate.
We have a picture of him, thanks to the one he provided various voter guides:
He also has a Facebook page. And he also has a website…that currently redirects back to his Facebook page.
This is not the first statewide race Yarbrough has run, but the fourth, since he “ran unsuccessfully in 1986 and 1990 for the GOP nomination for land commissioner, and in 1994 as a Democrat for state treasurer.”
Maybe Grady Yarbrough’s campaign evaded my sight because it was designed to? According to this tidbit from the Texas Tribune’s election night liveblog:
Reached by phone, Yarbrough said he had not been following the results but is not surprised he is running ahead of Addie Allen and Sean Hubbard and only behind former state Rep. Paul Sadler.
“I felt that it would be a runoff and yes, I have a plan for the runoff,” Yarbrough said. “It’s turning out the way I thought it would.”
Unlike his three competitors in the primary, Yarbrough has not reported raising or spending any money with the Federal Elections Commission. Yarbrough said he just hasn’t filed any reports yet but did spend money around the state promoting his campaign. Yarbrough said he advertised in African-American newspapers and had yard signs up in several parts of the state.
“I spent money, you bet I have,” Yarbrough said.
In this interview, Yarbrough says that he “campaigns seven days a week, often up to 16 hours a day.” Also this: “I am doing selective campaigning. When there is a heavy Hispanic and African-American population in those counties, I go directly to those places. That’s how I’ve gotten to where I am now.”
Obviously, a strategy to advertise in black newspapers around the state and do only face-to-face campaigning would fly completely under my radar (and explain last week’s endorsement news). Also, if he was indeed doing events seven days a week, it explains one reason he beat Sean Hubbard for the runoff spot: he out-hustled and out-worked him. Imagine that.
Could voters be confusing him with long-dead liberal Democratic Senator Ralph Yarborough? (Ralph Yarborough was probably the single most influential figure in turning the Texas Democratic Party from a conservative majority party to a liberal minority party.) Given that Ralph Yarborough hasn’t been on the ballot in 40 years, I tend to doubt it. (Also, it seems to me that some of the media outlets pushing this theory are the same ones who keep telling us that people today have the attention spans of meth-addicted gnats.)
I sent an email request to Grady Yarbrough through his Facebook page asking for an interview. I’ll let you know if he agrees to one (or even replies).
The usually useless Polifact has finally gotten around to evaluating David Dewhurst’s smear of Ted Cruz as a supporter of Amnesty. It only took them a week. How considerate to bestir themselves a mere three days after the election.
The verdict? The same as every other single non-Dewhurst supporter: A complete and utter lie.
Let’s have a graphic to drive the point home:
I’m well aware that politics is a blood sport. The “working for Communist China” smear was pretty weak sauce, but at least there was a tiny grain of truth there. But the amnesty smear was just made up out of whole cloth. Neither Cruz, nor the groups mentioned, ever supported illegal alien amnesty. David Dewhurst and Team Dewhurst were simply liars to push it. Now the MSM confirms what anyone paying attention already knew.
But to drive the point home even further, never mind Polifact, here’s the Sex Pistols (NSFW. Duh.):
OK, this is funny.
The most invisible man in the Texas senate race campaign, Democrat Grady Yarbrough, has no website, no Facebook page, and no Twitter feed. But that didn’t stop him from being endorsed by The Austin Villager (warning: 3MB PDF), a local Austin black newspaper. I would love to learn the editorial process by which they chose him over the other three Democratic candidates. Or even just how they chose him over Addie D. Allen…
(Hat tip: MJJHurta’s Twitter feed.)
I know, dog bites man.
In the course of talking about a phony-baloney, Dewhurst-friendly poll, Paul Burka has proven, yet against, that he doesn’t understand Republicans in general and conservatives in specific. You have to scroll down a little to find out his reaction to Richard Mourdock terminating Dick Lugar’s senate career, but it exhibits the same keen insight we’ve come to expect from his political commentary:
I can tell you what I think of Lugar’s loss. I think Republicans have gone nuts. Lugar has been a distinguished senator for many years.
It used to be that Republicans could skate by talking like conservatives then voting like liberals. That was several trillion dollars worth of debt ago. Now Republican voters demand that their representatives actually do something about out-of-control federal spending and unconstitutional enlargement of a runaway federal government, and those that don’t will find themselves being sent home in short order.
When Burka says “a distinguished senator for many years,” what actual conservative voters (perhaps Burka should make the acquaintance of a few) see is someone who has become part of the problem: The get-along-to-go-along Republican establishment that was willing to let the federal welfare state grow indefinitely rather than fight to control it.
Either we get runaway government spending under control, or we go the way of Europe, where the cradle-to-grave welfare state is destroying economies across the entire continent and “unacceptable austerity” is reducing Greece’s budget from 9% of GDP to 7.5% of GDP.
The Red State model of government embodied by Texas under Rick Perry is kicking the ass of the Blue State model represented by Jerry Brown’s California, much to the consternation of Burka and his fellow liberal MSM journalists. Low taxes, holding the line on government spending, and a business friendly climate do wonders for your state economy. Democratic control, high taxes, out of control spending, and powerful labor unions bleeding the state dry? Not so much.
If Republican elected officials won’t scale back the size and scope of federal power and spending, we’ll replace them with people who will. Republican voters have been sending that message to Washington loud and clear for the last three years, and even the Republican establishment has been forced to take notice. I think Texans will send that message at the polls loud and clear May 29, and Americans on November 6.
And it’s quite possible that Burka will be just as baffled by the results.
You may have heard of the Obama campaign’s attempt to use an imaginary woman named Julia to convince women to embrace a cradle-to-grave welfare state. (And looking at European demographics, we can only assume that’s more grave than cradle.)
Naturally, conservatives have had fun on Twitter with #Julia, including the observation that her male counterpart would naturally be named “Winston.” Also: “#Julia died at age 78. She voted Democrat until age 92.”
But, as usual, IowaHawk nails it.
Some other Julia tidbits:
Just because I endorsed Ted Cruz doesn’t mean I’ve given up doing Texas Senate Race Updates, it’s just that I have other fish to fry this week.
Warren is playing an important role in our political discourse: she is the ghost of liberalism future. Warren’s alleged use of affirmative action, if true, would have to be the most egregious abuse of the system at the expense of minorities we’ve seen yet. Elizabeth Warren is, as a white woman, statistically speaking very much a member of this country’s majority. The only category in which she is a true minority is wealth: Elizabeth Warren is very, very rich… If Warren, a rich, white, Harvard professor, is a victim, everyone is.
Why does this matter? Because it reveals that the left thinks affirmative action is a joke, another cudgel with which to attack political opponents at the expense of minorities who might, thanks to liberalism’s insistence on keeping students in failed school districts, actually put the policy to some good use. And because if Elizabeth Warren is unable to advance coherent liberal policy arguments, then there may be none to advance.