Anna Nicole ‘Wows’ High Court?

It may not be as important as Texas Redistricting, but the High Court this week heard the case of Anna Nicole Smith. Here are some entertaining snippits from AP coverage:

 ”It’s quite a story,” said Justice Stephen Breyer.

Smith’s claim is simple, said Justice David Souter, “just give me the money I would have had.”

“That’s just not the way our system works,” said Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the only woman justice.

Huge crowds packed the court.

“Most people will do a double take,” said Edward Morrison, a former Supreme Court clerk who specializes in bankruptcy law at Columbia University. “It raises the novelty level and makes a technical issue somewhat more entertaining.”

Douglas Baird, a bankruptcy expert at the University of Chicago, said: “I’d suspect some justices haven’t the slightest idea who Anna Nicole is.” 

Oh, keep in mind those briefs submitted to the High Court are pretty detailed on the history of a case. I’ll bet they know who she is.

Robertson Convicted Of Lesser Offense In Canton Coach Shooting

This is more of a local story than a Texas one, but many around the nation followed the shooting of Canton Coach Gary Kinne last year. At any rate, Jeff Doyle Robertson, who was arrested and charged with aggravated assault on a public servant in connection with the incident has been convicted by a Van Zandt County Jury of a lesser offense: aggravated assault, along with possession of a prohobited weapon on school grounds. The Tyler Morning Telegraph has more.

The sentencing phase of the trial is still going on, but I’ll have the latest here when the sentence is handed down.

From The Blogs, February 28, 2006 (AM)

Sorry about the non-posting yesterday, but I simply had too much business to attend too. Luckily, I’m back in the saddle again and here is your From The Blogs for the last day of the shortest month of the year.

Dos Centavos asks what’s up with Ted Poe.

Howling Latina, one of our favorite non-Texas blogs, tells us about the latest in the Wal-Mart employee benefits saga.

Pink Dome tells us about more Frank Malda Mis-spellings.

Swing State Project notes the SCOTUS will be hearing not only Texas Redistricting but a case concerning Vermont’s political spending limits law.

Casual Soapbox has a great update on the “schoolyard brawl” GOP Primaries.

Eye on Williamson County tells us “All DeLay Has To Run On Is Pork.”

Rick Perry Vs. The World says Carole Four-Names may sue the Secretary of State.

AM “Open Thread”

I’ve got some work I simply **must** do this morning, so please use this open thread to comment on the blog, things you’d like to see here, or current news.

How Texans Faired In National Journal Rankings

National Journal released its 2005 Vote Rankings this weekend. As expected, a number of Texas Congressmen were listed near the top in terms of being the “most conservative” members of the House while Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison fell near the middle and John Cornyn ended up as the 17th most conservative senator.

Here are some snapshots of where Texas’ congressional delegation ended up. What I did was take the entire conservative and liberal tables from the National Journal, and then delete all reps except those from Texas. This way, you can see where members of the delegation compare to other members. To compare these scores with the 10 most liberal and 10 most conservative members of the House, check the tables below the Texas sets.
Based on composite liberal score:

Read more

From The Blogs, Feb. 26, 2006 (Afternoon)

It’s been quite a lazy Sunday here at the Annex. I made a few revisions to the sidebar, and am now presenting you with your From The Blogs for Sudnday:

Blue Texas has more on the Black State of the Union.

Howling Latina has the latest on the coalition casualty count in Iraq.

Jurist tells us that a Federal Judge has ordered the government to explain why there has been no investigation prior to the UAE port-takeover deal.

Casual Soapbox has some odds and ends on the Cuellar/Rodriguez CD-28 battle.

Grits For Breakfast has a great post up on “cut and paste” lawyering.

If You Are Feeling Brave…

…and want to vomit this early on a Sunday morning from something else other than a vodka-induced hangover/coma, check out this ad for the Fannin County Republican Party, via the Fannin County Special. Then, after you’ve cleaned up around the computer/toilet, check our our version here, or click on the image at left. I can’t promise it will make you feel better, but if not, then have another Bloody Mary.

Koch Backed ‘Americans For Prosperity’ Keeping An Eye On Texas Pols

Americans for Prosperity, an organization backed by the infamous and right-leaning Koch family is evidently keeping quite an eye on Texas politics these days, with Texas listed as one of its nine “featured states.”

And, as part of that exhalted status as a “featured state” in its radical-right-wing war on precieved waste in government, they’re asking candidates to sign a “Taxpayers Bill of Rights Pledge.”

And, it turns out a lot of Texas Candidates (including a few Democrats) have signed the pledge. Of note to me was that Dan Flynn, the GOP-far-right establishment candidate in HD 2 hasn’t signed, but his opponent (with a fairly solid Dem primary voting history), Chuck Tull, has.

They’ve also got a over-hyped “Hall of Shame” rating Legislators on how they performed in the 2005 session. Nearly every Senate Democrat, nearly every Democrat in the House, and even some House Republicans are on the Hall of Shame list, which you may view here.  And, of course, the “A” and “A+” Legislators (all Republican) are “Defenders of the American Dream,” and may be viewed in all of their hyped-up glory here. The full report card is here for the Senate and here for the House.
As for the TABOR pledge list, they claim it is updated daily, but a few on there aren’t running anymore. But, at any rate, here’s their list of those taking the TABOR pledge:

Read more

Perry To Speak In Contested State Rep Primary District—But It’s Not A Campaign Stop…

The Greenville Herald Banner notes that State Rep. Dan Flynn (R-Van) will be “co-hosting” an appearance of Gov. Rick Perry in Greenville Tuesday for the Governor to talk about his education plan.

Of course, Flynn may have been a little too quick to note it isn’t a campaign stop:

“The Governor wants to put his program out there,” Flynn said. “This is not a campaign stop. I spoke to him several weeks ago, and he said he would like to come into the district. His office called yesterday to confirm it and Graham Sweeney agreed to help host it because he knows the needs of public education. We wanted to have in Greenville since it has the largest school system in the district.”

Sure. It’s probably not a campaign stop for Perry, but how about for Flynn? Perry endorsed Flynn during a November visit to the district. And, Flynn’s facing a GOP opponent in Chuck Tull, Jr. (R-Edgewood) and a Democratic opponent in November, Scott Cornaud (D-Quinlan).
And, to top it all off, the Herald-Banner says the Office of the Governor “could not immediately confirm the details of the visit.” Hum…maybe they should have called the campaign office?

Rodriguez Asks SOS To Investigate Webb County Voter Irregularities

It seems as though this year’s CD-28 primary is shaping up like last cycle’s. Ciro Rodriguez’s camp has already seen enough to make them smell voter fraud and call for an investigation by the Secretary of State, including 51 people aged 100 or over casting ballots. From their press release:

An abnormally high number of voters in Webb County aged 90 years or older prompted an attorney for the Ciro Rodriguez congressional campaign to request an investigation by the Texas Secretary of State. During the first 4 days of early voting, 93 votes were cast by people 90 or over and 51 were 100 or older.

In a message addressed to Kim Thol, Programs Specialist for the Elections Division of the Secretary of State, Luis Vera requested “an immediate appointment for an inspector for Webb County.” Vera reminded Thol, “Webb County has a long history of allegations of voter fraud.” In the 2004 primary election, Vera added, “the fraud made national news.” He was referring to the controversial election between Henry Cuellar and Rodriguez in which ballots, “discovered” days after the polls closed, eventually swung the election to Cuellar by a narrow 58 votes.

Vera also requested an investigation by the Voter Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice.

According to the 2002 Statistical Abstract of the United States, something like 1.5 percent of the nations’ population is over 85 (linked census data here). So, this does seem to be an abnormally large number, although to determine if it is out of whack, we’d need to know the total votes cast. Either way, though, it seems suspect.

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