Burnt Orange Report

Let's remember which Republicans took part of this laundered 190K in 2002 and hang it around their necks this time, especially Todd Baxter's.

Ronnie Earle for governor!

And having Ronnie Earle abandon his almost three year investigation into TRMPAC and TAB to run for Governor would accomplish what, exactly? Letting TRMPAC off the hook, or giving the Republicans a target they can easily attack?

Ronnie Earle would better be fit for either Michael Moore's Chief of Staff or the Executive Director of moveon.org (which has been linked on the Web site of Communist Party USA). For him to deny there's an agenda behind his "prosecutions" is like saying that corporations were never out to make a profit. I just wonder who has the nerve to tell me that for Ronnie Earle to speak at Democratic Party events in the midst of his "indictments" and "trials" doesn't present a conflict of interest.

I would imagine his office would continue the investigation. Unless the Republican legislature finds a way during the upcoming special session, or sessions, to take away the authority of his office to investigate public officials and limit that authority to the local district attorneys. Do you think even a Democratic district attorney in Ft. Bend County would investigate Tom DeLay?

If not this special session, or the next one, or the next one, most likely if Republicans maintain their majority, the legislature will take away that authority in 2007. There was an expectation they would do so in 2005. The only reason why they probably didn't was because of the firestorm it would create because of the ongoing investigations of TRM and TAB.

The Republicans are already taking pot shots at him and shooting themselves in the foot in the process. They are not only attacking him but attacking the grand juries which have returned the indictments.

If nothing else, Ronnie Earle's very obvious position on ethics in government might motivate enough Democrats in this state to go to the polls and not only elect a Democrat as governor but take back the legislature as well.

The other candidates so far don't seem able to do so. Which is why, again, so many Democrats, and some Republicans, are wanting to put Kinky Friedman on the ballot and in the governor's mansion. They want an option. So far there is none. Kinky Friedman is the option. But Ronnie Earle would be an option as well.

The thing about Ronnie Earle is you get the walk as well as the talk. With the other Democrats who have announced or are considering announcing, you just get the talk. And lots of Texans are tired of the talk. They want the walk as well.

I, Trey, have the nerve. Especially when he had one throwaway line in a long, long speech about the proceeding. I suppose you have the nerve to say that TAB's direct mailings were not political advocay, but perely exercises in free speech?

If you're gonna hide behind that, then why can't Ronnie Earle talk to whomever you like? Free speech only works one way?

I think the accusation of "partisan politics" is ludicrous in this matter. As Ronnie Earle himself has pointed out repeatedly, he has indicted far more Democrats than he has Republicans. Doesn't sound very partisan to me. The reality is there is a problem with ethics on both sides of the aisle. Ronnie Earle knows that better than anyone else and as he has proven time and time again through his indictments of various public officials during his tenure as head of the Public Integrity Unit of the Travis County District Attorney's Office. Which the Republicans, as well as some Democrats I suspect, would like to completely get rid of. At the very least, they would like to limit its authority to merely investigating and then referring the matters to local district attorneys. Very few of whom would seek indictments. If they would, we wouldn't need the Public Integrity Unit.

After Iraq, New Orleans, Social Security "reform" Terry Shiavo, the Medicare Megafraud, extravagantly spendthrift pork barrel farm and transportation bills, huge deficits as far as the eye can see, three special legislative sessions in Texas that did not even bring forth a mouse, the bubble boy Boomhauer "president," gropenator and goodhair "governors," record low poll numbers, worldwide fear, loathing, contempt and (now) pity for the U.S. and all the colossal, absurd comic opera farces and debacles of late, do the Republican Bigot/Warmonger/Inept/Greedhead/Murdering/Liars really have anything to say anymore?

They have been in charge and they have royally fucked everything up, Trey Bien.

And given the fact that they cannot keep themselves from blabbering, yapping, braying (and, of course, lying day in and day out, assuming they have the gall to show their faces anywhere anymore--granted, some of them have done us the favor of disapearing and otherwise stifling themselves of late) should any of the rest of us even listen to whatever they think they have to say?

No, the time has come to simply ignore them, get the best candidates (wherever they may be found), run them all on a "this time, let's do it right" platform and run the Republican Plutocrats out of office (along with some of their Democratic flunkies, for good measure) before they simply destroy everything of real value.

Republicans NEVER lie. Tsk, tsk. They just tell you what their version of the truth is. Sometimes they tell you several versions of it. And keep doing so until the polls indicate enough people believe one of the versions. Enough people seemed to like the version that Saddam Hussein was a conspirator with Osama bin Laden and was behind 9/11 that they didn't bother to answer any further questions about the lies told to Congress and the UN about the weapons of mass destruction. It no longer mattered. Saddam Hussein was the enemy. The polls proved it!

They have corrupted our entire society with their version of truth. And I am tired of the "moderate" Republicans claiming they really don't support this administration. If they didn't, then they and the Democrats who haven't sold out would constitute a majority both in Washington and Austin. True, pardon the pun, Republicans no longer refer to people by party. Only whether they are liberal or conservative. They hate even their own if their own don't support this "Third Reich" that took power not given to it by the people but rather handed it by five Supreme Court justices. And now they are about to put in a Chief Justice on the Supreme Court who boldly stated Congress should have the right to override the Supreme Court and the Constitution. If that sounded familiar, it's because Tom DeLay has had that on his agenda for some time. He won't need to push it now. Congress can just do whatever it wants to knowing they have a Chief Justice who simply will refuse to allow any cases concerning hijacking of the Constitution by Congress to be heard.

We need someone to lead this state back to what it once was. Even if it's by threat of a stroke of a pen. That will have to be someone both parties in their corruption fear. That gives you a choice of Kinky Friedman or Ronnie Earle. Kinky Friedman because he's not part of the corrupted political system. Ronnie Earle because he has taken on the corrupted political system.

Republicans who claim the indictments are partisan politics apparently don't know how to read. He has indicted more Democratic officials than he has Republican officials in this state. He also hasn't indicted anyone himself. Grand juries have. But he at least has taken the political heat repeatedly and taken cases before those grand juries and allowed them to decide.

There are quite a few Democrats who don't like him either. For the obvious reason.

I suspect Trey listens to Rush Limbaugh too much.

Ronnie Earle has indicted more Democrats than Republicans. Of course, to be fair, until about 10 years ago (for a very large portion of his tenure) there was no one to indict in Austin BUT Democrats.

He still indicted them. So it's hard to make a case of "partisan politics" against him. A partisan district attorney would have looked the other way. He didn't.

He even prosecuted himself for untimely 1981-82 campaign finace reporting. Fined himself $200.

Sounds partisan to me.