Tuesday, May 13, 2003

Enough interesting things in the news today that it's worth devoting some time to it. *Hyperbole reader Steve Collins put me onto the story about the Texas legislature--thanks, Steve. I probably would have ignored it without the tip. Loosely, 59 of the 62 Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives are literally on the run. In order to prevent a quorum and thus avoid voting on a preposterous redistricting effort by the GOP which would result in a major shift in the balance of power for Texas representatives in the US House, they've left the state and are, evidently, in Oklahoma. The Texas Rangers are hot on their tails, as are the Dallas Mavericks. At any rate, this is crazy stuff. It reminds me of that story about Charles Sumner, who got beaten up by South Carolina Senator Preston Brooks on the floor of the US Senate in 1855 for advocating abolition of slavery. We need more wild and wooly antics by legislators. On a slightly more serious note, bravo to the Dems for trying to halt what I understand is a really outrageous redistricting effort driven largely by Bastardo Numero Uno Tom DeLay. I loathe Tom DeLay more than I can characterize in this space. Or any space. Even Outer Space. *Read this: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47611-2003May12.html and this: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/13/opinion/13KRUG.html *The numbers keep rising on the Saudi attacks of last night. The US headlines all scream TEN AMERICANS KILLED; the Guardian reports up to 50 dead. So that's 40 non-Americans. A big attack no matter how you slice it. *And I'll close with a simple, unsupported statement: things are going TERRIBLY in Iraq. 1:53:35 PM    Let's hear it. []