Is it just me or does Ciro have the most adorable face?

could it be? frist

dang close but me no cigar

Pixie @ 1

Is it just me or does Ciro have the most adorable face?

No, it’s not just you. ; )
In fact, he’s so adorable, I might have to start making calls for him next week.

Jane, How’s Kobe and the ladies enjoying being back home?

I’m in San Antonio and Bonilla is running a bunch of nasty ads saying Ciro basically supports terrorists and does not support the troops…typical repub lying bullshit. One good thing is that there’s a guy on the local righty radio station who over the course of the last 6 years has come to hate bushco and he pretty much comes out and says so every day he’s on the radio. He has been pushing Ciro and pointing out that the Bonilla ads are all lies. I hope he helps convince some of the voters to vote for Ciro. Also, at least they were able to get the early voting started today….the repubs wanted to have it start next Monday…so the working folks would not have a weekend day to vote. LULAC had to file suit to get the Saturday day. They also managed to set the voting day on December 12th, which is supposed to be some sort of Hispanic religious day….and I’m sure that day was picked in the hopes that it would keep some voters from voting. Anything they can do to suppress the vote…they’ll do in a heartbeat.

When I got home last night (12:30 in the morning) we’d been in the car for hours and I thought they’d want to run around, pee, etc. They ran straight for the front door. Today on the beach they were ecstatic. So happy to be home.

BTW did you see the photo of Al’s baby, Kathryn? She looks like her dad (without the dreadlocks).

Abo Gato @ 6

I’m in San Antonio and Bonilla is running a bunch of nasty ads saying Ciro basically supports terrorists and does not support the troops…typical repub lying bullshit. One good thing is that there’s a guy on the local righty radio station who over the course of the last 6 years has come to hate bushco and he pretty much comes out and says so every day he’s on the radio. He has been pushing Ciro and pointing out that the Bonilla ads are all lies. I hope he helps convince some of the voters to vote for Ciro. Also, at least they were able to get the early voting started today….the repubs wanted to have it start next Monday…so the working folks would not have a weekend day to vote. LULAC had to file suit to get the Saturday day. They also managed to set the voting day on December 12th, which is supposed to be some sort of Hispanic religious day….and I’m sure that day was picked in the hopes that it would keep some voters from voting. Anything they can do to suppress the vote…they’ll do in a heartbeat.

Tell me it’s Chris Duel? He’s not on righty radio but he can be a little righty.

Rematch!

oh, and Ciro!

He doesn’t need money? Looks to me like Henry Bonilla has him outfunded by about ten to one. Where is Rahm Emmanuel? Only one race the national Dems need to focus on and the Republicans are funding Bonilla. Where the hell are the Dems? Where is Rahm Emmanuel? Where are James Carville’s rants now? Where the hell is Howard Dean? It’s the same old thing, national Dems concede Texas even though several counties voted Democratic here on the seventh for the first time in decades.

Bonilla, R-San Antonio, reported $955,000 in cash-on-hand for the Dec. 12 election, compared to $91,000 for Rodriguez, according to reports covering the one-month period that ended Nov. 22.

Chris Duel is a Kinky fan. Caution, put on sunglasses to view his site.

Jane — some decent quotes from Howard Dean in this NYT Story: Democrats Face a Tough Job, Leader Says

MargaretPOA @
11

He doesn’t need money? Looks to me like Henry Bonilla has him outfunded by about ten to one. Where is Rahm Emmanuel? Only one race the national Dems need to focus on and the Republicans are funding Bonilla. Where the hell are the Dems? Where is Rahm Emmanuel? Where are James Carville’s rants now? Where the hell is Howard Dean? It’s the same old thing, national Dems concede Texas even though several counties voted Democratic here on the seventh for the first time in decades.

Bonilla, R-San Antonio, reported $955,000 in cash-on-hand for the Dec. 12 election, compared to $91,000 for Rodriguez, according to reports covering the one-month period that ended Nov. 22.

Put a better way — if Ciro is going to win, the DCCC is going to have to step up to the plate with cash. There’s nothing we can do at this point to make up the difference. And since they’re spending a bit of money on the TV ad, here’s hoping Rahm & Co. will do the right thing.

scarecrow @
12

Chris Duel is a Kinky fan. Caution, put on sunglasses to view his site.

I went to grad school with Chris Duel. I love him. He’s a crazy man.

Viva Ciro Rodriguez!

Amigos, the above leenk goes to my actblue page, Gatoblue.

I have been trying to aid Ciro through raising donations for about two weeks now, after a brief, post-election hiatus.

Ciro Rodriguez ees a wonderful candidate, as joo can find for jourself at http://www.CiroRodriguez.com.

Ciro’s opponent has nothing to distinguish heemself from any number of rubberstamping republiculo bootlickers, except the nasty style of hees campaign. So, we see the need for jour aid, eh?

We can also catch a gleempse of Ciro’s chances by going here and scrolling down to the results for Texas-23.

As joo weel see, eef all of those who supported the other candidadas democratistas een the primary would throw their weight to Ciro Rodriguez, thees would be quite a close race eendeed. no?

Vamanos!

so.

Jane, Ciro’s been on my hotlist for almost a year, thanks to you. Is it possible I’ve known Ciro longer than Ned? Seems like Ciro’s been running for his seat over and over. One way corrupt corporations keep Democrats down is running elections over and over, and Texas is Job One for these antics.

Ciro brings a wonderful strong voice to our party and our nation. I’ve been proud to support him with money and phonebanking; I’m in again for Ciro. Thanks for posting this. Very glad you’re home safe — gotta make an Ocean Beach run tomorrow myself, thanks for the reminder!

Exactly Jane! I don’t live in Bonilla’s district but it’s fairly close. I and thousands of others helped get Lloyd Doggett re-elected in a landslide here in Texas 25 and I’ll do what I can for Rodriguez in Texas 23.

!El Gato Negro! — thanks for the link. It appears that Bonilla got less than 49% total — a clear sign of vulnerability for an incumbent.

December 12 is Our Lady of Guadalupe day in MEXICO. It celebrates the manifestation of the Virgin to the Aztec Juan Diego on Tepayac Hill in the year 1531 for those of you interested in a little cultural knowledge but I don’t think that this would have any impact on an election in Texas. Do you?

El dia de la virgin de Guadalupe es mi cumpleao.

BTW did you see the photo of Al’s baby, Kathryn? She looks like her dad (without the dreadlocks).

What a beautiful child! – Al – blessings on your whole family!

Why the emphasis is on turnout for Ciro:

Our Lady of Guadalupe vs Our Lady of Perpetual Redistricting

MargaretPOA @
18

Exactly Jane! I don’t live in Bonilla’s district but it’s fairly close. I and thousands of others helped get Lloyd Doggett re-elected in a landslide here in Texas 25 and I’ll do what I can for Rodriguez in Texas 23.

That’s great, Margaret. You’re in good company with Teddy.

He looks like a man that Bush would never kiss!

GOTV!!

dead last @ 25

He looks like a man that Bush would never kiss!

GOTV!!

His mustache is flatter than a mesa.

!El Gato Negro! @ 16

Just dropped a sawbuck into your Ciro fund.

Here is the picture of Bush getting ready to French another turncoat Democrat…(Ciro’s primary opponent). The FDL photo seems to have disappeared.

http://www.burntorangereport.c…..diaryId=69

Feliz Cumpleanos, Gato!

!El Gato Negro! @
16

Viva Ciro Rodriguez!

Amigos, the above leenk goes to my actblue page, Gatoblue.

I have been trying to aid Ciro through raising donations for about two weeks now, after a brief, post-election hiatus.

Ciro Rodriguez ees a wonderful candidate, as joo can find for jourself at http://www.CiroRodriguez.com.

Ciro’s opponent has nothing to distinguish heemself from any number of rubberstamping republiculo bootlickers, except the nasty style of hees campaign. So, we see the need for jour aid, eh?

We can also catch a gleempse of Ciro’s chances by going here and scrolling down to the results for Texas-23.

As joo weel see, eef all of those who supported the other candidadas democratistas een the primary would throw their weight to Ciro Rodriguez, thees would be quite a close race eendeed. no?

Vamanos!

so.

dude i’m in for 25. such a pleasure to see you at the ‘lake, gato. how do you make those question marks in your post, dude? where the upside down exclamation point goes?

dead last @ 28

Here is the picture of Bush getting ready to French another turncoat Democrat…(Ciro’s primary opponent). The FDL photo seems to have disappeared.

http://www.burntorangereport.c…..diaryId=69

YUCK! I remember that… Cuellar seems to be the Loserman of Texas… Too bad we couldn’t get rid of them this Spring…

But hopefully, it just means that Ciro will now be able to take down a really nasty GOPer in Bonilla! : )

Looks like the folks in Ciro’s district really need his protection: the US Attorney for Western Texas covers up their kidnap and murder.

Strong words?

Yes.

Apologies for the very long quasi-OT post, but this seems central to the issues faced in southern Texas – and anywhere under the Bush tyranny.

The excerpts are from a long article in the Observer (part of the UK Guardian), whom I trust.

Read it and weep…

Luis Padilla, 29, father of three, had been kidnapped, driven across the Mexican border from El Paso, Texas, to a house in Ciudad Juarez, the lawless city ruled by drug lords that lies across the Rio Grande. As his wife tried frantically to locate him, he was being stripped, tortured and buried in a mass grave in the garden – what the people of Juarez call a narco-fossa, a narco-smugglers’ tomb.

Just another casualty of Mexico’s drug wars? Perhaps. But Padilla had no connection with the drugs trade; he seems to have been the victim of a case of mistaken identity. Now, as a result of documents disclosed in three separate court cases, it is becoming clear that his murder, along with at least 11 further brutal killings, at the Juarez ‘House of Death’, is part of a gruesome scandal, a web of connivance and cover-up stretching from the wild Texas borderland to top Washington officials close to President Bush.

These documents, which form a dossier several inches thick, are the main source for the facts in this article. They suggest that while the eyes of the world have been largely averted, America’s ‘war on drugs’ has moved to a new phase of cynicism and amorality, in which the loss of human life has lost all importance – especially if the victims are Hispanic. The US agencies and officials in this saga – all of which refused to comment, citing pending lawsuits – appear to have thought it more important to get information about drugs trafficking than to stop its perpetrators killing people.

The US media have virtually ignored this story. The Observer is the first newspaper to have spoken to Janet Padilla, and this is the first narrative account to appear in print. The story turns on one extraordinary fact: playing a central role in the House of Death was a US government informant, Guillermo Ramirez Peyro, known as Lalo, who was paid more than $220,000 (�110,000) by US law enforcement bodies to work as a spy inside the Juarez cartel. In August 2003 Lalo bought the quicklime used to dissolve the flesh of the first victim, Mexican lawyer Fernando Reyes, and then helped to kill him; he recorded the murder secretly with a bug supplied by his handlers – agents from the Immigration and Customs Executive (Ice), part of the Department of Homeland Security. That first killing threw the Ice staff in El Paso into a panic. Their informant had helped to commit first-degree murder, and they feared they would have to end his contract and abort the operations for which he was being used. But the Department of Justice told them to proceed.

Lalo’s cartel bosses told him whenever they were planning another killing, using a grisly codeword – carne asada, ‘barbecue’. In the six months after Reyes’s death, they used it on many occasions. Each time, says Lalo, he informed his handlers in Ice. They did not intervene.

[snip]

Lalo claims to have facilitated numerous drug seizures and arrests. But on 28 June, 2003, his loyalty came under suspicion when he was arrested by the DEA in New Mexico, driving a truck he had brought across the border containing 102lb of marijuana. He had not told his handlers about this shipment and, in accordance with its normal procedures, the DEA ‘deactivated’ him as a source.

Ice took a different view. Agents in its El Paso office were trying to use Lalo to build a case against Santillan, and to nail a separate cigarette-smuggling investigation. At a meeting with federal prosecutors the week after Lalo’s arrest, Ice tried to persuade assistant US attorney Juanita Fielden that, if Lalo were closely monitored, he would continue to be effective. Fielden agreed. She says in an affidavit that she called the New Mexico prosecutor and got him to drop the charges. Lalo was released.

[snip]

When Lalo returned to El Paso on the day of Reyes’s murder and told his Ice employers what had happened they were understandably worried. They knew that, if they were to continue using Lalo as an informant, they would need high-level authorisation. That afternoon and evening he was debriefed at length by his main handler, Special Agent Raul Bencomo, and his supervisor….

[snip]

Meanwhile the El Paso Ice office reported the matter to headquarters in Washington. The information went up the chain of command, eventually reaching America’s Deputy Assistant Attorney General, John G. Malcolm. It passed through the office of Johnny Sutton, the US Attorney for Western Texas – a close associate of George W. Bush. When Bush was Texas governor, Sutton spent five years as his director of criminal justice policy. After Bush became President, Sutton became legal policy co-ordinator in the White House transition team, working with another Bush Texas colleague, Alberto Gonzalez, the present US Attorney General.

Earlier this year Sutton was appointed chairman of the Attorney General’s advisory committee which, says the official website, ‘plays a significant role in determining policies and programmes of the department and in carrying out the national goals set by the President and the Attorney General’. Sutton’s position as US Attorney for Western Texas is further evidence of his long friendship with the President – falling into his jurisdiction is Midland, the town where Bush grew up, and Crawford, the site of Bush’s beloved ranch.

‘Sutton could and should have shut down the case, there and then,’ says Bill Weaver, a law professor at the University of Texas at El Paso who has made a detailed study of the affair. ‘He could have told Ice and the lawyers “go with what you have, and let’s try to bring Santillan to justice”. That neither he nor anyone else decided to take that action invites an obvious inference: that because the only people likely to get killed were Mexicans, they thought it didn’t much matter.’

[snip]

Even as Ice debriefed Lalo, it refused the DEA access to him and to recordings of the events of 14 January. Every principle governing informant handling and inter-agency co-operation appeared to have been flouted, and the Mexican government was not told of the carnage taking place on – and under – its soil.

[snip]

On 18 February, Johnny Sutton filed a new indictment against Santillan, charging him with trafficking and five murders – including those of Reyes and Padilla.

The House Of Death suddenly seemed set to become a major national scandal. Bill Conroy, a reporter who works for an investigative website, Narconews.com, was about to publish an article about it. On 24 February, Sandy Gonzalez, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA office in El Paso, one of the most senior and highly decorated Hispanic law enforcement officers in America, wrote to his Ice counterpart, John Gaudioso.

‘I am writing to express to you my frustration and outrage at the mishandling of investigation that has resulted in unnecessary loss of human life,’ he began, ‘and endangered the lives of special agents of the DEA and their immediate families. There is no excuse for the events that culminated during the evening of 14 January… and I have no choice but to hold you responsible.’ Ice, Gonzalez wrote, had gone to ‘extreme lengths’ to protect an informant who was, in reality, a ‘homicidal maniac… this situation is so bizarre that, even as I’m writing to you, it is difficult for me to believe it’.

But Ice and its allies in the DoJ were covering up their actions, helped by the US media – aside from the Dallas Morning News, not one major newspaper or TV network has covered the story. The first signs came in the response to Gonzalez’s letter to Gaudioso – not from Ice, but from Johnny Sutton.

He reacted not to the discovery of corpses at Calle Parsonieros, but with concern Gonzalez might talk to the media. He communicated his fears to a senior official in Washington – Catherine O’Neil, director of the DoJ’s Organised Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. Describing Gonzalez’s letter as ‘inflammatory,’ she passed on Sutton’s fears to the then Attorney General, John Ashcroft, and to Karen Tandy, the head of the DEA, another Texan lawyer.

Tandy was horrified by Gonzalez’s letter. ‘I apologised to Johnny Sutton last night and he and I agreed on a “no comment” to the press,’ she replied on 5 March.

El Gato, your link to Ciro’s site doesn’t work. I think it’s http://cirodrodriguez.com/

The Pelosi 100-hour plan (pat. pending) has got to be helping Ciro. What are the issues in TX-23? Is the war a big deal?

HotFlash @
27

!El Gato Negro! @ 16

Just dropped a sawbuck into your Ciro fund.

You & TSF & El Gato Negro inspired me. I put in $40.

Douglas Brinkley in Sunday WaPo about Bush. Worst President Ever?

There isn’t much that Bush can do now to salvage his reputation. His presidential library will someday be built around two accomplishments: that after 9/11, the U.S. homeland wasn’t again attacked by terrorists (knock on wood) and that he won two presidential elections, allowing him to appoint conservatives to key judicial posts. I also believe that he is an honest man and that his administration has been largely void of widespread corruption. This will help him from being portrayed as a true villain.

Presumes facts not in evidence [tsf bold].

kirk murphy @ 32

Looks like the folks in Ciro’s district really need his protection: the US Attorney for Western Texas covers up their kidnap and murder.

Holy shit. (in a small voice)

TeddySanFran @
35

Douglas Brinkley in Sunday WaPo about Bush. Worst President Ever?

There isn’t much that Bush can do now to salvage his reputation. His presidential library will someday be built around two accomplishments: that after 9/11, the U.S. homeland wasn’t again attacked by terrorists (knock on wood) and that he won two presidential elections, allowing him to appoint conservatives to key judicial posts. I also believe that he is an honest man and that his administration has been largely void of widespread corruption. This will help him from being portrayed as a true villain.

Presumes facts not in evidence [tsf bold].

Oh man. Screw the kool-aid, that is some drano he is chugging.

TeddySanFran @ 35

Douglas Brinkley in Sunday WaPo about Bush. Worst President Ever?

There isn’t much that Bush can do now to salvage his reputation. His presidential library will someday be built around two accomplishments: that after 9/11, the U.S. homeland wasn’t again attacked by terrorists (knock on wood) and that he won two presidential elections, allowing him to appoint conservatives to key judicial posts. I also believe that he is an honest man and that his administration has been largely void of widespread corruption. This will help him from being portrayed as a true villain.

Are the unsolved anthrax attacks not terrorist attacks?
Presumes facts not in evidence [tsf bold].

HotFlash @ 36

kirk murphy @ 32

Looks like the folks in Ciro’s district really need his protection: the US Attorney for Western Texas covers up their kidnap and murder.

Holy shit. (in a small voice)

I didn’t think the DOJ was truly this evil, all the way to the top.

They are this evil.

Bush-world.

Compared to these people, Le Carre’s murderous Atlantic men are wayward children.

Imagine a US Attorney to whom the head of DEA has to apologize – cause a DEA agent had scruples about serial murder.

I blew my edit (hit submit button in error) and hence omitted this.

[DEA ex-agent Gonzales says:] “…once they knew about the carne asadas, they were legally and morally obligated to do something. They already had a solid case against Santillan for drugs and murder. What the fuck else did they need? As for the DEA, they held my feet to the fire and joined the cover-up.’ He had been neutralised, but there remained the danger that details of Ice’s relationship with Lalo would surface at Santillan’s trial.

Janet Padilla had also been dealt with. Ice has no legal responsibility for investigating murder, but after her husband’s funeral Lalo’s former handler, Bencomo, came calling. ‘He told me that he was going to help me find my husband’s killers and bring them to justice,’ Janet says. ‘He said to tell him anything I knew, because he would be in charge of the case. I saw him three or four times, and later I also met Juanita Fielden.’ It did not occur to Janet that she ought to contact the police or other agencies.

For Janet, Santillan’s indictment for murder was a moment of hope: ‘I thought I was going to get justice for Luis.’ But on 19 April Sutton announced a deal with Santillan – in return for his pleading guilty to trafficking and acceptance of a 25-year sentence the murder charges were dropped. ‘All of the murders were committed in Juarez, by Mexican citizens, and all of the victims were citizens of Mexico,’ Sutton said.

[snip]

‘If Congress and the media start to look at this properly, they will be horrified,’ Sandy Gonzalez says. ‘It needs a special prosecutor, as with the case of Valerie Plame [the CIA agent whose name was leaked to the media when her diplomat husband criticised Bush over Iraq’s missing weapons of mass destruction]. But Valerie is a nice-looking white person and the victims here are brown. Nobody gives a shit.’

Another way to read the Douglas Brinkley op-ed on Bush is that those who view themselves as the great reasonable centrists that Jane and Greenwald rail against are now asking whether Bush is the worst president ever. Here’s how he concludes:

Oddly, the president whom Bush most reminds me of is Herbert Hoover, whose name is synonymous with failure to respond to the Great Depression. When the stock market collapsed, Hoover, for ideological reasons, did too little. When 9/11 happened, Bush did too much, attacking the wrong country at the wrong time for the wrong reasons. He has joined Hoover as a case study on how not to be president.

Democrats ran successfuly against the Hoover Party for 40 years.

What I find even more interesting is the growning number of folks now wondering if Bush is sane and whether his denial of reality is endangering the country. If that chorus grows it might not be long before pundits will be researching that Constitutional amendment that talks about the incapacity of the President. This is moving very fast now. (However, I’ve said that almost as many times as Friedman has used his FU. ;)

Muchas Gracias for all the replies and donations.

Unfortuneately, my maldito PC crashed upon clicking “post”, and so I deed no even know eef my request, she was visible to joo all.

I am touched by the spirit and generosity of thees place.

Joo may be certain that I weel be back, no?

!Viva Ciro Rodriguez!

(oh, Teddy, the upside down exclamation point, she does no show up here, I may have to use plain ol engleesh ones, eh?

so.

Time for Amendment XXV.

Section 4.

Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

TeddySanFran @
42

Time for Amendment XXV.

Section 4.

That’s the problem – Cheney becomes President. (overtlly) Now, there’s a terrifying prospect. What to do? One’s insane, and the other is evil incarnate.

TeddySanFran @ 43

Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Teddy, I’m not feeling better, somehow….

from prevthread:

robert greenwald @ 44

GREAT work again matt! keep at it, this is critically important stuff

unless we do Section 4 on Bush, then right away Section 4 on Cheney.

Troops
Home
NOW

Kathryn in MA @ 44

TeddySanFran @
42

Time for Amendment XXV.

Section 4.

That’s the problem – Cheney becomes President. (overtlly) Now, there’s a terrifying prospect. What to do? One’s insane, and the other is evil incarnate.

See sections 2 and 3 and add in a Cheney health resignation; the sequence matters. The prediction is that people will start talking about these options, and impeachment. I don’t think the Republicans will want that conversation to drag on into 2008.

Does Ciro wear a rug?

New Thread. Late nite is up.

The article Kirk pointed to reminds me of this,
from A Lexicon of Terror: Argentina and the Legacies of Torture by Marguerite Feitlowitz:

“What words can you no longer tolerate? What words do you no longer say?” In this way I gathered entries for “A Lexicon of Terror,” a record of the changes wrought in the Argentine language by the perpetrators of the Dirty War. Perversions of the language contribute to the sinister, indeed surreal, quality of life in Buenos Aires. In concentration camp slang, the metal table on which prisoners were laid out to be tortured was called la parrilla. Traditionally, la parrilla has referred to the classic horizontal grill—the centerpiece of the beloved social barbecue—and to the ubiquitous restaurants that serve grilled meat. Stand on any street corner in Buenos Aires and it comes at you from all directions: Parrilla, parrilla, parrilla—sustenance, pleasure, and annihilation, all present in a single quotidian word. No wonder the present [Menem] government, which pardoned the ex-commanders—has so often advised the public to “turn the page.” (pp.48–49)

Actually what I said up top isn’t quite true. The Bush Administration has been reminding me of this for several years, and the book has been at the top of my re-reads for some weeks. Kirk’s news pointer just gave me a reason to excerpt from it here.

MargaretPOA @
11

He doesn’t need money? Looks to me like Henry Bonilla has him outfunded by about ten to one. Where is Rahm Emmanuel? Only one race the national Dems need to focus on and the Republicans are funding Bonilla. Where the hell are the Dems? Where is Rahm Emmanuel? Where are James Carville’s rants now? Where the hell is Howard Dean? It’s the same old thing, national Dems concede Texas even though several counties voted Democratic here on the seventh for the first time in decades.

Bonilla, R-San Antonio, reported $955,000 in cash-on-hand for the Dec. 12 election, compared to $91,000 for Rodriguez, according to reports covering the one-month period that ended Nov. 22.

Well, the DCCC isn’t sitting on its hands for this race. They have (very good) field staff in Texas working the district. They have also spent about $230,000 in the past few days on direct mail, phone banking, and media buys, with likely more to come. If you want to see what they’ve done recently, check the following links:
http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-b…../260912/se
http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-b…../260823/se
http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-b…../260321/se

Jane @ 8, (sorry, I went to bed)….spent all day Saturday making tamales….a gringa tamalada! Kinda funny really, 5 women making tamales, all gringas…my Hispanic friends are going to LOVE the tamales we made…the favorite, corn kernels, cheese and a strip of roasted poblano pepper….wow….really great stuff.

Now, back to the topic at hand….Jane, Chris Duel is on the station I was talking about and he is kind of righty (even with the Kinky support)…but the other guy is an older man who comes on in the middle of the day, Brad Messer….he has really come to hate bushco and is actually quite vocal about it….which is refreshing since this can be such a right wing town. How cool that you went to grad school with him and do like him….some of the things he talks about are pretty interesting….like going to Burning Man and things like that.

Anyway, the 12th being the Virgin of Guadalupe day….(Me in Houston @ 20)….She’s a pretty big deal in SA…a LOT of people are very reverential about her, so it really could have an impact with Hispanic voters….and is why that day was picked by the republican asshole secretary of state, Abbott.

HotFlash @
33

El Gato, your link to Ciro’s site doesn’t work. I think it’s http://cirodrodriguez.com/

The Pelosi 100-hour plan (pat. pending) has got to be helping Ciro. What are the issues in TX-23? Is the war a big deal?

Part of Ciro’s district is in San Antonio, aka Military City USA, and his district wraps around to…Lackland AFB. You’d better believe the war is a huge issue in this district.

The Virgen de Guadalupe probably won’t have much of an impact. There’s doing the respect the Virgin thing, but it’s not Christmas or Thanksgiving. It’s not Fiesta, even, which has thousands across San Antonio not going to work, and the schools getting closed. The ones who care about it might pop into their parish before or after work, but that’s about it. I’m more worried about the Hispanics who’ll be using it as an excuse to have a family gathering, and are too preoccupied with that to remember to vote. We do love our parties here in SA. But there won’t be many families going too gung ho with that route. Not on a Tuesday. My take: Minimal impact, if any.

My concern is the willfully dishonest campaign Bonilla is running. I saw one of his ads in the mail, huge mailing, going to hundreds of thousands of voters. Full color. He talks about Ciro voting to take people’s homes. It won’t work in every zip code he blankets, but it will work in the areas outside of San Antonio, at least with the scared Anglos, who make up a large percentage of non-SA voters. They won’t ask why Ciro voted against certain bills, they’ll just panic that he wants to take their land. This is the same tactic used against Max Cleland to deride him for voting against Homeland Security, without explaining why he did (he wanted bargaining unit rights for fed employees, that was stripped from the bill).

Bonilla is also presenting himself as a champion of small government. I doubled over laughing the first time I saw that. Yeah, he wants small goverment for we the people, but all the government anyone could want for big corporations. Fucking jerk. A well-placed ad saying this might get him to back off that tactic. Or, better yet, show ads of NOLA, and ask what Bonilla did to help them. People in this district can relate to floods. We’ve had quite a few devastating ones.

How much impact will Bonilla’s ad campaign have? I can’t speak for the outlying areas. In my neck of TX-23, it’s heavily Anglo, heavily Republican, very well-to-do, very scared of the brown people, and very religious (or pretending to be). They’ll go for Bonilla, no matter what. Uptight fuckwads. Venturing into other parts of SA, Bonilla is in trouble. Most of the San Antonio parts of the district are Hispanic, poor/working class, and worried about jobs and the like. Bonilla isn’t spending his money wisely here, either. He can send all the fliers he wants, but he’s not sending them in Spanish to neighborhoods that would respond to that. STUPID STUPID STUPID.

Outside of San Antonio is a mixed bag. You have the scared Anglo ranchers and country folk, who have way too many religious loonies in the mix. They’re easily swayed with emotional ads about saving the babies and nuking the gays. Even more importantly, they’re terrified of hordes of brown people crossing the border. The Republicans are preying on that fear. Some ugly “issue group” ads have floated, and they’re effective with this group. But it’s a double-edged sword for Bonilla, because the whole district in the outlying areas also has huge swaths of very poor Hispanics who vote Dem and they really, REALLY resent having been made the “face” of the immigration problem. They don’t buy his small government BS, either.