4:00 am

That's right. Four.A.M.

Jose Canseco is nucking futs

Did you see Nightline? Martin Bashir interviews Jose Canseco about his new book, Vindicated. In it, Canseco unashamedly, embarrassingly (for him) says that my baby daddy, Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, hit on Jose's random-looking wife. 

Whatever! He "names names" and says A-Rod used steroids, but when Martin asks him if he hates Alex, Canseco can't help but say, yeah, I hate the motherfucker, and yeah, that's why I'm talking. Canseco gets a little agitated with Bashir's questions, and that just makes him look desperate and sad. But mostly it is a trip to watch. Jose Canseco is a piece of work and a top contender for 2008 Player Hater of the Year. 

Alex, meanwhile, isn't having any of this. He's the number one player in baseball, baby. 

It's a disturbing interview. I really hope Canseco gets help and stays away from the Adult Film Industry. Doesn't it seem like that's where he's heading?

"Wow..."

Wrong answer, Chelsea. I think it is a legitimate question to ask about Senator Clinton, just an inappropriate question for her daughter. It was in bad form. Chelsea did fine in recovery, but I think the question of her mom's credibility is fair game. After all, word is that the Clintons would have to Tonya Harding Barack Obama for Hillary to get the nomination.

Yes, friends... this is what it has come to.

Lookie what I found at Trailblazers

The DSCC sent some poor intern-type to Texas, armed with only a camcorder, to talk to Rick Noriega about some of his experiences the past few years answering the call to duty. With the boots. On the ground. Ready to Serve. 

Get it?

Anyway, it's a good video. I hope attention from the DSCC isn't going to remain low budget. 

Fulfilling my brown obligation

The biggest story the past two days in Texas music has been on the severe head injuries Tejano music singer Emilio Navaira sustained after crashing his tour bus on 610 in the early morning hours of Easter Sunday. It's a terrible, saddening and upsetting situation for Navaira's fans. I admit, I like me some Emilio, especially on a day with cold beers and barbecue on the grill. While we remember the many good times we've had enjoying the music, everyone needs to consider the gravity of this man's medical condition.

Emilio Navaira has suffered traumatic brain injury (TBI) and he will never be the same. The doctors at Memorial Hermann are working to save his life and to minimize, if at all possible, the extent of brain injuries caused by the crash. Given my own family's experience with TBI and the doctors at UT-Houston and Memorial Hermann, the Navaira family has a very good chance of getting their loved one back. I think Dr. Red Duke is still on staff there, too.

Emilio's in good hands. 

P.S. - Happy Easter

Perhaps because there are no small children in our family, Easter Sunday was celebrated in about 2 hours today. Then, Mom & I went to the backyard to do some more work.  My dad worked really hard on turning the yard into a place where Fred Sanford would feel at home. We did a good job, but we have plenty of work to do. There's a lovely gazebo my mama has her eye on. 

Anyway, Happy Easter. One of these days I'll succumb to my Catholic-instilled feelings of self-doubt and guilt and go to Sunday Mass. Until then, I'll continue to worship at the Church of Democracy and in observance of our holy document, the United States Constitution. One of our more accomplished leaders, George Stephanopolous, holds services every Sunday from 10-11, to which I am only a few minutes late.  Tim Russert and Bob Schieffer are good, too, but I don't get up that early, and Wolf Blitzer is the Joel Osteen of Sunday political news. I'm happy with George.

Sunday blogging - March Madness/Tiger edition

Notes from the NCAA Tournament:

• Davidson beats Georgetown.  There goes your bracket, suckers!!
• Memphis beats Mississippi State
• UT beats Miami

Houston hosts a branch of the bracket this week! The Sweet Sixteen will be held at Reliant Stadium.  Fun times!

Tiger Woods, on the other hand, is on 'the verge' of losing his first tournament in six months. You know Tiger's not happy right now. Maybe, instead of rededicating himself to absolute domination of the golf world, he will take a little vacay and allow us to take a peak at the results of all the hard work he's done to stay in shape.  One can only hope.

Happy Birthday, Jaimito

The Senate needs something to do

As a legislative staffer in 2005, House business kept me busy. We were there at the Capitol all day, all night and sometimes on the weekends preparing for the big bills coming up on the Calendar.

House staffers, current and former, tend to gently rib our colleagues on the Senate side for their short workdays and remarkably dewy skin. They are all so well-rested and unstressed. Oh, I'm kidding. But what's that old saying about "idle hands?"

Check out what's been happening in the office of Senator Bob Deuell:

AUSTIN – A veteran Capitol staffer resigned Monday over allegations he impersonated both a state representative and a newspaper reporter in the last month – first to sway a state primary race, then to glean information on an ethics complaint against his boss.

Todd Gallaher had been on leave from Republican state Sen. Bob Deuell's office since last month, when he used an e-mail address that looked like it belonged to a Democratic lawmaker to send out embarrassing photos of a South Texas sheriff up for re-election.

Thanks to Emily Ramshaw at the DMN for the scoop!

Lakeside blogging

Ms. & I are cozied up here in shelter #3 at Canyon Lake. The soldiers on the other side of us are pretty quiet right now, so Ms. doesn't have to walk out there in her jammies to shut them up. We've had a great time thanks to Mr. & Mrs. Sanchez who agreed to adopt us. I'm having the papers drawn up on Monday.

We took a boat ride around the lake today, napped in the hammocks & supervised a 10-year-old pyromaniac around the campfire. Major Sanchez assured us of the boy's competance. "He's a Webelo!" I suppose I'll take his word for it.

It has been such a nice weekend! I must admit that I am very annoyed at Congress for stealing my hour from me tonight. I know it wasn't just Hillary whodunit, but she's as good a person to blame as any.

Okay, enough blogging. I'm turning out the lights and tucking Ms. into her bed. Scary stories, hair braiding and pillow fights are next. (You wish.)

Quote of the day

Just watchin' Olbermann...

My favorite quote from today's news cycle is from MSNBC contributor Margaret Carlson in reference to Hillary Clinton's "experience" in the form of diplomatic travel to 80 countries while serving as First Lady:

"I was on some of those trips. She really did have tea and cookies in those countries."

Ha.

For more on the embarrassment that is the Clinton campaign:

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them.

I am calm now

I'm at home watching the octogenarian episode of Blind Date. Go ahead and laugh, but seeing two elderly people enjoying themselves on a date gives me hope.

It's raining cats and dogs outside. Consequently, we are delaying our departure time for Canyon Lake. Booooooo. I wanted to wake up in Comal County in the beautiful Texas Hill Country on Friday morning. 

So I'll spend tonight catching up on my homework and maybe I'll order a pizza.

RANT

I took the day off yesterday to recuperate from Election Day. And Sister, did I need it! I am very, very disappointed in the Presidential results. I am not a Hillary fan. I do want to see a woman elected President, but not her. Most Clintonistas I encounter are friendly, but there have been plenty who are assholes, plain & simple. Must be that top-down thing.

Latino Obama supporters have been taking lots of heat here in Texas for not going with HRC. Clinton people couldn't be more insulting if they tried. Some woman from New York displayed a hella nerve telling me that as a Latina I should support HRC.

Are you fucking kidding me?

Uhmmmm, I'm sorry, I didn't know she was a Latina!! From what Latin American country does the surname Rodham originate? Cuba? Mexico? Puerto Rico?

And the only reason Hillary Rodham ended up in Texas is because Bill was enjoying the company of the pretty South Texas Mexican girls a little too much & so she came in to get him in check. That's thirty five years of experience trying to control what that man does with his penis. America has had enough of Bill Clinton and his penis for God's sake.

And I do not buy this so-called feminist argument that people who do not support her are anti-woman. I am a woman, and yes, I am a feminist. If you want to talk qualifications, then the person with the best resume, Gov. Bill Richardson, dropped out in January. The most experienced candidate, Joe Biden, dropped his bid early this year, too. 

Hillary wants the job because she thinks it belongs to her. I wholeheartedly disagree with her.

I'm not anti-woman, I'm anti-asshole.

Sidekick blogging -- Primary Day in Texas

It is COLD in this parking lot! I'm here at Theodore Roosevelt Elementary, the polling site for Precincts 78 and 543, liveblogging Election Day activities. My neighbors are slow getting to the polls today. The 9:30 count was less than 75 people! What gives, North Side? Get over here and VOTE already because tomorrow it will be too late and I don't want to hear any complaints.

How's it looking at your polling location? Let me know!

Firecracker, firecracker... boom, boom, boom!

On the day before election day, most campaigns are busy putting together a GOTV strategy to get their voters to the polls tomorrow. On second thought, allow me to clarify. Campaigns that are trying to win tomorrow are working their GOTV strategy while campaigns made of losers are wasting time fu***ng with their opposition.

About an hour ago over here at Team Farrar, we were phone banking, creating driving routes, icing down the Saint Arnold's Amber and feeding our consultant his daily ration of Peanut M & M's when we heard the festive sounds of gunpowder erupt suddenly from out in front of our campaign office. Some wise guy thought it would be a good idea to throw fireworks from a moving car at us.

WTF? Was that supposed to scare us? Was it a pre-cursor to events that may happen later in the evening by thugs who were paid to sabotage our phones or wreak havoc on our campaign HQ? La Belinda wasn't scared. She hit the deck, grabbed her glock from her gorgeous red bag and fired off a shot in retaliation. Okay, I'm exaggerating, but don't underestimate Belinda! She's from Cottage Grove and doesn't play.

We have an idea of who the perpetrators were based on our experiences working on Ana's campaign in 2005. One phone call later, we have a volunteer commanding 24-hour surveillance of our campaign office and the Houston Police Department has the name of the paid Republican operative who's been causing lots of problems in Democratic races. 

So come on with it. Team Farrar is ready to beat you at the polls tomorrow and to press charges against you. But then again, that's nothing new to you.

Today is a special day

My grandfather, Emeterio Puente, was born on March 3, 1915. He immigrated to the United States in 1951 at the age of 36. Happy birthday, 'Buelito. I was only 5 when he passed away but I think of him every single day as I do my grandmother, Virginia Puente.

Today is also Armando and Debbie Walle's first wedding anniversary. Felicidades, Mando & Debbie! The proper wedding gift for a couple on their first anniversary is paper, I believe. Speaking of paper, Armando was endorsed by the Houston Chronicle last week. There is no better gift than that of a win at the polls tomorrow, so go Team Walle!