The Galveston Blog

Thank Those Who Give Us A Choice

2008-03-07T10:23:00.000-06:00

I would like to take a moment to say “Thank You” to all of the candidates who ran in both the Democratic and Republican primaries. Having a choice is what democracy is all about and without these people we would have none. I would like to congratulate the winners of our contested county elections. Joe Jaworski, Freddie Poor, Stephen Holmes, Joyce Vail and William Comeaux were the winners from the Democratic Party. J. L. (Bubba) Campbell from the Republican Party. I encourage everyone to follow the candidates leading up to the general elections in November.

This week on The Political Party

2008-02-22T09:50:00.000-06:00

Be sure to listen in this week to The Political Party. Our guest this week will be all of the candidates for Galveston County Sheriff. Eric Nevelow, J. L. (Bubba) Campbell, Freddie Poor & Henry Porretto. Questions will be submitted by each candidate and and phone in guest. The show starts around 7:30 pm on Wednesday night, February 27, 2008.

City Manager Refuses To Provide Police Protection.

2007-11-16T14:49:00.000-06:00

Here is some crazy stuff from Friendswood. Check it out on the new Friendswood Blog located at http://friendswood.ballotcast.net/.

2007-11-10T15:13:00.000-06:00

December 1st this blog will move to http://galvestonblog.ballotcast.net. Please be sure to update your links and favorites.

County Investigates City?

2007-10-26T21:33:00.000-05:00

It seems that at least one League City council-person has formally requested Galveston County District Attorney Kirk Sistrunk's office investigate potential impropriety of League City's governing body. A local waste disposal company (Ameriwaste) has received a temporary contract to handle all commercial and private garbage disposals for the city. What the rumor mill is abuzz with is that an officer and part owner of Ameriwaste is none other than former League City Interim City Administrator Mike Clawson. Some on council believe that a deal might have been stuck with the local company prior to last Tuesday night’s vote. This has been discussed at length on the League City Blog. Now that the county has been asked to intervene, I felt it was necessary to post this thread here. Don’t just sit there reading. Sound off and tell us what you think.

The Big County Race This Year Is For Sheriff

2007-10-17T13:21:00.000-05:00

Without doubt, the county race that is receiving all of the hype this year is the one for Galveston County Sheriff. The rumor mill is abuzz with stories that range from Freddie Poore is a desperate attempt to preserve the Joe Max Taylor / Gene Leonard dynasty, to Henry Poretto being fired from the Sheriff’s dept. While these stories and many others are all very entertaining, without proof, I must dismiss them as little more than propaganda bombs and ignore them completely when the time comes to vote. I would like our readers to submit any accurate information they may have on any candidate's for county sheriff. While this blog exist for everyone to express their opinions, it works best when people can back-up their statements with something that is at least a cousin to evidence. It would nice to hear about some of the positive attributes of our candidates. There must be some. Even a broke clock is right twice a day. Share your information with me and the rest of the voters of Galveston County.

Local Girl Heads For The Big Time

2007-07-03T13:15:00.001-05:00

Texas 212th District Court Judge Susan Criss has thrown her hat into the race for The Texas Supreme Court, Place 8 currently occupied by Texas Justice Phil Johnson. Johnson was appointed to his position on March 15, 2005 by Texas Governor Rick Perry to fill the position of Justice Michael Schneider. As far as I can tell, Justice Johnson has never been elected by the people of Texas to occupy the office he currently holds. I’m very excited about the possibility of Judge Criss becoming a State Justice Elect next year. I’ve had the good fortune to sit in on a couple of her interviews and she strikes me as a very approachable person. She projects being knowledgeable, fair and capable. I would like to wish her the best of luck in this endeavor.

Texas Legislative Update

2007-05-18T20:04:00.000-05:00

With less than two weeks left in the Texas Legislative session, there's a lot of news to report from Austin - and updates on issues that the TDP has been covering all session. For more information about these topics or Texas Democratic Party events & trainings, please check out our website at http://www.txdemocrats.org/.

Below is a statement from Texas Democratic Party Chair Boyd Richie on State Senator Mario Gallegos' announcement that he will be returning to Houston to undergo a surgical procedure:

"Mario Gallegos is a dedicated and selfless public servant, who has placed the best interests of his constituents above his own. Defying doctor's orders for weeks, Mario stood his ground for as long as he could and has honorably represented his constituents in the Texas Senate, despite significant physical ailment.

I speak for all Democrats when I thank him for his service and devotion to the people of Texas. Our thoughts are with Senator Gallegos and his family, as we pray for his recovery."

Update Democratic Efforts on CHIP & Teacher's Pay Raise

Earlier this session, the House passed bills to restore health insurance coverage under CHIP to thousands of Texas children and to give our teachers a well-deserved pay raise.
This week, the Texas Senate followed the House's lead and passed similar legislation.
"Legislative budget writers voted Thursday to cover 100,000 more youngsters in need of health care and hike annual teacher pay by about $425 in addition to merit increases."
- Houston Chronicle, 5/18/07, "Budget writers expand CHIP benefit"

Because the House and Senate passed different version of both bills. Democrats have led the charge in both the House and the Senate to insure that CHIP is restored to the almost 200,000 children who have lost coverage since 2003. And House Democrats joined by a few Republicans passed the teacher pay raise over the objection of many Republicans.

Speaker Tom Craddick Faces a New Challenge

Despite promises to run the House in a bi-partisan manner, Tom Craddick has abused his power by consistently denying Democrats the opportunity to bring bills to the floor for a vote and has made questionable parliamentary rulings against Democrats and even Republicans, who have questioned his leadership style.

However, in the last two weeks, House members have begun to revolt against his "auto-Craddick" tactics.

"Last week, members handed Craddick a rare public rebuke. By an 87-50 vote, they overturned his ruling on a procedural matter that at times in the past would have been considered routine."
- Ft. Worth Star-Telegram Editorial, May 17, 2007
Now, a fellow Republican and former ally has filed to run for Speaker against Craddick at the beginning of the next legislative session in 2009. Republicans are cracking under the pressure of a united Democratic Caucus who welcomed six new members in 2006 and cut the Republican majority in half. The GOP disarray in the House reflects the general lack of competence and the inability of GOP leadership to put Texans ahead of party politics and special interests.

Lawmakers Agree on Measures for Texas Youth Commission Facilities

One of the most appalling stories this year has been the reports of abuse at TYC facilities and the fact that Texas Republicans including Attorney General Greg Abbott covered up there reports for years. After significant pressure from Democrats in the legislature, newspaper editorials and Texans like you, there is an agreement to ensure that the TYC is run by experts in law enforcement.

"Lawmakers reached a compromise Wednesday on the reform bill for the embattled Texas Youth Commission, agreeing that the agency would be run by a governor-appointed commissioner and an advisory panel for at least the next two years.

"Starting in 2009, the agency's leadership structure would return to its current form - an executive director and a board of directors, said Jerry Madden, chairman of the House Corrections Committee. But he said the agency is also up for a Sunset review in 2009, and the review could include recommendations to keep the commissioner in place longer."
-Dallas Morning News, May 17, 2007, "TYC Deal is Reached"

Republican Exposes the Real Intent about Voter ID

GOP consultant and former Political Director for the Republican Party of Texas Royal Masset speaks out on voter ID:

"Of course this is voter suppression! I don't doubt most of my Republican friends truly believe Voter ID promotes ballot integrity. But I also have no doubt that David Dewhurst, any knowledgeable legislator and all political consultants understand the real reason for Voter ID is that it will suppress Democrat turnout about 3%. What I find especially disturbing, as several posters here pointed out, is that the Voter ID bill would do exactly 0 to stop illegal immigrants for voting. Framing the issue in those terms is pure racism which should be condemned by Republicans as well as Democrats."
- Posted on Burnt Orange Report, www.burntorangereport.com

Investigative Journalist Greg Palast Reports on the Firing of New Mexico Attorney David Iglesia

2007-05-18T09:52:00.000-05:00

Investigative Journalist Greg Palast Reports on the Firing of New Mexico Attorney David Iglesias
Monday, May 14th, 2007
On a single day, December 7, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales demanded the resignations of 8 United States Attorneys. What was really the purpose of the firings - and who was behind it? Investigative journalist Greg Palast reports. [includes rush transcript]
We turn to the latest in the US attorney firing scandal. Nearly half of the US attorneys slated for removal by the Bush administration last year were targeted for not doing enough to prosecute voter fraud. According to the Washington Post, of the twelve US attorneys known to have been dismissed or considered for removal last year, five were identified by presidential advisor Karl Rove or other administration officials as working in districts that were trouble spots for voter fraud: Kansas City, Milwaukee, New Mexico, Nevada and Washington state. Four of the five prosecutors in those districts were fired.
Perhaps the most well-known of these US attorneys is ousted New Mexico prosecutor David Iglesias. His case has been at the center of the political firestorm. Investigative journalist Greg Palast has been closely following this story. He files a report and joins us in our firehouse studio.
Greg Palast. Investigative journalist. His latest book is “Armed Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans - Sordid Secrets & Strange Tales of a White House Gone Wild.”
AMY GOODMAN: We return to the latest now in the US attorney firing scandal. Nearly half of the US attorneys slated for removal by the Bush administration last year were targeted for not doing enough to prosecute voter fraud. According to the Washington Post, of the twelve US attorneys known to have been dismissed or considered for removal last year, five were identified by presidential advisor Karl Rove or other administration officials as working in districts that were trouble spots for voter fraud: Kansas City, Milwaukee, New Mexico, Nevada and Washington state. Four of the five prosecutors in those districts were fired.
Perhaps the most well known of these US attorneys is ousted New Mexico prosecutor David Iglesias. His case has been at the center of the political firestorm. Investigative journalist Greg Palast has been closely following this story. He files this report.
KEVIN BACON: Your honor, I’d like to ask for a recess.
TOM CRUISE: I’d like an answer to the question, Judge.
J.A. PRESTON: The court will wait for an answer.
GREG PALAST: This past December 7 was not the first time United States prosecutor David Iglesias had been brutally cut loose. In the 1992 film A Few Good Men, Tom Cruise plays David Iglesias, the true story of the young military defense lawyer fighting to uncover the truth.
TOM CRUISE: I want the truth!
JACK NICHOLSON: You can't handle the truth!
GREG PALAST: Greg Palast.
DAVID IGLESIAS: Greg, hi. David Iglesias.
GREG PALAST: Hey, how are you, Captain?
DAVID IGLESIAS: Hey, I’m doing just fine. Thank you.
GREG PALAST: So can you handle the truth or not?
DAVID IGLESIAS: Absolutely.
GREG PALAST: Captain Iglesias, the US prosecutor, knew something was very wrong when, just a week before the 2006 midterm elections, he received a strange and threatening call to his home. It was his state’s senior senator, the powerful Republican leader Pete Domenici on the line, pushing Iglesias to file criminal charges against a Democrat before the election.
DAVID IGLESIAS: I’m sitting in my bedroom, and here’s the killer point, Greg. He says, “Are these going to get filed before November?” And I said I didn't think so. And the line goes dead. In other words, our senior senator hung up on me. A terribly inappropriate call.
GREG PALAST: Inappropriate, certainly. Obstruction of justice, possibly.
DAVID IGLESIAS: He basically wanted to know: are you going to file these cases that can help Heather out? That was the subtext. I felt terrible after that phone call.
GREG PALAST: By “helping Heather,” he meant Congresswoman Heather Wilson, then candidate Heather Wilson. The race was a dead heat. Domenici wanted him to bust a Democrat to help Wilson. Still, Iglesias tried to be the loyal party man, even covering up the threatening call.
Did you report this phone call to anyone at the time?
DAVID IGLESIAS: I did not, and I should have. There is a requirement under the US attorney’s manual for us to report that kind of contact from a member of Congress. I didn't do that.
GREG PALAST: But that act of loyalty wasn't good enough for Karl Rove, the President’s political advisor. Rove flew to New Mexico just before the election and got an earful of complaints about Iglesias from state party chiefs. Rove reported to President Bush, who personally put the heat on Attorney General Gonzales. Iglesias was stunned.
DAVID IGLESIAS: I had no idea that a few local yokels in New Mexico would have enough stroke to get the President to complain.
GREG PALAST: There was more than failing to help the Wilson campaign. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican operatives blocked a quarter-million new voters nationwide from voting on grounds they brought the wrong IDs to the poles. To justify this massive blockade, Republican officials wanted Iglesias to arrest some voters to create a high publicity show trial. Iglesias went along with the game. Just before the 2004 election, he held a press conference announcing the creation of a vote fraud task force. But the prosecutor drew the line at arresting innocent voters.
DAVID IGLESIAS: They were telling Rove that I wasn’t doing their bidding. I wasn't filing these voter fraud cases.
GREG PALAST: The evidence fellow Republicans gave him was junk. He refused to bring a single prosecution.
DAVID IGLESIAS: It was the old throwing pasta at the wall trick, that he’s throwing up pasta. Something’s got to stick, and it didn't.
GREG PALAST: For failing to bring the voting cases, Iglesias paid with his job.
DAVID IGLESIAS: They wanted a political operative who happened to be a US attorney, and when they got somebody who actually took his oath to the Constitution seriously, they were appalled and they wanted me out of there. The two strikes against me was, I was not political, I didn't help them out on their bogus voter fraud prosecutions.
GREG PALAST: Rove personally ordered his removal. As a prosecutor, Iglesias says that if missing emails prove the firing was punishment for failure to bring bogus charges, Mr. Rove himself is in legal trouble.
DAVID IGLESIAS: If his intent was, look what happened with Iglesias, if that was his intent, he’s in big trouble. That is obstruction of justice, one classic example.
GREG PALAST: Iglesias believes the real reasons for the firings are in what are called the missing emails, emails sent by the Rove team using Republican Party campaign computers, which Rove claims can't be retrieved. But not all the missing emails are missing. We have 500 of them. Apparently the Rove team misaddressed their emails, and late one night they all ended up in our inboxes in our offices in New York City.
And as Iglesias predicted, they reveal a story the party would rather keep buried. Voting rights attorney Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., reviewed the evidence in our cache of emails and concluded:
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: They ought to be in jail for doing this, because they knew it was illegal, and they did it anyway.
GREG PALAST: What is it that was so obviously illegal that law professor Kennedy thought they deserved prison time? The evidence that shook him was attached to fifty of the secret emails, something that GOP party chiefs called caging lists, thousands of names of voters. Notably, the majority were African American. Kennedy explained how caging worked.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: Caging is an illegal way of getting rid of black votes. You get a list of all the black voters. Then you send a letter to their homes. And if the person doesn't sign it at the homes, the letter then is returned to the Republican National Committee. They then direct the state attorney general, who is friendly to them, who’s Republican, to remove that voter from the list on the alleged basis that that voter does not live in the address that they designated as their address on the voting application form.
GREG PALAST: In all, the Republican Party challenged nearly three million voters, a mass attack on minority voting rights virtually unreported in the US press.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: So they disenfranchised millions of black voters who don't even know that they’ve been disenfranchised.
GREG PALAST: Page after page of voters with this address, Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, hundreds, thousands of soldiers and sailors targeted to lose their vote. Go to Baghdad, lose your vote.
And what does this have to do with the prosecutor firings? Take a look at the name at the top of the secret missing email: Tim Griffin. This is the man in charge of the allegedly illegal caging operation. He is research director for the Republican National Committee, special assistant to Karl Rove, and as of December 7 Karl Rove's personal pick for US attorney for the state of Arkansas. Is this a case of the perpetrator becomes the prosecutor? For Democracy Now! this is Greg Palast.
JACK NICHOLSON: We use words like honor, code, loyalty.
GREG PALAST: Is Tom Cruise going to play you in this follow-up?
DAVID IGLESIAS: He’s more handsome, but I’m quite a bit taller, so I’ve got that on him.
AMY GOODMAN: And that was the excerpt of A Few Good Men from Greg Palast’s piece. Greg Palast, investigative journalist, his latest book just out on paperback called Armed Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans, Sordid Secrets and Strange Tales of a White House Gone Wild. Greg Palast joins us in the studio now.
Greg, I just want to start where you left off and started this film: A Few Good Men. I don't think most people understand this about David Iglesias.
GREG PALAST: Yes, well, Iglesias was the guy played by Tom Cruise in the film A Few Good Men, which is a real story about how a young military attorney stood up to military brass to uncover the truth. And somehow they thought that this -- you know, this Tom --
AMY GOODMAN: This was the hazing of a young man, a soldier, who was killed.
GREG PALAST: Yeah, who was killed. And it was covered up. And, you know, he just wanted to get to the truth. That was David Iglesias. Now, here he is again, you know, standing up to the brass. I mean, one of the things we have to be very careful of is -- you know, I’m not going to say he’s a man for all season -- he went along just before the 2004 election and held a big splashy press conference, saying, “Yes, I’m going to go and look for voter fraud,” that there are -- you know, it looks like there may be thousands of fraudulent voters.
Understand what this is about. This is to create a hysteria so they could pass legislation which would require voters to show up with ID. A quarter-million voters were turned away for having the wrong ID, but no one was arrested. So Karl Rove and his assistant Tim Griffin are in a panic. You’re turning away thousands of voters, you’re not arresting any. So he’s asking Iglesias, demanding Iglesias -- and now we know a half dozen others, almost everyone that was fired -- they demand that they just grab people. That’s where Iglesias drew the line in the sand. He said a press conference is one thing, which he probably shouldn’t have done, but literally handcuffing innocent voters for show trials -- and then, of course, then you drop the case later -- that is one thing he absolutely was not going to do. He was going to give up his job.
He also made the mistake -- when he got calls from Senator Pete Domenici asking for inside information, pushing him to arrest Democrats a week before the midterm election of 2006, that was another attempt at what could be obstruction of justice. The US code for US attorneys requires that he turn in Senator Domenici, which he admits he didn't do. And now he regrets that, but he said, “You know, I want the evidence out there anyway, even if it shows that I failed to act.”
AMY GOODMAN: And Healther Wilson, of course, also called, and Heather Wilson at the time in an extremely close race for her political life as a congress member from New Mexico.
GREG PALAST: Well, in fact, from my investigation, she didn't win. There was voter fraud, and that the majority of the votes went to the Democrats.
Another thing is that Iglesias did not, unfortunately, investigate the other side of the coin, which is this massive denial of votes, systematic by Republican operatives. Now, what we have and what we showed in the film is that when I was investigating for BBC and for Democracy Now! back in 2004, we got 500 of the so-called missing emails of Karl Rove. They were, you know -- Karl Rove, people think he’s an evil genius, but that’s only about half right. I mean, he’s not necessarily the sharpest knife in the drawer, and he and his guys were mistyping their email addresses, sent them to georgewbush.org, instead of dotcom, which is an email domain owned by friends of ours, who shot them right to us.
We went through the 500, and what we found were this massive plan to deny the right to vote -- I mean, extraordinarily targeting African American soldiers sent overseas. They’d send them a letter to their home address. The letter would come back. They say, “Gee, they don't live there. They shouldn’t be allowed to vote.” Their absentee ballot would come in from overseas, and it would be challenged. They would lose their vote. They wouldn’t even know it. Now, when we showed this to several voting rights attorneys, including, as you heard, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. -- now, he was really shaken up. That’s when he said these guys should be in jail. So this is the other side of this whole issue involving the prosecutors.
And who did this? Who was in charge of this? It wasn't Rove personally. He had put Tim Griffin in charge. Griffin is the guy who, with Rove, picked out the US attorneys to be fired and then had himself named by Rove -- had himself named by Rove to the spot as US attorney for Arkansas. So what we may have here is a case of the perpetrator of voter fraud becoming the prosecutor. I mean, it is -- and what this is all about -- in fact, I have an internal Tim Griffin email -- what this is all about is, he says it’s all about the votes. This is about the 2008 election, a panic to get their people in place for 2008 to create hysteria about voter ID, knock out minority voters, especially Hispanic, and to put in their people who are experienced in knocking out voters.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to go more into this after break. We’re talking to Greg Palast. His book just came out on paperback. It’s called Armed Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans. Stay with us.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to Greg Palast, investigative journalist, author of Armed Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans. Investigative journalist Murray Waas reported last week the Bush administration has withheld emails showing senior White House and Justice Department officials collaborated to conceal the role of White House strategist Karl Rove in installing his former deputy, Timothy Griffin as US attorney in Arkansas. The emails show that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s former chief of staff, D. Kyle Sampson, worked with White House officials on two letters that misled Congress on the appointment and also Rove's role in that. Greg?
GREG PALAST: Well, yeah. They were covering up the fact that Tim Griffin was Rove's right-hand man. And you have to understand, Rove, as the political director at the White House, was deeply involved in targeting and taking out the US attorneys who were recalcitrant and wouldn't start handcuffing Hispanic voters on false voter charges. They also know that it’s a slippery slope, because they know that I have 500 of the so-called missing emails.
In fact, that’s one of the points that -- in one of their internal emails, which was actually subpoenaed by the committee, they’re complaining about that guy, the British reporter -- that’s Greg Palast. As you realize, Amy, I’m American. But, of course, my reports are exiled to BBC Britain, and then they come back here through Democracy Now!, bless you. But they’re saying that these reports about Griffin’s role have not been picked up in the US media, in the US national media. And they’re kind of right. I mean, this material has not come through the US media.
They don't want Griffin’s role opened up, because once they have the role of Griffin in the firings opened up, they’ll ask why that happened. They will find and discover these emails, and, in fact, now that they’re public, will turn them over to the Conyers committee, and then they’ll find out that Griffin was deeply involved in the removal of legal voters. And now you’re getting into potential felony area. That’s a very serious business. So they want to stop the slippery slope of bringing in Griffin and revealing the entire chain of emails, not just his involvement in the firings, but what led up to it, and that brings us to the emails that you just saw on our report.
AMY GOODMAN: In this whole scandal, we keep hearing about voter fraud, voter fraud. But can you explain what is being talked about here with this aggressive effort to restrict, particularly people of color, voting in battleground states?
GREG PALAST: What happened is that the Republican Party was running a massive campaign directed by Karl Rove and, we know, Tim Griffin, from the written emails, to block voters' votes or to challenge their votes. One way to challenge voters was to say that they were stealing someone else's identity. Someone is voting for Amy Goodman. Well, they say, the solution is to create ID cards. The problem is we can't find anyone anywhere who has committed this crime of stealing Amy Goodman's name to vote. People are not willing to go to jail to vote in some school board election or even for the presidency.
What Griffin, Rove's assistant, wanted Iglesias to do -- they gave them 110 names. They wanted them, for example, to arrest some guy named, say, roughly, if I remember, like Juan Gonzalez, and say he voted twice, stealing someone’s ID. Well, in New Mexico there may be two guys named Juan Gonzalez. So Iglesias just thought this was absolute junk, absolute junk stuff, and he wouldn't do it. So it’s all about trying to create a hysteria about fraudulent voting.
There are 120 million people that voted, and I can't find an actual case out of 120 of a prosecution that -- a real prosecution of any single voter for voter identity theft. There is like five cases in the country involving some minor offices. That’s it. So it’s a complete false prosecution set-up, kind of like the Soviet Union: just grab people, put them on show trials, maybe let them go later, maybe they languish in jail.
On the other side, they’re covering up their own program, programmatic challenge of voters, which is not covered in the US press. Three million people were challenged. By the way, this isn't, you know, from the Democracy Now! black helicopter. This is from the raw data of the United States Election Assistance Commission: three million challenges. These votes were basically lost. Over a million votes were lost. Half a million absentee ballots were thrown out, and many, many of those were votes of African American and Hispanic soldiers that went to Iraq, got their ballots challenged under this Karl Rove-Tim Griffin scheme, and they lost their vote. And they didn't even know that they lost their vote. So all of this is being covered up.
And so, they cannot now -- they don't want to open up the whole story of Tim Griffin, how he became US attorney, what his role was, because it goes all the way back. And what David Iglesias was saying, US attorney, now captain -- by the way, he’s back in the military -- Captain Iglesias was saying, if you can show this chain of intent, that it’s all about the voting and he’s being punished for not bringing these false prosecutions, he says, that’s an obstruction of justice charge that can be brought against Karl Rove.
And, by the way, one little sidelight on that is that Captain Iglesias, one of the excuses that they try to give for firing him, Amy, was that he was absent for too many days from office. They didn't mention that he was absent because he was on active duty in the US Naval Reserve. He is now, by the way, bringing the very first claim ever. You cannot fire someone for doing their duty in the US Naval Reserve. He’s now filing a charge against the commander-in-chief, George Bush, for attempting to fire him for simply showing up for active duty.
AMY GOODMAN: The Arkansas Leader reported enterprising reporters examining Griffin’s fanciful resume discovered his blistering record as a prosecutor was nothing more than paper shuffling in short stints in the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps and federal prosecutor offices. He had never taken a single case to trial. His career had consisted almost altogether of political hatchet work.
GREG PALAST: Well, you have to look at what’s going on here. You’ve replaced Iglesias, who is, you know, the Tom Cruise lawyer who has real experience as a prosecutor, as a trial lawyer from the military. They remove him, and they put in a paper shuffler -- worse, someone who is actually shuffling voters’ papers that he shouldn’t be shuffling. You saw the kind of emotional reaction of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., voting rights attorney. He was the most emotional, because you have to imagine -- remember that his father, his late father, was the predecessor to Alberto Gonzales. Imagine, we’ve gone from Robert F, Kennedy, Sr., to Roberto Gonzales.
AMY GOODMAN: Alberto.
GREG PALAST: Yeah. And you can, you know -- from Kennedy’s, this was very an emotional issue. To see the office that his father used to protect civil rights being used deliberately to attack civil rights is a very serious business. But, again, here he is saying, and Iglesias is suggesting now with this evidence, that it rises now to obstruction of justice.
AMY GOODMAN: And, interestingly, McClatchy Newspapers reporting, as part of the strategy, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has sought to roll back policies to protect minority voting rights. On virtually every significant decision affecting election balloting since 2001, the division’s voting rights section has come down on the side of Republicans.
GREG PALAST: Well, even worse, what’s not covered there is that they covered up the active attack on legal voters. I mean, you’re talking -- the caging lists that we have, in the 500 sheets, the 500 emails, we have 70,000 names. That’s one state. This was a multimillion-dollar, gold-plated attack operation on the right of minority voters to vote. And, obviously, Griffin knew it, because he was in charge of it. So you actually have the guys who are supposed to be protecting voters are either actively covering up or even actively participating in knocking out legal voters. I mean, it’s like the mob has grabbed the police department. That’s the problem, by the way, with voter fraud -- with real voter fraud, not the phony stuff of grabbing the Juan Gonzalezes of New Mexico -- if you win, you’ve now grabbed the apparatus of protection and enforcement. It’s the perfect crime.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we’re going to leave it there. I want to thank you very much, Greg Palast, for joining us. Greg, an investigative journalist, latest book just out in paperbook called Armed Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans, Sordid Secrets and Strange Tales of a White House Gone Wild.
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Don't invite Abbott's Foxes into Fort Worth Hen House

2007-05-17T17:18:00.000-05:00

(202) 547 - 7610 - Fax (202) 547 - 8258May 17, 2007Contact: Matt AngleOn the web at http://www.lonestarproject.net/
Don't Invite Abbott's Foxes into Fort Worth Hen HouseAbbott’s agents harass, intimidate and spy upon Fort Worth Seniors
Any good candidate is disappointed when they lose a hard fought election. However, the well-meaning failed candidates in Fort Worth City Council District 5 may want to think again before inviting Attorney General Greg Abbott into Fort Worth to investigate the mail ballots cast in the recently concluded city election. (Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 16, 2007) In the District 5 Council Election last Saturday, incumbent Frank Moss surprised his opponents by winning a majority of the vote in a five person race, thus avoiding a runoff. Some opponents are now considering asking the Texas Attorney General to investigate the election results.
As the Lone Star Project detailed in reports last year (Read the Reports Here), Greg Abbott’s agents have a history of singling out minorities and senior citizens and then harassing them under the guise of a voter fraud investigation.
Abbott Sent "Peeping Tom" Agents to Fort Worth In the run up to last year’s election, Abbott’s agents went so far as to “peep” into the window of Ms. Gloria Meeks, an elderly African American Fort Worth woman, while she was stepping out of the shower. (Read the Report Here) Ms. Meeks had been a local
"Abbott is using taxpayer dollars to prosecute well-meaning folks who are simply helping seniors cast their ballot... The selective criteria and outrageous investigative tactics employed by Greg Abbott’s task force are a shallow political effort to suppress minority and senior voters." -Boyd Richie Chair, Texas Democratic Party

community activist who often assisted friends and neighbors with many tasks including applying for a mail ballot. (Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 22, 2006) Ms. Meeks has never been formally charged, or even officially accused of any wrong doing, but Abbott’s agents went to her home to "investigate" possible voter fraud. Following the "peeping" incident and other harassing actions by the agents, Ms. Meeks fell ill. She later suffered a stroke and is now recovering in a nursing home.
Abbott Wasting Taxpayer Millions on Vote SuppressionGreg Abbott has applied for and received over $2 million in federal funds that could be used to prosecute child predators or fight cyber crimes. (Source: Attorney General Grant Application Forms) Instead of protecting children or catching online thieves, however, Abbot is using the money to fund a phony voter fraud unit that has indicted only 13 individuals. The AP reported that, “All of them had a record of voting Democrat; 12 were either black or Hispanic.” (Source: Associated Press, November 4, 2006)
Breakdown of Abbott's 13 Indictments
Minorities Indicted
12 of 13
92%
People over age 50
8 of 13
62%
People over age 60
5 of 13
38%
Democrats
13 of 13
100%
One of those convictions involved a woman in Texarkana who was simply assisting an elderly friend, who was suffering with terminal cancer, make sure her completed and sealed ballot was delivered to the post office. (Source: The Houston Chronicle, September 19, 2006) A Lone Star Project lawsuit is currently pending in Federal Court challenging the mail ballot statute. (Read about the Lawsuit Here)
A Fort Worth investigation is unlikely to change election resultsThe election in question was not close. Incumbent City Councilman Frank Moss won the election with over 56 percent of the vote among a field of five candidates. He avoided a runoff election by 113 votes. (Source: Tarrant County Election Board) Only 499 votes were cast by mail and Moss earned 389 of them. In order to change the election results, other candidates would have to prove that almost one out of three mail ballots were cast improperly.
Conversely, Greg Abbott and his agents could well use the excuse of an investigation to harass and intimidate law abiding community activists with the hope that they will not work to turn out the vote in their neighborhoods next November when vulnerable Republicans will be on the ballot

Voter ID bill left pending in Senate

2007-05-17T12:03:00.000-05:00

Senate Democrat, lieutenant governor face off.

By Mark LisheronAMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFFWednesday, May 16, 2007
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and John Whitmire, the senior Democrat in the Senate, faced off angrily Tuesday over a bill that would require Texans to present identification to vote.
Saying he had been cheated out of a crucial vote to bring the bill to the floor, Whitmire of Houston cursed, stabbed his finger at Dewhurst and demanded — and got — a second vote.

Harry Cabluck/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, left his sickbed Tuesday to vote to block Senate consideration of the voter identification bill.
But not before Dewhurst, in a rare flash of anger, told Whitmire, "You are going to compose yourself, or you are going to leave the floor."
The 11 Senate Democrats, with Whitmire's vote added, blocked a suspension of Senate rules that would have allowed a floor debate on the controversial Voter ID bill.
Democrats, including Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, contend that the bill is a way of disenfranchising potential voters who do not have the means to establish identification. On the Senate floor Tuesday, Shapleigh traced voter identification to a political tactic of presidential adviser Karl Rove.
Dewhurst said Tuesday that the bill has the support of the vast majority of Texans of all political stripes.
"Overwhelmingly, Texans believe only American citizens who are Texas residents should be allowed to vote," he said.
The vote that mattered Tuesday took Senate Democrats by surprise. Unencumbered by the usual recognitions and ceremonial resolutions at the start of the day, Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, sponsor of Senate Bill 218, asked that his bill be considered while several Democrats were not on the floor.
Alerted by their colleagues, lawmakers scurried back to their desks.
When Dewhurst called the roll, Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy; Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio; and Whitmire were absent.
The vote was 19-9, a two-thirds majority favoring discussion of the bill. Because only a simple majority is required to pass a bill, Democrats are trying to prevent a debate of the measure.
Whitmire insisted later that he had been on the floor. But Dewhurst called Whitmire's name several times; getting no response, he took the tally.
"That's dirty," said Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, whose responsibility as chairwoman of the Senate Democratic Caucus is to keep her voting bloc together.
Dewhurst agreed to take a second vote, and as he called the roll again, Uresti, who had been sick in bed at his apartment near the Capitol, walked in to cast a "no" vote. The obviously surprised Democrats applauded Uresti.
Afterward, Whitmire was asked whether Dewhurst had smoothed things over by agreeing to another vote. "No comment," Whitmire said.
Dewhurst said he has always played by the rules of the Senate and never had any intention of discounting Whitmire's vote. He said he expected Fraser to bring up the bill again, should he see an advantage on the floor.
Van de Putte said that until Wednesday, the last opportunity to get the Voter ID bill passed, Democrats plan to take no chances.
"When we go to the bathroom," she said, "we're going to take a Republican along with us."
mlisheron@statesman.com

Lies by James Carville

2007-05-17T11:20:00.000-05:00

Dear Friend,

Anytime somebody says that they "don't recall" as much as Alberto Gonzales did, you can bet that they recall damn well whatever it is they did, they just never thought they'd have to account for it.Republicans' feet are being held to the fire and they are being forced do all sorts of things they never wanted to do -- like answer questions about the Bush Administration's incompetence, debate the war in Iraq and get rid of tax breaks for Big Oil. With Republicans against the wall and out of power, there is no smear campaign too low or too cheap.Need proof? Look at how quickly they got in line to lie about Speaker Pelosi's trip to the Middle East. Or that they've already launched attacks targeting the entire Democratic freshman class. Or the fact that not a day has gone by without a Republican claiming Democrats don't support the troops.That's why the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has set up an emergency Rapid Response Fund to combat any dirty tactics the Republicans can throw at us. The fund will provide Democrats with the resources to not only fight back but to go on the offensive, expanding research and communications operations to hit vulnerable Republicans early with ads, Web videos and in the media. But, we won't stop there. To get our Rapid Response operations off the ground, the DCCC has a goal of raising $50,000 by May 25th -- will you help us today?Stand up to Swift Boat Tactics -- Give $25, $50 or more to support the DCCC's Rapid Response FundFor twelve years Republicans in the House of Representatives were living high on the hog. They never had to take a hard vote and got to pay back their big business benefactors with all sorts of goodies and favors.For the next two years, Republicans will do anything and everything to get back their power. And their fat cat allies, cut off from their corrupt federal gravy train, will be there to fund them.Gearing up for 2008, Republicans are ready to fight dirtier and nastier then ever before. One of the reasons we were so successful in 2006 is Democrats let no attack go unanswered. It might cost a little right now but it will cost us a heck of a lot more in the future if we do nothing. Help us reach our goal of $50,000 today by giving what you can to our Rapid Response Fund.Stand up to Swift Boat Tactics -- Give $25, $50 or more to support the DCCC's Rapid Response FundDemocrats are already on the offense, running ads in states like New Mexico to hold entrenched Republican Heather Wilson accountable for her role in the firing of eight US federal prosecutors. Recently, the DCCC launched a web video to expose Republican John Doolittle and others about their connections to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.Republicans are most dangerous when they're most desperate. We need to be prepared for what is coming. Get in the fight. Join me and let's get behind the DCCC's Rapid Response Fund operations.Stand up to Swift Boat Tactics -- Give $25, $50 or more to support the DCCC's Rapid Response Fund

Thank you,

James Carville

P.S. The only game Republicans ever learned as children is follow the leader, and that's why, despite the fact that the good voters of the United States of America firmly slapped the Republican Party upside the head this past November, they'll continue to follow George Bush's disastrous policies like lemmings headed for a cliff. Get in the fight. Stand with your fellow Democrats against Republican "Swift Boat" tactics. Support the DCCC today.

Ron Paul Articles

2007-05-17T11:17:00.000-05:00

May 17, 2007 -
BY DON MUNSCH - VICTORIA ADVOCATE
Ron Paul's 9/11 comments at the GOP presidential debate Tuesday turned even some supporters against him. Others were left just scratching their heads. John Griffin Jr., former chairman of the Victoria County Democratic Party, took issue with Paul's 9/11 assessment, calling his remarks "ridiculous" and "far-fetched." On the other hand, Griffin said, both political parties have politicized 9/11. Still, he said, someone with Paul's experience in Congress should know about the relationship between al-Qaida and Iraq, that Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden "hated each other" and that there's no connection between Iraq and 9/11. Plus, Griffin called Paul's allegations involving the U.S. bombing Iraq "a complete fabrication." "He should either retract his statement or resign," Griffin said about Paul. He added he understood Paul's statements about the United States meddling in Middle East affairs, but Paul should fortify his opinions with facts. "A little honesty wouldn't hurt in these debates," Griffin said. Eric Dondero, a former senior aide to Paul (1997-2003), said in a telephone interview from Angleton that he thought Paul's comments were "deplorable" and that he was embarrassed by Paul's statements, explaining that Paul no longer represented the views of South Texas. He called on Paul to resign. Click Here To Tell Us Your Story. "Sooner rather than later," said Dondero, who also served as a congressional campaign coordinator for Paul in 1995-96 and was a travel aide for Paul in 1987-88 when Paul ran for president as a Libertarian. Otherwise, Dondero said, if Paul doesn't leave, then Congressional District 14 voters from Victoria to Galveston "will appear to be endorsing his treacherous, and near treasonous views on foreign policy." Dondero said he is considering running in the 2008 Republican primary against Paul. He said he would wait to see whether a few other possible candidates run. If they don't, he will. Marguerite Lauger of Victoria, a former campaign worker for Paul, said she was appalled by Paul's comments, pointing out that America's policies in the Middle East can't justify what happened on 9/11. She said her similarly annoyed granddaughter told her last night that Paul won't be getting her vote, either. Ed Erwin of El Campo, who also disagreed with Paul's comments, said Tuesday's debate exposed to the nation that Paul is "a loony." Buddy Lee of Victoria said he's continually amazed by what Paul says. "I can't believe that somebody really believes that." Lee said it's upsetting that the words come from someone who represents people here. "And I think it's time for a change," he said. What do you think of Ron Paul's take on 9/11? Some say Paul misunderstood May 17, 2007 - Posted at 7:39 a.m. BY DON MUNSCH - VICTORIA ADVOCATE Longtime supporter Diana Tibbits said U.S. Rep. Ron Paul's comments about the reasons behind the 9/11 attacks have been taken out of context. At the GOP presidential debate Tuesday, Paul implied U.S. policies in the Middle East had contributed to the attacks in New York and Washington. "Have you ever read about the reasons they attacked us?" Paul said. "They attack us because we've been over there. We've been bombing Iraq for 10 years." When asked by a moderator whether he was suggesting the United States invited the attacks, Paul said: "I'm suggesting we listen to the people who attacked us and the reason they did it. And they are delighted that we're over there because Osama bin Laden has said, 'I am glad you're over on our sand because we can target you so much easier.'" Tibbits, Victoria County campaign chairwoman for Paul for the last 10 years, said she thinks the media have been unfair to Paul by portraying his 9/11 statements in an inaccurate light. She especially disliked Fox News commentator Sean Hannity's treatment of Paul on Tuesday. "He in no way thinks we are to blame for being attacked on 9/11 - he was not saying that at all," she said of Paul. Ron Paul has long gone his own way in the U.S. Congress. He has been representing the 14th Congressional District since 1997, having given up his medical practice of 13 years to be a Washington lawmaker. Paul has objected to U.S. policy in the Middle East, explaining the U.S. government's interventions have been counter-productive to making America safer, instead stoking anti-American sentiment. Paul was one of six House Republicans who voted against the authorization for war in Iraq in 2002. Tibbits agreed with Paul that American foreign policy has fueled anger toward America, but she said the country's foreign policy has been askew over time, not just in recent years. Click Here To Tell Us Your Story. Stephen Jabbour, chairman of the Victoria County Democratic Party, said he thought Paul was correct on one issue: the war in Iraq. Jabbour said the war has been a disaster on many levels. "To that point, I think he's speaking the truth," he said. "And that has many vital implications for our country." Jabbour said he disagreed strongly with any direct correlation between American foreign policy and 9/11, but also criticized Rudy Giuliani. During the presidential debate, the former New York mayor lashed out against Paul's remarks. "That was an extraordinary statement, as someone who has lived through the attacks of Sept. 11th, that we invited the attack because we were attacking Iraq," an indignant Giuliani responded to Paul's comments. "I don't think I've ever heard that before, and I've heard some pretty absurd explanations for Sept. 11th." Jabbour called Giuliani simply an "opportunist who is shaping his opinions to his new constituency, which is the Republican right."

2007-05-15T11:07:00.000-05:00

Dear Blog Visitor:

Of the presidential candidates, Bill Richardson is definitely the most qualified man for the job. The reason I said man was because there is a woman running who is even better qualified. You are invited to take a look at the following:

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/wjc/?sc=2090

Lloyd Criss

HARRY REID SHOULD BE ASHAMED

2007-05-09T17:03:00.000-05:00

An editorial cartoon widely circulated recently shows a drawing of the famous flag raising by the Marines on Mount Suribachi. The photograph by Joe Rosenthal of that event during World War II is the most reproduced picture in the history of photography.

The cartoon shows the Marines raising the flag, with a person on a step ladder behind them, tying a white flag on to the flagpole. The Marine at the base of the flag, putting it into the ground, turns and says, “Harry Reid, cut that out!!”

While I laughed at first at the sight of the cartoon, I did not laugh when I first read that Senator Reid, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, had gone public with his opinion that the war in Iraq has been “lost.” I find it incredibly irresponsible that a person in Mr. Reid’s position would make such a statement, at the same time our young men and women are in the middle of a war against terrorists and insurgents.

Regardless of whether you agree with what America is doing in the Global War on Terror or not, the fact remains the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines on the front lines of that war are our fellow citizens – they are someone’s husband or son, wife or daughter. To undermine them at this time is more than just irresponsible. It clearly gives aid and comfort to the enemy. It gives them hope that if they just hang on, the Congress of the United States will win the battle for them, a battle they can not win against the American military.

As much as I am disgusted by Mr. Reid’s comments, I am equally disgusted by the lack of any condemnation of him by elected officials of both major political parties. President Bush and Vice President Cheney have been heard from, but there is little outrage expressed from the halls of Congress.

I am not at all surprised there is no outrage from the mainstream media – after all, Mr. Reid is a Democrat. Imagine the difference if a Republican elected official has said something remotely like what Mr. Reid said. Can you imagine the howling if Newt Gingrich had told the world the war in Kosovo had been “lost” during the presidency of Bill Clinton?

While I condemn Mr. Reid, I do not absolve the Administration from all blame. Mistakes have been made since the war against Iraq began. There were inadequate plans for an occupation after the war was won. The handling of former representatives of the Sadam Hussein regime or the Bathist Party was not well thought out.

And as a lawyer, I have said on many occasions that when there are more lawyers than riflemen in a war zone, there is a problem. I strongly believe our rules of engagement need immediate changes to allow our soldiers and Marines to do what is necessary to win the war. Mosques should cease to be viewed as a place of worship, for example, when shots are fired from them. War is a nasty business, and our brave fighting men and women should be allowed to do all that is necessary to protect themselves.

My views are not purely from a political perspective. I served in the United States Marine Corps from 1969 until 1972, discharged as a Sergeant. I volunteered for Viet Nam on numerous occasions, but I never was sent there. But I did deal with the effects of the anti-war movement and the antics of the opposition to America’s involvement in Viet Nam.

I recall being called a “baby killer” when walking through an airport in uniform. I was part of a Marine drill team which was booed in a parade in the Philadelphia area. I was confronted by anti-war activists in my home town of Austin who could tell I was in the military by the length of my hair. I know how that affected me and my fellow Marines, and it was not positive. It was harmful to morale and discouraging to young people far from home. And I was not be shot at or dealing with the threat of improvised explosive devices.

Mr. Reid and others like him have recreated the atmosphere I dealt with 35 years ago. I never dreamed those dark days would return again, and I swore then and will do all I can now to see that they not harm our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines of today.

A columnist a year or so ago coined a phrase to describe the French – he called them “cheese eating surrender monkeys.” Roquefort, Monsieur Reid?

2007-05-07T10:57:00.000-05:00

On Monday, April 30, Texas Governor Rick Perry said that Texans who are legally licensed should be allowed to carry their concealed handguns anywhere including churches, bars, courthouses and college campuses.
“The idea that you are going to exempt them from a particular place is nonsense,” he said.
Perry’s statements in this regard prove he is even less competent than his mentor President George W. Republican leaders apparently like to promote “shoot ‘em ups.” Bush has his war in Iraq. Now Perry wants one here in Texas in our churches, bars, courthouses and college campuses.

Firefighters Union Letter On Rudy Giuliani

2007-04-27T09:57:00.000-05:00

Firefighters Union Letter On Rudy Giuliani
March 8, 2007

On March 14, 2007, the IAFF will host the first bi-partisan Presidential Forum of the 2008 election cycle. No other union and very few organizations has the credibility and respect to attract top-tier candidates from both political parties. The lineup of speakers who have agreed to participate in our Forum is truly a testament to our great union and the reputation we have built as a powerful political force and a coveted endorsement.
John Edwards, John McCain, Barack Obama, Chuck Hagel, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Duncan Hunter and seven other candidates will make their case before the 1,000 delegates who will be attending the Forum and to our entire membership via same-day broadcast on our web site.
Early on, the IAFF made a decision to invite all serious candidates from both political parties — except one: former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
We made this decision after considerable soul-searching and close consultation with our two New York City affiliates, the Uniformed Firefighters Association Local 94 and the Uniformed Fire Officers Association Local 854, as well as our former Local 94 President and current IAFF 1st District Vice President covering New York.
The IAFF recognizes that Mayor Giuliani generally enjoys a favorable reputation as a result of his actions immediately after the tragedy of 9/11. As such, we want our affiliates and every one of our members to clearly understand the reason and rationale behind this very serious and sober decision.
Many people consider Rudy Giuliani "America's Mayor," and many of our members who don't yet know the real story, may also have a positive view of him. This letter is intended to make all of our members aware of the egregious acts Mayor Giuliani committed against our members, our fallen on 9/11, and our New York City union officers following that horrific day.
Rest assured, our exclusion of Mayor Giuliani is not about any particular contractual or policy issue or disagreement, nor is it based on his unfriendly relationship with our New York City affiliates prior to 9/11 — which we will document and explain in additional correspondence later on during the campaign. In fact, we invited several candidates with whom we have had substantial disagreement on policy issues because we feel very strongly that our members have the right to hear from all candidates, not just those who tow the IAFF line.
Regrettably, the situation with former Mayor Giuliani is very different. His actions post 9/11 rise to such an offensive and personal attack on our brother and sisterhood — and directly on our union — that the IAFF does not feel Rudy Giuliani deserves an audience of IAFF leaders and members at our own Presidential Forum.
The disrespect that he exhibited to our 343 fallen FDNY brothers, their families and our New York City IAFF leadership in the wake of that tragic day has not been forgiven or forgotten.
In November 2001, our members were continuing the painful, but necessary, task of searching Ground Zero for the remains of our fallen brothers and the thousands of innocent citizens that were killed, because precious few of those who died in the terrorist attacks had been recovered at that point.
Prior to November 2001, 101 bodies or remains of fire fighters had been recovered. And those on the horrible pile at Ground Zero believed they had just found a spot in the rubble where they would find countless more that could be given proper burial.
Nevertheless, Giuliani, with the full support of his Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, decided on November 2, 2001, to sharply reduce the number of those who could search for remains at any one time. There had been as many as 300 fire fighters at a time involved in search and recovery, but Giuliani cut that number to no more than 25 who could be there at once.
In conjunction with the cut in fire fighters allowed to search, Giuliani also made a conscious decision to institute a "scoop-and-dump" operation to expedite the clean-up of Ground Zero in lieu of the more time-consuming, but respectful, process of removing debris piece by piece in hope of uncovering more remains.
Mayor Giuliani's actions meant that fire fighters and citizens who perished would either remain buried at Ground Zero forever, with no closure for families, or be removed like garbage and deposited at the Fresh Kills Landfill.
Our Local presidents at the time attempted to meet with the Mayor to stop this despicable treatment of those who perished, but he refused to even see them face-to-face.
The scoop-and-dump continued. And when hundreds of family members of the fallen joined with our affiliate leadership and members to protest Giuliani's decision, he ordered senior officers of the New York Police Department to arrest 15 of our FDNY brothers, including a number of local elected IAFF leaders.
Giuliani modified his policy after the protest because public opinion was so strongly with our members. Ultimately, he was forced to put the fire fighters back on the pile. Our protests were later proven justified as more bodies were ultimately recovered and those families given a chance for some closure and a decent burial.
Giuliani argued that the change was for our own safety, but his argument was empty and without substance. Fire fighters had been on that pile since minutes after the twin towers fell — why all of a sudden, after nearly two months working on the pile, was Giuliani concerned about fire fighter safety?
In our view, he wasn't really concerned. The fact is that the Mayor's switch to a scoop-and-dump coincided with the final removal of tens of millions of dollars of gold, silver and other assets of the Bank of Nova Scotia that were buried beneath what was once the towers. Once the money was out, Giuliani sided with the developers that opposed a lengthy recovery effort, and ordered the scoop-and-dump operation so they could proceed with redevelopment.
In the first few days immediately after the disaster, Giuliani had said he was committed to the recovery of those lost "right down to the last brick." We believed him at the time. But, what he proved with his actions is that he really meant the "last gold brick."
Giuliani crucified fire fighters after our protest and publicly stated that our members were essentially acting like babies, that they didn't have the market cornered on grief. His insensitive statements demonstrated his inability to grasp what members of the FDNY were experiencing.
What Giuliani showed is a disgraceful lack of respect for the fallen and those brothers still searching for them. He exposed our members and leaders to arrest. He valued the money and gold and wanted the site cleared before he left office at the end of 2001 more than he valued the lives and memories of those lost.
Our members deserved the right to continue with a full search for their lost brothers and other innocent victims. Proudly, as you know, the fire service has a code similar to the military, where we leave no one behind. Recovering even a piece of a turnout coat or helmet gave our FDNY brothers and sisters and the families of the fallen some small semblance of peace, something to honor. But hundreds remained entombed in Ground Zero when Giuliani gave up on them.
The fundamental lack of respect that Giuliani showed our FDNY members is unforgivable - and that's why he was not invited. Our disdain for him is not about issues or a disputed contract, it is about a visceral, personal affront to the fallen, to our union and, indeed, to every one of us who has ever risked our lives by going into a burning building to save lives and property.
We have heard from some affiliates that Giuliani's campaign is beginning to reach out to our locals, looking to build support. If you are contacted by Giuliani, Von Essen, or a representative of the Giuliani campaign, we hope you will say not just, "No," but, "Hell no." And please let the IAFF Political Affairs Department know about it by calling (202) 824-1582.
Please share this correspondence with your membership.
Thank you.
Fraternally and Sincerely,
Harold A. Schaitberger, General President Vincent J. Bollon, General Secretary-Treasurer and Past President, UFOA of NYC, Local 854 Kevin Gallagher, IAFF 1st District Vice President and Past President, UFA of NYC, Local 94 Stephen Cassidy, President, UFA of NYC, Local 94 Peter Gorman, President, UFOA of NYC, Local 854
Written by IAFF

MATT CROWDER ANNOUNCES

2007-04-25T19:08:00.000-05:00

April 24, 2007 p.m.

Crowder announces for County Tax Assessor-Collector race

Matthew J. “Matt” Crowder has announced he is a candidate for Galveston County Tax Assessor – Collector. Crowder said he is running because “I can make the tax assessor / collector’s office more efficient, productive and take the politics out of this very important department.”

Crowder is a resident of Dickinson where he lives with his wife Tarah and their son, Luke. He is employed by Crowder Funeral Homes and serves on the board of Crowder Investments, Inc. and as president of Crowder Holdings. The latter is an investment company with ownership and management of several warehouse facilities.

He is treasurer of the non-profit Hospice Care Team and was previously elected to office as a director of Galveston County Drainage District #2.

Crowder states that he’s had a vast outpouring of support since word has spread about his anticipation of running for the office.

“Encouragement has come from far and wide, and from the average person on the street to many of those already holding appointed or elective office,” said Crowder.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the amount of folks who’ve supported me. It’s quite flattering and quite frankly, a little overwhelming.”

Running, as he described, as a “proud Democrat”, Crowder said the office is broader than party politics.
He adds that every taxpayer in Galveston County is served by the department, regardless of party politics, ethnicity, religion or economic standing.

“I wouldn’t run if I didn’t believe in my abilities and determination. I know I can make a difference. I hope the voters will agree.”

For Additional informationcontact Matt Crowder at 409.682.1381

MAY 2007 DEMOCRATIC CHAIRMAN'S REPORT

2007-04-25T19:07:00.000-05:00

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
MAY 2007
By Lloyd Criss

Vote in the may 12 elections

On May 12 Galveston County voters will decide on a Constitutional Amendment creating tax relief for seniors, College Board Trustees, various school board and city council elections and a bond issue for College of the Mainland. Raymond McNeel, Texas City Democratic Precinct Chair is a candidate for Trustee at Large for College of the Mainland. Early voting is April 30 – May 8. May 12 is Election Day.

JIM YARBROUGH APPRECIATION DINNER

If you have not already done so, get your reservations made for the Salute to our County Judge Jim Yarbrough. The Democratic Party sponsored dinner is on Thursday, May 10 at the Charles T. Doyle Convention Center in Texas City. The menu will feature rib eye steak and grilled shrimp. Individual tickets are at $30 and are going quickly. This is an event you do not want to miss.

EXCITING DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES

The 2008 Democratic Primary and General Elections will feature some exciting and well qualified candidates. Our candidates so far out shine the Republican in every election contest.
We have two of the best qualified candidates for the office of Sheriff that have ever filed for that position. They are Sheriff Chief Deputy Freddy Poor and Major Eric Nevilow. The leading contender for Sheriff on the GOP side supervises school guards for the Fort Bend ISD.
For County Tax Collector-Assessor, Matt Crowder has announced for the Democratic Party nomination. Matt will hold a campaign function on Sunday, June 30 at the K C Hall on Delaney Road in La Marque. Matt is a popular young man. Everyone who meets him, likes him.
For Judge, 56th District Court, Judge Susan Baker is scheduled to announce in June. Susan’s opponent will be incumbent Republican Lonnie Cox. Cox is a former democrat who was quick to embrace the party of Bush and DeLay when it suited his ambitions. His background was in the District Attorney’s office as an assistant D.A. where he spent most of his career prosecuting misdemeanors.

LAMPSON OPENS NEW CLEAR LAKE AREA OFFICE

To better serve local constituents in Harris and Galveston Counties, Congressman Nick Lampson recently opened a new office in Clear Lake. The office is located at 1020 Bay Area Boulevard, Suite 224, Houston, Texas. The office will be open Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. The telephone number is 281-461-6300.

CORNYN IS VULNERABLE IN 2008

A new poll conducted by the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee shows Republican Senator John Cornyn is very vulnerable as he completes his first term in office and runs for re-election in Texas. The poll shows President Bush has higher negatives than positives and that most Texans believe our country is heading in the wrong direction. The poll also shows only 43% believe their family would be better off if the U. S. Senate was controlled by Republicans.

DEMOCRATIC TOWN HALL MEETING MAY 19

Our Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie will be coming to Houston on Saturday May 19 to conduct a Democratic Party Town Hall meeting. Richie has been touring the state bringing the state party to local Democrats. The meeting will begin at 11:00 p.m. at the University of Houston Main Campus, 4800 Calhoun Road University Center, Houston Room (2nd Floor), Houston, Texas.
All Democrats from Galveston, Harris and Fort Bend Counties are invited and urged to attend, provide their input and learn what the T.D.P. has planned for 2008.

NEW CONSTABLE

At the May 2 meeting of the Galveston County Commissioner’s Court, a new constable will be appointed to fill the unexpired term of former Constable Skip Gay. Gay died in early April after a long bout with cancer. Several well qualified prospects have submitted applications to a screening committee consisting of Commissioner Bryan Lamb, Judge Yarbrough and J. P. Mike Nelson.
I expect some good news from the Court on May 2.

INTERESTING QUOTE

“Ayatollahs of the GOP. What do radical Muslim clerics and the Texas Republican Party’s leaders have in common? Well, they both apparently believe that it is the proper role of government to enforce private morality as defined by them of course.” Dolph Tillotson, Publisher, The Galveston Daily News from his blog April 15, 2007.

BAR-B-Q FOR DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES AND ELECTED OFFICIALS

2007-04-25T19:05:00.000-05:00

BAR-B-QUE
for
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES
and
ELECTED OFFICIALS

DAVIED AND JEANIE BOND
INVITE YOU TO THEIR HOME TO VISIT WITH
CONGRESSMAN NICK LAMPSON & SHANE SKLAR AND
GALVESTON COUNTY ELECTED OFFICIALS & CANDIDATES

DATE: APRIL 28, 2007
TIME: 2 PM TILL 5 PM
PLACE: 11602 Strom Rd.
Texas City, Texas

Contact: Jeanie Bond
E-mail: jeanie_bond@yahoo.com
Phone: 281-339-3065

BAR-B-QUE BY DON CRISS
ENTERTAINMENT
Casual Dress (will be outside-dress comfortable)

TEXAS OBSERVIER REPORTS PERRY CONTROLLED DATABASE GATHERING MASSIVE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION ON TEXAS CITIZENS

2007-04-13T15:51:00.000-05:00

LEGISLATORS REACT TO REVELATIONS OF TDEX DATABASE IN PRIVATE HANDS
State Affairs to hear HB13 tomorrow, Raymond will seek permission of the House to file legislation moving database from Governor's office to DPS
An expose published today by the Texas Observer on a massive information database on Texans kept by the Governor’s Department of Homeland Security has a pair of Democratic lawmakers calling for immediate action to move the database to the Department of Public Safety.
Rep. Rick Noriega (D-Houston) said the existence of the Texas Data Exchange (TDEx) is "fundamentally an abuse of power." Rep. Richard Raymond (D-Laredo) said he’s drafting legislation this evening that would transfer the database to DPS.
The project was designed to collect information and enhance law enforcement's ability to cooperate against threats like terrorism. However, it has so far collected tens of millions of records and is under control of Homeland Security, a division of the Governor's office, not Department of Public Safety.
Noriega, who was on active duty in Afghanistan and on the border, said his concerns boil down to command and control issues. Information like what is kept in the TDEx should stay with law enforcement agencies, "not in a political office. It poses a serious threat."
House State Affairs Chairman Rep. David Swinford (R-Dumas) said that representatives from the Governor’s Office and DPS will be at tomorrow’s hearing on his HB 13, which would appropriate $100 million for the Department of Homeland Security. He said that the committee will have questions for witnesses about the TDEx. "I imagine we’ll have a really good hearing and that we’ll have some serious questions," he said.
Raymond, meanwhile, said that he’s drafting legislation in reaction to the apparent sheer size of the database. He said many questions spring to mind immediately, such as who has access to the information and what is the criteria for being in the database.
"How many Texans are on there? How do they decide to put you on there?" he asked. Given the size of the database, Raymond suspected that some information has been misused in some way.
Raymond said he hopes to be recognized to suspend rules so the House can consider his legislation as soon as possible.
"The data base is not in the custody or under the control of any state or federal law enforcement agency. Rather, this information is under the control of Rick Perry and those he authorizes. It is imperative that this information be retrieved and be secured within the Dept. of Public Safety. It should not be used until guidelines are determined to protect the privacy rights if the Texans included in the Governors improper data file", Raymond said.
April 12, 2007 6:32 PM
TEXAS OBSERVER REPORTS PERRY CONTROLLED DATABASE GATHERING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF INFO ON TEXAS CITIZENS
TO reports even law enforcement is nervous about uncontrolled access and possible abuse
The Texas Observer has just posted a must read expose on a database accumulating massive amounts of information on Texas citizens with no law enforcement oversight. In fact, the database is operated and managed outside the state -- in Kentucky.
According to the Observer, the data accumulation operation is not compliant with federal guidelines and has alarmed major urban police departments because of its lack of security.
From the story:
"Piece by piece, Gov. Rick Perry’s homeland security office is gathering massive amounts of information about Texas residents and merging it to create the most exhaustive centralized database in state history. Warehoused far from Texas on servers housed at a private company in Louisville, Kentucky, the Texas Data Exchange—TDEx to those in the loop—is designed to be an all-encompassing intelligence database. It is supposed to help catch criminals, ferret out terrorist cells, and allow disparate law enforcement agencies to share information. More than $3.6 million has been spent on the project so far, and it already has tens of millions of records. At least 7,000 users are presently allowed access to this information, and tens of thousands more are anticipated.
"What is most striking, and disturbing, about the database is that it is not being run by the state’s highest law enforcement agency—the Texas Department of Public Safety. Instead, control of TDEx, and the power to decide who can use it, resides in the governor’s office.
"..... If information is power, Perry and his successors are about to become powerful in ways that are scaring civil libertarians, and probably should alarm every Texan."
This is a well researched and documented story and can be found here.
April 20, 2007 — Features
The Governor's Database
Texas is amassing an unprecedented amount of information on its citizens
by Jake Bernstein
Piece by piece, Gov. Rick Perry’s homeland security office is gathering massive amounts of information about Texas residents and merging it to create the most exhaustive centralized database in state history. Warehoused far from Texas on servers housed at a private company in Louisville, Kentucky, the Texas Data Exchange—TDEx to those in the loop—is designed to be an all-encompassing intelligence database. It is supposed to help catch criminals, ferret out terrorist cells, and allow disparate law enforcement agencies to share information. More than $3.6 million has been spent on the project so far, and it already has tens of millions of records. At least 7,000 users are presently allowed access to this information, and tens of thousands more are anticipated.
What is most striking, and disturbing, about the database is that it is not being run by the state’s highest law enforcement agency—the Texas Department of Public Safety. Instead, control of TDEx, and the power to decide who can use it, resides in the governor’s office.
That gives Perry, his staff, future governors, and their staffs potential access to a trove of sensitive data on everything from ongoing criminal investigations to police incident reports and even traffic stops. In their zeal to assemble TDEx, Perry and his homeland security director, Steve McCraw, have plunged ahead with minimal oversight from law enforcement agencies, and even DPS is skittish about the direction the project has taken.
In researching TDEx, the Observer reviewed more than a thousand pages of documents from the Office of the Governor, DPS, and the Department of Information Management. We interviewed law enforcement officials as well as McCraw. The narrative that emerged from the records—disputed by McCraw—is a headlong pursuit of control through information hoarding for a project in search of a purpose. Along the way, money has been squandered, sensitive data potentially lost, and security warnings unheeded.
If information is power, Perry and his successors are about to become powerful in ways that are scaring civil libertarians, and probably should alarm every Texan.
Texas agencies already have plenty of information on all of us—driver’s licenses, fingerprints, and proofs of address, details we provide every time we renew our licenses, register a car, or vote. Then there’s every brush with the law, all the criminal convictions, prison records, and so forth. Much of that information is now scattered about in different agencies and locations. Never has it been pulled together for the ease of access that TDEx promises.
There’s also a less discernible realm of information that should perhaps concern the citizens of Texas more. In the course of doing their work, police agencies vacuum up enormous piles of tips, rumors, innuendo, guesses, false reports, and other useless material that they sift through to solve crimes and identify criminals.
Access to this massive trove of information—files on cases in progress, notes about “persons of interest” who may prove to be of no interest at all, details involving confidential informants—is closely guarded for good reason. Information worthless for solving a crime might be useful in other contexts. Like politics or personal revenge. The potential for abuse explains why access to existing federal and state crime databases is normally strictly controlled. Over the years—in the wake of scandals like J. Edgar Hoover’s secret FBI files and the increasing privatization of computer databases—federal regulations have evolved to ensure the safety of information and accountability for its use. Keeping a tight rein on who can access raw investigative data, and for what purposes, is supposed to prevent abuses large and small—from high officials who might misuse information for political purposes down to small town deputies who might be willing to sell information, or use it to track down an ex-wife’s new boyfriend.
The federal rules apply to states that accept federal money and ensure the integrity of law enforcement efforts. Under federal rules, a database like TDEx must be run by a criminal justice agency. According to the FBI and DPS, Texas Homeland Security is not a criminal justice agency.
McCraw, who has an extensive criminal justice background, including a stint as an assistant director of the FBI’s Office of Intelligence, has fought a pitched battle with DPS in his zeal to promote TDEx. Repeatedly DPS has raised concerns, chief among them whether the new database is even secure enough to keep unauthorized users from logging on because it lacks “advanced authentication” to ensure that people accessing the database are who they say they are. DPS is also worried that the same user could be logged on to the system multiple times concurrently.
Then there’s the problem of getting rid of bad data or faulty intelligence that finds its way into the system. Each agency that gives data to TDEx is responsible for the accuracy of its own information. But where once the mistake of a single police department was its own, TDEx offers the potential to amplify that error statewide.
To identify weaknesses within TDEx, a database manager with the DPS Criminal Law Enforcement Division, at the direction of his boss, easily defeated the security of the user registration process last summer. He did it by employing an accurate and relatively easily obtained agency identification number, and used one of his son’s e-mail accounts. In retaliation, Jack Colley, the governor’s director of emergency management, revoked the DPS staffer’s access to TDEx. After DPS complained, it was reinstated 11 days later.
McCraw says the audit and authentication issues raised by DPS have been resolved. He says that an on-again, off-again Texas Intelligence Council of law enforcement officials will eventually supervise TDEx. McCraw blames DPS reluctance to embrace TDEx on its fear of change. “You are going to see a strong resistance institutionally to move to new things,” he says.
Remarkably, in many ways TDEx seems to be an improvement over Texas Homeland Security’s first stab at a database run by a private contractor. On June 27, 2005, the Department of Information Resources, at McCraw’s behest, sent out a “request for offer” to vendors that could provide a “Solution for Local, Intra-State, and Inter-State Sharing of Offender and Other Investigative Data.” DPS was not consulted in the development of the offer request. The resulting contract given to Kentucky-based Appriss Inc. would initially be worth a little more than $759,000.
The information department, which handle’s the state’s computer needs, originally was supposed to monitor how well Appriss did the job, but that arrangement quickly ran into a problem. Under federal law—relevant because federal money was being used—the contract had to be overseen by a criminal justice agency. So McCraw simply designated the department as one. “I am writing to confirm the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) is an agency with law enforcement functions for the purpose of TDEx,” he wrote to Larry Olson, the department’s chief technology officer.
While TDEx was getting under way, on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. As Texas cities filled with Louisiana refugees, panic over the possible arrival of a criminal element from New Orleans seems to have gripped some Texas authorities. McCraw proposed a separate database that would group traffic law enforcement information, DPS criminal law enforcement reporting, the Texas Rangers database, consumer records amassed by a scandal-ridden private data company called ChoicePoint Inc., prison records from Appriss, and criminal information from the Louisiana State Police. (There are differing accounts of whether polygraph information, the inclusion of which if not redacted could have violated state law, was also provided. McCraw says no.) A private vendor was to create a global search capability for all the unstructured data. This new database would then be made available to analysts at the Texas Fusion Center, a crisis management bunker operated by the governor’s Division of Emergency Management. McCraw rushed through a contract with Northrop Grumman Corp. for a database project to last until October 2006 at a cost of $1.4 million in federal homeland security funds.
“The Louisiana State Police has informed Texas officials that known criminals are among our evacuee population,” reads a statement of work for Northrop. “Moreover, we have been told that many of the individuals who were involved in heinous crimes at the Superdome are now a part of our evacuee population. There is a critical need to immediately collect and analyze criminal data related to evacuees and provide it to local law enforcement officials throughout Texas. This requires the rapid acquisition of information technology tools.”
McCraw says today that the purpose of the project was to help DPS coordinate its criminal justice information. According to several accounts, DPS officials resisted this “help,” and its Criminal Law Enforcement Division only handed over data—including open cases still under investigation—after being ordered to do so.
By the summer of 2006, it was clear that Northrop could not make the project function and that the threat from Katrina evacuees appeared to be overblown. In addition to the fact that it didn’t work, the project had multiple flaws. Chief among DPS’s concerns was that it was not clear who at Northrop had access to the data, or what had become of it.
In an e-mail on August 17, 2006, Kent Mawyer, chief of the enforcement division, wrote to McCraw: “... with the termination of the project, I will be notifying NG to confirm delete of all data from affected servers ... to include any backups and closure of the firewall.”
McCraw responded: “Please hold off on any deletions until I have an independent audit conducted to ensure there are no excuses for meeting operational requirements.”
Rather than go through the state auditor’s office, McCraw commissioned an audit of the project by a former colleague from his FBI days. She produced a five-page evaluation. Under a section on security, the audit read:
Operation of the system has been suspended by DPS primarily for security reasons. Other than a firewall, the system had no front-end security (no access control) and it also collected no audit data (nothing to record what users had done). During its brief operation, the data was available theoretically to anyone at the DPS IP address who typed in the web address for the system. NG asserts that security features were eliminated from the proposal to cut costs; this appears to have been an inappropriate solution in the absence of alternative security measures.
McCraw says some of the money for the Katrina project was spent on hardware and software that can still be utilized. He insists that the data DPS gave Northrop Grumman were eventually returned. Extensive public records requests have not revealed any documentation to that effect.
Control and security of data would be an issue with Appriss as well. Some of the difficulty stems from using private vendors to handle sensitive material. For McCraw, this is the future and the only way to operate. “What we are trying to build,” he says, “is an intelligence capability or intelligence-sharing capability. Not do it in the old ways, where it takes four years to roll out, and not do it where the government is going to do it, where it’s cost prohibitive, but to do it in a way that leverages the private sector’s capability and know-how.”
Fortunately, there are federal guidelines laid out by the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Advisory Policy Board. As part of the CJIS guidelines, before a private vendor can handle sensitive material, its staff must undergo background and fingerprint checks. CJIS also contains policies governing the operation of computers, access devices, circuits, hubs, routers, firewalls, and other components that comprise and support a network.
According to DPS, as of April 11, Appriss is still not CJIS compliant. McCraw disputes this. “DPS is wrong,” he says. “We’re more in compliance with CJIS security requirements than CJIS.”
McCraw knows from experience that larger Texas police departments will not give their files to a system that is not CJIS compliant for fear of compromising their data. DPS has heard from the McAllen and Plano police departments, which have voiced concern over TDEx for this very reason. And it’s not unfounded.
As late as October 2006, more than a year after Appriss signed its contract and after receiving sensitive data from the Texas Rangers and the state Highway Patrol, Appriss had not given Texas authorities fingerprints or background checks of all its employees handling the data, according to e-mails obtained by the Observer. There were also questions about the security of the company hired to shred documents for Appriss. (McCraw says all background checks have since been completed.)
In hope of providing some form of monitoring over the Appriss facilities, Texas DPS authorities began discussions with the Kentucky State Police to make them a “supervisory” criminal justice agency for site security. No agreement was formalized. In a recent interview, McCraw insists that there are sufficient safeguards and it’s no longer necessary. “In today’s world, where the warehouse is doesn’t matter, as long as it’s in complete compliance with all the security protocol and ... you have the ability to audit at any time,” he says.
Others disagree. “Once that data leaves, you’ve lost control,” says one law enforcement official knowledgeable about TDEx who requested anonymity.
One sticking point for DPS was how Appriss would provide a statewide network to deliver the information that would be sufficiently secure. There was one available: the FBI’s Law Enforcement Online network. DPS urged Appriss to use it. McCraw nixed the idea. “... my concerns with LEO is simply this: If it is not funded or there are other FBI priorities as in the past we lose,” McCraw e-mailed a DPS supervisor from his Blackberry.
Because of these and other issues, the DPS’s Criminal Law Enforcement Division decided that despite McCraw’s objections, it would only provide TDEx with information on closed cases.
In some ways, TDEx’s goals are not necessarily bad. The need for law enforcement agencies to better communicate and share information with each other has been widely recognized by the 9/11 Commission, among others. But even if the TDEx system could solve its significant security hurdles and manage to function as intended, there would still be the issue of its control by the governor’s office.
Asked about the dangers involved in allowing a political office to control such a database, McCraw replies, “I’m the only one [from the governor’s office] that has access to TDEx, and the reason I have access to it now is not because I need it, but because I’m just testing its capability.”
When it was pointed out that Jack Colley, director of the governor’s emergency management division, also had access, McCraw backtracked and took refuge in the idea that no matter who the user, there would be an audit trail of their searches.
Civil libertarians are not assuaged by this kind of answer. “Criminal intelligence data should be in the hands of a professional law enforcement agency that has distance from the political pressures on elected officials,” says Rebecca Bernhardt, immigration, border and national security policy director for the Texas ACLU. “How can we be sure that we will never have a governor who will misuse this power?”
Rather than take a serious look at these issues, the Texas Legislature seems intent on giving Perry even more power. The governor is pushing an appropriation of $100 million for border and homeland security. Presumably, some of that money would be used for TDEx. House State Affairs Chairman David Swinford, a Dumas Republican, is offering House Bill 13, “relating to homeland security issues.” The bill is scheduled for hearing on Friday, April 13. Leading up to the hearing, the bill’s content was a bit of a moving target. Two days before the hearing, there already had been two committee substitutes, with the possibility of a third on the way. The most recent version had a provision that reads: “The Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas shall provide to the State Office of Homeland Security any criminal intelligence information that the director of the State Office of Homeland Security determines is relevant to Homeland Security operations.”
Asked about this provision, McCraw vowed that it would not be in the final version. “I’m sure there are some that think I was conspiring to take over criminal intelligence,” he says. “I got enough problems tying my shoelaces; it’s not about one agency, it’s about multiple agencies working as a team.”
Meanwhile, the Perry Alliance Network paid for by Texans for Rick Perry has been sending out e-mails in support of Swinford’s bill.