Meet "Steve" from Wills Point, who called into Scott Braddock's radio show on KRLD in Dallas last week, and was very promptly smacked down by the aforementioned Scott Braddock.
Attention Texas radio talk show hosts who aren't Scott Braddock: if you weren't so damn lazy, you could email me an MP3 of your latest idiot caller, and get free mention here.
Reacting to the stunning news from the Farouk Shami campaign that another candidate's mere mention that the candidate is from San Antonio is racist, I was a guest on Scott Braddock's KLRD radio show in Dallas earlier this afternoon.
Here's the podcast of the segment. Good luck making any more sense of that situation than I did.
During the 1996 Democratic State Convention in Texas, there was a private meeting to try to come to some agreements on something-or-other that seemed important at the time. I walked through the convention hall to the conference room with then-AFL-CIO state director Rosa Walker and her husband Boyce Breedlove. We were to be joined in the conference room by then-Land Commissioner Garry Mauro, Bill White, and a few others. Rosa and I didn't expect the meeting to last more than a few minutes.
Now retired, Rosa is a legend among Democratic political circles. During her amazing 38-year career with the AFL-CIO, there wasn't a Democratic activist, leader, or candidate for public office she hadn't helped, advised, or chewed out - sometimes all in the same day. In fact, by coincidence, she's scheduled to be inducted into the Labor Hall of Fame tomorrow. She's been one of my closest buddies for 20 years, and I'd trust her with my life. She and her husband Boyce have the kind of longstanding rock-solid relationship most people only dream of, and I adore him too.
When the three of us arrived at the meeting room that day, Boyce asked Rosa what she wanted him to do while she was in the meeting. Rosa jokingly replied, "I'll only be a few minutes. You can guard this door. Don't let anybody in." We all chuckled, and Rosa and I went into the room, leaving Boyce outside.
The meeting ended up being somewhat of a tense ordeal. Nothing notable about why - I don't even remember what the big hangup was. I'm sure it was just one of those touchy situations that comes up during political conventions which, if handled gracefully, nobody remembers, but if mishandled, some people would get upset. As it turns out, we were in the room for three hours. In all that time, Rosa and I forgot all about poor Boyce.
When we finally left the room three hours later, there was Boyce. He'd found a chair somewhere and was sitting in it, in front of that door, taking very seriously his commitment to Rosa to guard it. He was also very hungry, very thirsty, and very much in need of a restroom.
"Oh, bless your heart, I'm so sorry, you could have left," Rosa said.
"No I couldn't," Boyce replied, with a characteristic grin at his wife. "I had to guard this door."
And - oh boy - the way Boyce grinned at his wife. All the time. No matter the circumstance. There isn't a woman alive who wouldn't give anything for her husband to look at her the way Boyce always looked at Rosa. Year-after-year, his absolute love and adoration of Rosa was apparent at first glance, constantly. I bet he had that same look way back when they first met, and that look, and the adoration behind it, was still there years later, to the end.
Sadly, that end came yesterday evening, because Boyce passed away. It was his time, and he knew it. In a lot of pain, among his final acts yesterday was to tell Rosa how much he loved her. I know it was wonderful for her to hear it one more time, but I also know she didn't need to be told - he showed it every day of their lives together. She did the same for him. Their relationship served as the gold standard for everybody else's relationships.
I've always been glad that Rosa is one of the strongest people I know. But when I heard the news last night, I was especially grateful that she's so strong, because I know her strength will help her get through this terrible loss.
And as she works her way through this difficult transition, I hope she'll take comfort that, somewhere, an adoring Boyce will be grinning at her, guarding the door.
Rest in peace, Boyce. You were a damn good man.
I'm not a big fan of White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Too often, I just simply disagree with his style points, or lack thereof.
And Texas Republican consultant Dave Carney? To my knowledge we've never been on the same side of anything, and will probably never.
Those two both find themselves on the same side of Professional Quitter Sarah Palin's temper this week, however, because each was quoted using the term "retard," which Palin finds offensive. It is understandable that Palin's sensitivity on this issue is highly advanced, since Trig Palin, her youngest son, has Down Syndrome. She called for Emanuel's resignation over the incident, and her spokesbot called Carney "disrespectful."
I'm not a particularly political correct kind of guy myself. But as a certain Dallas radio commentator pointed out, here's the definition of "politically correct:"
"avoiding offense based on race, gender, religion, ideology or any other social grouping such as disability"
"Screw the political correctness."
There are few things as entertaining as folks who call into talk shows, especially the more clueless callers.
Here's "Lou," the winner of today's Letters From Texas Clueless Talk Show Caller of the Day.
The other night I went to an event commemorating the re-tooling of the Texas Observer. There's a new look and feel to the magazine - go to their website and give it a try.
Mind you, at times past I have said that the Observer has a new look and feel to it, and was NOT a compliment. That publication has lost its way and found it again so many times over the years that I recommend they leave bread crumbs everywhere they go, just in case.
But lately, at least, they seem to be both on track and looking good at the same time. And the event I went to the other night? Lo and behold, there were more folks there I didn't know than folks I do know, which is always good news.
While at that event, I may or may not have been a bit "over served." And while in this fluid state, I may or may not have agreed to one of the Observer cheerleaders that I would plug their upcoming fundraising event.
It's on Valentine's Day.
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "what kind of loser has nothing better to do on Valentine's Day than to go to a fundraiser?" Well, that was my first thought too. It was also my last thought, and most of the thoughts in between, come to think of it.
But a few stray thoughts included the following:
-- if the Observer doesn't have money, they can't bring us stories that other media outlets tend to ignore, and that would be bad.
-- if the Observer doesn't have money, they might return to being the "bad Texas Observer" they've been at various points of their history, instead of the "interesting and highly readable Texas Observer" they are at the moment.
-- if you don't have a date for Valentine's Day, or even if you do, but your date is just as dorky as you are, you might just enjoy going to the event. Maybe you'll meet a date. Or a dork.
--if neither you nor your date is dorky, you might enjoy going to the event anyway, because the Observer may well succeed in masking the fundamental dorkiness of holding an event on Valentine's Day by making the event extra-fun somehow.
and last, but not least:
--if you're one of those people who rebels against the greeting card, florist, and candy industries thrusting upon you a certain day of the year in which you are constitutionally required to express your undying love and admiration for your significant other, whom you're probably secretly mulling over breaking up with anyway, as soon as the Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Years-Valentine's Day gauntlet of holidays during which it isn't socially acceptable to dump somebody is over...then by all means, take your date there. There's no better place to dump somebody while easing your guilt by having fun and contributing to a good cause during the dump.
Or, you could just go because it sounds fun. But making this simple wouldn't have made a very interesting blog post, would it?
The Texas Observer’s Annual Rabble Rouser Roundup & Fat Cat Schmoozefest (and Silent Auction)
This year – A Valentine’s Day Bash!
Sunday February 14, 2010
10463 Sprinkle Road, Austin, Texas, 78754 at "the elegant Barr Mansion" (not to be confused with the other Barr Mansion, which is reportedly a real dump)
4:00 – 8:00 p.m.
$49.95 per ticket
$20 for students
Here's where you can find the details.
Here is our beloved Texas, we have chupacabra. A very respectable and worthy bogeyman by any measure.
Meanwhile, New York has...um...savage packs of vicious beagles??!
Buncha wimps.
Meet "Steve" from Wills Point, who called into Scott Braddock's radio show on KRLD in Dallas last week, and was very promptly smacked down by the aforementioned Scott Braddock.
Attention Texas radio talk show hosts who aren't Scott Braddock: if you weren't so damn lazy, you could email me an MP3 of your latest idiot caller, and get free mention here.
Reacting to the stunning news from the Farouk Shami campaign that another candidate's mere mention that the candidate is from San Antonio is racist, I was a guest on Scott Braddock's KLRD radio show in Dallas earlier this afternoon.
Here's the podcast of the segment. Good luck making any more sense of that situation than I did.
During the 1996 Democratic State Convention in Texas, there was a private meeting to try to come to some agreements on something-or-other that seemed important at the time. I walked through the convention hall to the conference room with then-AFL-CIO state director Rosa Walker and her husband Boyce Breedlove. We were to be joined in the conference room by then-Land Commissioner Garry Mauro, Bill White, and a few others. Rosa and I didn't expect the meeting to last more than a few minutes.
Now retired, Rosa is a legend among Democratic political circles. During her amazing 38-year career with the AFL-CIO, there wasn't a Democratic activist, leader, or candidate for public office she hadn't helped, advised, or chewed out - sometimes all in the same day. In fact, by coincidence, she's scheduled to be inducted into the Labor Hall of Fame tomorrow. She's been one of my closest buddies for 20 years, and I'd trust her with my life. She and her husband Boyce have the kind of longstanding rock-solid relationship most people only dream of, and I adore him too.
When the three of us arrived at the meeting room that day, Boyce asked Rosa what she wanted him to do while she was in the meeting. Rosa jokingly replied, "I'll only be a few minutes. You can guard this door. Don't let anybody in." We all chuckled, and Rosa and I went into the room, leaving Boyce outside.
The meeting ended up being somewhat of a tense ordeal. Nothing notable about why - I don't even remember what the big hangup was. I'm sure it was just one of those touchy situations that comes up during political conventions which, if handled gracefully, nobody remembers, but if mishandled, some people would get upset. As it turns out, we were in the room for three hours. In all that time, Rosa and I forgot all about poor Boyce.
When we finally left the room three hours later, there was Boyce. He'd found a chair somewhere and was sitting in it, in front of that door, taking very seriously his commitment to Rosa to guard it. He was also very hungry, very thirsty, and very much in need of a restroom.
"Oh, bless your heart, I'm so sorry, you could have left," Rosa said.
"No I couldn't," Boyce replied, with a characteristic grin at his wife. "I had to guard this door."
And - oh boy - the way Boyce grinned at his wife. All the time. No matter the circumstance. There isn't a woman alive who wouldn't give anything for her husband to look at her the way Boyce always looked at Rosa. Year-after-year, his absolute love and adoration of Rosa was apparent at first glance, constantly. I bet he had that same look way back when they first met, and that look, and the adoration behind it, was still there years later, to the end.
Sadly, that end came yesterday evening, because Boyce passed away. It was his time, and he knew it. In a lot of pain, among his final acts yesterday was to tell Rosa how much he loved her. I know it was wonderful for her to hear it one more time, but I also know she didn't need to be told - he showed it every day of their lives together. She did the same for him. Their relationship served as the gold standard for everybody else's relationships.
I've always been glad that Rosa is one of the strongest people I know. But when I heard the news last night, I was especially grateful that she's so strong, because I know her strength will help her get through this terrible loss.
And as she works her way through this difficult transition, I hope she'll take comfort that, somewhere, an adoring Boyce will be grinning at her, guarding the door.
Rest in peace, Boyce. You were a damn good man.
I'm not a big fan of White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Too often, I just simply disagree with his style points, or lack thereof.
And Texas Republican consultant Dave Carney? To my knowledge we've never been on the same side of anything, and will probably never.
Those two both find themselves on the same side of Professional Quitter Sarah Palin's temper this week, however, because each was quoted using the term "retard," which Palin finds offensive. It is understandable that Palin's sensitivity on this issue is highly advanced, since Trig Palin, her youngest son, has Down Syndrome. She called for Emanuel's resignation over the incident, and her spokesbot called Carney "disrespectful."
I'm not a particularly political correct kind of guy myself. But as a certain Dallas radio commentator pointed out, here's the definition of "politically correct:"
"avoiding offense based on race, gender, religion, ideology or any other social grouping such as disability"
"Screw the political correctness."
There are few things as entertaining as folks who call into talk shows, especially the more clueless callers.
Here's "Lou," the winner of today's Letters From Texas Clueless Talk Show Caller of the Day.
The other night I went to an event commemorating the re-tooling of the Texas Observer. There's a new look and feel to the magazine - go to their website and give it a try.
Mind you, at times past I have said that the Observer has a new look and feel to it, and was NOT a compliment. That publication has lost its way and found it again so many times over the years that I recommend they leave bread crumbs everywhere they go, just in case.
But lately, at least, they seem to be both on track and looking good at the same time. And the event I went to the other night? Lo and behold, there were more folks there I didn't know than folks I do know, which is always good news.
While at that event, I may or may not have been a bit "over served." And while in this fluid state, I may or may not have agreed to one of the Observer cheerleaders that I would plug their upcoming fundraising event.
It's on Valentine's Day.
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "what kind of loser has nothing better to do on Valentine's Day than to go to a fundraiser?" Well, that was my first thought too. It was also my last thought, and most of the thoughts in between, come to think of it.
But a few stray thoughts included the following:
-- if the Observer doesn't have money, they can't bring us stories that other media outlets tend to ignore, and that would be bad.
-- if the Observer doesn't have money, they might return to being the "bad Texas Observer" they've been at various points of their history, instead of the "interesting and highly readable Texas Observer" they are at the moment.
-- if you don't have a date for Valentine's Day, or even if you do, but your date is just as dorky as you are, you might just enjoy going to the event. Maybe you'll meet a date. Or a dork.
--if neither you nor your date is dorky, you might enjoy going to the event anyway, because the Observer may well succeed in masking the fundamental dorkiness of holding an event on Valentine's Day by making the event extra-fun somehow.
and last, but not least:
--if you're one of those people who rebels against the greeting card, florist, and candy industries thrusting upon you a certain day of the year in which you are constitutionally required to express your undying love and admiration for your significant other, whom you're probably secretly mulling over breaking up with anyway, as soon as the Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Years-Valentine's Day gauntlet of holidays during which it isn't socially acceptable to dump somebody is over...then by all means, take your date there. There's no better place to dump somebody while easing your guilt by having fun and contributing to a good cause during the dump.
Or, you could just go because it sounds fun. But making this simple wouldn't have made a very interesting blog post, would it?
The Texas Observer’s Annual Rabble Rouser Roundup & Fat Cat Schmoozefest (and Silent Auction)
This year – A Valentine’s Day Bash!
Sunday February 14, 2010
10463 Sprinkle Road, Austin, Texas, 78754 at "the elegant Barr Mansion" (not to be confused with the other Barr Mansion, which is reportedly a real dump)
4:00 – 8:00 p.m.
$49.95 per ticket
$20 for students
Here's where you can find the details.
Here is our beloved Texas, we have chupacabra. A very respectable and worthy bogeyman by any measure.
Meanwhile, New York has...um...savage packs of vicious beagles??!
Buncha wimps.
Blogger Template Spain courtesy of Ourblogtemplates.com. Header artwork courtesy of Doug Zabel.
Back to TOP
Subscribe via RSS
