Anti-social media

A few of you are taking Facebook a little too seriously.

Also, I note with interest that this happened in the first-in-the-nation state for deciding who the Republican nominee for President will be, which sounds just about perfect.

I'm guessing this woman will be losing a few more friends in the very near future.

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Texas progressive blog round-up

The Texas Progressive Alliance reminds you that the right to complain about the results of an election are directly connected to having voted in it as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff has a school finance lawsuit update.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme catches Greg Abbott being a blithering hypocrite.

Shocker! Hold the presses: Herman Cain and Rick Perry each discover that running for President is hard! Letters From Texas weighs in.

BossKitty at TruthHugger is awakened from a 2011 blog sleep. Lead up to the 2012 Presidential Campaign is disgusting already. Nothing is as it seems and candidates are fluent in fairy-tales. The distance between the educated voter and the uneducated voter is huge. Guess which group holds the majority ... Campaign Season Op Ed: BossKitty Awakens

There don't appear to be any obvious winners in the wake of Rick Perry's implosion and Herman Cain's Black Walnut meltdown, according to PDiddie at Brains and Eggs. Unless you count Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, that is. And they were winning beforehand.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the insanity of tax talk in Texas. We can't keep doing the same thing and expecting different results, Texas tax facts.

Irritated by road construction? McBlogger says don't blame TXDOT, blame the contractors.

Neil at Texas Liberal noted the unexpected passing of an old friend with a reminder that if you value someone in life, you should contact them now.

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Oklahomans on parade

Well, Oklahoma had themselves a little earthquake while I was up in Dallas this weekend. The shaking either didn't make it as far south as Dallas, or I just wasn't paying attention, but either way I didn't feel a thing.

But this fine gentleman from Oklahoma did. And he makes me laugh.

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Buzz from the TV show

On this week's "Capital Tonight" on YNN-TV in Austin, I was asked about the very strange Rick Perry speech in New Hampshire. It reminded me of a similar situation for a Democrat.

You can watch the entire episode of "Capital Tonight" this Sunday morning at 11 on YNN in Austin, or on the Texas Channel in other Texas media markets, channel 888 on most Time-Warner systems. Or, watch it online whenever you want.

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America demands an explanation

Here's a news flash that perhaps Herman Cain or Rick Perry might have invested a little time mulling over before they bothered to throw their hats into the ring and run for President:

Politics is rough.

One would have thought that at least Governor Perry might have caught on to that fundamental truth, long about the time he once falsely accused an opponent of being a DEA agent-murdering money launderer.

But no, the fact that politics is a rough and tumble full-contact sport was apparently a complete surprise to the Perry camp, as witnessed by Mrs. Perry's recent "people are picking on us" tear-up-athon.

Now it's Herman Cain's turn. Upon people finding out that he did something (we still don't really know what) to some women (we still don't really know who) back when he was totally proving up his qualifications to be the President of the United States by shilling for crappy restaurant chains (we don't really know why), Cain first claimed he didn't remember anything about "it" (whatever "it" is), then claimed that oops, he does remember "it", but that "it" never happened.

Now Cain, rather than discussing "it," is attempting to change the subject away from the actual "it," to a discussion about who brought "it" to the public's attention. And he lays "it" at the feet of the aforementioned Rick Perry. No word yet if Perry's campaign has scheduled Mrs. Perry to whine about this yet. They've been too busy explaining that bizarre video of last Friday's Perry speech by stressing the point that Rick Perry does not - they repeat NOT - need to be under the influence of alcohol to act like a damn fool.

Best we can tell, whatever "it" that Cain may or may not have done caused the Restaurant Association to pay a woman or two, but maybe three, to go away. We don't know why they didn't opt to pay Herman Cain to go away, thus saving the country a lot of trouble, as well as saving us all from having to read really vague, somewhat disturbing, and utterly boring news accounts of "it."

Herman Cain is now pulling a Clarence Thomas, with the help of Mrs. Clarence Thomas, and is letting the world know that he is the real victim here, in between "jokes" about electrocuting Mexicans. I'm just guessing here, but I bet that the revelation that Cain is the real victim comes as a complete surprise to the women at the Restaurant Association who had to go find new work.

Personally, I would advise Republican primary voters to delay making judgements on this one. Cain didn't even remember anything happening at first. But his partial recovery from amnesia may in time lead to him remembering precisely what he did. Also, it may lead to him remembering what that last "9" means in his big economic plan.

There are several ways this could get interesting. One of the women might go public with the details. Or maybe the tabloids might come forward with details they just make up. Or maybe an enterprising reporter will prove that Perry really did leak the story, which would not be a credibility-inducing moment for a campaign which has already flatly denied it had anything to do with it.

Either way, pop some popcorn and grab a comfy seat - the long knives are out, and the silly season is upon us.

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Herman Cain.

The news just keeps getting worse.

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