In AMANDA EYRE WARD’s cinematic third novel, FORGIVE ME, the Austin writer beautifully spans the physical and social divide between Cape Town, in the waning days of apartheid, and Cape Cod, where journalist Nadine Morgan wrestles with the all-consuming ambition that finds her both single and childless but desperately wanting
THIS TIME, THIS PLACE: MY LIFE IN WAR, THE WHITE HOUSE, AND HOLLYWOOD hits the shelves barely a month after the death of its author, JACK VALENTI, at the age of 85. Valenti professed to have written this memoir so that his grandchildren might understand his journey from mean circumstances
If genius truly skips a generation, what becomes of the moderately stellar offspring of brilliant parents? In his wry and affecting THE BEAUTIFUL MISCELLANEOUS, Austinite DOMINIC SMITH probes the fate of Nathan Nelson, who must suffer his quark-physicist father’s efforts—whiz kid camps, science drills—to mold him into a prodigy. While
My instructor is a Flabbo Nazi, and other tales from the aerobics wars.
Jordan’s PickMenil CollectionHOUSTON“I CALL MYSELF COVETOUS,” the late Dominique de Menil once told this magazine. “I have an enormous appetite for what- ever turns me on.” Luckily for her adopted city of Houston, what she craved most was art of the highest caliber: When the Menil Collection opened as its
Patricia Kilday Hart and I are now working on the Ten Best and Ten Worst story for the 80th Legislature. We are offering a one-year subscription to TEXAS MONTHLY for the correspondent who can come closest to predicting our choices. Anyone caught hacking into the magazine’s web site, as a
Did your antennae go up when Sylvester Turner filed for Speaker? Mine did. There’s no way for Sylvester to win. Republicans can’t vote for a Democrat for speaker. The best Turner can hope for is to hold the Craddick Ds (who may not be as solid as they were before
The death of S.B. 482 raises the possibility of a special session. Electricity by itself may not be enough reason for the governor to bring the Legislature back, but the absence of a rate cut as we enter the 2008 election cycle may motivate Governor Perry to call the lawmakers
Since everyone on the floor was thanking their staffs and anybody else they can think of, I want to thank the readers of this blog, the correspondents who posted their comments, and the members of the 80th Legislature, who graciously made sure that no day went by without their giving
Anyone who stayed up to the last bill in the last hour on the last day was rewarded with some high drama–and I hope they weren’t hijinks. Dunnam had a valid point of order on the electricity bill, which missed the runway in trying to land safely in the conference
First my colleague, Patti Hart takes out after me for my post earlier today about the Haggerty walkout last night, and then my friend Glenn Smith does the same, in Burnt Orange Report:Texas Monthly’s Paul Burka is suddenly quoting Coleridge and Thomas Wolfe, so perhaps he
Patti,You’re the greatest colleague a writer could wish for, but I think you’ve been watching the Senate too long. They don’t fight in public. They don’t try to skewer each with the rules. All they do is tell each other how wonderful they are. You can’t possibly know the difference
With all due respect to my esteemed colleague, I rise to offer another point of view on last night’s House drama. I can’t agree with Mr. Burka’s comparison of last night’s walkout to Arlene’s calendar-killing motion. The stakes are entirely different, as is the back-story of provocation. Craddick wants a
Or maybe my headline should have been, Goodnight Arlene. The walkout in the House last night wasn’t a protest; it was a temper tantrum. It was so juvenile, a thoughtless, willful act that did nothing to hurt Tom Craddick, just the strollers’ own colleagues who had worked feverishly to beat
In light of Tom Craddick’s assertion over the last couple of days that he is a statewide officeholder and should be treated as such when members seek to defrock him, a commenter mentions an interview the Speaker did with our editor, Evan Smith, on the public television show
The insurgents will surely try to keep the pressure on today. The resolution to go outside the bounds of the two budget bills is a plump target, and so is the budget itself. I don’t think that an attack on either will be successful. The Craddick Ds tend to be
I received an e-mail this morning containing a scholarly analysis of the speaker’s argument that he can only be removed from office under the provision of the Texas Constitution authorizing the House to expel any of its members by a two-thirds vote.The author is known to me as an expert,
I received this message today from Alexis DeLee. It is the rationale for Speaker Craddick’s ruling on Friday night that various provisions of the Texas Constitution overrides the rules of the House of Representatives and prevents the House from taking action to remove the speaker from office during a legislative
I don’t want to get hysterical about what happened in the House Friday night. It was not the end of democracy as we know it. It was not a coup d’etat. It was just the end of any pretense that Tom Craddick is influenced by a normal sense of right
Day after day, day after day,We stuck, nor breath, nor motion (to vacate the chair)As idle as a painted shipUpon a painted ocean (is there nothing there?)Where does the insurgency stand?I don’t see how anyone in either camp can be confident of victory. Unless there has been some late movement
I assume that most readers know by now that Speaker Craddick and his consiglieri Bill Messer are the defendants in a lawsuit filed by Amazon Tours, Inc. of Dallas. The dispute involves the defendants’ request for a refund for a fishing trip that never took place. Thanks to the Quorum
The battle over the transportation bill is hot hot hot. For the last two years, the opposition to the Trans Texas Corridor has been led by rural Texas — in particular, by Lois Kolkhorst, who has championed a two-year moratorium on comprehensive development agreements, the financing tool used by Tx-DOT
I have removed this post from the blog. It consisted of a letter “reporting” a phone conversation among major Republican donors in which they agreed to raise $10 million to use against members who had failed to support Speaker Craddick. I normally post submissions from readers in the comments section
On cooler reflection, the bills setting up a $3 billion, 10-year commitment for cancer research still face significant challenges. While the Senate today gave approval to a constitutional amendment and enabling legislation, an amendment tacked on by Troy Fraser will require the House to concur with 100 votes. I’m told
If Craddick is indeed using $160 million in higher ed funding above the Senate and House bills for political purposes, he may find a roadblock in his way: the Senate. There is no chance that the Senate is going to let the House have $160 million to play with. They
Pitts, Hill, Dunnam, Gallego — just pounding away at Chisum. About the higher ed money. Point of order. The Craddick forces (he’s not in the chair, Woolley is; he’s working the floor) run huge risks if the game the rulings tonight. This is real drama. I hear Pitts may be
I really enjoyed writing the post below, to which the headline applies, and I’m rather fond of it, but I wrote it before Rose and Lucio withdrew their support from Craddick. I knew that Patrick was going to have to come home to the Ds eventually if he wanted to
Jane Nelson just won final passage of the Cancer Research bill — which, upon approval by Texas voters, gives the state the authority to borrow up to $3 billion through the sale of bonds to finance cancer research over the next 10 years.The bill was strongly promoted by a host
A moment of silence, please, for SB 4, the charter school bill that offered facilities funding for charters, while also demanding fiscal and academic responsibility. Unless it finds a vehicle, the trip is over. Today has witnessed the death of a lot of bills, but this deserves attention for some
Eiland made an effort before lunch to put Craddick on the spot, asking whether there would be a break for dinner or whether he should order dinner to be brought in. Eiland wasn’t interested in food. He was interested in how long Craddick intended to keep the members in session.
Exclusive! Here is the list of those who would like to succeed Craddick as speaker (alphabetical order):B. CookHillKefferMcCallPittsTaltonandAllen, Alonzo, Anchia, Anderson, Aycock, Bailey, Berman, Bohac, Bolton, Bonnen, Branch, B. Brown, F. Brown, Burnam, Callegari, Castro, Chavez, Chisum, Christian, Cohen, Coleman, R. Cook, Corte, Crabb, Craddick, Creighton, Crownover, Darby, J. Davis,
Let’s assume that the process of vacating the chair has been set in motion by a resolution. Then what?Rule 5, Section 36 says, “Questions of privilege shall have precedence over all other questions, except motions to adjourn.” Therefore, the only way to slow down the proceedings is for a pro-Craddick
If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere wellIt were done quickly — Macbeth, Act I, Scene 7A move against Craddick seems inevitable now. Three things have occurred that have changed the nature of the insurgency. First, and most important, the effort to dethrone the speaker is now being
Even before Dan Patrick won his Senate seat, speculation around town was rampant that he would run for governor in 2010. I think it’s wrong. He doesn’t have the name identification or the money to make that race, and he would be up against a formidable array of political talent.
Give John Carona credit for resolving a conflict with style. Carona and Dan Patrick have sparred over the last few days, starting with words exchanged during Wednesday’s Senate caucus. Thursday, Patrick knocked four Carona bills off of the Local and Consent calendar. For some reason, Carona took this personally. According
I looked through the House rules yesterday in search of information pertaining to a motion to vacate the chair. I did not find it. This is because it does not exist. There is no such motion.End of story? Not exactly. My quest led me eventually to Hugh L. Brady, editor
On April 24, I posted an item about the bill to “reform” the Texas Residential Construction Commission, which exists to protect Bob Perry, David and Dick Weekley, and other well connected homebuilders from lawsuits that previously could have been brought by disgruntled buyers. Apparently one loophole was left open
Last night the appropriations conference committee stripped out the anti-vouchers amendment that Joe Heflin added on the House floor. Near the end of the afternoon session today, Jim Dunnam raised the issue in a parliamentary inquiry, pointing out the overwhelming vote (128-9) that the rider received. Lois Kolkhorst, who chaired
The controversy over the Voter ID bill, which prompted lengthy caususes in the Texas Senate today, continues to escalate. I’ve just been told that three senators — Leticia Van de Putte, Tommy Williams and Steve Ogden — are being sent as emissaries from the entire Senate to communicate to Lieutenant
Dan Patrick, who has been highly critical of Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst for upholding the Senate tradition known as the two-thirds rule, had a chance to say, in effect, “I told you so” today and did not pass up the opportunity. Here is the text of Patrick’s statement:AUSTIN – During this
Just received from Alexis DeLee:STATEMENT FROM SPEAKER TOM CRADDICK(AUSTIN) – Speaker Tom Craddick released the following statement this afternoon on his intention to run for speaker in the 81st Legislature.“I have talked to Nadine and I fully intend to run for Speaker. The paperwork was already filed last February.”
Carlos Uresti came down with a serious bout of the flu Monday, and left the Capitol after fellow senators noted how bad he looked shivering in the Senate lounge. In particular, Dr. Kyle Janek advised him to get to bed, amidst joking from others present: “What do you think is
Like I said, there isn’t a speaker’s race until somebody has filed papers. NOW there is a speaker’s race. Here is the announcement:Austin, Texas, May 15, 2007—- State Representative Jim Keffer (R-Eastland) announced today that he has filed his candidacy paperwork for Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives for
At the beginning of this week, I fully expected an emotional insurrection overthrowing the presiding officer of one chamber of the Legislature — on the west side of the Capitol. But this morning, David Dewhurst’s handling of the Voter ID bill created such havoc that if the Senate rules allowed
Yesterday was a bad day for the insurgency. It’s one thing to have a floor strategy of parliamentary maneuvers designed to loosen Tom Craddick’s hold on the speakership, and it’s quite another to pull together a disparite group of disgruntled members into a united front capable of bringing him down.
Reports of Craddick’s defeat may be premature. I’m hearing that the Resistance hasn’t quite got its act together yet. They thought they had it in January, and there were flakes. They’re still worried about flakes. As well they should be. If they shoot and miss, they’re done.Don’t write and say
This is not a stupid question. What I am asking is, Is there a speaker’s race within the meaning of Chapter 302 Texas Government Code, which regulates races for speakers?I called Randall “Buck” Wood, who wrote the speaker’s statute for Common Cause in 1973. He said, “You’re not the first
I continue to receive smart, knowledgeable, inside-baseball comments from readers in response to my posts about the speakers race, going back to Friday, May 11. I can’t post them all in the main portion of the blog, but you will miss a lot of the discussion, and a lot of
How smart is Craddick’s strategy of enlisting the Republican Party machinery to put pressure on ten members whose support he regards as wobbly?First, it is an obvious admission of desperation, a Hail Mary.Second, it hoists him on the petard of his own promise not to strong-arm members into voting his
Here is hard evidence of a speaker’s race.I received this e-mail this morning as a comment submitted to the blog in response to my post of yesterday, “87 Votes.”Craddick’s scared–here’s an email his team sent out this weekend to Republican leaders:County Chairs and SREC MembersThere is reportedly a movement in
