More Than Myth
John Connally’s forgotten legacy.
Reporting and commentary on the Legislature, campaigns, and elected officials
John Connally’s forgotten legacy.
The boss of American Airlines is mad as hell at cut-rate competitors, selfish unions, and ignorant government regulators—and he’s not going to take it anymore.
Scratch the surface of the Texas Lottery and you’ll find political opportunism, a cynical marketing campaign, and endless hype.
What’s behind the Bureau’s bashing of its director, former San Antonio judge William Sessions? Go ask Alice.
From 1993, a close look at the virtues of Texas's sunset process.
There’s trouble brewing at the Capitol this spring, and it has lobbyists and legislators foaming at the mouth. The issue? Your right to drink a glass of fresh, tasty beer.
From Paris to Dallas, everyone’s asking, Will the bullet train ever get on track?
He waffled about the Senate seat, then sought safe harbor in Bill Clinton’s cabinet. Why did Henry Cisneros choose HUD over headlines? Only he knows for sure.
From the Lip to the Gibber, Texas pols have always been ethical. They’ve just been creative about it.
When Leadership Texas began, there were no role models for women. Now its members are the role models.
We started out bashing the worst Texas legislators. We ended up critiquing both the best and the worst.
Reading Bush, spinning Baker, regarding Henry, investigating Ross, explaining Ann, and toasting LBJ.
Phil Gramm’s unrelenting partisanship has changed Texas politics, but it may cost him the presidency.
When Lloyd Bentsen joined the Clinton cabinet, Texas lost not only its senior senator but a link to its political past.
Bill Clinton’s Arkansas isn’t the backwater you might think.
By not contesting Texas in the presidential campaign, Bill Clinton did more than throw away votes in 1992. He hurt the prospects of Texas Democrats in 1994 and beyond.
WHEN I WAS A SOPHOMORE AT THE University of Texas in 1977, my grandfather, a prominent Houston attorney, came to Austin to give a lecture to the university’s law students. After his speech, my grandfather told me he wanted to introduce me to someone. He led me toward a large
AUSTIN POLITICS ARE the nuttiest in the state. It all stems from an obsession with quality of life, and nothing quite brings out the daffiness like a threat to the city’s beloved Barton Springs. Even as a two-year legal battle continues to rage over development upstream on Barton Creek, a
Being the nation’s most famous interpreter of Texas politics sounds like fun. But for Molly Ivins, success has been no laughing matter.
When you hold public office, the difference between truth and fiction is more than a matter of degrees. Ask Lena Guerrero.
Hurricane Andrew’s winds had a message for the Texas coast.
Small-town Texas gets a taste of national politics up close.
Congressman Henry B. Gonzalez has spent most of his 76 years swinging wildly at political heavyweights. Now he’s finally landed a punch—on the president of the United States.
IT WAS JUST TEN DAYS after the close of the Republican convention, and here I was at a much smaller gathering of Republicans at Fairview Farms in Plano, just north of Dallas. Proclaimed a “Boot Scootin’ Olde Tyme Political Hoe-Down,” this campaign kickoff was also, of course, a “family event”
AUSTIN POLITICS ARE the nuttiest in the state. It all stems from an obsession with quality of life, and nothing quite brings out the daffiness like a threat to the city’s beloved Barton Springs. Even as a two-year legal battle continues to rage over development upstream on Barton Creek, a
Condo Manager Sharon Butler questions what officials consider affordable.
Republicans stew over Democrats at the GOP convention.
Ross Perot is a candidate for president because a lot of people want him to be. He has acted in a very clever, innovative way to arouse and build that support, but the support truly did arise and grow. That means that Perot’s campaign is a pure expression of democracy.
Can the Aggies turn land in Guam into a record donation?
Texas scientist Arnold Lockshin defected to Russia to find a new life. Has the collapse of communism shattered his dreams?
Is Ann Richards planning a historic move from the statehouse to the White House?
George H. W. Bush's commencement speech at Southern Methodist University was long on rhetoric and short on specifics.
THE PRESIDENT CAN’T RUN THE COUNTRY BY HIMSELF. the people he appoints to key positions can make or break his administration. Here is a possible lineup of Cabinet officials and major appointments. They are able, diverse, and largely nonpolitical. Most of them are people that Perot is known to respect.
THE SHOCK WAVES ARE BEGINNING to be felt from the Texas Water Commission’s decision that the Edwards Aquifer is an underground river—meaning that surface owners can’t use its water without a permit. Another state agency, the Water Development Board, was quick to dust off the old idea of transferring water
Cardiologists Per and Peter Langsjoen sounded a warning.
It’s his race to win—or lose.
Maybe not. But then again, the veteran Texas pol has never taken no for an answer.
The fire of democracy has yet to warm Moscow’s soul.
With the never-ending school finance crisis entering its umpteenth round, Governor Ann Richards and Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock appear to be on a collision course. Richards has decided that the educational problems of public schools should be considered along with their funding problems. Bullock has decided just the opposite. The
Suzanne Coleman reveals the secret of her success: “You have to be a sentimental fool.”
If Congressman Charlie Wilson has his way, the humble wood chip will be the focus of a trade war between East Texas and Japan.
The weird shape of a new Houston congressional district guarantees a power struggle between Hispanic and Anglo politicians.
With bulldozers poised to plow through their family’s historic spread, three San Antonio sisters are waging war against the state department.
The politics of trauma.
Dallas professor Mel Bradford thinks that Abe Lincoln was a scoundrel and that equality is nonsense. I had to find out why.
EVEN AS CHARGES FLY OVER the awarding of state lottery contracts, the next battle over gambling is taking shape for the 1993 legislative session. This time the issue will be casinos—on riverboats and on land. Lloyd Criss, a former legislator from La Marque, in Galveston County, who is now the
Hiking in a country setting? Great, but not in my back yard, say rural citizens.
Bob Lanier’s victory in the Houston mayoral runoff guaranteed that all three of the state’s biggest cities will be led by white male political insiders for the first time since 1971. A year ago all three cities had women mayors. But the elections of Lanier, Steve Bartlett in Dallas, and
If Texas is already overburdened with lawyers, and if, nevertheless, our law schools are still bursting with students, then I have a simple solution. Before submitting an application, all who want to apply to law school must sit down and read every word of the Texas constitution that was passed
Gary Bledsoe, the new head of the Texas NAACP, doesn’t dodge the tough questions.