182 Comments

Oh, brother!

As the old Scottish song goes, "Such a parcel o' rogues in a nation!"

With Ken Paxton not even close to being the worst of them ...

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Huh. I looked Clint Howard up on IMdB because I couldn't remember what he looked like as an adult, and found out he's been on a bunch of other ST franchises, including "Enterprise", "Discovery" and "Strange New Worlds" among others. I was only scanning through his listings, so for all I know he's been on *every* ST franchise.

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We should ask our resident mixologist Matt Hooper to make this weekend's cocktail some kind of sassy, Tranya-based concoction. Too bad he's on vacation! I hope he's relishing it (RIM SHOT!)

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NEVER line the rim with relish!

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Clint Howard is definitely preferable to Paxton’s smug and punchable face. Thank you.

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This episode of Star Trek creeped me out when I was a kid.

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You are most definitely not alone. My sister and I still discuss how disturbing "The Corbomite Maneuver" was to our young eyes. Not just Clint Howard, but the "Wizard of Oz" bogus alien his character hid behind was also super-scary (to me, anyway). The "fake alien" went on to appear in the closing credits for subsequent episodes, and remained creepy. Cheesy by today's standards, perhaps, but my sense-memory still reacts to it.

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Totally.

Those closing credits gave me shivers for years.

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“If Ken loses, that’s a kill shot to his political career, so it opens the door to a resolution that’s not open right now.”

Wow, I've had a lot of ups and downs in my career, but I've never had someone use the term "kill shot" to describe one of my fuck-ups.

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Texas: Where disgraced, murderous doctors can practice and where utterly corrupt politicians can continue to evade prosecution and get elected. Fucking A…I gotta get out of here before my blood pressure reaches resistance to Jupiter’s atmosphere.

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"The hearing yesterday was made possible by a ruling that Paxton’s trial could remain in Houston"

What? He didn't demand it be moved to West Virginia? Or the Texas equivalent of West Virginia . . . which, I guess is anywhere in Texas outside of Houston and Austin?

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Maybe he just didn't have a compelling argument?

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This waste of protoplasm is still walking free?

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(Tips cyber hat to a cultural reference point that actually took me a moment to get)

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Lock. Him. Up.

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February? Hey, that's so long away it may not even be above 100 degrees here anymore.

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Paxton's rich pals have been dumping dollars on members of the TX senate who will be voting on whether to impeach him or not. Think that will make a difference?

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Also into the Lite Guv's coffers. And he is not up for re-election ...

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Lt. Gov who will be presiding over the impeachment trial.

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In certain criminal trials, I've seen Cogdell work wonders, and I've seen Cogdell absolutely shit the bed.

I'm leaning toward "shit the bed" in Paxton's trials, but we'll see.

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99 years for Securities Fraud? Jesus. I mean, I knew Finance runs America. But plenty of people commit murders and get out in about a quarter that much time.

It tells you a lot about a society when stealing money is more serious than murder.

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I think the "up to" is the key part of the sentence there. If there's no recommended minimum, it's just whatever the judge feels like.

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Honestly white collar crime doesn't get the punishment it deserves in my opinion. Too many wealthy thieves walk and continue to live a privileged life.

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Yep. And he's put that trial off for years while serving as AG.

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founding

The way things work in Texas, Paxton is a non-entity now. He’s got no friends, no allies, and no supporters among the people who matter. I bet no one other than his attorneys are taking his calls. He’s done. I don’t know what he did or who he pissed off but all signs indicate the circle of power doesn’t need him anymore. The reason he avoided trial and was re-elected is that he was useful to the power structure. Now, his utility has ran its course. He’s a liability now and--this is probably the most important thing: Whatever dirt he has on them can no longer cause any damage. He’s done. He is now fair fame to anyone who has a bone to pick with him to exert their revenge at will. But don’t fret. There’s no need to feel sorry for Ken Paxton. He remains as much a piece of shit as Abbott, Patrick, and the rest.

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Didn’t Paxton accuse the Speaker of being drunk?

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founding

Yeah but that’s nothing. Being drunk in the TX Capitol while one’s supposed to be working is nothing new. There has to be something else he did that got him kicked out of the circle of power.

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I think it wasn’t that there could have been drinking. It was that he publicly accused them of it. It’s not the sole cause of his being booted though. Probably there’s something especially nasty to that.

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