SD6 Standoff

The Astros ended last season with four players hitting above .300 and another finishing at .299. How many Astros players are hitting above .300 this season?

Go vote tomorrow!

“Papillon” was a pretty good flick that came out in 1973 starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. It also had a pretty good Oscar nominated music score by Jerry Goldsmith. A remake of the movie is being released today. Why not just rerelease the 1973 version? I wonder if they will stick with the same music score? Oh, well.

The DNC is meeting in Chicago and the Super Delegates are fighting a proposal to diminish the role of Super Delegates and that’s all you need to know on this.

It looks like Donald Trump can’t count on his hometown newspaper. The owner of the National Enquirer was granted immunity by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Along those lines, Jeff Sessions told Trump to F-off yesterday.

Along the alternative reality lines, the Chron E-Board today has a scathing take aimed at Trump supporters. Here is part of the end of their take:

A house divided against itself cannot stand. President Lincoln knew that. In their hearts, Trump voters know it, too.

They must decide: the man or the country. Amid the lies, scandals, investigations and Omarosa exposés, a record 72,000 Americans died last year of drug overdoses. A much-needed infrastructure bill is nowhere to be found. Tariffs are straining foreign relations and igniting trade wars that cost Americans jobs and drive up prices. Hundreds of migrant children separated from their parents have yet to be reunited.

Americans should pay attention as Mueller’s investigation continues. Trump has no shame; he won’t resign as Nixon did. So it is up to Congress to hold him accountable, and if the facts support it, to call for impeachment. It is up to the American people, including those who voted for Trump, to examine our loyalties: America, or the man?

We already know Trump’s choice.

Here is the entire take: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/America-first-Trump-supporters-must-rethink-13178780.php.

Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Kellyanne Conway and others are creating this alternative reality aimed at their base. You know, alternative facts and truth isn’t truth. GOP leaders are just standing there, letting them get away with this crap. It certainly does not help when CNN put on Conway on prime time like they did last night.

Commentary is pretty confidant voters will help straighten this mess out in November.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is going to debate Geraldo Rivera. Huh? That doesn’t score you points. That loses you points so go on ahead and debate Geraldo.

Commentary has said it before. There is not a durn thing I can do on calling a Special Election for Senate District 6. I don’t have the power.

Here is Charles’ take on the latest: http://offthekuff.com/wp/?p=87430.

Here is from the Chron on the SD6 standoff:

More than 850,000 people in and around Houston could be left without a state senator to represent them when the Texas Legislature convenes in January because of a dispute between Gov. Greg Abbott and State Sen. Sylvia Garcia over the wording of her “intent to resign letter.”

As Abbott and Garcia staffers blame each other, there is a growing threat that people living on Houston’s East End, South Houston, part of Pasadena and all the way out to Baytown will have no representative in the state Senate when the Legislature meets on Jan. 8.

If a replacement is not in place for Senate District 6, it could leave Democrats even more short-handed than they are now. Of the 31 Texas Senators, just 11 were Democrats in the last session. Without Garcia or her replacement, Democrats would have a 10-member caucus — the smallest ever in modern political times in Texas.

The fight is over Garcia’s “intent to resign” from the Senate letter from late July. In it, the Democrat said she intends to resign on Jan. 2, 2019 when she will likely be heading to Washington to represent much of the same area in Congress. Garcia won a primary for the 29th Congressional District in March and is heavily favored to win the general election versus Republican Phillip Aronoff in November.

Garcia could resign now, but has said she does not want to leave the people of Senate District 6 without representation.

By submitting the intent to resign in July, Garcia told Abbott she left him enough time to set a special election in November to coincide with the general election on Nov. 6.

In order to put an item on the Nov. 6 general election ballot, a governor must issue a proclamation 78 days before the election. That deadline passed on Aug. 20.

Abbott still has the authority to call an emergency special election to fill the vacancy during other times in September or early October, but would need to give voters advance notice of at least 36 days.

The governor has several other options, and could also call for an expedited election to be held in early January, before the session begins.

But Abbott’s office says none of those options are possible until he has an official resignation letter.

Abbott’s chief of staff, Luis Saenz, sent a letter to Garcia in late July explaining that Texas election code requires her to submit a letter of resignation, not an “intent” to resign.

“The Governor stands ready to call an election to fill your seat, but only after you submit a “resignation” in accordance with the Election Code,” Saenz wrote.

Here is the entire story: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Dispute-could-leave-850-000-Houstonians-without-13178009.php?src=hp_totn.

Got it?

Jose Altuve is batting .328 and Tyler White .306 of course.

That’s why our lead is 1 ½ games over the A’s with 35 games remaining.