Launched but a few days ago, What's the Matter with Texas? has already accumulated a deafening buzz in the state blogosphere. What is the matter with Texas? The state Democratic Party, of course. Meant as part postmortem on the party's flagging statewide fortunes, and part bitch session, the blog has already accumulated some big readers. Like Chris Bell.

Responding to a post titled ”The Problem with Chris Bell” blaming Bell's lack of vision and dearth of small donors for his loss, Bell kicked some knowledge of his own – mainly that WTMWT blogger Smarty Pants' small donor numbers were wrong, and the vague inspirational drivel cited was from the early days of the campaign. (Bell's letter, published last night, has since been taken down at his request.)

No, considering what he had to work with (nada), Bell ran one hell of a campaign. As the blog makes abundantly clear elsewhere, “we fielded a weak, inexperienced, and under-funded slate of state-wide candidates, and the party's largest donors backed a Republican running a misguided independent campaign for governor. We did very little to build the base, and those same mistakes threaten to happen again in 2008.”

The TPM Muckraker is reporting the Bush twins' vacation adventures in Argentina have caused such a commotion, the U.S. embassy there has advised them to leave the country.

No, seriously.

UPDATE: This may explain things.

Monday, former Austin Community Television Executive Director John Villarreal was sentenced to 7 years in jail for embezzling $354,000 from the public access station, bringing a nearly two-year cycle of accusation and investigation to an abrupt end.

Villarreal was suspended for nonperformance of duties December 21, 2004. Yet unbeknownst to the ACTV board, Villarreal had drafted a letter of resignation the day before, a cryptic, two-line note saying he was unable to perform his duties. His fast departure fueled speculation around the station that he pocketed operating funds from ACTV's bank account. Following investigation by the City Auditor's office and the District Attorney in March 2006, Villarreal was indicted for aggregated theft over $200,000, a felony. (With Villarreal's legacy firmly tarnished, ACTV was reborn under new management as Public Access Community Television, or PACT, in September of 2005.)

Gov. Rick Perry has set Dec. 19 for a special election to determine a replacement for Rep. Glenda Dawson, R-Pearland, who died in September. Dawson's name remained on the November ballot and her fightin' spirit went on to win the election in House District 29, thanks in part to a slick mailer that her campaign sent out just before E-Day. The mailer, which featured a photo of a smiling Dawson with U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, urged voters to turn out for Dawson but neglected to mention that she was dead.

On Wednesday, November 29 at 7pm, at the Galaxy Highland Theatre, 6700 Middle Fiskville (the shopping center northeast of Highland Mall, across the street from Lincoln Village), People For the American Way will be screening the documentary Shut Up & Sing, which details the education that country music superstars the Dixie Chicks got on the limits of free speech in wartime America. The press release from PFAW sums it up succinctly enough that we'll just reprint it here:

Burial services for former state Sen. Frank Madla will be at 1pm Friday at Texas State Cemetery. Madla, 69, died in a fire at his San Antonio home over the Thanksgiving weekend. Candles from a holiday display are believed to be the accidental cause of the blaze, which also claimed the lives of Madla’s elderly mother-in-law, Mary Cruz, and 5-year-old granddaughter, Aleena Jimenez. Madla’s wife Helen remains hospitalized with injuries suffered in the early morning fire Nov. 24. A Rosary Mass for the 33-year lawmaker was held this morning (Thursday) in Helotes.

While Rome Burns edition.

How Many Friedmans?

Ne plus ultra blogger Atrios shares his Friedman calendar with us. In Moustache of Understanding parlance, one Friedman is equal to six more months in Iraq to give it “one last push.” Unfortunately, Friedmans have a way of spawning and extending their life span – while doing the opposite for the troops.

Bombings push Iraq closer to abyss:

From Reuters: “Iraq is moving very fast toward the point of no return,” former prime minister Iyad Allawi warned. “The shadow of death and destruction is everywhere. We are all responsible, including me, for this situation.”

Potemkin Village, err, Iraq Study Group debate begins today:

Sez the Times, it urges “direct talks with Iran and Syria but sets no timetables for a military withdrawal.” As long as our leader thinks leaving means losing, well…

On Nov. 21, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted (7-3) to make the majority of adult pot use and possession crimes the lowest priority for city police, reports the Marijuana Policy Project, which will make San Fran the largest city to, in essence, cease arresting pot users. On E-day, voters in three other Cali cities – Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Santa Monica – passed similar “lowest priority” initiatives meaning that in total, six California cities (including Oakland and West Hollywood) with a combined population of roughly 1.4 million, have eliminated most criminal penalties associated with adult pot use.

Under San Fran’s new ordinance, policing adult pot crimes will now be considered the lowest priority – excluding pot-related offenses that occur in public, involve minors, a threat of violence, or driving under the influence, reports the MPP. In addition, the ordinance requires that letters be sent to both state and federal elected officials announcing the new ordinance and noting that the city is in favor of taxing and regulating marijuana use by adults.