Sen. Whitmire: Is this the face of an un-American?

So after Tuesday’s showdown between Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, over voter-ID law House Bill 218, everyone expected at least a temporary lull. Big mistake.

Wednesday morning, Dewhurst put out a lengthy press release that savaged the Senate’s longest-serving member and all his fellow Democrats for opposing the bill, called them undemocratic, and called their unanimous vote against the bill “an outrage against all Americans.” In classic form, it even conflates their opposition with not supporting the troops.

Only now Dewhurst is claiming it wasn’t him. He’s not saying that it didn’t come from his office (it was on his headed paper, after all), just that he hadn’t approved it. So that means it was either one of his staff or the press-release pixies. By 4pm, he was desperately sending a revised version out, in which all 11 Dem senators were “friends of mine and good Americans,” plus a cover letter that desperately tried to glue back together the charred ashes of that bridge to Whitmire he’d just burnt.

This article appears in May 11 • 2007.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.