Zaffirini (l) and Patrick: Yes, their committee seats will be next to each other

When Senate committee appointments were made last week, there was eyebrow-raising that Sen. Dan Patrick, D-Houston, ended up with two committee vice-chairmanships: Education under Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, and the newly-minted Higher Education under Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo.

He’s not the only senator on both (Kip Averitt, R-Waco, and Royce West, D-Dallas, can walk between committee rooms with him) but he may be the least tactful, since he’s now trying to make political collateral out of his bad relationship with Zaffirini.

Zaffirini was one of the most vocal opponents of Patrick over the 2/3rds debacle that blighted the opening of the session, placing the blame for the mess solely and wholly at the feet of Patrick. So what has some bright spark at danpatrick.org done? Posted the entirety of her speech, under the quote “Two winners today … Sen. Patrick and the State Republican Party.”

See below the fold for a screen grab.

How not to get in good with the boss

Someone might want to tell Patrick’s campaign folks that his new boss didn’t mean that as a compliment.

This article appears in February 6 • 2009.

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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.