Attorney General Greg Abbott leaving Matt's El Rancho with his entourage today at lunch. No word on any indictments. His staff doesn't have near the hot factor of Perry's boys.

Gayliens. (video)

That's all anybody's talking about today. I can't believe losers would wait in line for hours, much less days, to buy a phone. For $599 I'd expect more than cool interface...for that price it ought to tickle my ass with a feather.

Former Alabama governor, Don Siegelman, was finally sentenced in a corruption and bribery case that's been going on for a while now. He got mixed up with Richard Scrushy of HealthSouth fame and has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

Siegelman, 61, and Scrushy, 54, were convicted last year of bribery, conspiracy and mail fraud. The government accused Siegelman of naming Scrushy to a hospital regulatory board in exchange for $500,000 in donations to Siegelman’s 1999 campaign for a state lottery for education.

Ah, politics. It's such a lovely thing, isn't it?

The White House has refused to surrender documents subpoenaed by congress. They've also said that Harriet Miers will not testify under oath with a transcript. Does congress really have the nerve to issue a contempt citation?

I am not old enough to remember Watergate, but anytime I hear the words 'executive privilege' it doesn't give me the warm fuzzies.

Why in the hell is Rick Perry in Israel? In today's Statesman, the governor is all about 'building bridges' but the article couldn't help but remind us that Perry is probably considering a run for national office and that he talks out of both sides of his mouth.

Last year, to the chagrin of Jewish organizations in Texas, the Texas Republican Party declared in its platform that America is a "Christian nation" and described the separation of church and state as a "myth."

"The governor does not write platforms," Black said. "It's against some of the things he stands for."

JibJab remixes the Star Spangled Banner with the presidents. Click Permalink to watch.

Governor Perry vetoed the $297 million funding for Medicaid prescription drug benefits, but it has no impact because the bill has to be paid either way. Texas claims there is an overlap between Medicare and Medicaid eligibles in Texas and the state is paying twice for drug coverage on those enrollees. Wait, I assumed that. All I've read is said eligible...it didn't say enrolled.

I'm not sure I get it. If a person is enrolled in Medicare and provided drug coverage, but also enrolled in Medicaid and provided drug coverage are they really counted twice? Wouldn't Medicare be primary? Is this a PMPM calculation and not based on FFS or utilization of the benefit?

Someone clarify. I'll have lots of further questions. Email me for a spirited discussion on this issue.

Do we need to know that? The new Prime Minister's name is Gordon Brown. Carry on.

The NY Times reports that a survey of Americans aged 18-29 are more liberal than in the past. As they continue to drift to the left, they are also paying more attention to elections. (Ah, the great hope and fear of every politician every election cycle. Except Mark Strama.) \

My favorite conclusion:

...[T]hey believed that the nation was prepared to elect as president a woman, a black person or someone who admitted to having used marijuana. But they said that they did not believe Americans would elect someone who had used cocaine or someone who was a Mormon.

That what John Edwards said about his wife, Elizabeth, on the Tonight Show when he 'found out' she supports gay marriage. Edwards said, "I'm very strong about ending discrimination against gay and lesbian couples." Except, you know, letting them get married because that's icky...and would legitimize gay relationship. I don't want to be too harsh here, but this is what having cancer does to you...you can say what you think.

I guess Edwards had come a long way since 1988 when he said about gay people, "I'm not comfortable around those people." Maybe in another 19 years he'll think something different about them, too!

Really, I don't care about that at all. What I care about is his comment that his wife says what she thinks. Oh, how I crave a politician that would do the same. I might not like it, but wouldn't it be great to hear some honesty?

I've only slightly paid attention to the convicted killer that wants his last words before his execution to be a joke. A.) I can't believe they will allow that and b.) Here's the ultimate joke...you're life you scumbag. You are a waste of blood and tissue and good riddance. I hope it hurts when they turn the switch. If he'd like a real chuckle, I'd gladly show up in a clown costume and fry his ass. Oh, and to the media outlets that have been running this story for weeks now? Screw you, too.

The Baptist General Convention of Texas, which represents 5,600 congregations and 2.3 million Baptists, and Buckner International, a Baptist ministry that helps at-risk children, said they have joined to create the Immigration Service and Aid Center.

The Texas Suicide Prevention Council and Mental Health America in Texas have launched a new website aimed at suicide prevention among teens. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers and in the state of Texas an average of six people a day kill themselves.

There's nothing funny about suicide. I've had 8 friends kill themselves and I'm still angry at every one of them. If you see someone feeling down, talk to them. It's not always teenage moodiness, and it's not always teenagers. A personal story is in the permalink.

Governor Perry vetoed 49 (was it 49?) bills last week. There hasn't been a lot of uproar. I mean if Terri Hodge is the best you can get to give you a quote then it's pretty sad. Perry used his line-item veto power to reduce the budget by $570 million, according to a press release from the governor's office. One casualty of the line-item veto was $154 million in health insurance coverage for the 2008-09 budget year for community colleges. When the governor's office claimed that community colleges were 'padding their numbers' to get money, he pissed off some of that 39% left that like him.

"Each school is responsible for its own budget, and the governor finally put his foot down — he warned the community colleges that this would happen if they didn't stop this practice," Black said.

Holda said he is baffled by Perry's action, and his college did not falsify any employee information.

Steve Johnson, spokesman for the Texas Association of Community Colleges, said Perry's decision was a surprise.

"How dare the governor say we are falsifying information," Johnson said.

Rep. Chet Edwards to George Bush: "Listen here, dickwad, you're going to take care of the veterans you've sent into this quagmire or I will stick this finger through your tiny brain." (CNN)

The Houston Chronicle reports on an enormous scandal in El Paso. Corruption, bribery and secret meetings in bathroom stalls are de rigeur for El Paso it seems. One federal agent believes that up to 50 people could be indicted over the lengthy investigation. The investigation centers around payoffs for county contracts.

County Commissioner Haggerty said what we've always known about people in El Paso. "Some of the people I have worked with on Commissioner's Court are really stupid," said Haggerty, brother of longtime state Rep. Pat Haggerty, R-El Paso.