“On June 23, 2011 a national reporter called Glen Maxey, the first and only openly gay state legislator in the history of Texas. Rick Perry was making noises about running for president, and the reporter asked about rumors that Perry possibly may have had homosexual sex. Glen had heard the rumors before but never investigated them. Now curious, Glen sent out messages to his wide network of gay and political contacts. Within hours, he received astonishing information from multiple sources. For the next five months, Glen’s life was consumed with investigating the rumors and stories about Perry. Did Rick Perry have sex with men? Read this remarkable book and decide for yourself.”

Faithless Electors List: Who Flipped Their Electoral Votes from Trump or Clinton?
It was predictable that more electors flipped away from Hillary Clinton (7) than from Donald Trump (2). Republicans are more tribal, fall in line better and respond to threats better. But protest votes amount to nothing except removing the focus on Trump, so congratulations or something.

Know what the states that had HRC defectors have in common? They were caucus states. Look for rules to be rewritten to prevent that from happening in future. Was that the intent of the faithless electors? I doubt it. But you’ll have a lot of convincing to do if you think this exercise of not voting for Clinton did more good than harm.

Anne Bunting liked to tell friends that President Barack Obama saved her life.

Last month, the Houston native decided to pen a letter telling him so, explaining how his signature health care law had allowed her to get a life-saving heart transplant in 2014.

"I tell everyone that you saved my life and I truly believe that," she wrote.

That, she thought, would be that.

Then last Friday she got a reply: "Thank you for your kind words and for taking the time to share your moving story with me. It's clear you have faced tremendous challenges over the last few years, and I am glad to hear the Affordable Care Act helped you."

It was signed with the president's characteristic signature, with a giant B and a giant O.

AUSTIN -- A federal judge on Thursday blocked Texas from implementing a controversial new rule requiring the burial or cremation of fetal remains following abortions or miscarriages.

In an at-times testy court hearing Thursday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks opted to grant a temporary restraining order against the new rules that were slated to kick in Monday, Dec. 19.

The new rules require that the remains from abortions and miscarriages be buried or cremated, regardless the length of gestation or the woman's wishes. Currently, the remains are treated as other medical waste and incinerated, buried or disposed of in a sanitary landfill or ground up and washed down a sanitary sewer.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, on behalf of several abortion providers, sued the state to block the rule, arguing that requiring health centers provide for the burial or cremation of fetal remains was intended to decrease access to abortion by driving up the cost.
The Texas Department of State Health Services has said the rule was intended as a public health measure to help prevent the spread of disease.

Twitter was told it was "bounced" from Wednesday's meeting between tech executives and President-elect Donald Trump in retribution for refusing during the campaign to allow an emoji version of the hashtag #CrookedHillary, according to a source close to the situation.

Trump adviser Sean Spicer later denied the report, telling MSNBC that "the conference table was only so big."

But POLITICO's source said the social media company's exclusion from the much-publicized, feel-good confab in Trump Tower stemmed from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's role in rejecting the anti-Clinton emoji — a rejection that brought public complaints from the president-elect's campaign.

Twitter was one of the few major U.S. tech companies not represented at Wednesday afternoon's Trump Tower meeting attended by, among others, Apple's Tim Cook, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg, and Tesla's Elon Musk — an omission all the more striking because of Trump's heavy dependence on the Twitter platform. With some 17.3 million followers of his account, the president-elect has made Twitter into the de facto press channel of his transition operation.

One reason is that the shadow of the contentious presidential primary continues to hang over the party, and some DNC members view the Minnesota congressman as part of the faction that delivered a mortal wound to Clinton, despite his best efforts to convince them otherwise.

“Ellison is not the front-runner, Ellison has no chance at all,” said Tennessee committeeman William Owen, giving voice to that view. “I’m a Hillary person. Bill Clinton said, 'I’ll be with you till the last dog dies,' and I’m the last dog. I will not vote for Keith Ellison, I will not vote for a Bernie person. I think they cost Hillary the election, and now they’re going to live with Donald Trump. Donald Trump asks, 'What do you have to lose?’ Nothing, except life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

California committeewoman Susie Shannon’s take on Ellison, however, is more representative of the ascendant progressive wing’s view.

All three of the announced candidates for new Democratic National Committee Chair will be in Austin this Saturday at 1:30 at the State Democratic Executive Committee meeting to speak. The meeting is open to the public and while questions and speeches from the floor are not allowed (or we’d be there for a month), you will be able to meet the candidates and hear them speak. Most Texas Democratic National Committee members will also be there. They are the ones who vote on the new chair and this is your opportunity to lobby them for your favorite candidate.

Saturday, December 17th at the Sheraton (701 E. 11th) at 1:30. Announced candidates: Keith Ellison, Jaime Harrison, and Raymond Buckley

- The State Democratic Executive Committee will meet at the TDP office (1106 Lavaca in Austin) at 9 a.m. on Saturday, December 17. The general session will be at the Sheraton (701 E. 11th) at 1:30. The general session had to be moved to a larger space, because all three of the announced candidates for Democratic National Committee Chair will be there: Keith Ellison, Jaime Harrison, and Raymond Buckley. All meetings are open to the public. Don and I hope to see you there!