Politex

A tantrum of historic proportions?

Destroyed or dismantled?
That's the tough question facing the Texas Military Forces Museum, where executive director Jeff Hunt has been accused of destroying
a Civil War battle diorama that took high school students years to construct.
Officials at the Austin-based museum insist that Hunt did not destroy the $23,000 diorama (seen at right), but rather dismantled and preserved it because of historical inaccuracies.
However an Arizona history teacher whose students constructed the diorama told an Austin Chronicle reporter that Hunt "wrecked" the diorama. He said that some of his students fell into tears upon hearing of the diorama's fate.
Some museum employees also described Hunt's reaction upon first seeing the diorama as a "tantrum" and that he ranted about how "awful" and "terrible" it was, according to the April 25th newspaper report.
Not sure what to think? You can check out the story here.

--R.A. Dyer

Immigration crackdown at workplace a growing trend

It's too early for members of the Texas Legislature to start filing bills ahead of the 2009 session of the Texas Legislature. But PoliTex is going to go out on a limb and predict that somebody will propose legislation that would require Texas employers to use the federal "E-Verify" system to ensure folks have valid work papers.

The idea is catching on across the country, and the government estimates that 1,000 employers a week are signing up for E-Verify -- prompting Homeland Security to request more funding to keep up.

It was conceived as a voluntary program, whereby personnel managers can electronically verify whether a prospective employee has a valid social security number and authorization to work in the United States. But now several legislatures have passed bills requiring companies doing business in their states to make use of it.

Critics say the system is too error-prone. But at least a dozen states have some version of the requirement, and Rhode Island is poised to jump on board, according to an AP story out today.

-- Jay Root

P.S. The photo, by Tom Pennington, shows illegal immigrants being processed at a federal detention center in Nogales, Arizona.

Bill Meadows, ex-Perry aide tapped for transportation jobs

Gov. Rick Perry tapped a former top aide and Fort Worth's own Bill Meadows to serve on the Texas Transportation Commission, which oversees Texas road funding and policy matters.

Deirdre Delisi (pictured left), Perry's former chief of staff, will replace outgoing Hope Andrade of Boerne on the powerful commission.

And former Fort Worth City Councilman Bill Meadows, chairman of Hub International Rigg and vice-chairman of the North Texas Tollway Authority, will replace the late Ric Williamson of Weatherford.

Their terms expire on Feb. 1, 2013.

"Both Deirdre and Bill have the integrity and expertise to ensure that these needs are met efficiently and responsibly,'' Perry said in a written news release. "I am confident their contribution to the commission will maintain the momentum of the late Commissioner Ric Williamson’s pioneering vision, and secure comprehensive transportation solutions that will reduce traffic congestion, improve safety and keep our state’s doors open to economic growth and success.”

-- Jay Root

University offers Jeremiah Wright a doctorate, then says "nevermind"

It may not be as outrageous as some of the other statements Jeremiah Wright has made lately, but something he said while preaching in Dallas on Sunday certainly raised some eyebrows.

Wright told the crowd at Friendship-West Baptist Church that Northwestern University was planning to give him an honorary doctorate in sacred theology before controversial clips from some of Wright’s sermons became public.

"The president of the university called and told me he was withdrawing the degree because I was not patriotic," Wright told the congregation.

Northwestern University confirmed to us Tuesday that the school had planned on giving Wright a degree at its commencement in June but changed its mind.

In an emailed statement, Alan Cubbage, Vice President for University Relations, said, "In light of the controversy around Dr. Wright and to ensure that the celebratory character of commencement not be affected, the university has withdrawn its invitation to Dr. Wright."

The university would not comment on whether its president told Wright he wasn't patriotic, or even if he called Wright directly.

-Aman Batheja

JPS blocks employees from visiting Star-Telegram web site

In case you've missed it, the Star-Telegram began running a six-part series focusing on the JPS Health Network, Tarrant County's public hospital system, on Sunday. The first three parts can be read here, here and here.

But JPS employees won't be able to read the rest of the series online - not at least while they are at work.

JPS Chief Executive David Cecero and Chief Financial Officer Gail Gale Pileggi decided to block internet access to the Star-Telegram.com site.

"It was a decision that was discussed with the administration, being Mr. Cecero and Gail Pileggi, and how to deal with news issues and how many people have the right to read and do things during the work day," said JPS spokesman Robert Earley, senior vice president of public affairs and advocacy.

Despite JPS' censorship, dozens of blog postings on the stories were made by people identifying themselves as JPS employees.

JPS Board Chair Steve Montgomery called the move "stupid."

-Anthony Spangler

Congressman threatens to move border Texas city to Mexico

If U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo ever decides to run for president again, he can probably skip stumping near the border.

Tancredo, a Republican from Colorado, attended a congressional hearing on the U.S.-Mexico border fence in Brownsville, the southern most city in Texas, yesterday.

Tancredo had little patience for those who opposed the fence, according to the Brownsville Herald.

"If you don't like the idea (of a fence), maybe you should consider building the fence around the northern part of your city," Tancredo said amid jeers from the audience.

-Aman Batheja

Voter ID foe says he'll fight on

State Sen. Mario Gallegos, a Houston Democrat who last year violated doctor's orders when he returned to Austin soon after undergoing liver-transplant surgery to block legislation that would have required Texas voters to show photo ID before casting their ballots, has little use for today's Supreme Court ruling upholding voter ID laws from other states.

“I’m saddened that the Supreme Court has chosen to legalize discrimination," Gallegos said in a news release. "But just because the court’s decision indicates that it’s legal, doesn’t mean it’s right."

Gallegos missed much of the 2007 legislative session because of his illness that caused the need for the transplant. When he did return to the Capitol, colleagues provided him a hospital bed in a room adjacent to the Senate chamber.

And two Republican senators who are physicians and supported the legislation that Gallegos returned to stifle, regularly monitored his health while he rested while the Senate conducted his business. The whole scene made national news.

Now that the Supreme Court has basically given state's like Texas the green light to pass voter ID, Gallegos says he's still planning to fight the effort.

“I have opposed voter ID legislation before, and I’ll oppose it again," he said. "As long as my constituents are in danger of suffering the indignity of being disenfranchised by an unjust law, I will oppose that and all similar legislation.”

That could set up another confrontation between Senate Democrats and GOP Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, the chamber's president and a supporter of voter ID.

"With this legal challenge behind us, I look forward to passing a fair voter ID law in Texas next year that fully protects the voting rights of all U.S. citizens registered to vote in Texas," Dewhurst said in a statement of his own.

-- John Moritz

Investigation into controversial flier hits deadend

Remember last November's bogus flier brouhaha?

Five months later, local officials still don't know who was behind it or who even was the target.

A local political firestorm erupted on November 5 when a flier with the wrong Election date was found in the predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods of Rosemont and Worth Heights in south Fort Worth.

Assistant District Attorney Anne Diamond said Friday that county investigators found no suspects and have only identified one or two people who can say they received the flier.

The bogus flier urged voters in English and Spanish to vote Nov. 10. Election Day was Nov. 6. It specifically mentioned the state’s constitutional amendments and the Fort Worth City Council race.

Many assumed the flier was an attempt to lower Hispanic turnout. Others went further and guessed it was distributed specifically to hurt Fort Worth school trustee Juan Rangel's chances of winning the City Council race, as he was expected to do well among Hispanics.

Rangel came in second to Joel Burns. The two competed in a runoff in December which Burns won.

Click here to see the flier.

-Aman Batheja

Obama mystery solved...maybe

S-T columnist Bud Kennedy may have solved a real whodunit, or in this case, a who wrote it.

It's the case of the missing Life article, the one Barack Obama cited in his book Dreams from My Father.

Obama referenced a 30-year-old Life magazine photo layout about an African-American man who underwent chemical treatments to make himself white.

Media investigations couldn't unearth the story and Karl Rove recently criticized Obama for citing the article without providing the details to back it up.

Kennedy thinks Obama may have seen a piece in Fort Worth-based Sepia magazine, the Life-sized competitor to Ebony.

The article matches up well with Obama's description of the photos.

One problem: Obama recalled the story as a black man turning himself white. This story is the reverse: a white Mansfield author chemically darkened his skin to see life as a black American in the segregated South. He later wrote a book about the experience called Black Like Me.

Read Kennedy's full column here.

A month late, Wright gets Brite Divinity award

Rev. Jeremiah Wright finally received that award from Brite Divinity School that sparked so much debate last month.

Wright was in South Dallas delivering sermons at Friendship-West Baptist Church this morning as a guest pastor.

Stacey Floyd-Thomas, director of black church studies at Fort Worth’s Brite Divinity School, presented Wright with the award he had been scheduled to receive at a black church summit in March.

Wright had canceled his appearance because of concerns over the safety of his family, those at the summit and himself.

“We as black Texans...saw this as a time we would not refuse and we would not deny our modern-day prohet,” Floyd-Thomas said.

Brite Divinity is on the campus of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. Wright noted his displeasure with how TCU officials disassociated themselves from the decision to give him an award. He thanked Brite Divinity for “going against the president of Texas Christian, Texas Christian, Texas Christian University,” emphasizing the word "Christian" all three times.

UPDATE: Here's our full report on Wright's appearance.

-Aman Batheja