Free Republic

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry's campaign Web site touts public education as a long-standing "top priority" of his, but the school year began this week with teachers and administrators still wondering who will be the next commissioner of education. That question mark is one among many with nearly 400 expired gubernatorial appointments this year alone to state boards, commissions and universities. Senators — worried that Perry is dodging their constitutional role of confirming most gubernatorial appointments — are crying foul. By Friday, 388 of Perry's appointments will have already expired so far this year, but only one in eight have...

AUSTIN — Before the so-called Texas 11, before the Killer Ds, even before the Killer Bees' 1979 dash from the Legislature, there were 13 Reconstruction-era bolters. And their treatment when they returned apparently marked the last time state senators took dramatic action to punish a quorum-breaking colleague. The last time, that is, until last week, when Republicans imposed hefty fines on 11 Democratic senators who remain in New Mexico to halt action on a redistricting effort designed to send more Republicans to Congress. Some see parallels to the 1870 clash, which led to one senator's expulsion. "Whenever political power turns...

The title, of course, should be sung to the tune of Roger Miller's classic that begins with "trailers" rather than "Texans." The subject is the eleven State Senators from Texas who are holed up in a plush resort in New Mexico, afraid to return to their state for fear they would be arrested, dragged to the state Capitol, and forced to vote. Oh, the humanity. For those who might have missed this French farce played as cowboy comedy, here's a brief recap: Texas, like every other state in the Union, has an obligation to redistrict itself after every Census. Texas...