Hurricane Harvey: Texas Residents Face Devastating Flooding, Power Outages

Graphic from weather.com.

Hurricane Harvey hit Texas Friday night as a Category 4 storm, a monster that had gained power all day and caused numerous warnings and evacuations along the coast from Corpus Christi to Houston. The eye of the hurricane wet ashore at Rockport, Texas, a small beachfront city of 10,000.

As of Saturday morning, San Antonio and the capital city of Austin, where I have a vested interested because it’s where my sister and her family live, were not in the path of destruction but, as weather conditions tend to be, the unexpected can become the expected so all are on alert.

Also as of Saturday morning the hurricane had been downgraded to a Category 1. The Weather Channel has 24/7 coverage of the storm, and a first look Saturday of overnight damage caused by Harvey. Stay safe, Texas residents. #PrayForTexas

Jeb Bush’s Texas campaign leadership committee

Photo by Lynn R. Mitchell

By Lynn R. Mitchell

This week presidential candidate Jeb Bush’s Texas campaign committee was revealed with many prominent names in Texas circles including Joe Straus, Texas House Speaker; Kay Granger, U.S. House of Representatives; Pete Sessions, U.S. House of Representatives; and George P. Bush, Jeb’s son and Texas Land Commissioner. It also included Javaid Anwar, Midland oilman; Ross Perot Jr., Dallas developer; T. Boone Pickens, energy tycoon; John Carona, former state senator; Florence Shapiro, former state senator; Dan Branch, former state representative; Bob Seuell, former state senator; and Kevin Eltife, state senator.

The campaign provided the complete list of more than 100 names on the leadership committee:

15 years ago today: George W. Bush versus Al Gore election

By Lynn R. Mitchell

I remember like it was yesterday. My family had joined my sister in Austin for election night 2000 celebrations as we waited for the results of voting that day between Republican Texas Governor George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore. What no one knew was that we would wait, and wait, and wait … for a total of 34 days. The election was not decided until December 12.

My Austin sister worked with Texas Governor Bush as his speech writer before joining his presidential campaign so my family drove from the Shenandoah Valley down through Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas, arriving at her house in Austin on election eve. On election day, a cold front and rain passed through Austin as we gathered with thousands downtown with our special passes and our Bush caps and our two children who had worked the campaign with us in Augusta County.

When it became apparent no decision about the outcome was going to known that night, we reluctantly and disappointingly returned to my sister’s house to watch television coverage until the wee hours of the morning. We finished out our week in Texas and drove back to Virginia, still not knowing if the long hours, days, and months of work had panned out.

And it all took place 15 years ago tonight. Interestingly, the same thing would happen four years later when President Bush ran for reelection against John Kerry, with no results known election night. While the wait wasn’t as long — we knew the next day — the George W. election and reelection were both denied the fun and joy of celebrating a win on election night.

I hope we never go through that again….

Bush family fundraises for Jeb in Texas

George H.W., George W., Jeb Bush

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Wow, to be part of the fundraising for Jeb Bush that will take place this week in Texas as the Bush family, friends, alumni, and colleagues gather in support of Jeb’s 2016 presidential anticipation. A guest list that includes some of the most recognizable names in Texas politics will be at the home of bank executive Gerald Ford and his wife Kelli (see George W. helping Jeb Bush’s PAC raise big money in Dallas):

‘Aspinwall & Friends’ … Houston folk music at its best

Bill and my sister Gail

By Lynn R. Mitchell
Originally published April 6, 2009

If you like the laid-back easy feel of acoustic folk-style music, then pour a glass of wine, kick back, and mellow out to entertainer Bill Aspinwall, an all-around great musician and singer who represents some of the best that Austin and Houston have to offer in the folk music genre.

Named 2005 Songwriter of the Year by the Houston Association of Acoustic Musicians (HAAM) and the Houston Songwriters Association (HSA), Bill also was co-creator of the 2005 Song of the Year, “Fractured Lives,” included on his new solo CD, Free Range Trout: Aspinwall & Friends, featuring some of Houston’s finest musicians.

With calming tunes reminiscent of James Taylor but skillfully interwoven with the story-telling style of Jimmy Buffet and others, Bill Aspinwall’s music, much of it self-written, makes for relaxed listening or singing along.

Bill, who is affectionately known as “A,” is my brother-in-law, married to my Texas sister. When together, we all kick back and are taken away by his very talented musical skills as he plays acoustic and electric guitar, banjo, jaw harp, and anything else he can put his hands on … truly a talented gentleman. When coming to Virginia to visit, we can always spy them as they emerge from the plane because of Bill’s faithful and trusty guitar that is always in hand.

Guest post: ‘3 things the hard right and tea party really need to understand about Republicans’

By Becky Boydstun
Guest Post

There are three things the hard right and tea party really need to understand about the Republicans, explained by a proud  generational member of the Grand Old Party.

1. We are not “The Establishment” or “RINOs,” and you are not “The Base.”  We are THE Republican Party founded in 1854.  The Tea Party is a MOVEMENT that began inside our party sometime between 2007-2009, and if anyone must be referred to as a “RINO,” it’s the members of this movement, because they seemingly have a strong dislike for most of what occurs within our party.

Jesse Matthew arrested in Galveston, TX, in case of missing UVa student Hannah Graham – Updated

By Lynn R. Mitchell

I was on the phone with my Texas sister last night who was in Houston, about an hour from Galveston. I had texted that Jesse Matthew, 32, had been captured in Galveston, a location that was surprising to most and something I knew she would be interested in hearing. She had kept up on the case of missing University of Virginia student Hannah Graham, 18, from her home in Austin. A former newspaper journalist, my sister started finding more details through the local media and passed it along.

2016 GOP Convention … Cleveland or Dallas?

Two down, two to go.

On Wednesday the Republican National Committee announced that the two finalists for the 2016 national convention are Cleveland, Ohio, and Dallas, Texas (see Dallas, Cleveland Finalists for GOP Convention). Knocked out of the running at this point were Denver and Kansas City.

Cleveland would be a good choice for a couple of reasons: