Articles for July 16th, 2010
Did Democrat Chris Bell Take a Payoff?, Ctd
Chris Bell responds:
Wick,
You know I have a great deal of respect for you. That’s why it’s disappointing that you choose to overlook the fact that this was the settlement of a lawsuit and every lawsuit settlement in this day and age includes a confidentiality provision. I have settled three cases for clients in the last month and all contain such a provision. There was nothing out of the ordinary. I would have loved to have been able to talk about it but that’s never the way a settlement works. Ask any litigator. Otherwise, nice post and I hope you’re doing well.
To which I responded:
Chris,
Thanks for the note. It appears your confidentiality agreement was designed to give maximum political benefit to Mr. Perry. It was not a run-of-the-mill commercial dispute. It was a lawsuit about violation of election laws, something that strikes at the heart of the democratic process. Therefore, I am disappointed — even aghast — that you chose to treat it as a private matter, as if it were a personal grievance for which you deserve compensation.
And we’ll give Mr. Bell, in his response to my response, the last word:
The law treats it that way. I didn’t write the law.
I lied. The last word belongs not to Chris Bell, but to our readers. I am not a Democrat, and I didn’t give money to Chris Bell. I am curious to hear from those who are and did.
Local Editor Does Indeed Post a Blog
Tim, thanks for your encouragement. It really means the world to me that you care so much about my posts. My apologies for the tardiness of this post, but it’s been a challenging day. I’m shipping a magazine. I felt it important to watch as much of The Open Championship at lunch as possible. And then I had to make an appearance in your film that you made in order to brown nose Mr. Bart Weiss (the man given the unenviable task of teaching the D staff how to make videos). And most importantly–as one commenter pointed out–we haven’t heard a word from Jake recently, so things are tough. I hope to eke another one out before my busy business lady meeting at the Old Monk.
Why Dakota’s Is Called Dakota’s
I mentioned Dakota’s the other day on this blog. It’s one of our favorite watering holes downtown. (Especially since, when you walk into Stephan Pyles at 4:45, those surly folks bark, “We’re closed!”) Anyway, a memory-having FrontBurnervian dropped some knowledge on me about Dakota’s: how it came to be named that and how it wound up in that odd location. This might not be new to everyone, but it was new to me. Thought I’d share:
Dallas Skyline to Change This Weekend
At some point tomorrow morning, the Dallas skyline (at least that portion visible from Woodall Rodgers and Uptown) will change. How? This picture should give you an idea.
Local Editor to Post Blog Post Today
Hey, Laura, where are your two required blog posts for the day?
Did Democrat Chris Bell Take a Payoff?
The 2006 Democratic challenger to Rick Perry filed lawsuit charging that Perry had illegally funnelled campaign contributions through the Republican Governors Association. New financial disclosures, reported today by Jason Embry in the Austin American-Statesman, show that the day after the GOP primary this year, the Perry campaign settled the lawsuit by paying Bell $426,000. The money went to Bell personally, not his campaign.
Three observations: (1) That’s a fairly strong admission of guilt by Rick Perry. (2) The timing of the settlement shows that Perry knew it was a fairly strong admission of guilt. (3) If I were a Chris Bell campaign worker/donor/supporter, I would be madder than hell. Not only did he profit from the lawsuit, but he agreed to keep it under wraps. It looks like collusion and personal profiteering of the worst sort.
Jim Schutze Compares Brown, Peters
The story around the murder/suicide of Coppell Mayor Jayne Peters and her daughter Corrine continues to get simultaneously more sad and more mysterious.
But I just read a post by Jim Schutze, who has another take on the reaction surrounding the Peters’ deaths, as he compares and contrasts this incident with another – the reaction surrounding the death of Dallas Police Chief David Brown’s son.
Interesting take, and read.
What to do in Dallas This Weekend: July 16-18
The workweek is nearly done, and I’m confident we all could use a laugh by this point. To that end, might I suggest you start your weekend with Jon Lovitz at Addison Improv? Before you head to the club, though, stop by the DMS Happy Hour at the Londoner for a drink and some appetizers. As you’re leaving for the show, don’t forget to pat yourself on the back for contributing to Dallas Children’s Charities. You’ve worked hard all week for the man and done something for the greater good. Bravo, sirs and madams.
It’s time for Assassination City Roller Derby’s July Bout. So, on Saturday, after you’ve recovered from mowing your lawn or paying your bills, bring a friend, a chair, and your drink of choice to Dad’s Broadway Skateland in Mesquite. The team names and aliases alone are worth the price of admission, but we think it’s rather awesome to watch full-grown adults wearing skates and helmets knock the bejeezus out of each other, and so will you. Fish for the athletes’ real names at Lee Harvey’s after-party.
Sunday night, buy tickets to hear Michael Buble, the wildly popular Canadian with the velvet voice (think Harry Connick Jr.) and a repertoire that’s tame enough for a school night.
Wade Phillips To Be a Grandfather Any Minute
Dallas Cowboy’s coach Wade Phillips has a Twitter account (@sonofbum), but he tweets sporadically. But today, just a few seconds ago, he let everyone know that he’s about to be a grandfather.
Moments in History: The Moral Majority Launches in Dallas in 1979
I don’t have any reason to doubt Mike Huckabee’s version, as related to Ariel Levy in the June 30th New Yorker. But I was publisher of D Magazine in 1979, and I don’t remember a thing about the incident he describes (below the jump). Maybe I wasn’t paying attention. Can anyone else confirm this story? Perhaps an old hand from those days at WFAA?
Leading Off (7/16/10)
1. So remember how people were all het up about their smart meters and their electricity bills going up? Well, Oncor tested them, and found 24 were faulty – out of 1.1 million. All I know is that our robot overlords will be pleased.
2. Dallas-based AT&T gave all of us Mad Men fans who also have U-verse a reason to breathe easy: We will indeed get to continue to see the show, which is on AMC, since a deal was reached with Rainbow Media. Just in time, too, since a week from Sunday, the new season starts.
3. In addition to library hours and possibly 500 jobs, the latest possible casualty of the city’s budget shortfall is one of the Dallas Police Department’s helicopters – the larger one. The city is thinking of selling it, because it can’t afford the $200,000 a year maintenance.
4. The Dallas Cowboys picked a winner in the supplemental draft.
5. I will admit this to you people, because we’re friends: I just woke up about 10 minutes ago. I don’t have a number 5. So earworm, earworm, earworm, earworm. Happy Friday.
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