The Vileness of Terry Lowry

In case you haven't noticed by now, I'm not a fan of Terry Lowry.

In the Harris County political system filled with people you love to hate, Lowry has distinguished himself as an almost cartoonish caricature of all that is wrong with the system, and the Republican Party seems to have no qualms about embracing him as their own.

Lowry publishes his FOR PROFIT crappy little LINKLetter that goes out to all Republican voters and he also buys time on a radio slot where he can spew out his "values" on a program called "What's UP".

And of course, under the 1st Amendment, I support his right to do so, even though I recognize the fact that he is a schmuck.

Lowry sprinkles in "articles" in his endorsement-laden "LINKLetter" which should offend even the most conservative of Republicans.

In his latest issue, he opens up addressing Pat Robertson's idiotic statement last month that the Haitian Earthquake was "the manifestation of God's punishment".

Does Lowry condemn what Robertson said?

Nope. He discusses it though, pointing out that "Back in 1791 some Haitians banded together and made a 'pack with the Devil' promising him their souls if he would help drive out the French". He never disagrees with it.

Are there really Republicans out there that believe publishing this crap is somehow helpful to their Party?

But the more amusing part of the LINKLetter is Lowry's article on "How are Endorsements Made?". The reality on how Lowry's endorsements are made is that Lowry opens a bidding war for ads in the mailer. Whoever buys the biggest ad wins his endorsement (for what it's worth).

But Lowry's "explanation" of how he makes his endorsements gives him a real chance to shine as the hate-mongering biggot that he is. He begins the article by lamenting how it more difficult to make endorsements now than it was 20 years ago when all you had to do was figure out if a candidates was "Pro-life vs. Pro-choice, Pro-family vs. Pro-homosexual, and liberal vs. conservative".

He continues on:

"Some candidates even sought and received endorsements from gay and lesbian organizations. This cycle has a practicing gay seeking to represent the Republican Party. He has even brought his partner to various functions. I will defend his right to run, but I will never endorse him nor encourage you to vote for him."

And his definition of a "Wise" candidate? "They avoid even answering Pro-homosexual questionnaires."

He also is kind enough to publish his suggestions for resolutions to take to your Precinct Chairman such as "We support the definition of marriage as a God-ordained, legal and moral commitment only between a natural man and natural woman."

Okey dokey, then. Are y'all getting the picture on why I said I wouldn't be endorsing anyone who bought advertising with Lowry?

So congratulations to Rachel Palmer, Danny Dexter, Glenn Devlin, Natalie Flemming, Jared Woodfill and others for your full page ads and your financial support to a rodent like Lowry and his hateful beliefs. (NOTE: And don't forget Pat Lykos' ad from 2008!) I didn't give any money to any of your campaigns, but if I had, I'd be demanding it back right about now.

And by the way, members of the Harris County Republican Party, you might want to be taking note of the fact that you got slammed in November 2008 because the Democrats schooled you on Public Relations and the Power of Inclusion.

If you want to make a significant step in the right direction for your party and keep some excellent candidates on the bench in the future, you could make a great statement by disavowing Terry Lowry and all that he stands for.

Just a thought.

Terry Lowry & The Partisan Debacle

Another election year is upon us, and yet again, I find myself shaking my head at the potential havoc that is about to be wreaked in the criminal justice system. Since our legislators in Texas have still failed to remove the necessity behind having an "R" or a "D" next to judicial candidates running for the criminal courts, we are about to miss out on some good people either staying or attaining criminal benches.

I've said it before and I'll say it again -- partisan politics have absolutely no place in criminal law. A criminal judge's view on abortion is never going to come into play in the job we elect them to do. They are there to make rulings on the law and occasionally decide the facts on a case by case basis.

None of those calls have anything to do with a Republican or Democrat Party platform.

Judge Harmon will never have the opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade. Judge Fine won't shut down Guantanamo. Judge Fields isn't going to bring our troops home from Iraq. Judge Reagin isn't going to raise our taxes.

Their political beliefs don't affect their jobs anymore than it would if they were the county dog catcher.

I've always thought that it was ironic that the Houston Mayoral Election was (on its face) non-partisan, but criminal judicial elections weren't. It would seem to me that a voting Houstonian would have much more interest in knowing what political party their mayoral candidates were than their judicial ones.

The main problem with partisan politics coming into the criminal justice system is that it also brings in the influence of party stalwarts who otherwise would have nothing to do with the criminal justice system. For instance, you have Houston Socialite Carolyn Farb supporting Rachel Palmer for County Court Judge.

Um, how many of you have ever seen Carolyn Farb hanging out at the CJC?

In a case worse than the Farb/Palmer combination, you have people like Terry Lowry -- a Religious Right Activist who has proven himself to be the pimple on the butt of the Republican Party time and again. You may remember this dim-witted rodent from the 2008 political campaign. He was the one that Pat Lykos paid to support her in his National Enquirer-esque "LinkLetter", which is a publication he puts out in support of candidates who give him money. His petty game is to attempt to slander his candidate's opponent into submission.

My friend, Big Jolly, over at Lone Star Times has written several times about the unfortunate presence of Lowry in the political system, but yet you still find candidates who are so desperate to get their names in front of Republican voters that they go to him.

My position on dealing with candidates who go to Lowry is pretty simple -- if you want to lose my vote really quickly, get him to endorse you. I would strongly encourage anybody who is running for judge to stay away from him just for the sake of your own integrity.

I hope that any thinking voter that reads this would also vote against any Lowry candidate, as well.

In my opinion, each and every judge who takes the bench should have integrity, and going to a political snake oil salesman like Terry Lowry is pretty much screaming out that you lack it.

But, that's the problem with partisan politics being involved in criminal law. It spawns people like that.

Over the two years that I've run this blog, I've had several people suggest to me that I ought to start running advertisements on it and making some money. I'm all in favor of making money, but I've never wanted to turn the blog into a money-maker, because it would limit my ability to freely write my opinions.

I know that about half of you guys agree with me and the other half doesn't, but I guarantee you that you are getting my opinion unadulterated by somebody paying me.

For what that's worth.

I'll be starting up my coverage of the contested primary races shortly.

Stay tuned.

More on the Lowry-Lykos Campaign

It looks like I'm not the only one who found the moronic mailer sent out by Terry Lowry to be offensive. The much more politically savvy County Seat also had some interesting commentary on the now infamous "Link Letter" (not to mention some fantastic photo-shopping).

In addition, it sounds like Lowry and Lykos are two of a kind. Below is a brief snippet of his interview with Pat Lykos when she was on his radio show.

http://bigjolly.com/images/stories/audio/lowry_ethics.mp3

Sounds like Lykos and Lowry were a match made in Heaven.

For more of Big Jolly's article on the Lykos-Lowry connection, check out http://bigjolly.com/index.php/Politics/Gutter-Politics.html

NOTE: This is the first time I've tried a sound clip on the website, so if you have any problems with it, please let me know ASAP. My default audioplayer is ITunes, and it starts the beginning of a song in my music library before the clip finishes playing. You should be to hear Lykos' response at the end.

Revelling in the Mud

Since we were all grade school age, we've all heard that old saying about how you should never wrestle with a pig, because all that happens is that you get dirty, and the pig enjoys it.

Not that Pat Lykos exactly ran a clean campaign prior to March 4th, but she is really proving herself to be the proverbial "pig" during the run off against Kelly Siegler.

I understand that Lykos needs something tangible to give to the voters that will somehow bridge the gap that Kelly holds over her. I mean, something has got to make up for the fact that Lykos has never tried a case as a lawyer, and she's running against the most skilled Prosecutor in the Country.

But, there are some things that just don't make sense to me.

Kelly Siegler's campaign signs are being vandalized and stolen all over the county. Half the time they are found cut up in pieces to assure that they can't be used or fixed. This doesn't just happen in one portion of the county, either. It also doesn't seem to be happening to any of the signs belonging to other candidates (including Lykos). I fail to see what type of message the Lykos campaign is trying to send with committing the offense of Criminal Mischief, but I guess her brand of politics is different than mine.

Lykos also aligned herself (by purchasing advertising) with neo-conservative aspiring radio talk show host, Terry Lowry who publishes a tabloid-style "voting guide". I got a copy of it in the mail, and I really wonder what target audience could take this guy seriously.

Lowry's website has him promoting himself as a "man of God", yet the things that he writes in his LinkLetter is stuff that would be more fitting on a bathroom wall.

I'm not going to give the Lowry-Lykos machine the free press of listing the absolute crap listed in their cheap little mailer, but suffice it to say that it was typical Lykos material. None of it touted any qualifications or talents that Lykos had that would convince a voter she was right for the job. It just listed a series of personal attacks on Kelly Siegler that had absolutely no bearing on her professional attributes.

Oh, and by the way Mr. Lowry, at least two out of the three things you accused Kelly of in your handout actually apply more aptly to Pat Lykos.

Now, I know that Pat Lykos paid a lot of good money for her advertising with Lowry's LinkLetter, so let's indulge her for a moment.

Everyone close your eyes for a minute and pretend for a second that every last bit of the mudslinging that Lowry-Lykos have done is true.

Just pretend with me for a second.

Okay, now open your eyes.

Yep, Kelly is still the most qualified candidate for D.A. by a mile.

And Lykos is still just revelling in the mud . . .