Politics: Texas Governor with a Two-Fer

1. Texas Governor Rick Perry was a little more hands-on than expected. The testimony of a state trooper named Will Crais reveals that Perry was impatient with the progress of the search, and attempted to sic the Texas Rangers on a pair of newborn twins and their mom:

Crais testified that during the search for the legislators Perry handed him a letter saying the newborn twins of missing state Rep. Craig Eiland were at a Galveston hospital. Crais testified that the governor told him, "I want the Texas Rangers to go by and locate Mr. Eiland."

That's real nice.

2. The Houston Chronicle is reporting that Perry and Republican lawmakers plan to try to ram through their unprecedented non-census-related redistricting of the whole state to ensure Republican dominance in the House of Representatives again in July. Maybe Tom Ridge just wants to test the Department of Homeland Security infrastructure again by having it hunt down dozens of Democratic legislators. Well, let me be the first to say, Texas Dems, if you want to tour scenic Northern Virginia, you can always crash at our place. We've got a baby coming, though, so you might end up doing some dishes and laundry, but hey, it's better than handing your state over to Tom Delay, right?