Chupacabra Report

I can tell that newspaper circulation is down in Houston when I go to the Tel-Wink diner for breakfast and there are no copies loose on the counter to read.


But I am still a subscriber. I get news from the comic section and great comedy from the news. It’s such fun to look at the front page headlines and see that Steve Stockman, my useless congressman, is in hot water again, or that his opponent in the GOP primary for the US Senate, incumbent John Cornyn, is polling less than 50% against a field of unknown wackos.

This week I’ve been delighted to see that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has drawn criticism for including Ted Nugent in campaign events. Abbott probably thought nothing of it, as Governor Rick Perry often shared the stage with Nugent. ‘Ted the Head’ would shred the national anthem, call Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi bitches and offer to let them “suck on my machine gun.” Congressman Stockman took Nugent as a guest to President Obama’s State of the Union Address. But this week it was front page news when Abbott did it. Good.

Chronicle columnist Bill King weighed in today on the Outlook page:

“Abbott may have made just the fatal mistake we did not expect. For reasons beyond comprehension, Abbott decided to campaign with rock star-turned-political wacko, Ted Nugent.

“Nugent, a Detroit guitarist, became famous in the 1970s and reinvented himself as a far - and I do mean far - right-wing activist in the 1990s. He is legendary for outlandish comments and behavior.

“He has admitted that he frequently slept with under-age girls while on tour, a felony in Texas. Although he frequently invokes fallen American military servicemen in his political rants, he also admitted to an elaborate scheme to dodge the draft and the Vietnam War.”

“According to him, President Obama is a "subhuman mongrel" and a "piece of s---." He referred to Hillary Clinton as a "bitch" and worse. He has said he would shoot those crossing the border illegally, that it might have been better if the South won the Civil War, that feminists are "fat pigs" and he sees nothing wrong with using the N-word.

“After their appearance this week, Abbott meekly denied knowing about some of Nugent's more outrageous comments and attempted to parse his association with Nugent based only on his support of the Second Amendment.

“But that is simply not going to wash. The media have exploded with stories about the joint appearance, and each one has chronicled some of Nugent's most despicable comments or positions. Now Abbott is stained with Nugent and has provided Davis with material for powerful negative campaign ads.”

“I have heard from a number of women, who, although they are lifelong Republicans, intend to quietly go into the polling booth and vote for Davis. I suspect quite a few more will do so after hearing about Abbott's appearance with Nugent.”