After publishing Judge Bill Henderson’s speech at the Downtown Houston Pachyderm Club on the release of Sen. Dan Patrick’s mental illness records, I received an email from a Dr. Gary Brock asking to meet with me to discuss the fact that in my haste to chasten Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Jerry Patterson for “gutter politics”, I was missing the real story – that Dan was lying and deceiving voters about the depth and extent of his mental illness, and that Dan has a pattern of this behavior through the years. Dr. Brock insisted that neither Jerry Patterson nor David Dewhurst were “stigmatizing” mental illness – the real culprit was Dan Patrick for not being honest and hiding the truth.
After verifying that there really was a Dr. Gary Brock and that he was one of the top pediatric orthopedic surgeons in Houston, I agreed to meet with him. I was still unclear how he could add anything to the record because he was “just a doctor”, not a psychiatrist or even a psychologist. Dr. Brock took care of that by bringing along Dr. Stan Moldovan, a top neurologist/psychiatrist in Houston, whom he had asked to review the medical records that have been released.
After hearing their story, and Dr. Moldovan’s expert evaluation of the now public domain records, as well as his analysis of several episodes of Patrick’s legislative career, I’m inclined to agree with them, at least about the part that Dan is currently lying and continues to be deceptive about the state of his mental illness condition in the 1980’s and perhaps today. As I explained to them about the gutter politics, I can’t change the manner and style in which Dewhurst/Patterson (Dewtterson) released the information, which allowed a very unsympathetic public figure to become a victim and very sympathetic public figure that will almost surley be the Republican nominee for Lt. Gov. now that early voting is over and half to two-thirds of the votes have been cast. And that is perhaps the saddest part of this story – if Dan Patrick is that nominee, there is a better than even chance that Democrat Leticia Van de Putte will be the next Lt. Gov. of Texas. Sad indeed.
Dan Patrick’s lies about his condition
Here is what Dan’s campaign said about the two hospitalizations that he had in the 1980’s.
Nearly 30 years ago, Senator Patrick sought medical attention to help him cope with mild depression and exhaustion. Under the care of a medical doctor, he voluntarily admitted himself for treatment and spent a short time in the hospital. He has not required additional treatment or medication for nearly 30 years. – See more at: http://www.danpatrick.org/news/#sthash.SOVEF3vY.dpuf
Obviously, that is a lie. We now know that Dan twice attempted suicide – that is far more than “mild depression and exhaustion”. We know that in his 1982 stay at Memorial City, he attempted suicide after entering the hospital, he attempted to slice his wrists, was found with razor blades and a dinner knife, jumped out of a window, and required a 24 hour a day sitter. The medical record of this stay is troubling because Dr. Kramer’s consult was written on the day of discharge – obviously a consult must be done on entry to the hospital in order to determine a course of treatment. His original diagnosis of “acute exhaustion” was scratched out (there is no diagnosis of acute exhaustion) and replaced by “acute anxiety disorder” (suicide is not typically a symptom of anxiety). Kramer’s daily notes say that the patient was doing well but the daily records indicate that Patrick was being treated as a severely depressed patient and was being given doses of medicine twice the normal prescription levels. And exactly how can a patient that did all of these things while in the hospital be described as “doing well”?
In his 1986 stay and a second suicide attempt, Dr. Kramer’s consult was once again on the day of discharge. Worse, Dr. Kramer listed this as a single episode of depression when in fact he knew it wasn’t. Why was Kramer being so protective of this patient? Was it Patrick’s celebrity status in Houston at the time? It is also important to note that Patrick checked out early and was not cooperative with the attending physician and therapist.
And once again, Dan lied by saying that he was only coping with mild depression and exhaustion.
Recent episodes of manic behavior
Of course, all of that was roughly thirty years ago and Dan claims to have been cured and that he has not been treated for depression since. Both doctors were skeptical of his claims. Dr. Moldovan told me that the true diagnosis was bipolar disorder, so Dan could in fact say that he hasn’t been treated for depression if he were being treated for bipolar disorder. Perhaps but I was still skeptical and wondered if there were episodes more recent than decades ago that could be indicative of continued manic behavior, specifically during Dan’s time as a state senator. Here is a short list of episodes that have happened while Dan was in the Senate:
- During the 2011 session Patrick was carrying the sonogram bill and got into argument with House Sonogram sponsor Sid Miller. Patrick blew his cork one day and walked over to House where he threatened, in front of House members, to beat up Sid Miller. The House then got mad at Patrick; he went to see Straus and they had an argument and Straus told Patrick to stay away from the House.
- On the night of the vote on TSA groping bill, Patrick said he had the votes. Patrick was recognized by Dewhurst to bring up the bill based on his telling Dewhurst he had 21 votes, but immediately senators started complaining he didn’t have the votes, and Patrick pulled down the bill, then started yelling crazily at the Senators and Dewhurst and ran off Senate floor.
- Another episode Was the this year’s education bill. Patrick agreed to an amendment dealing with requiring Algebra II, in front of the entire Senate caucus…then in characteristic style came out on the floor and announced “he’d changed his mind” during the debate (unheard of in the Senate). Sen Tommy Williams carried the amendment to require Algebra II, which passed.
- During the 2013 session Patrick always had to look good and would not accept challenges to his authority. His behavior as Chair of Public Education was embarrassing, yelling at witnesses and always having to be right. Houston education advocates Don Adams and Jim Windham complained Patrick continually told them he was going to do one thing, but did another.
- There is another well documented event where Tommy Williams was furious at Patrick over the budget that Patrick helped write and later voted against for “political grandstanding” purposes.
There are, of course, many other recent examples – I didn’t even bring up John Carona. After reviewing these examples, Dr. Moldovan confirmed that these were very compelling examples of ongoing manic behavior. Has Dan Patrick really been “cured”? I don’t know but his behavior suggests that voters should be skeptical of his claim.
Obviously, Dr. Moldovan cannot diagnose a patient that he has never examined. All he can do is say that these public episodes are compelling examples of ongoing manic behavior.
So just who is stigmatizing mental illness?
Is it the Dewhurst (via Patterson) campaign by their botched release of the records and poor messaging? Or is it Dan Patrick by lying about his condition and not coming clean with voters? Perhaps Allen Blakemore for being ready with a sympathy campaign, knowing full well that he was releasing a statement that was false?
Probably all of them to one extent or another. Even if Dewhurst had good intentions, wanting voters to know of Patrick’s continued lies and deception, he has to take some responsibility for the results by empowering Patterson. And we can’t just say “Blakemore is being Blakemore” and leave it at that – at some point, candidates need to distance themselves from his type of campaigning. But Dan Patrick needs to take the bulk of the blame by not being honest and lying to the voters.
Would the public perception of Patrick’s mental illness have been different if this information had been made publicly available in time for it to be fully vetted before the runoff election?
Should voters punish Dewhurst (and by extension all Republicans in Texas) for a mismanaged campaign or should they reject Dan Patrick’s decades of lying and deception and let him retire in peace?
With my vote, I’ll do the latter. I’ll stick with David Dewhurst, knowing that his record speaks for itself and that Texas really can’t afford to have a Democrat in the Lt. Governor’s seat. And I’ll say a prayer for Dan, hoping that whatever the results of the election, he will be able to control his illness.
Court Documents
Dan Patrick stated under oath that he did not have a problem with releasing these records into the public domain. At this point in time, there is no reason that voters should not have the opportunity to make their own decision.
Danny Scott Goeb Oral Deposition April 28, 1989
Danny Scott Goeb Oral Deposition July 10, 1989
(note: in the interest of full disclosure, I met Dr. Brock’s wife a couple of years ago when she was on the staff of Lt. Gov. Dewhurst’s campaign. She is no longer on the staff and I did not know of the connection until I met with Dr. Brock and he informed me.)
i cannot believe you posted this. Is it possible Doctor’s can have political allies? I am sickened and disgusted by all this, as we dissect and prove and discuss and brand. Put your lives under the microscope and let political operatives examine each and every one of you. Each decision, each relationship and see how you come out. In the meantime, we have a mayor who is a Lesbian, married her other in another state and wants transvestites to come into bathrooms children use. And it’s amazing that Dan has any body who wants him to be senator. All those allies and supporters must be as crazy as he is.
texaswoman,
Obviously one of the doctor’s is connected to Dewhurst. Which is why I used the doctor not connected that is more or less unbiased and is simply reviewing a medical record.
During the depositions, Dan himself said that he did not mind this information being public, as I noted at the end.
The plain truth is that Dan and his campaign have been lying about his illness. And I join you in blasting the earlier characterizations which did indeed stigmatize mental illness.
But as I wrote, Dan has to take the bulk of the responsibility for his actions and lies. He is the one that lied about what he knew was public information.
It will and has helped him short-term. It will hurt him and Republicans in November. That is also the plain truth.
I did note that Goeb-Patrick testified in his 4-28-89 deposition that one of the attorneys he owed money to POST-bankruptcy back in 1989 was none other than Mike Toomey, currently TLR’s primary lobbyist.
Now at least there’s some explanation as to why TLR would take the unprecedented (and nutty) step of endorsing the sitting Lt Gov in the Primary, then switching to the frivolous lawsuit-filer Goeb-Patrick for the Runoff.
The problem here is not David Jennings or Big Jolly Politics. The problem is that two politicians – acting alone or in conjunction – chose to wait until the last moments of a campaign to introduce a legitimate but very sensitive issue into it. Further, the whole mess indicates and abject failure of traditional journalism in this community – not the blog world.
This is classic dirty politics. The overall issue is legitimate in terms of Patrick’s candor.
If I were to have been managing either Patterson’s or Dewhurst’s campaign and had reviewed the available public record on Patrick’s situation, my advice would have been to raise the issue six months ago rather than wait to the last minute.
Six months ago, it was an issue for which there could have been sufficient time for voters to digest the ‘headline value’ of the information to determine if it had genuine value as an election issue to guide their decisions.
By waiting until the last weeks of a runoff campaign, Patterson and Dewhurst branded themselves as just another couple of politicians who were more concerned about the ‘strategery’ of a campaign rather than giving voters a full and fair amount of time to consider the implications of this whole issue.
Last minute data dumps of knowable information on candidates is despicable politics.
Now, let’s address Big Jolly. In my assessment as a former practicing journalist, he made the 100{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} right decision to publish his latest article because he had a professional obligation to do so. And, he cast that obligation exactly correctly.
Once worms leave the can, so to say, there is no predicting where or how far they are going to crawl. In this case, new information and analysis was added to the mix and there was a professional and ethical choice to be made by Big Jolly:
1. Did he choose to deliberately withhold information and analysis that might affect the general election IF people knew before the runoff?
2. Did he publish to at least give voters and opportunity to consider new information and analysis.
David has been so balanced in his coverage of this race as to have leaned over backwards to be fair to Patrick given his assessment of ALL the other issues he has considered in endorsing Dewhurst.
Not having talked to him about this, it is my observation that he did not WANT to publish this new stuff but felt a professional obligation to do so. I agree he made the right professional decision.
The blame here rests entirely with Dewhurst, Patterson, and traditional members of the traditional news media that had access to these materials for many years but chose to ignore their journalistic responsibilities to their readers.
Dewhurst and Patterson tried to game the political system to have people vote on emotion. That proves to me they don’t really the trust the people to be given all the facts in a timely way.
I could never vote for these individuals ever again. If that means that if Patrick wins the runoff but loses in the general election, then the fault will be at the footsteps of those that chose last minute dirty politics over a timely discussion of an important issue.
David Jennings did his job. It’s too darned bad that others did not do theirs.
George Scott
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to read the records…..nor a Dr. either…all you have to do is open your eyes and read…DUH.
Goeb-Patrick himself testified under oath that he’s perfectly fine with this mental health info going into the public record. To be exact, it’s page 288 in the July 89 deposition.
So he needs to quit whining and lying about it now.
George, well said.
With consistent multi-year interaction with Dan Patrick, my wife and I have always enjoyed positive and professional interaction with Mr. Patrick.
Frankly, this election activity – specifically the health narrative – is, well, what it is: attempted politics of personal attacks.
Great news: Dan Patrick will comfortably win, as the best qualified candidate for office. My family are steadfast in our support for Mr. Patrick.
Please discontinue with the pejorative attacks and focus on the issues that matter to Texans.
Thank you,
Steve Koebele
&
Danette Koebele.
Mr. Koebele,
I noticed you failed to address a single allegation made by David. Rather you dismiss these deeply disturbing incidents and medical opinions by attacking the messenger and saying “yeah, but my guy’s gonna win.” In doing you’re mimicking Mr Goeb-Patrick’s own methods.
A simple Google search also reveals that you’re an Austin hired gun lobbyist, who has over 20 clients you represent before the Legislature (including AT&T, NRG, and Reliant) and you’ve donated to Goeb-Patrick’s campaign six times in 2013-2014 alone.
I won’t list the 20+ other clients you get paid very well represent, and to forward some of that money on in the form of contributions to Goeb-Patrick.
But I assume you’re big on transparency, so you’ll be supportive of my adding a little truthful context to your post–which you conveniently omitted.
What would be happening if the media — and especially the Right, such as Red State — had treated Patrick’s lawsuit the same way they treated Wendy Davis’ very similar (without the hospitalizations, that is) lawsuit?
Good job, David. It really is too bad the Dewhurst campaign did not use those examples of manic behavior to question Dan’s ability to lead the Senate. That would truly have been a campaign issue. Regardless, I think the reaction to the way Dewhurst/Patterson handled this matter and the support I have received for my comments, lets me know that there really are a lot of people who care about mental illness. As for the Lt. Gov.’s race, it is truly sad that the Republican Party cannot do better.
Well said, Bill.
BNuckols – I see a difference between Windy’s suit, in which she claims a newspaper article made her suffer emotional distress, and Patrick’s suit, in which he says that a reporter getting in to a physical altercation caused him damages.
Use the info for whatever it’s worth.
I voted on Monday, and unlike Jerry Patterson, I’ll again vote for whichever of these men wins the runoff.
But I love the line that changing your vote based on debate is unheard of in the Senate.
Methinks the time has come to switch to a unicameral legislature.
I’m Tom Zakes, and I approve this message.
Tom, the lawsuit was for “intentional infliction of emotional distress,” according to the July, 1989 deposition. That sounds remarkably like Davis’ lawsuit.
Read the facts. Van De Putte has enough on Goeb-Patrick to mop the floor with him in November. If you can’t see that, then you’re in a severe case of denial.
Unfortunately Patrick has given the Dems a blank check to take Texas second highest office in November. No doubt many Republicans will cross over to keep him out. I do wish the full report on him had come out before March 7, we would surely have had a different Lt Gov. nominee. Sad state of affairs.
Nature seeks a balance, not necessarily fair or just by any means, but a mathematical balance. If one examines the many different systems, organisms and lifeforms, they will all balance. I sadly doubt that Patrick has the benevolence and heart to pull everyone together. If he tries then he admits defeat and if not he becomes defeated. His arrogance will not allow such compassion or acts of humbleness and forgiveness. Watch!
At this point I’m sick of the whole contemptible mess. Jerry Patterson (who I once had a tremendous respect for) is apparently nothing but a vindictive, hateful putz. David Dewhurst can’t seem to run any kind of campaign except one that relies on convincing voters that your opponent is a lot worse than you are. And Dan Patrick – at this point I don’t know what to believe about him. Is it possible that the Republican party might, somewhere, somehow, find honest, upright strong conservatives with more than a shred of moral decency to run for office?
Thanks, David, for getting the information out, I guess. Thanks, Mssrs. Patterson, Dewhurst and Patrick, for confirming the conventional wisdom about politicians.
Thanking Mssrs Patterson & Dewhurst for “getting this information out” is like being an accomplice to a crime. Medical information is supposed to be private & it’s a serious invasion of privacy for anyone other than Dan Patrick to release this info to the public, especially in such a venomous manner. I wish they could both be arrested. I’d rather see someone like Patrick, who has faced hard time (& overcome) in office than an arrogant, obnoxious narcissist like Dewhurst who obviously has no regard no a fellow human’s struggles whether it be Dan Patrick or the countless others who lives are touched by depression & mental health issues. The man is devoid of basic human decency to try & capitalize on such a sad issue. I hope he not only gets defeated but goes down in humiliating flames.
David, now you know what CLTP has known to be true of Dan Patrick, which is why we could not support him in good conscience. You would not believe the unhinged attacks coming our way since we announced our support for Dewhurst instead. But we’ve observed and known about the behavior you listed above and much more. We know it will only be a matter of time before it manifests itself in the glare of the State-wide stage. It will be embarrassing for all Texans and a detriment to our cause of liberty.
So, all in due time…
Talk about buyer’s remorse!
Senator Goeb-Patrick has a lifelong reputation of attacking those who disagree with him, and of marshaling others to attack those who disagree with him.
In the political world, the vast majority of those attacks have been directed at Republicans, not Democrats. Ted Cruz, Dewhurst, Rick Perry, Tom Craddick, John Cornyn, Joe Straus, and scores of Houston area Republican legislators have been his targets.
He can literally switch from an attacker to a supporter to an attacker with the same person. And everyone knows it.
David, you didn’t even mention the time DP tore into Ted Cruz on the radio, leaving rush hour drivers all over town with our mouths hanging open.
Let me tell this story again. I asked all 4 original candidates if they would support legislation to control feral hogs. All 3 Texans gave answers that showed they understood the severity of the threat to farmers, ranchers, pet owners and other rural property owners. The candidate from Maryland said, “I’ve never thought about it. I’d have to look into it.” Whatdoes this say about him? He’s out of touch with Texans who live outside the major cities. Now I am going to share this post over and over and over.
BINGO you are making my point. I read that if he wins it will be with only a small 3-5{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} or registered voters and after VanDePute mops the floor with him in November, Abbott may be in Jeopardy as if he supports the nut job, then he will get drawn into it also….and if he does not, then he will certainly be electing a Democrat Lt. Gov…..
“You are known by the company you keep.” Dewhurst failed to enforce constitutional procedures during the readings of SB 2043 (based on false info from Patterson) in 2009. Result: small businesses and private property owners on the coast (Gilchrist) slam Patterson and TX GLO with federal lawsuit (5th Dist. Ct, Galv). Patterson bribes Galveston County Judge Mark Henry and Commissioner Ryan Dennard (Houston commercial real estate attorney) with 1.5 million dollars to take said private property.
Patterson calls Dewhurst with info (medical) on Patrick from lawsuit of many years ago and feeds it to the public. Patterson needs to stfu and resign immediately, his conduct is unbecoming to a Marine and public servant. Since when does the duties of the Land Office Commissioner include wasting taxpayer time and money investigating another public official? Oh yeah, since Perry cut the budget of the Public Integrity Unit, he’s getting investigative work done for free?
What’s coming out in the federal lawsuit is showing Patterson’s pattern of lying and coverups.
With Dan Patrick, we will get newer blood in the system and at least shake things up.
And some prescription medications CAUSE depression and suicidal thoughts. Start reading about the side effects of every drug you’ve used or heard of. Your food sensitivities; lack of nutrients, vitamins and hormones; and ingestion of toxins in the air, water and food all can cause similar symptoms. Every single one of you has been depressed or burned out, don’t deny it.
Stop drinking the Kool Aid…..you are in a severe case of denial of reality….
Fool, I’m not goimg to lower myself to arguing with your personal attack on me. Everything I stated is true.
I just noticed in the one medical report that he was consuming 6-10 ounces of alcohol a day at the time. If my math is correct, that’s 4-7 beers or the equivalent daily. I know he’s not slitting his wrists or trying to jump out windows any more, but does anyone know if he’s still drinking the equivalent of a six-pack a day?
David,
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you’re engaging in some serious paranoia in your chicken little approach to Sen. Patrick. It’s strange, you know, because I have been following your blog closely during this primary election and have come to appreciate the honest-to-goodness work you’ve put into evaluating this race in particular for yourself and your readers.
But anyone that claims that Sen. Patrick winning the Lt. Governor race will lead to a Democrat victory in 2014 or 2018 is being a short-sighted alarmist. Short of Sen. Patrick committing a felony or something unprecedented, no Democrat will be winning that seat now or in 2018. Heck, the GOP could likely nominate Flipper the dolphin and it would win. To even pretend like you can make any sort of educated guess about what will happen in 2018 (aside from the logical conclusion that R’s will continue to dominate) is ludicrous. Like it or not, Sen. Patrick has a >95{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} chance of winning this primary election. Like it or not, the GOP has a >95{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} chance of winning the general election (regardless of who wins/would’ve won the primary). It’s foolish to make predictions for 2018, but barring anything outlandish, the GOP has a >90{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} chance of winning the seat again.
That’s not to diminish or discredit any of the other points you’ve brought up. I’m not speaking to the mental health argument. I don’t know the man and I don’t know the doctors. I’ve already voted in either case. But when I hear stuff like the Democrat in this race will have a “better than even chance” of winning this race? Really, David, you need to take a step back. Sen. Patrick is a consummate politician, for better or for worse, that knows how to market himself, rally his base and get elected. In 2014, the man is going to win and he’s going to win big. Period.
Drinking the Kool Aid and you have no clue of what you are talking about…..How many Republican Voter deputy registrars have signed up? How many Dems? Did you ever think that the Traditional Marriage Amendments in the various states would be falling like dominoes? Why has Goeb-Patrick not gotten any of his “Obama Promises” passed like lower property taxes? Border Safety? and the plethora of promises he has made?
Leticia Van de Putte has worked for many years as a pharmacist. Methinks she may have juuuuust the right medicine for Dan Patrick.
Meet the 2014 Michael Dukakis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRPZQ3UEN_Q
Thank you Mr. Jennings for the article and the links. Thanks to Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson for doing the right thing by releasing this information. There is no doubt that no one relishes doing such a thing.
I still oppose Dan Patrick on the grounds that I think he would bring an unnecessary and damaging Washington style gridlock to our state government. But with the latest revelations, it is clear that Dan Patrick is not fit to be our next Lt. Governor.
Please vote for David Dewhurst.
What? It’s a controversy about that Patrick is a stark raving lunatic? One only need listen to thirty seconds of his racist ranting and nonsense about the border to understand his is singularly and totally unqualified to fill ANY office, much less that of Lt. Governor. Is Patrick a liar? He’s he unbalanced? Certainly on both counts, but don’t blame him. Blame the morons who elected him time after time into an office of public trust to put him in the position of possibly holding the most powerful office in Texas. Buy a mirror. Look at yourself. It’s your fault.
We lived in Houston during the entire time you are talking about. As I recall, there was a horrible scandal about Houston mental hospitals convincing patients that they were ill, when in fact the Doctors and organization that ran those institutions were bilking insurance companies with false diagnosis. Later, in the 90’s, about 5 or 6 of those Doctors went to jail, and the FBI came in and sent all their patients home. The State of Texas passed a Bill that declared all of those patients had been the victims of malpractice and could deny having ever been in a mental hospital! EVERY psychiatric medication states on the disclaimers that it causes the illness that it is designed to prevent, and attempted suicide is specifically mentioned as a side effect. So, if Dan was given more than the normal dose, he was overdosed, and it can reasonably be assumed that his actions speak more to being overdosed than to his real, undrugged, mental state. This is just a red herring to throw voters off track.
As a former investigative journalist let me suggest that sometimes people do not choose the timing of when stories drop For better or worse, folks with information don’t usually appear until the campaign season does, and it often takes weeks or months to secure the necessary records. That is true with campaign folks too. I dont think they had the document son this story until the last minute.
I firmly believe people have a right to know all of this stuff so they can evaluate it’s importance. I would rather know before I vote, then find out a week after I vote. I think the media has an obligation to report what they know when they know it, even if it is the night before the election. Of course, I am probably in the minority. Of course, the local media has all but lost its backbone. I was intrigued that so many stations would cover the controversy but not give viewers and readers the documents to read and then make judgements. Good job guys. Right call.
I not excited about Patrick or Dewhurst. I didn’t like Dan Patrick Jumping Ted Cruz on that infamous phone call. I was listening at the time. However, I just can’t get past Dewhurst nominating Democrats to head Senate Committees in the Texas Senate. Why would he do that? The phone call to get his cousin or whomever out of jail also rubbed me the wrong way. I think Texas could have done better than these two.
Because of the realities of what it takes to pass a bill: At least one Democrat is needed to vote for bills, 2 or more to get past the rose bush bill.
well, you are not worth for a vote, Mr. Patrick, nor is the Present Lt. Governor worthy of a Vote, what a situation.
ACTUALLY …
It was David Dewhurst that torpedoed the anti-groping bill in the 82nd Regular. The TSA paid the Legislature a visit, and had a little meeting with Governor Dewhurst. In a rare feat, Dewhurst left the platform to campaign AGAINST the bill — starting with his allies — and peeled away votes.
Patrick withdrew the bill in hopes it would be a priority in a special session, where it was again railroaded by Straus/Dewhurst.
Let’s be honest.
You heard it here first: Dan Patrick, the man that turned Texas blue…
in your dreams perhaps. . . . .
David,
Excellent report. Sadly, this comes too late to impact the vote in the primary, because too many people already have voted. Moreover, you’ve done what Patterson, Dewhurst and the media should have done months ago–rather than try to just dump an allegation of a 30-year old mental health episode on us without context or explanation. On that point, I agree with the comments above by Bill Henderson and George Scott, and I standby my own post of last week.
But this report also underscores the political argument against Patrick I have made for a long time–he lacks the proper temperament to be Lieutenant Governor. With Dan, you never know when his “Fearless Fosdick” side will come out, and our party and our state don’t need a Fosdick running the Senate with so many pressing issues on the table that must be addressed.
David this stinks. This blog post is an obvious last minute effort to undermine Patrick, after the Dewhurst campaign botched the roll out of the Crazy Dan strategy.
These are 30+ years old public records. I am betting the Patrick campaign knew it would come up and from the beginning were prepared to handle it. They effectively shut down the amateur attempt by Dewhurst/Patterson.
1) It is a little late to pull a Wendy Davis on Patrick and start calling his campaign statement a lie. His three opponents missed that opportunity last March.
2) The Doctors who “approached” David provide the political cover to write the blog post. David is a long time supporter of Dewhurst and endorsed him. I’m quite sure David was smiling the entire time he wrote this hit piece.
3) The subjective Patrick episodes of manic behavior are the missed opportunities of the Dewhurst campaign after their botched Crazy Dan roll out. Big Jolly Politics to the rescue!
To quote Hillary “At this point what difference does it make”? The only good thing about this stinky blog post is it gives Patrick plenty of time to define the Crazy Dan strategy before the Democrats.
I would not start writing his Dan’s eulogy. Who is to say the Democrats won’t botch it as bad as Dewhurst/Patterson?
Cast my ballot for Patterson in the first heat, voted Dewhurst today, will gladly choose Van De Putte in the primary if Patrick wins tonight.
I’m not one of the newcomer tea party ideologues, but have counted myself a solid Texas conservative for the last thirty two years of my entire voting life. It is beyond my ken how any intelligent, conservative minded person would choose to elect Dan Patrick’s toxic personality and damaging policy proposals to the state’s most influential governing office.
The man’s obviously unfit and never should have been elected to the senate in the first place.
Here’s hoping for his loss tonight, because it’s going to feel mighty damn strange voting for a democrat for the first time in my life.
Van de Putte will give your taxes to Planned Parenthood and tort lawyers.
don’t let the screen door slam on the way out. As for your claims to be a “solid Texas conservative”, well, I’m not convinced. . . .
I will be voting for a Democrat for a statewide office for the first time since 1982. So will many of my friends who formerly voted reliably for Republicans. Texas will be a much worse state with Dan Patrick as the Lt. Governor.
Just pulled up the results, looks like I’ll be pulling for the other team this year.
Next time you have chest pain, why don’t you let a doctor, who has never met you, can’t talk to you, and only has access to “public domain” records, diagnose and treat you.
Read the full reports