Hey everyone, I missed out on the fun here last night because I wanted to just tune everything out and listen to what our candidates had to say.

Contrary to what the entire traditional media is saying - and contrary to the outrage expressed by many who are upset that Clinton didn't outright conceed last night - I believe that last night Hillary did exactly what she needed to do.  Follow me beneath the flip and I'll explain....

This is going to be short and sweet.  Everyone in this community who's flailing around like this the end of Obama's campaign needs to get a fucking grip.  

There have already been several excellent diaries detailing exactly why we shouldn't panic, but it seems that some people around here are insisting that Rev. Wright is purposefully and maliciously hogging the spotlight and destroying Obama's chances to end this primary.  That's bullshit.

(note: with apologies to Jeff Lieber for stealing his graphic)

Hey guys, I see we've got a thread to report turnout throughout the day.  I thought it would be helpful to open an election problem/fraud thread so that we can quickly get word out of any issues occurring today.  I've already had one semi-major problem reported in Tarrant County (details beneath the fold).  Please comment on this thread if you are seeing issues as well.

UPDATE:  This thread is getting heavy.  Here is the second "problem reporting" thread.  Please recommend it and unrec this diary.  Thanks!!

Hey guys.  I wanted to post a public mea culpa after the mass confusion that ensued after I posted what I thought was accurate info on the Texas precinct convention process.  Frankly, I went to bed last night feeling like a huge jackass, and I wouldn't feel right posting here again if I did not publicly apologise.

I am going to apologise in advance for the short diary, but I've seen something disturbing being repeated with increasing frequency across these and other boards.  People are repeating the following statement:

In order to count as part of the delegate allotment in Texas, you can just sign in and leave.

This is false.  You must be PRESENT at your precinct convention in order to count.

update please scroll down for an important update

This diary is for Texas readers who have questions about the Texas precinct convention process.  Both myself and Phillip from BOR will be around to answer questions.

If you are merely curious about the process and/or lurking in the diary, please consider holding all questions and comments until the session is over.  We want to make sure those who will be attending get their comments and questions dealt with promptly. Philip will be around from 2-3:30 CST and I'll be here  from 2-4pm CST.

Join us beneath the fold and let's get going.

Hillary Clinton sat down last week with KLRU public television in Austin to discuss her thoughts on the Michigan and Florida delegate situation.  She stated that she would press to seat the Michigan and Florida delegates, while dismissing the primary votes of Texans as irrelevant to the Democratic general election strategy.

In 1994, the people of Texas elected a moron to run our state.  That moron went on to become President, forever shaming our state as a modern petri dish for incompetent politicians. Ever since then, grassroots activists and good Democrats in Texas have been working hard to overcome that reputation.  Rest assured, on March 4, 2008, everything changes.

update!!:  Hey, just got word that we've nailed a date for BHO's Fort Worth rally.  It will be this Thursday evening, Feb 28! No idea on what the venue will be, but keep your eyes on this URL. As soon as the info is updated in BHO's web system it will be posted here.  Do NOT be confused by the "invalid" link. That is the routine system message that will appear until the event is posted.  Scroll down, I've got info on other upcoming appearances in Texas.

Thanks for putting this on the rec list! If this thread becomes too unwieldy, Just Another Vet will open a secondary one.

Hi everyone!  I'm opening this thread to liveblog today's Town Hall Meeting with Barack Obama at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas.

The venue seats 19,500 people.  Folks camped out overnight in order to be admitted.  I think we're going to pack this place. Correction: We ARE going to pack this place! People are still lined up around the block and the venue is almost full.  The entire lower level is full and the top level is now halfway full.

I know of at least three of us who were given blogger press passes: myself, Just Another Vet, and Todd with BOR. I haven't seen him yet, but You might go ahead and check BOR during the event in case Todd shows up. Thank you to Debbie from the Obama campaign for hooking the bloggers up with press passes.  

Regardless, JAV and I will liveblog the event for as long as the wireless holds out.  Click on through....

YYEEEEEAAAARRRHHHHH!

Okay folks, since I woke up this morning and WFAA (Channel 8, Dallas) was discussing his upcoming appearances I guess I am cleared to discuss this.

Barack Obama is coming to Texas this week!

Hi everyone! I just wanted to follow up Melody's diary from Tuesday night where she reported about the amazing turnout for Obama in Dallas with a post about our own amazing turnout right next door in Fort Worth.  I'm starting the diary with this picture because this little girl was adorable.  Her entire immediate family was at the meeting and she had a front row seat for our event.

update on Feb 9, 2008: Please skip this diary and go straight to the Texas precinct Convention training diary.  It's more timely and relevant at this point.

Just watching MSNBC right now, and they've got a reporter named Martin Fletcher over in Kenya right now.  He just gave a report from Kenya - transcript after the fold - describing the joy felt by Obama's African family after his win last night. The report reminded me that the symbolic value of an Obama win can't be underestimated.

...(or approximately that) I was up in Iowa freezing my southern ass off, clad in an orange hat (or on occassion the red staff beanie I pinched from Storm Center) and busting my ass for Howard Dean. Representing the first (yes, first, bitches!) Dean group blog on the net, Dean Nation, I'd travelled to Iowa to give our readers a view from the ground as I navigated my way through the week leading up to the caucus.  I learned a lot about myself during that trip and I also learned a lot about how the caucuses work.  That experience led me to stay largely neutral this time around - unwilling to firmly committ to a candidate for fear of having my heart broken in Iowa again.

But today, although I have tried to temper my emotions, i am finding that I'm experiencing a strong sense of nostalgia when reading the diaries of our Kossack footsoldiers. It's caused me to reflect on the lessons we learned as well as the emotional effect that loss had on many of us.

(apologies in advance: this is going to be one loooong diary)

Happy Friday everyone!

The announcement that Netroots Nation is coming to Austin next year has delighted the Texas Netroots.  I am going to ask my fellow Texas bloggers to help put together a bunch of posts for everyone who's planning to travel here for the convention next year.  

What we need is community input.  What do you guys want/need to know about Austin?  

Hey folks, I need some help.  I have a project for my Children's Literature class, and I'm having trouble finding what I'm looking for on the internet(s).  I'm hoping that a few Kossack bookworms will be so kind as to help me out here.

I have to put together a 40 book prospectus for this class. My theme for the prospectus is "Liberal Values in Children's Literature".  What I'm trying to do is come up with a list of books that teach children progressive values: community, shared responsibility, equality, acceptance, tolerance, etc etc.

You'd think it'd be easy to google up such a list, but I'm coming up practically empty.

Hi folks, long time no diary.

I was inspired to write this - my first diary since the cat food scandal - after being through the wringer during a business trip this past week.  I was one of the "lucky" people who was stranded this week thanks to massive incompetence on the part of American Airlines (who can officially go to Hades in my book) and mother nature (damn her and her rain!).

I only fly about once every 4-6 months, and it seems that the experience gets worse every single time.  This week I was simply blown away by the inconsistency and incompetence displayed by TSA employees.  But more importantly, my travelling companion inadvertently "smuggled" an illegal item onto one of our flights...

(warning: if you are one of those folks who's pretty little eyes can't deal with cursewords, you might want to just close your browser tab and move along to the next diary)

Folks, breaking news from Texas, which we are covering here at TexasKaos.

I'll be brief with the details:  It's a white male, and he's barricaded himself inside building 44 of Johnson Space Center.  Early speculation from the Houston Chronicle indicated he may be a contract employee at JSC.  

Click beneath the fold for more info....

update:  I missed an earlier diary on this subject.  Please give it a click, as it has additional info.  I hate duplicating stuff, so if the majority of commenters recommends a delete here, I'm happy to oblige.