On this morning’s rodeo edition of the KVET country-music oldies show, there was a very good Obama commercial aimed at KVET’s demographic. I was surprised. I have just within the past couple of days seen an annoying Clinton television commercial with turning windmill blades, bales of hay, and a faux-folksy voiceover. >>> Evidence of Obama’s active campaigners is to be found everywhere. It’s just about impossible to leave a vehicle for more than five minutes anywhere on the street in close-in East Austin without finding a notice under a windshield-wiper upon your return. It was from one of these that I found a reference to the Texas Precinct Captains domain, yet another manifestation of the Obama campaign’s on-line presence. >>> When the T. Don Hutto private-prison facility was under consideration for repurposing as a detention center for confining families with little children behind bars, the proximity of Taylor to Austin was considered to be a drawback, reports the current issue of the New Yorker; a document paraphrased in the article “observed, with striking cynicism, that Taylor was too close to Austin, which had nonprofit and community organizations that ‘have typically been very strong advocates for immigrants.'” Among those organizations, of course, would be the Civil Liberties Union and the immigration law clinic at the law school here. (I last wrote about the CCA Hutto unit a little over a year ago, since which time some things have changed and much has not.) Federal District Judge Sam Sparks comes in for a fair share of attention. The author writes as though the presence of chicken livers and gizzards on the menu of a public dining establishment is something completely new to her, and she does not fail to include the obligatory mentions of Louie Mueller’s and of Rudy Mikeska’s. >>> I love Austin’s role as a host city for people from small towns (and larger ones) all over Texas. It’s fun to see UIL basketball coaches, players, and players’ families at the rodeo parade (Texas Independence Day parade) and then to see the same cast of characters, plus those in town for the rodeo and livestock show, wandering the Drag and checking out Allens Boots and other draws on South Congress. It’s always a surprise to see just how many people sporting starched wardrobes and small-town haircuts still exist beyond the bounds of Austin. >>> The big entertainment names at the rodeo are playing indoors and they’re the ones mentioned in the ads, but all the most enjoyable local acts will take to the outdoor stage, and there’s something wonderful to hear every day. Among the favorites scheduled to play in the open air are: Pauline Reese, Carolyn Wonderland, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Jimmy LaFave, the Hudsons, Patricia Vonne, Los Texmaniacs (a great personal favorite), the Boxcar Preachers, and Doug Moreland, plus a great bill with twin polka and oompah favorites the Bohemian Dutchmen and the Walburg Boys