Glenn Smith, a well-known Texan political veteran and longtime blogger, is writing this netroots endorsement.

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Texas' first president, Gen. Sam Houston, ordered Santa Anna, the foe he had just beaten at the Battle of San Jacinto, escorted (secretly) to Mexico City to begin repairing relations between the new Republic of Texas and the Mexican government. What the hell does this have to do with John Courage's courageous fight to oust Republican Lamar Smith from Congress in Texas CD 21? Everything.

I've always thought Houston's courageous and pragmatic gesture represented something special about this place.  To make his young country safer and more secure, Gen. Houston released its biggest nemesis. It worked. We saw this special character in Sam Rayburn. We saw it in Lyndon Johnson when he fought for and signed the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts. This independence and courage is missing in the last two presidents from Texas. It is especially lacking in Lamar Smith.

I'm not going to detail Smith's record here. He was a leader of the House Ethics Committee rule change that sought to protect Tom DeLay. Enough said. The news today is that John Courage can beat Smith. In part because of Courage's character. In part because of Smith's. In part because Texas CD 21 is changing.

There's another reason. Courage has captured the imagination of the progressive netroots here. My friends at BurntOrangeReport and the Agonist and Annatopia and their Texas colleagues are not an easy crowd. They're tough, and they're into this fight.

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