Posted 2/13/2010 05:04:00 PM by Douglas

Sheila Jackson Lee. Very few three word combinations make the blood of Houstonians boil. When she's not answering her cell phone during town hall meetings or complaining that hurricane names are too "white," she's asking the rocket scientists at JPL to drive that Martian rover over to where Neil Armstrong planted the flag. Now it would seem that this mental giant is facing a bit of a challenge from her primary in her re-election bid.

Sheila Jackson Lee's appearance at Michael Jackson's funeral in Los Angeles last summer helped convince a three-term Houston city councilman to give the ubiquitous congresswoman her first credible re-election challenge since she won her seat 16 years ago.

"To say the least, the question 'Why?' came to mind," says Jarvis Johnson, who hopes to end Jackson Lee's tenure in Texas' 18th Congressional District by winning the March 2 Democratic primary. "Why are you there?"

Personally, I'd much rather see this woman at the Staples Center than in Congress. But don't hate her just for that. One of those hurricanes with OUT a "lily white" name, came to this carpet-bagger's home district and screwed up some stuff. How did she react?

She's determined to defend her record and her clout. On the first visit by the new director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to Houston, Jackson Lee shepherded him to her district even though it was dozens of miles from the areas most devastated by Hurricane Ike in 2008.

Forget all those people on the coast without power and water, there's a camera rolling in Houston and SJL is standing in front of it. Except when she's late.

“It's difficult to get things done in a place like Congress when you're repeatedly voted one of the worst people to work with,” said Sean Roberts, an attorney who is challenging Jackson Lee in his first run for public office.

Jackson Lee, who visited Haiti Friday as part of a delegation led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., arrived late to the event and did not hear Roberts' comments.

What an ingenious way to respond to your ineffectiveness. "Sorry, I can't respond to your comment you made before I got here, I'm running on CPT."