Yes, I’m still awake. Yes, I’m a sucker for the drama. Will there or won’t there be a new Lege in the morning?

Who knows?

But Craddick isn’t bearing the gavel. (He may still have his head, but he’s likely running around like a chicken without one.) Solomons is on the dais having a good ol’ time passin’ bills. Bonnen was a dick when he was up there. Surprise. A cloud of smog must have called him off the floor to give him a campaign check.

So, anyway, while I watch/listen to the Lege, I’m going through my feed reader and land on Kuff’s post in which Rep. Fred Hill says he’ll make a motion to vacate if no one else does. That’s cool to know and all, but the part I really like is when Kuff quotes the Austin American-Statesperson and Quorum Report:

Lucio, a first-year legislator, confirmed tonight that he told Craddick he supports removing him as speaker. He said afterward he has no preference on who replaces Craddick.

“I respect the speaker, I respect his family,” Lucio said. He said he took heat from colleagues at the start of the session for voting for Craddick’s re-election as speaker, but he did so “based on a clean slate.”

Since then, Lucio said, the House has proved “more divided than ever. In order to have a Legislature that works together… there has to be a change.”

“Tom Craddick has been very nice to me,” he said. “Unfortunately, this is something that has to take place.”

. . .

Rose was quoted in QR saying “I respect the Speaker and his family but I believe the House has to be governed from the middle.”

So, my question is: What’s up with all the respect for the Speaker’s family? Does Craddick have some linebacker cousins I don’t know about or something? And, if he does, I don’t think complimenting them is going to help once you politically impale their cuz.

Or maybe Lucio and Rose are sorry about making them move right after their (million?) dollar renovation of the Speaker’s Apartment?

And these are the nights to the days of our lives.