Who Is Going To Blink?

The Texas Gubernatorial Debate is on for tomorrow night. KHOU at 7PM. I will be watching with my Fort Bend Democrats friends.

I find it interesting and amusing that they scheduled this debate for one hour. A one hour debate split between four candidates. Fifteen minutes apiece? Well, less because of commercials. How much damage can Rick Perry, Kinky or Grandma do to themselves in 15 minutes? I also find it interesting that Friday night was the only time that all four candidates could agree on or could juggle their calendars around.

Friday night. Texas.

What I want to know is which of the four doesn’t want Texans to watch the debate? Because that is the one who could only make it on a Friday night. I know for a fact that not one Texas high school football coach, not one parent, uncle, aunt, cousin or grandparent of a high school football player, band member, drill team member, or cheer leader will be able to watch the debate. Wait, I know, they’ll set their DVRs, right?

And this whole thing has turned into some sort of statewide staring contest. The polls are wildly divergent with regard to everyone but Perry. Perry polls somewhere around 35% plus or minus a few. That is his strident base (well one poll said that 29% were his base, and the rest are Krishna knows what). The Zogby poll has Chris Bell close to Perry, but another has him way behind Grandma and just ahead of Kinky. The Libertarian? Old what's his name? Who cares?

The three non-Perry candidates can’t agree on anything except that Rick Perry needs an early retirement package. So unless someone blinks and tells their supporters to stop supporting them and vote for Chris Bell for governor – because in their minds anyone is better than Perry – then they will be personally responsible for saddling Texas with this slime bucket for a governor for another four years.

People should start letting them know that if they haven’t already.

The fact is, of the three, only Chris Bell has run a credible race. And of the three, only Chris Bell is running as a major party nominee. If Kinky and/or Grandma throw their support to Bell, they become statewide heroes. If Bell withdraws in favor of Grandma, then he has lost all credibility with his party . . . forever. And his party loses credibility – they would be giving to nod to a Republican hiding as an Independent.

No, there are only three possible outcomes here unless someone catches Grandma sending emails to Girl Scouts.

1) Perry wins because no one blinked and Kinky and Grandma are run out of Texas on a rail,
2) Bell wins by a squeaker due to a twelfth hour media blitz and a sudden return to sanity among independent voters,
3) Bell wins big time because Grandma figures another angle and sends her anti-Perry bloc over to Bell.

Rumor Mill:

Rumor has it that the Sekula-Gibbs campaign has decided to target voters in New Territory in their Fort Bend County efforts.

New Territory? The precinct that went for Morrison by 45% in 2004? They were that mad at Tom then, just think of how they are going to receive Silly Shelley Sherrie Matula-Sekula-Mazoola-Giblets, Tom’s hand-picked successor.

I’m willing to give the campaign the benefit of the doubt and allow that they are going to target “persuadable” independents and Tom’s base out there. And that is because they have to assume that Tom’s base in Sweetwater and Sugar Creek are still there. They have to. There is not a doubt in my mind that they have had to go on this assumption because they have no time to resolidify Tom’s core supporters AND go after the persuadables.

There’s no time.

Gee. Funny how things work out like that.

The Metric System - What's The Hold Up?

Every once in awhile I run out of things to post about. But not this time. I just simply need to take a break from politics for a bit.

What is it about Americans that we can't convert our system of weights and measures to the metric system? Every year about this time I have a whole new bunch of students who pretend that they have never heard of the metric system. And they don't know how to measure in its various levels of units. And all they want to know, when you mention a 3 kilometer distance, is "what's that in miles?"

They always ask things like that. The way you don't go metric is try and convert from english to metric at every step. If you want to know how far a kilometer is, walk it. If you want to know how much 700 grams "weighs" heft 700 grams in your hand. If you want to know how much a liter of beer is drink it (all in one quaff).

Here is why we need to measure in metric:

The basic unit of lengths In English:

Inch
12 Inches to the Foot
3 Feet to the Yard
1760 Yards to the Mile

The basic unit of lengths In Metric:

Meter
1000 Meters to the Kilometer
1/100 of a Meter to the Centimeter
1/1000 of a Meter to the Millimeter

It goes on and on. Metric is based on a decimal system. English is based on a nonexistent system.

And you can do fun things. In metric, what do you call 2000 Mockingbirds? Answer - Two Kilomockingbird. (tee hee).

Three countries in the world have refused to "go metric". Which ones besides the US? Liberia and Myanmar (Burma). I know there are issues like retooling, but every once in awhile you save some money. Like when NASA lost a Mars orbiter because all of the contractors but one Lockheed-Martin (American) used the metric system in their work, but Lockheed-Martin, used the english system, and the orbiter burnd up in Martian atmosphere. That's a true story.

And I found this in an interesting Go Metric website. I kind of liked it, so I stole it.

Top 10 reasons we should convert to the Metric System (with apologies to David Letterman)

10. People will finally understand my joke about driving attoparsecs per nanocenturies.
9. Gas will seem cheaper at 50 cents a liter.
8. Being 22 kilos overweight does not sound as bad as 50 lbs.
7. Defense will be easier if the offense has to drive 10 meters for a first down.
6. Arizona summers will not seem as bad when its only 40 degrees outside.
5. Its not "metric", its "Digital"!
4. Imagine all the exciting math you will do converting your favorite recipes to milliliters.
3. Less fractions to deal with like, "Do I need a five eighths socket or a nine sixteenths to loosen this nut?"
2. The boy band 98º will not be as popular calling themselves 36.7º.

And the number 1 reason to go metric?

1. Half a liter is more than a pint, which means, MORE BEER FOR EVERYBODY!

Farhan Shamsi for JP. He Is Just the Best Person for the Job

Democratic or Republican, it doesn’t really matter. That’s what some people can’t see. The county wide offices that are being contested in Fort Bend County, Texas, are really more about competency than party affiliation.

No, really.

You generally don’t see a party affiliation on Farhan Shamsi’s campaign signs or campaign literature. He’s on the Democratic ticket, but really, that’s almost a non-issue with this very apolitical office. In other states, like the one I hail from, Justice of the Peace is a non-partisan office.

Farhan’s opponent, Italian-American Ken Cannata, has “Republican for Justice of the Peace” written across the bottom of his campaign posters. A friend of mine mentioned today that putting that on your signs might actually be a liability these days. I thought so, too. As a matter of fact, I wondered about this when I saw his sign planted right next to a “Had Enough? Vote Democratic” sign. Certainly Martha Wong a Republican state house incumbent, is having issues with putting Republican on her signage.

So it’s kind of comedic, really. People vote for candidates who run for what is in fact a non-partisan office, based on the candidate's party affiliation. This is ironic in that this year that could work against Republicans.

Farhan’s qualifications? Well look, the JP is probably the first stop along the long road to perdition for troubled youth. The JP is essentially their first point of contact with the system that will welcome them to a lifelong affiliation unless someone is there to provide “tough love”.

Want to lose people to a life of crime? Put someone in as JP who has no experience with troubled youth. Someone like Ken Cannata. Cannata professes that his experience as a lawyer will allow him to “transition” to JP with no learning curve. Oh, yeah. I’m sure he knows his law, but does he know teen culture? Farhan does. I could cut and paste it all here but Farhan has written it up on his campaign website. Go take a look.

Those who simply don't understand the issues will vote for Ken Cannata to the office. Do this, and all you do is put an inflexible conservative white man in office. One who does not nor cannot understand the people that come to him.

Farhan is running for Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace. That precinct, covering almost all of northern Fort Bend County, overlaps with two congressional districts. CD-22 where Nick Lampson is running for United States Congress against a Libertarian and 3 write-in candidates, and CD-14 where Shane Sklar is running a credible race against Libertarian in Republican clothing Dr. Ron Paul (Dr.? Yes, he’s a gynecologist). This weekend, Farhan will be block walking with Shane Sklar’s organization in the Katy area. Want to help send Shane Sklar to congress? Want to help put Farhan Shamsi onto the JP bench? Let’s all go to Katy this Saturday. Click on the Fort Bend Democrats logo. After their "Candidate Appreciation Brunch" a block walk is being organized. Come. It'll be fun.

And I’ll see you there.

Lampson Blasts NRCC; Asks Sekula-Gibbs to Donate Reynolds Money

Boy, Nick is Angry.

Today Nick Lampson, Texas CD-22 democratic candidate, blasted at Carl Forti, the communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, who informed anyone within earshot that the NRCC are willing to accept the $2.7 million campaign war chest Mr. Foley has amassed, saying "that the committee would gladly accept Mr. Foley's money or part of it to devote to House races."

As seen in the New York Times article “Mr. Foley already gave $100,000 to the committee in July, campaign records show, as part of the party’s Battleground Program, to which members are asked to contribute. Said Forti:

“The money is in the control of Mr. Foley.” “Whatever he decides to do with it is up to him.”

Forti is used to receiving campaign contributions from unsavory elements of any ilk or kind. Said he last year in reference to a $5,000 donation from pornographer Mark Kulkis, who accompanied by porn star Mary Carey, attended the RNCC's million dollar(s) fund raiser last year starring George Bush:

"They've paid their money. No matter what they do, the money is going to go to help elect Republicans to the House."

Nick characterized Forti's latest effort to gather money from the page stalker as "despicable".

Nick Lampson is calling on Foley and the NRCC to donate Foley’s $2.7 million campaign war chest to the National Center for Missing Exploited Children. “While this sadly will not prevent the victimization of children in the past, it will at least help to ensure that future children do not face the same fate.”

In a related action, Nick Lampson sent a message to the Sekula-Gibbs campaign:

“Join me in calling for the resignation of any member of congressional leadership who had knowledge of inappropriate email and instant messenger communications between shamed Congressman Mark Foley and underage pages working at the House of Representatives.”

Nick urged Sekula-Gibbs to donate the funds she recently received from Congressman Tom Reynolds. Reynolds is on the hot seat now. He has admitted he knew of the situation and did nothing about it. And further if Sekula-Gibbs’ campaign had received funds “from any others in congressional leadership who had prior knowledge of Mr. Foley's actions to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children” she should donate those funds as well.

This is tainted money from a pederast and from those who protected him from being discovered.

You too can get involved. Click here and send an email to Foley and Reynolds.

Mark Foley: If I Were One of These Sickos I'd Be Nervous With America's Most Wanted On My Track

What is it with these people who

a) brazenly stray across the borders of what our society considers to be "normal sexual behavior"
b) think about it a lot.

Is there a thrill there that we are all missing? The thrill of "what if I get discovered"?



The fallout on this is going deeper and deeper. Atrios has learned from the New York State Democratic Committee, that Rep. Tom Reynolds KNEW about the emails months ago, but kept it quiet. For his trouble (or shall we say, lack of it), his NRCC got a cool 100 large from Foley.

If word of payoffs of this magnitude gets out, Republican campaign warchests are going to empty out into the bank accounts of parents of present and former pages.

This Just In

On CNN at this moment, they are asking whether there will be any criminal investigations.

WHETHER? Are you kidding me?

As an educator I am informed on an annual basis that if I am told of, made aware of, hear rumors of, ANY abuse of children, and don't report it, that I would open up myself to criminal prosecution with fines and jail time.

Teachers are subjected to these kinds of standards, but it is being batted about WHETHER congressmen and others will be subjected to criminal investigation.

Hal Hits Home Run - Goes to the Johnson-Rayburn Dinner

You’re not going to believe this. I was invited to attend a $125 per plate Harris County Democratic Party fundraiser, the Johnson-Rayburn Dinner. I felt really honored.

I also know that I am expected to write it all up.

So when I checked in and got my name tag, I saw that there were lots of JW Marriott pens in a basket so I selected one for later.

muse was there and had the muse thing-a-ma-jig that gets constant use. I had my JW Marriott pen and a bunch of envelopes to write on thanks to Ann, Marsha, and Geri, who provided them to me.

We were welcomed by Houston Mayor Bill White, or should I say Democratic Mayor Bill White. He spoke of victims of Hurricane Katrina that are now going to make Houston their permanent home, and he welcomed them. Never once did he mention directly the statements of Richard “Kinky” (Big Dick) Friedman who wanted them all to go back where they came from. He didn’t have to. And he spoke of a fallen HPD Police Officer, Rodney Johnson, killed in the line of duty. Bill White is all class. Watch as he takes on a statewide office someday soon.

Although we were in the heart of southeast Texas, the keynote speaker was Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin. He was introduced by Sue Lovell, who was elected to an at-large position on the Houston City Council last year. I couldn’t figure out why she was wearing an RCMP coat, but maybe muse knows.

Senator Russ Feingold got a standing ovation before he even said one word. There were two reasons for this and everyone in the room knew them. His vote to go to war in Iraq was No. His vote to pass the USA Patriot act was No. Feingold was willing to stand up to Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld when precious few others were not. He was my hero early on after 9/11. I also didn’t think they had enough to go to war, and knew that going to Iraq wasn’t going to do anything for their War on Terror. That Feingold was so stupendously vindicated by later revelations makes him a very popular speaker these days.

And, by the way, Feingold is known to be considering a run at the presidency in ’08.

He started out by imagining what it’s going to be like when they all go back to the Congress and Senate next year, and there is a new majority. Where will they start? Among other things, their first direction will be to make health insurance available to all Americans, that it is long overdue. He spoke of the Big Pharma-sponsored prescription drug plan, getting that fixed. He said that he originally voted No on Bush’s NCLB but they would also fix that so it would work, instead of being a burden that we all have to bear.

“Things went wrong when we went to war,” he said. And while he labeled the acts of George Bush as nothing but “high crimes and misdemeanors”, he called for the House and Senate to censure Bush for violating the laws of the land. I think he’s correct. Except in some cases that we all know and hate such as his circumvention of FISA, Bush has gotten congress to support his programs of repression through his very effective fear tactics. Fear tactics that now fall on deaf ears.

Lastly Feingold sadly mentioned another loss – a further expansion of executive power.. Democrats, say the Republicans, can’t run a post 9/11 world because they have a pre-9/11 mindset. Democrats can now counter that Republicans should not be in power because they have a pre-1776 mindset. And now, according to Feingold, Republicans have a pre-1215 mindset.

The voted out the Magna Carta.

It’s all here and that is sublinked from here. Feingold bemoaned the fact that the Congress and Senate passed a compromise bill that invalidates ideas of justice that go back 800 years. The bill effectively nullifies America’s signature on the Geneva Accords, and all of the principles that ruled the Nurenburg Trials.

Bush’s fear mongering again. This time to give Republicans ammunition to shoot at their Nay-voting colleagues across the aisle in November.

I tell you what else it will do. It will cause Freedom Loving Americans of all stripes to get rid of these totalitarian-leaning rascals.

Feingold got one last ovation when he said that this election was not about taking back the country for the next 2 years, or 4 or 8, but for the next 10 to 20, in which we could bring realchange to our country.

Then we were addressed by a former jailbird.

In this case the prison uniform she wore was a badge of honor.

Susan McDougal introduced the congressional candidates. Susan McDougal, you will remember, is the woman who refused to answer questions in the famous Ken Starr Whitewater investigation that resulted in . . . resulted in . . . revelation of an affair between Bill Clinton and a slightly pudgy 22-year old intern. Susan McDougal did time for being on the wrong side of a Republican-led witch hunt after they regained the majority in 1994. A political prisoner, if you will. Same as Martin Luther King. Same as Nelson Mandela, as Rep. Al Green later pointed out.

Susan announced the local democratic congressional and senatorial candidates. All of them were there but Nick and Ted Ankrum. Ankrum was campaigning in Travis County. Nick was off upstate beating the bushes for money.

Then the democratic candidates for state house and senate were announced. Both Sherrie Matula and Dora Olivo were introduced on stage. Sherrie faces an uphill battle against an apparently incredibly dense, but well-funded John Davis in HD-129. muse is after Davis and is tracing his dubious FEC filings.

Chris Bell announced that he had a toothache, and that he was given some medication for pain by his dentist, that it wasn’t working very well, but had been told that it was making him act “loopy”.

He treated us to his jokes. He described a function that they attended where there was an actual donkey in a corral. He said that every time he spoke the donkey would bray. But he didn’t use the word bray, he actually imitated a donkey’s bray, much to the surprise of just about everyone. “That’s my impression of a donkey when I’m acting loopy,“ he explained.

He related a joke told to him by Fred Head (running for State Comptroller against pornographer Susan Combs):

“You know Chris, if George Bush had been president when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, America would have invaded Australia”.

Finally, Chris had an Ann Richards story:

In ’05, he was starting to think about running for governor. He called Ann Richards one day and confessed that to her, and asked if he could stop by one day and find out if she thought he was crazy for thinking this. He said that Ann replied, “Chris, honey, you don’t HAVE to come by, I can tell you from here that you’re crazy.”

Chris wasn’t all jokes, though. He spoke of the failed governorship of Rick Perry, and that Democrats were waking up to their mistakes in supporting the other two independent candidates, Kinky Friedman with his recent foray into racism, and Grandma who was right there with Perry. “When Rick Perry has had a bad idea, Carole Strayhorn has backed him up, putting lipstick on the pig time after time after time. She can call herself an Independent all she wants. I can call my dog a horse, but at the end of the day it’s still a dog.”

Hank “The Auctioneer” Gilbert got up near the end. I call him the auctioneer because one of his tasks was to auction off a framed document that he claimed was the original Bill of Rights. He bullied the audience to a 2 grand bid.

Hank confesses that he is not a speaker, but just says what he thinks, and sometimes says it bluntly. Well, he was blunt when he summarized the evening in one sentence (and I am quoting – I am not responsible for which words he chose):

“We gotta get off our ass to put them on theirs.”

Truer words were never spoken.

Raging Against The Machine In Rosenberg: Fair Day Parade

Oh I did so enjoy the Fair Day Parade.

Here in Fort Bend County, Texas, we do a County Fair whose character mirrors the diverse make-up of the county. While agriculture is emphasized there is also the carnival area, and some by-God funnel cakes.

And a big long parade.

It was my first time at this function. The parade goes right past the Fort Bend Democrats Combined Campaign Headquarters at 4800 Avenue H (Highway 90A) in Rosenberg.

Getting there is a chore, and veterans knew to go early for preferred parking and no traffic jams. Not a veteran, I set out late, and at 8:30 found myself in a traffic jam on 90A that went a mile. So we all crept forward as I eyed the glowing light on my gas gauge. But I made it, first to the gas station, then to the Lamar Plaza, which has the largest still unfilled parking lot on 90A.

Then hoofed it to the headquarters.

Susan lit into me as I knew she would, saying I show up now that they had everything all set up. The parking lot in front of the headquarters was strewn with chairs and a table. Campaign signs were everywhere.

And it looked like the Fort Bend Democratic Club was going to war.

They clapped as the bands and ROTC groups went by, they waved to the fair queen candidates, cheerleader clubs, and scouting groups.

And their voices filled the air when a Republican office holder drove by.

We all held campaign signs. Several of us held “Had Enough” signs. And as the Republicans cruised by (nearly all of them old white men), signs were waved and we erupted in a continuous chorus of HAD ENOUGH? VOTE DEMOCRATIC! Some of them took it smiling. Ignorance is bliss. I don’t think they know what is coming at them this year. Even the incumbents smiled. Wait, did I say incumbents? Isn’t that against parade rules? I just had to go and find out, and sure enough, there it is in glorious black and white pixels.

· Political Candidates: Not to include incumbents.

Well, I guess they came anyway. Judge Brady Elliot was there waving to the crowd. Nice head of hair on the man.

Every judge, every county commissioner (except Grady) got the same treatment. Then Al Hollan drove by and the love poured out. Among his peers, Albert has an AV rating. It's a lawyer rating for ethics and professionalism. Brady Elliott doesn't have one of those.

I was looking left and right and saw people staring at us. They were Hispanic families for the most part. They probably were wondering what we crazy gringos were doing.

The Fort Bend Democrats float arrived early and they got the love as well. Bryan drove Marsha’s truck with a trailer hitched to the back and our candidates in the trailer. All except for Jim Sharp. He was standing up in the truck bed waving.

All our downballot candidates were there, each holding their own lawn sign. Farhan Shamsi smiling broadly, Neeta dressed to kill, smiling, turning, waving, smiling. Rudy Velasquez, standing tall and steady. I like Judge Rudy. He’s so calm and soft-spoken but clever and cool. We need to elect him for all the good reasons, but also so we aren’t saddled with a “Judge Bud”. Dorothy Bottos' kind face and brilliant smile washed over the paradegoers. And Veronica, stately Veronica, dressed very nicely in a peach-colored outfit. And that’s when I noticed something really uplifting. The families to our left and right were on their feet yelling, smiling and waving along with us. They were shouting “Veronica!” “Rudy!”. We were all one people united in adoration of Democratic Party candidates.

A real strong set of countywide and precinct candidates.

And Nick was there in the trailer, too.

And then who do we see coming down the road? Silly Shelley Kelley Sherrie Sekula Matula Rodriguez Gibbs. Pinkless.

Odd very odd. Picture this: two women holding a Shelley campaign banner, and Shelley not walking a few paces behind the banner for full exposure. Instead, she plastered herself to the back of the banner walking even to the banner holders.

Fort Bend Democrats railed “Had Enough” at her. She wouldn’t look our way. She showed us the back of her carefully coiffed and colored hair. Someone finally yelled “Hey Shelley, we’re over here.” That got her to look over until she realized that she had been duped.

What followed Sherrie . . . er . . . Shelley, was a wagonload of gloating, weight challenged, well-heeled white men . . . and one woman. That’s right, the Republican ticket. We were all shouting now, and then the parade came to a halt. There we were facing each other, we waving our signs, shouting Had Enough? Vote Democratic, they putting on a diffident air that slowly and surely crumbled with each passing moment of realization that they weren’t moving. They became so obviously uncomfortable that it became hard for me to shout and grin at the same time. But they were finally released from our tirade. And I went to get some water.

But we saved the best for Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey. Healey professed ignorance that one of his assistant DA’s was pursuing a case in retaliation for their lawsuits against a local businessman who has given generously to his wife’s campaign. Ignorance? Fat chance. If he was ignorant, then he doesn’t have control of the office he is supposed to command. We really wanted to deliver a message to him. So we lined the street with Had Enough lawn signs, and on command we did an about face, covering our posterior regions with the signs.

I think he got the point. But you know, the man has no class at all.

Geri Guest Blogs: Fort Bend Candidates Forum

Krishna knows you can't be everywhere at once. I committed to a Nick Lampson house party with my amazingly gracious friend and fellow blogger, muse.

And who do I find there as well? Geri and her mom, who I have called "cute-as-a-bug" granny with a megaphone". I was wondering if I had failed to properly douse myself with anti-stink agents, as they, upon seeing me, immediately got up and beat a retreat to the door.

Then they explained to me that since I was there to lend a hand, they could go to the Candidates Forum. Here in Texas we have Candidates Forums (Fora?).

Candidates Forum? Slap to forehead. I had clean forgotten about it. So I was glad that they were going to go and lend support to our candidates, but felt bad because now two of us bloggers were going to be at the Nick Lampson house party, and neither of us at the Forum.

(The house party, by the way, went very well. Nick was charming, informative and the attendees were really nice people that asked really great questions. I learned a lot - but then, I am an empty vessel here, I always learn a lot).

I asked Geri if she would take notes for me so I could post something about the Forum. There is something you need to know about Geri. If you ask her to do something for you, she will not only do that, but also wash your car, take out your trash and walk your dog. She is that kind of person. So from this point on, what you have is Geri's take on the Candidates Forum that took place at the George Library on Thursday night. Geri is my first guest blogger.

I got to the Forum too late to hear Albert Hollan and Rudy Velasquez speak. They both assured us they were good!

Cynthia Dunbar, a Republican and candidate for State Board of Education used a story of her father to make the distinction between a politician and a statesman, promising to be the statesman. She just wanted us to know her political family ties. But she spoke well about the need to improve education in the state and did not say anything that either Dems or Repugs could be offended by.

Farhan Shamsi did very well to explain his background and his interest in being Justice of the Peace for Precinct 3. He focused primarily on his agenda for improving juvenile justice and to reach young people before they cycle in and out of the justice system.

His opponent, Ken Cannata, tried to counter Farhan Shamsi's campaign slogan that you do not need a lawyer to do the work of the people's court. He touted his legal background and his AV rating which he says is for integrity and quality work! He made a point about the juvenile court being only one of three key areas of focus.

Veronica Torres was solid in her presentation of her personal background and her experience in the District Clerk's office. Using some notes, she listed around ten job responsibilities that she was experienced at doing that are required in the District clerk's office. She spoke confidently and directly and made it clear that she had prepared for this job all her life and is prepared educationally and experientially to provide competent and reliable service as District Clerk. Both Veronica and her opponent praised the work of Glory Hopkins.

Her opponent, Rebecca Elliott, spoke for an interminable amount of time about her many children and how wonderful they all are only to conclude that diatribe with the comment, "But I am a Mother so I would say that!" She then went on to say that she has been in public service and done this and that in the community and finally got around to saying she has some relevant experience and of course dropped the name of her husband Mike Elliott to be sure we all knew she was sufficiently connected to the good ole boys network.John Zerwas, Republican for Texas House of Rep. District 28 (Parts of Harris, Waller, Wharton Counties) described his background as an anesthesiologist at Memorial Herman and now a chief of staff where he "herds cats", He focused more on his platform than on his experience saying he is opposed to the Trans Texas Corridor (but sees transportation issues as important); education funding , immigration reform- need to secure the border; healthcare- 43% of legislative budget is for healthcare issues.

Ken Bryant, Republican for State House of Rep. District 27 (covers Richmond, Rosenberg, MC, Stafford, Needville) currently on the FBISD Board says there is a CLEAR CHOICE against the 10 year incumbent, Dora Olivo, who he did not want to be critical of but then went on to say she did her best but was ineffective and failed the business interests of Fort Bend County. He stressed his conservative platform: how schools should not be funded by property and business taxes; keep taxes low...yada yada yada. (God I love it when Geri yadas).

Dora Olivo, his opponent, says she is now an attorney with a businessman as a husband but grew up as a cotton picker so she knows how important it is that the "little people" have a voice and "I am their voice! " Then she gave a litany of endorsements from labor, environment, realtors, Hospital Association, teachers. As for healthcare and housing..."we can do better". She was the first candidate that the timer had to kick off the stage.

Bob Smither, Libertarian for US Congress, District 22. college educator, business owner, father , husband....He's worried about the path our country is on and wants to return it to the people. Cited the Bill of Rights and Constitution and says we need to secure those rights against government encroachment. (No mistake that he is a Libertarian! ) He went on to say that all problems need to be solved through voluntary action and pointed to Katrina as a case in point: The government blocked thousands of volunteer efforts. And the result? We are further taxed! He then went on to criticize Lampson's voting record in Congress that spent $4600 for every man, woman , and child, amounting to $1800 for the average family.

Joe Reasbeck, Republican write-in candidate invoked fear so much I looked away and thought it was Bush talking! His priorities are national security and economic security. With a $14M economy , 2/3 driven by the American consumer, we have to be concerned about our economy. "To remain a military and economic superpower we must defeat Islamic Fundamentalism!" So we must keep in place our founding blocks of education and economic systems because China and India are going to to overtake our place in the world.FEAR, FEAR, FEAR!

"Silly" Shelley Sekula Gibbs (no hyphen mind you!), Republican preferred write-in candidate; physician, wife, mother. In Clearlake over 20 years and if we consider medical school in Galveston, she lived in the area 30 years (is she implying someone else is not from here?). "IT's important to have a strong conservative voice in Congress." I represent conservative values...family values like winning the war on terror. We have to make sure we don't cut and run. Secure our borders and stop illegal immigration....and stop sanctuary city policy...(whoa, she just got run out of the City Council meeting for that and she said it again!). Make sure we cut taxes and make tax laws fair and simple. We must reduce frivolous lawsuits and make healthcare accessible for all Texans. We must assure the right to work across state and nation, meaning we have to keep jobs in America. My Dad worked for Shell Oil and so he taught me that (and she thinks she was named Shelley because he was a "company man").

WE must protect life, meaning life must be valued in the womb or for the elderly. If we do support stem cell research it should be with adult stem cells, chord blood but not embryonic cells. "We should not take life to save life." We can cure diabetes and Parkinson's with research on bone marrow, chord and adult stem cells. I believe in traditional marriage between a man and a woman. "These are the values that the people of district 22 have." (Cough Cough. Whoa I'm a voter in District 22 I don't believe any of this!). You will need to vote for me twice. Because of some "judicial manipulations" you will need to vote once in the general election and once in the special election.Neeta Sane, for County Treasurer. Neeta, unlike all other candidates who stiffly stood at the mike on the stand, took the mike out of the stand and looked the audience in the eyes and spoke about her family, her business education and experience and made the point clearly that the current incumbent has not safeguarded our tax dollars and that she will bring integrity and safeguards against such fraud back to the Treasurer's office. She spoke of her community involvement to emphasize her leadership roles and experience.

Neeta's opponent, Jeff Council, for Treasurer drew even more retorts from the Democratic side of the house than did Silly Shelley! He apologized for being late because he was meeting as Director of the Fort Bend County Fair. he made sure we knew he served in the military (all who had any extended family mentioned their service- a son, a father, whoever...it's the way to get respect these days I guess...even from your opponents)...oh yes it was the 14th artillery for 2 years! Been in these parts since 1962 when he went into the insurance business, grew that one to be profitable with "sound conservative business practices" and in 1984 went into his own insurance business and grew it with "sound conservative business practices" and then sold it in 2001 to New First Insurers and grew it with ...well you get the idea. But now, he is president and doesn't work in it all day so, in January 2007 when I am County Treasurer "I can be a full time Treasurer." I will be there managing "THOSE LADIES" (audible groan from every conscious woman in the room!) and making sure the taxpayers get the most for their money. I will be able to get cooperation from other agencies, officers etc. "I know Fort Bend County and Fort Bend County Knows Me?" (Boy do we ever!) I am the best choice for Treasurer because I will use the same "sound conservative business practices."David Matoaka filmed the event. All candidates thanked the organizers: the Women's Auxiliary of the VFW and reminded voters to early vote on October 23 rd and on election day November 7th.There were about 50 people in the room, most of them candidates, their supporters, staff and activists.

The meeting ended with a formality of the organizers, sounded like a prayer or verse of some kind that many knew and recited. People did not have heads bowed but it sounded like a Biblical verse.And here I am back again:Holy smokes, Geri. Am I ever glad that you attended that Forum and not I. First, you are on it like a duck on a June Bug. Second, I hate all of these things that are attended by candidates, their staff, the unpersuadables, and no one else. If it wasn't for you, Geri, the word would have stopped at the door in the George Library. I salute you, and we all thank you.

How Much Lower Will They Descend?

A friend of mine discovered that the outside of his office was vandalized last night. The vandals tore up political signs for Texas Democratic candidates, and overturned an arrangement of potted plants in front.

The arrangement was a memorial that was created in the honor and memory of my friend’s son, who died of cancer 6 years ago.

What a horrible and incredibly insensitive thing to do.

Who would do such a thing?

The vandalism and desecration was politically motivated, that is obvious. My friend is a local Democratic activist, who is serving, and has served in the past, in Democratic Party leadership positions. His wife is my friend also. She has written articles for the local press. I asked her how she was doing, and she said “It’s tough”.

Of that I am sure. It’s enough to lose your child. No one should have to bury their child. But then to have a symbol and celebration of his life desecrated by political thugs? I don’t think I could take it.

We have all seen lots of ugly things done by and for the opposition. But now our society’s very standards of decency have certainly been cast off by the opposition.

How much lower will they descend?

And who is next?

Don, Susan, you are both in my thoughts tonight as are Mark and Bryan.

"Your Cheatin' Heart" or Why Does The TEA Waste $$$ On Test "Data Forensics"?

FortBendNow has an article on its site right now about how the Texas Education Agency is going to investigate “testing irregularities” on its 2005 TAKS test. Go read about it, and my rant in the comments section (#6).

Do you remember the movie “Stand and Deliver”? It starred Edward James Olmos who played true life teacher Jaime Escalante, a computer programmer who decided that he wanted to teach high school at Garfield High School, an Hispanic-dominated school in Whittier, California.

They didn’t have computers at the school, though, so he became a math teacher.

Well, as the story developed, Escalante began to have the idea that if he could really and truly challenge some of his gifted Hispanic students, they would blossom and break out of the barrio experience. So he taught them an AP class in Calculus. All of his students passed. This caused concern at the College Board, who analyzed the answers that the students had given, and decided that there was a pattern, testing irregularities that suggested that they all cheated.

The students had to retake the test in order to prove they weren’t cheaters.

And they all passed again.

Well now this kind of thing has come home to roost in schools all over Texas.

In its quest to maintain test security the TEA has been contracting a Utah-based company, Caveon Test Security, to conduct investigative audits of TAKS test security.

Among other things, one thing that Caveon does is conduct “Data Forensics” that detect “aberrant patterns” among test takers. They define aberrance, in this case as “a pattern of item responses that deviate from the statistical models describing normal test taking patterns”. In other words, those who cheat on tests have different test taking patterns than the norm. And you know, this is exactly what Jaime Escalante’s students were accused of. Go here and read all about it. It reads like the Bush Administration justifying the Iraq War. Smoke and mirrors. Someone who does well on a test, gets the questions right, works quickly, is an abnormal student. Students who do well on the TAKS test, you see, are very probably cheaters. That’s their logic, and that was the logic of the College Board in the Escalante case. Students answer a difficult question correctly, and an easy question incorrectly – that’s an aberration. That’s not the norm. Maybe not in Caveon’s world, but I doubt that they have been in the classroom recently if at all.

Sometimes, just sometimes, teachers spend more time teaching difficult concepts, and in the interest of limited time, gloss over the easy ones. It’s common. Their norm isn’t.

Now how can I give this a political spin?

Chris Bell is in favor of doing away with all of these “high stakes” tests. On high stakes TAKS testing Bell has said:

“I think we are wasting a tremendous amount of time. And I really think we have to begin to wonder if we’re even teaching kids to think anymore, or just simply teaching them to regurgitate information that has been crammed into their heads. It’s a very serious issue here in the State of Texas, and it’s going to need a governor who will address it in a very serious fashion.”

Let’s elect Chris Bell governor. Let’s get rid of TAKS and start rating our schools in the only sane way: by what kind of teaching is going on – the quality of the content and content presentation. Rating the quality of a teacher or the quality of a school by how well their students do on a standardized test, is just like rating the quality of a dentist by how many cavities his or her patients have.

Shelley Sekula “No Hyphen” Gibbs Has a Name Recognition Problem.

Here is a true story circulating around the Lampson campaign.

Veronica an 18 year old student volunteers to do phone banking at the Bay Area New Democrats headquarters in Clear Lake. The deal is, she either volunteers to work 25 hours on a campaign or she writes a term paper. So Veronica phone banks.

So she was working a call list yesterday, and phoned one of the numbers assigned to her. The following is a reconstruction, an approximation of the phone conversation.

“Hello?”

“Hello, my name is Veronica and I am a volunteer on the Nick Lampson campaign. Do you have a couple of minutes to hear about Nick’s positive message?”

“Why certainly, dear.”

“Well, Nick Lampson is running for congressman in our district. He founded the first-ever Congressional Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children, which worked to create the national Amber Alert program. When he was in congress, Nick served as the ranking member on the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee and fought hard for the resources NASA needs . . .”

“. . . .So can we count on your vote in November?”

“Well, I just want to let you know that I am glad to have used up your time and that I am a Republican. I am going to vote for Kelley.”

Click.

“Kelley?”

”Hey,” she called out to anyone in the room, ”Who’s Kelley?”

I just hope that this woman remembers how to spell Nick’s opponent’s (or one of them) name so she can get it right and show “voter intent”.

That’s Kelley with a “K”.

Kinky Friedman is a Mouth-Breathing, Knuckle-Dragging Dixiecrat

Holy Half-Nelson!

It just came to me. A bolt out of the blue.

Kinky Friedman is a mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging Dixiecrat.

How do you get all of those qualities all rolled up into this black Stetsoned, cigar (and grass) smoking (Willie doesn’t lie), boot-wearing, Guinness-drinking-in-a-moving-vehicle, minority-disparaging candidate for Texas governor?

Until recently, I thought that Zell Miller was the last specimen of Dixiecrat on the face of the earth. I have since met, through my work in Fort Bend County, several of their, previously believed extinct ilk. I thought that they had all evolved in the past twenty years. Their original protective coloration was blue, but they can now blend in well to red surroundings.

Almost all.

Kinky Friedman is a Dixiecrat.

Dixiecrats are an enigma to me. They profess all of the Democratic Party values that I embrace. They hate the war in Iraq. They think that the Republican-dominated Congress has built up a debt that will be difficult to pay down without some sacrifice. And, in addition to that, they don’t especially “cotton up” to non-white people.

How can a person hold humanistic Democratic values, and also be a racist? Be a Dixiecrat. Dixiecrats cannot separate observation from inference. It came to me when I read, as mentioned in my previous posting, that Kinky Friedman offered that he is “not a racist, but a realist”.

Bells rang.

Dixiecrats are un-self-acknowledged racists. They don’t know that they are racists because they see their conclusions as fact. Kinky said that Katrina victims who have not returned to New Orleans are “crack heads and thugs”. I know several Katrina victims. They are not crack heads. They do not knock over old ladies for their social security checks. They are unanimously pissed off at Kinky’s suggestion that this is so. This is true about Dixiecrats: they cannot differentiate between an objective observation and an inference. Their conclusions become their reality. They are realists, but sadly, only in their own minds.

So when Kinky does the n-word. When he refers to Katrina victims as criminals. When he fails to apologize for any of that, calling himself, instead, a “realist”. The explanation is this: Kinky is only being Kinky. And Kinky Friedman is a Dixiecrat.

And Kinkster fanatics want to post a comment? Forget it. This blog is moderated. Save your keystrokes. Go read Fox News instead.

Kinky Gets a Bodyguard

It could be that the Kinkster is feeling apprehensive about his negative press. People are crawling out of the woodwork with all sorts of past and present racist remarks that he is making or has made sometime in his life. They're a little mad and are demanding apologies. These days he’s got this big huge guy traveling with him.

Or is it Jesse Ventura?

Yep, that’s Jesse Ventura. Ventura is a former pro wrestler who made a run for the governorship of Minnesota as an independent candidate, and won. I mentioned Ventura in a posting about Kinky this summer. Kinky and Jesse have a shared experience in that both are nationally-known personalities who are eminently unqualified to act as the chief executive of a state government.

In defending his remarks, Kinky inserted another boot in his mouth in his assertion that “I am not a racist, I am a realist.” Well, now, just what does that mean? That racists are irrational people who rage against a race because they are ignorant of their good qualities, but that his remarks are based on a foundation of sound facts? So Kinky’s remark that Katrina victims are all a bunch of “crackheads and thugs” is based on sound and impartial observations and facts?

I have a problem with that. I know Katrina victims, and relatives of Katrina victims. I know for a fact that they don’t do crack and beat up old ladies for their social security checks. I know that they are good people. I also know that they have taken great umbrage to his remark.

Kinky is not at his best when he is serious. Actually, he is a disaster. He needs to stick to the jokes. People don’t take him seriously when he tells jokes, so they don’t know what to think when he is being serious. The common question asked: is this a joke or is he being serious?

Like this one:

Kinky bemoans the fact that Texas is not a state that allows voters to register to vote on Election Day. No, he’s being serious, now. That’s what many people credit Jesse Ventura’s win in 1998 – the fact that Minnesota law allows voters to register to vote on the same day as election day. Said Ventura :

“Every state should have same-day registration. Why should it be hard to vote? Why do Democrats and Republicans want to make it difficult to vote?”

It is this bloc of voters that are Friedman’s target audience. People who don’t regularly vote. Oh boy, that is the kind of people I want to elect my next governor.

Well, in answer to Ventura’s question, Democrats are in favor of as few restrictions on voting as possible. It is the antics of Republicans that clearly show who is in favor of disenfranchisement, especially disenfranchisement of those least likely to vote Republican - the elderly and the poor. And Democrats haven’t had a whole lot of say in how Texas runs its elections lately. But then, Jesse is from Minnesota and maybe he wasn’t straight in his facts.

Or maybe he took a few too many blows to the head in his former career.

By the way, Kinky freaks, don’t bother submitting comments to this posting. This is a clean site (well, relatively clean – at least the language is mild) and I’ve already let you have your rants in the previous posting.

Losing the Iraq War - A Carefully Wrought Plan

The Republican Party has a nickname, Grand Old Party, or GOP for short. That was a nice catchy nickname in a bygone era, but not too meaningful today. I humbly suggest a new nickname with the same acronym.

Get On Payroll

That's what Republicans are all about, you see. When you are in power, your people get on the payroll.

The Washington Post ran a story on just this kind of thing last Sunday. I missed it. I was grading tests. But now that I've read it, and you should, too, I'm madder than a one-legged pole vaulter.

Case in point. Who do we send to rebuild Iraq? Our best and brightest? No way. After the dust settled in Iraq, the White House maintained an office in the Pentagon whose sole task was to interview potential hirelings of the 1500-strong Coalition Provisional Authority or CPA. The screening process was to make sure these people were politically correct. They were asked questions about whether they voted for Dubya in 2000, whether they approved the way the government was handling things in Iraq, and whether they thought that Roe v. Wade should be overturned. Correct answerers got the job, incorrect answerers were shown the door.

No, instead of sending our best and brightest, they sent our least and loyal.

They sent a 24-year old financial naïf to reconstruct the destroyed Baghdad Stock Exchange.

They sent the accountant daughter of a neo-con supporter to manage the $13 billion Iraq budget.

To oversee Iraq's public health system they replaced a physician with a master's degree in public health and postgraduate degrees from Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth and the University of California at Berkeley with a social worker who ran a large Christian adoption agency in Michigan that urged pregnant women not to have abortions.

Of this, Frederick Smith, who served as the deputy director of the CPA's Washington office observed:

"We didn't tap -- and it should have started from the White House on down -- just didn't tap the right people to do this job. "It was a tough, tough job. Instead we got people who went out there because of their political leanings."

Is it any wonder that after three years, Iraq is still in a shambles? Is it any wonder that, in Iraq, militias spring up daily? Were I an Iraqi citizen during these times, I would be taking a hard look at the people being sent over to rebuild my country, their programs and motives, and maybe start thinking about some alternatives.

Harry Truman rebuilt Europe with The Marshall Plan. Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld rebuilt Iraq with The Sycophant Plan.

It Wasn't Just a Good Day, It Was a Very Good Day.

Oh Krishna did I have a great time today.

First, I was led by a Google search to the Sugar Land, Texas, house of the muse. The muse lives in the heart of DeLay Country, just to the right of Goebbels Gulch. The muse maintains a very stately residence, as well-appointed as one would expect muse taste.

I even detected an appreciation for early music. How A-music that muse would have on display in the muse abode a stack of 78's. I love the old records. My house is host to stacks and stacks of them. My favorite? "K-k-k-Katie".

That's what I like about Democratic values, by the way. An appreciation for the old, and an acceptance of the new. How unlike our opponents who cannot embrace new ideas of any kind and even retain those of old defeated enemies.

Who were there? Seventeen devotees of Democratic values. Nick was there and walked local blocks with a new intern. Monica asked me whether I wanted to "walk with the congressman" and my response was too automatic. When I walk blocks I walk alone because I want to spread the manpower out so I declined. Immediately after I told Monica that "I walk alone" I kicked myself. What the H-E-double-hockey-sticks had I done? Hell yes I wanted to walk with Nick. To personally see The Man in action would have been the cap to my day, month and year. So why did I do that?

Reflex.

I stood there and stared at the floor mentally kicking myself. Then saw Monica and Erica giving each other "thumbs up" signs, and I realized that I had given the right response. The honor was offered to Nick's new intern who was amazed, proud to be asked. Good for him. What stories he must have.

Monica unknowingly consigned me to walk "Red Land". Fifty-two of the most right-leaning homes in CD-22. No fun at all until I found the secret caches of Democratic families in and among them, holding on. They were fun to find. On the other hand, sometimes it was fun to find the disaffected. One gentleman, a self-admitted straight-ticket Republican, told me that he was mad as heck about Tom's antics, and was eagerly awaiting a verdict in the case brought by Ronnie Earle. I was circumspect - neglecting to mention the Abramoff issues that were dropped when Tom bolted. Heck, why push it? After all. What we need are votes to win, not points to make. He was mad already, why make him defensive?

I got back 2nd to muse. Yes, I move quickly and alone, and saw the muse send Nick and company off. We talked in the muse dinette, welcoming back other returning block walkers, listening to their positive stories. Here is what I loved to hear. Veronica Torres, candidate for Fort Bend County District Clerk walked for Nick, and spread his positive message. And she also (as did I) talked about her local race. Veronica mentioned several precinct residences that she visited, whose occupants said that they were "straight voting Republicans" and would vote as such in November, but just because she made the effort to visit them personally, they would vote for Veronica. And they made the right choice, by the way. Annie Elliott: eat bovine fecal matter. Your opponent is going to clean your clock in November and it doesn't matter how many of her campaign signs your trolls steal and deface.

And you would think that would be the end of it but it wasn't.

Then I went to Oyster Creek Park to have lunch.

Who do I see at the main food booth? Two of my favorite students feeding the people. We traded pleasantries. I think my students were a little more than impressed that their teacher was out pounding the bricks for Democratic candidates (I was in a characteristically post-block walking slovenly appearance). I managed to purchase a well-done hot dog, chips and soda from them, sat with Lampson campaign people in their booth to eat (Nick had come and gone), then got up to find my Fort Bend Democrats. They had a booth in a favored place that took advantage of the breeze.

Signs were sold. Contacts made. We had a good visit. They fed me a turkey sandwich and replenished my absent di-hydrogen mon-oxide molecules.

Albert Hollan stopped by to thank me for the appendix on my 4 September posting (Labor Day). He said that he forwarded it to others and they all had a really good time with it. That's what is is all about friends and neighbors, sharing the love and maybe a few jokes along the way. Happy to do both, Albert.

Later on, I ran about helping people take down their booths, including that of my Ann, the best person I know, whose face was too red not to help her. We got all of it done and went our separate ways.

It wasn't just a good day, it was a very good day.

Democratic Party Rally in Sugar Land September 23rd

Well there’s another event to go to here in post-DeLay Fort Bend County, Texas. The Fort Bend County Democratic Party is hosting a major party and rally this Saturday, September 23rd, in Oyster Creek Park. Here is the flyer that is being distributed with all the pertinent information:

I want to be there for part of the day, but I promised a good friend that I would help out with a gang block walk in a Sugar Land precinct. It will be my first block walk in the First Colony part of Sugar Land. I did one in New Territory, but the only thing New Territory shares with parts of Sugar Land is an odd concentration of right wing nuts. I also walked in an older northern Sugar Land precinct, and had lots of good contacts there.

This will be a nearly all day event, but I am counting on things picking up toward the end of the day – mainly because I plan on being busy in the early part of the day. My folks at the Fort Bend Democratic Club will be there selling the much-acclaimed and nationally recognized “Had Enough” lawn signs, so if you don’t have one yet, you know where to go. And if you can’t make it, they are still selling like hotcakes at Juanita’s Adopt-a-Sign campaign where you can have Juanita Jean herself write your message to Fort Bend County voters and it will be planted in DeLay Land.

I also want to make another appeal to anyone who reads this blog. Richard Morrison, who ran against Tom DeLay in 2004, has had a television ad made. I ran a You Tube of it awhile ago, but that was before the Fort Bend Democrats started trying to get some cash together to get it on the air this Fall. Play it. If you are like me and can see how this ad could give a final nudge to a fence sitter or independent voter, make a contribution to the Fort Bend Democrats’ fund.

Congress Passes Poll Tax

As we get closer and closer to Election Day, thoughts turn to getting the willing and not-so-willing voters to the polls. And then, what does the Republican-dominated House do?

They passed a poll tax.

Well, that’s what I call it.

In 2008, in order to register to vote, you must show proof of citizenship.

What is proof of citizenship?

1) A birth certificate
2) A certificate of naturalization
3) A US passport
4) Any document that requires any of the above before you can get it.

Here in Texas, all you have to do is have a valid driver’s license or an ID card issued by the DPS, and you get to fill out a voter registration form. The idea is to make it as easy as possible for people to vote so there is nothing standing in their way on Election Day.

It’s hard enough getting people to vote. Why put up a barrier?

Is it because Democrats are less likely to have proof of citizenship than Republicans? Poor people have trouble enough getting the light bill paid. Getting up the $35 scratch it takes to get a copy of their birth certificate is just about the last thing on their list of things to spend their money on. Elderly people on fixed incomes are in a similar bind. And what about people who would vote, could vote, but don’t want to show their personal and private documents for some reason? And what is the chance that all of these are what they are, and also Democrats?

Yes, in the guise of taking a tougher stance on immigrants and creating “safe ballots” (whatever that is), your government has passed a bill designed to disenfranchise the poor, the elderly, and people with poor record-keeping skills.

This creates an unreasonable financial hardship on people as a precondition to exercise their franchise. Here is the text of the US Code that addresses Poll Taxes.

TITLE 42 CHAPTER 20 SUBCHAPTER I-A § 1973h

§ 1973h. Poll taxes

(a) Congressional finding and declaration of policy against enforced payment of poll taxes as a device to impair voting rights
The Congress finds that the requirement of the payment of a poll tax as a precondition to voting

(i) precludes persons of limited means from voting or imposes unreasonable financial hardship upon such persons as a precondition to their exercise of the
franchise,

(ii) does not bear a reasonable relationship to any legitimate State interest in the conduct of elections, and

(iii) in some areas has the purpose or effect of denying persons the right to vote because of race or color. Upon the basis of these findings, Congress declares that the constitutional right of citizens to vote is denied or abridged in some areas by the requirement of the payment of a poll tax as a precondition to voting.

The only way they are going to make this fly is to ban any government fee to produce documentation of citizenship. It all has to be free, otherwise it is a poll tax.

Depend on Republicans to act more and more poorly as we get closer and closer to the day when we all get to show them the door.

White House Sends Dick to Sekula-Gibbs

Well it’s out all over that “Deadeye” Dick Cheney is coming to Houston in early October, and that he will use one of his days out here stumping and fundraising for Texas CD-22 special election candidate and general election write-in candidate Shelley Sekula-Gibbs.

So help is coming in the form of one of the most detestable, deceptive demagogues that the Republican Party and the Bush government can send. But no $3 million.

Heck, you might say that Shelley Sekula-Gibbs got Dick from the White House in terms of campaign support.

The Fort Bend Herald reports that “Deadeye” Dick has done this once before in CD-22 when he raised a cool half a million for Tom DeLay in December 2005. And I guess Tom is putting that money to good use in his legal defense.

So could he do that for Shelley? Heck, why not, all that has changed is the candidate, name recognition, and the fact that the candidate isn’t on the ballot in one election, and on the ballot, but not as a Republican on the other. And that’s it, right? Well, then there’s Dick’s 19% approval rating (read that as 81% disapproval rating).

But everyone likes Dick, don’t they?

Quoted in The Fort Bend Herald, Greg Gillen, chairman of the Fort Bend County Republican Party said of Dick’s visit:

"What it says is, this race for the 22nd District is important.I think this is indicative that the White House is aware of this race, the White House is concerned about this race and the White House believes it can be won. Otherwise, they wouldn't be going through these efforts for Shelley."

Well that has to be true. The race is important and it can be won. This is so obvious. So obvious that instead of sending $3 million in cold hard cash, they send Dick. She wanted the $3 million, but she got Dick instead.

What is the Lampson campaign going to do about this? They could really paint Iraq all over Shelley, the one who hasn’t really stated any opinion at all about the Iraq War. Having Dick “It Was Right Thing To Do” Cheney in her camp will give everyone a clear idea what she thinks of Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld’s war. So what are they going to do? Well, I’ll tell you one thing they won’t do is Dick. They won’t. Lampson campaign manager, Mike Malaise says this:

"We're not focused on that kind of thing."We're focused on getting our message out to the voters"

“That kind of thing”, I guess, is waving the Cheney Flag over Shelley.

Contrast this to yet another congressional race in Washington state. The Los Angeles Times is running a story that Darcy Burner, Democratic candidate for Washington’s 8th congressional district, is having a field day over Karl Rove’s appearance, last Friday, in suburban Seattle where he headlined a fundraiser for freshman Republican Rep. Dave Reichert.

Reichert got Rove. Shelley got Dick.

Laying low on this, Reichert did nothing to publicize Rove’s visit. But Burner was on it like white on rice. Reichert is a moderate Republican, so Burner went on the attack to expose to voters the differences between her and her opponent vis-à-vis the Iraq War.

When you look at the two races, you can see why the Lampson campaign is soft peddling this visit. The Washington CD-8 race is a toss-up to slightly Republican-favored. Nick is running against a Libertarian and 3 write-in candidates. If I were Nick I would be getting out the positive message, too. Let them fire the first negative campaign shot (and you know it’s coming).
And you know, you also have to wonder why Dick is coming to town. I mean REALLY coming to town. Houston is the capitol of the oil patch, and Dick has his ties in all of that. I suspect he’ll also get to shoot a round of golf, maybe go out in the field and blast a few doves out of existence.

Uh oh . . .

It’s early yet, people. Avoid Dick Whittington's fate (and face). Go out and buy one of those neon orange vests. Get one before October 3rd. And for the truly alarmed, go find some Kevlar.

Raising the Bar: Texas SBOE Increases High School Graduation Requirements

I wanted to post something about this on Friday, but was waylayed by the promises of a budding photographer.

On Friday, the Texas State Board of Education gave preliminary approval to two high school graduation plans that increase the level students will need to rise to in order to graduate. Final approval is expected in November.

Note well, the lower level Minimum Graduation program was not changed. But bowing to requirements set forth in HB 1 signed into law last May, the SBOE had to increase the number of credits needed for graduation to 26 for students in the Recommended High School Graduation Program and the Distinguished Achievement Program. In addition students in both programs will be required to earn four credits each in math and science.

Who will be affected? Freshmen entering High School in 2007.

Four units of English and social studies are already required of students presently enrolled in either program, but as of now, the Recommended and Distinguished Plans require only 3 core sciences. The new plan ups the ante to four. The plan calls for students to earn four credits in math, which must include Algebra I and II, geometry and a fourth course for which Algebra II is a prerequisite if they are pursuing the Distinguished Achievement Program. That fourth course could include pre-calculus, Advanced Placement (AP) calculus, (AP) statistics. Of course IB, AP and College Now classes all qualify as a 4th course.

Under the Recommended plan, Algebra II is not a prerequisite for the fourth math class.

In science, the students would be required to earn credits in biology, chemistry and physics, plus an additional lab-based course. The course referred to as “Integrated Physics and Chemistry” (aka Physical Science) will be offered and credit for the course can be used to fulfill one of the science credits through the 2011-2012 school year but that year it could not be taken as a senior-level course. After 2012, the IPC course would only remain a course option for students in the Minimum Graduation Plan.

And this is where it gets interesting: The SBOE is lowering the bar on what constitutes a fourth year lab science. In addition to AP and IB lab sciences, these courses would also qualify: Aquatic Science, Astronomy, and Anatomy and Physiology. Gone? Geology, Meterology and Oceanography. New? Earth and Space Science and Engineering.

Someone has been working to get Geology into the official state curriculum for years and years. Looks like they won. My school used to offer Geology, or as they used to call it “Rocks for Jocks”.

At present, none of the existing non-core sciences are listed as lab science. And this too: just because the Texas SBOE says it’s a lab science, doesn’t mean the Universities will accept them as such.

To get this done without doing too much damage to Fine Arts and electives, The SBOE upped the minimum number of units to graduate under the more rigorous plans from 24 to 26.

And it looks like all of the school districts in Texas have 4 years to turn nearly all of their IPC teachers into Biology, Chemistry or Physics teachers. Biggest impact? Physics, by far, Physics.

Students avoid physics like the plague. Two-thirds of the students at my place of work find another way. In 2012 they have to take it to graduate. My guess is that school districts will be unwilling not to let two-thirds of their kids graduate because they can’t pass physics. What will they do instead? Water down the content. Make it simple.

Make it so simple that it is wrong.

Scarey People These Fort Bend Democrats

We have this paper in the Richmond-Rosenberg area, in Fort Bend County, Texas, called the Herald Coaster. Today they ran an article that you can read online about Thursday’s Fort Bend Republican Party executive confab.

Local Republican candidates attended the meeting and apparently brought their crying rags. Their unified cry of despair?

“The Democratic Party in Fort Bend County this year is well-funded and has been highly active”.

Here are each of their sob stories.

Annie Elliott, the Elliott running for District Clerk, not the one running for District Judge, apparently feels the heat in her race as she said this to the executive committee:

"The Democrats are working hard - extremely hard - and it's scary. So I come to you asking you to please continue to work with us".

Annie is scared of our hard work? That makes me glad.

Bud Childers, the one running for Judge of County Court at Law #1, “urged his party to offer financial support for its candidates”. I’m not sure Childers himself needs the money, but heck, maybe the guy is hurting.

Jeff Council, the one running for County Treasurer, says that the Republican Party needs to get the Republican vote out, "because we are seeing the Democrats are working hard." Yeah, Council is one of those fat cats, money doesn’t seem to be an issue. Maybe hard work is an issue with Council.

Ken Cannata (aka Stealth Republican), the one running for Justice of the Peace in Precinct 3, has a problem with Republican image. He told the executive committee that

"Over the last three to four months, the Republicans have not done well and the Democrats are having a field day".

That takes guts, by the way. It takes guts to rag on the very people who have cast their party into disarray, that their party is in disarray.

Ken Bryant said . . . ah heck what do we care what Ken Bryant said. Who the heck is Ken Bryant anyway?

John Zerwas, the city boy anesthesiologist running for state house in a very rural district, apparently doesn’t have a problem with his opponent, but does have a problem with the party under whose banner he is running for office. Zerwas said that “his biggest concern with the race is his own party”. I guess John is feeling the pinch of being on the side of shameful greed and corruption. I wonder whether John is running as a Republican because John Kerry’s campaign didn’t thank him enough for his contribution in ’04.

Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, was not at the meeting but Charlie Howard, who is running unopposed in his district, mentioned that even Richard Perry has expressed concerns about the state of the Republican Party in Fort Bend County.

So State and local Republicans are running scared. Scared of the nasty Democrats who are highly active and well-funded.

Well, as one of those active Democrats, I can say this: yes, be afraid, be very afraid. We are working with righteous wrath and we will crush you. We will bury you in your own lies, deceits and corruption. We won’t have to dig the hole, that you have already done for us, thank you very much. All we have to do is spade it back in.

But where in the H-E-double-hockey-sticks did the Republican candidates get the impression that we were running a well-funded campaign? We just do the hard work. We block walk, phone bank, and fund raise. I myself just got off the phone talking to a couple of hundred people from Vermont to California today about our highly visible race. Guess what? They all knew about it. We don’t call the PACs and the fat cats, just average Joe Voter. It’s hard work but I think it will pay off in the end.

By the way, if anyone reading this wants to get in on the action you have a couple of places you can go. Click on the Help Turn Fort Bend Blue graphic and help us get a television ad aired on in the greater Houston media market. Or click on Juanita's “Had Enough” sign and adopt one of these beauties from Juanita Jean.