The Texas Progressive Alliance urges you to exercise your freedom of electoral expression in ongoing special elections, and in the upcoming primary runoffs. dbc adds, "...if you absolutely must."
Your host at dbcgreentx.net also thanks PDiddie for his kind assessment of last Thursday's post and wishes all his comrades a joyous Walpurgisnacht/Beltane. One other small point to make before we begin this week's Texoblogosphere: I tried to watch the whole video of Michelle Wolf at the WHCD, and I got about halfway through it. I know this is make me look like some uptight old white dude, but...no matter how well deserved her cheap shots were, she just. wasn't. that. funny. ============ Here's last week's lefty blog and news roundup from around the state! In lieu of any scheduled debates between Democratic gubernatorial sacrificial lambs—er we mean competitors—Andrew White and Lupe Valdez, some candidate fora happened during the past week where both were questioned about their campaigns and plans for the state. At the Jolt Texas (Latin@ youth) convention in Austin, that organization endorsed White after Valdez "came across as ill-prepared or -informed," according to Patrick Svitek at the Texas Tribune, in explaining her record with ICE as Dallas County sheriff. White and US Senate hopeful Beto O'Rourke came in for some tough questioning as well. (Good on the Jolt Texans for doing the job that our state's corporate media—taking too many campaign advertising dollars, or perhaps simply lacking the will—can't get done.) Neil at All People Have Value posted a picture of the violence initiated by HISD board president Rhonda Skillern-Jones against lawful and peaceful citizens advocating for Houston school children at a recent meeting, and Durrel Douglas at Houston Justice reported on the outcome of that meeting: the minority schools in question will not be loaned out for privatization. And Stace at Dos Centavos saw the tactics employed by the board to silence dissent as the same old, same old. Raise your hand if you survived Earth Day weekend with your mental health intact, or at least undiminished. In the Lone Star State, we just endured a three-day onslaught of unofficial holidays: Santa Maria Juana Day (4/20), San Jacinto Day (a school holiday in my childhood years, commemorating the decisive battle in the War for Texas Independence), and an Earth Day with a case of middle-age existential dread appropriate for a holiday soon to turn 50.
Yesterday's Earth Day celebration at Discovery Green was not fertile ground for a Green Party apparatchik chasing petition signatures. The overwhelming majority of attendees whom I approached told me that they had voted in one of the March primary elections; I didn't ask which primary, but it was a Democrat-heavy crowd, as you might imagine. This phenomenon doesn't occur exclusively because environmentally-minded voters mistake the Democratic Party for a bulwark against industrial pollution and global warming: Plenty of progressive voters voted to support progressive candidates, regardless of their chances of winning—which, as a longtime Green I can respect, whether or not I agree with it. The Sunday Streets event in Third Ward was no better. ============ With this week's lefty blog post roundup, the Texas Progressive Alliance won't be flying Southwest Airlines for awhile. Not even for five grand in cash and another G in flight vouchers, thanks. In that *ahem* spirit, Socratic Gadfly looked at Southwest's fatal engine blowout and sees it as a continuation of past bad practices. High Plains Public Radio reports—and links to more in the Houston Chronicle (paywall)--regarding the Texas gerrymandering lawsuit, with opening arguments before the Supreme Court this morning. The Texas Observer posits that disgraced former Congressman Blake Farenthold was one of the undeserved beneficiaries of those goofy, and possibly illegal, maps. And Alexa Ura of the TexTrib, at the SCOTUS today, has the explainer. (Three weeks ago she reminded us why this 7-year-old-saga has everybody angry.) Sigh. I didn't go to the State Convention of the Green Party of Texas Saturday. Some of you know why. Thus, as of this morning, all I know about what happened there is what I've read toward the bottom of this entry.
I also didn't go to the Art Car Parade, which I'd been looking forward to with my customary eagerness. Despite long-held plans to petition downtown, where 100,000 Art Car fans were likely to show up despite the damp and chilly conditions, I joined a few dozen peace activists at Westheimer and Post Oak to hold signs and chant. I'll post something about my weird weekend later today. Meanwhile, we present the weekly adaptation of Brains and Eggs's Weekly Wrangle. *****
The Texas Progressive Alliance is packing some extra antihistamines in addition to bringing you the best of the left of Texas from last week. Scroll to the end to see more about the Battle of the Beans.
US Senate candidates Beto O'Rourke and Sema Hernandez met for the first time in the wake of the Democratic primary almost a month ago, and Geoff Campbell interviewed Hernandez afterwards for Progressive Army. The face-to-face seemed more than a little stand-offish, but O'Rourke appears to have won Hernandez's vote—if not her endorsement—in the 2018 general election. Socratic Gadfly has an update to a previous post on what clearly appears to be a weird triangle in Marlin between Houston real estate "flippers," a former VA hospital building, and the General Land Office and P. Bush. Ethan Couch—he was the Brains and Eggs' 2015 Texan of the Year for being responsible (a thinly relative term when referring to Couch) for the word "affluenza"—is leaving jail this morning and beginning his ten-year-probationary sentence. Stephen Young at the Dallas Observer has the details. Also blogged here a couple of weeks before Couch's award: a disease associated with affluenza is...gulliblemia. Somehow the March for Our Lives just wasn't on my radar. A lot of friends, particularly from First UU Church, marched Saturday here in Houston. I decided to take a bike ride with some other friends and friends of theirs. It was good for me to catch up and make some new acquaintances; however, as the day went on, I felt an increasing sense of FOMO. (That's Fear Of Missing Out, for my less Web-savvy readers.) Dammit, I said to myself, I could have been collecting signatures for the Greens, assuming that not every registered voter at the March had voted in a primary election this year. I didn't even think about putting the event on the HCGP Petitioning Opportunities calendar until too late.
My clipboards and I also didn't hang out near the gates of the In Bloom Music Festival over the weekend as I'd kind of wanted to. In addition, there was the Lyons Avenue Renaissance Festival (no, not that kind of Renaissance) in Fifth Ward. But I'm not sweating it too profusely, especially since I'm not certain how many other Greenies across the state, if any, are actively petitioning. Massive turnout in early voting across Texas is the news everyone is talking about as campaigns, candidates, and volunteers make the final push for Election Day. The Texas Progressive Alliance wishes to congratulate tonight's winners and console those who don't, offering encouragement to refocus (in some way of their choosing) for November.
DBC once again adds that those who do not vote in either corporate party's primary may sign the Green Party's ballot access petition. If you want to collect signatures from your nearest and dearest, read up on the process here and download copies of the petition sheet. ============ As one of the perceived front-runners in the Texas Democratic primary for governor, Stephen Young at the Dallas Observer says that it's impossible to determine Lupe Valdez's chances of winning. Grits for Breakfast posts his collation of criminal justice news that includes the growing movement on the part of some Republicans (!) to end the partisan election of judges in Texas. A GOP 3rd Court of Appeals prospect is evidence of the problem that needs fixing. Sorry about the past week of silence, faithful readers (all three of you). Nothing was happening that I could distill into a coherent entry, and I've been wicked fatigued for most of that time. Tonight, however, the Harris County Green Party has elections for half of its Steering Committee, including one co-chairperson, that could determine its future...or whether, indeed, it will have a future.
In this collection of Blogrolls, of particular interest to me is the Grungy story. Rice University's Marching Owl Band has already formally renamed its band hall in honor of my friend John "Grungy" Gladu, an active MOBster for the better part of 44 years. Grungy first "marched" with the band when he was a senior at Scarborough High School, when the MOB reached out to some area high school bands to provide some extras to satirize Texas Tech's gigantic marching band, which at that time was the nation's largest. He missed a few years when his then-wife Rebecca took a medical job in Hawai'i. ============ A Texas SBOE candidate called the Parkland high school shooting a "false flag" and the children survivors "crisis actors." Texas Freedom Network reveals the unhinged social media posts of District 11 Republican Cheryl Surber. RG Ratcliffe at Texas Monthly sees Michael Quinn Sullivan's latest stunt--mailing a postcard to voters that looked like a legal notice--as something considerably worse than a dirty political trick. It's not just Greg Abbott who's working hard (and spending hard) to defeat Rep. Sarah Davis in #HD134. Jessica Glenza at The Guardian writes about infamous anti-vaxxer Andrew Wakefield's full-court press to help ultraconservative lackey Susanna Dokupil win the Republican primary. (dbc adds: Whilst lunching at Mainely Sandwiches yesterday, after Manchester City finished thrashing Arsenal in the English League Cup final on ESPN, I saw an actual attack ad from Sarah Davis's campaign addressing the many oddities that Ms. Dokupil has exhibited. It's interesting, and perversely gratifying, to see a relatively pleasant Republican like Rep. Davis fight back and pull no punches.) Harris County voters: If you feel an affinity for one of the two branches of the Corporate Party, and you feel compelled to vote in one of the primary elections, early voting starts tomorrow. If you don't feel that attachment, please consider the following alternatives:
Of all the blog posts and articles cited below, I most fervently recommend Brene Brown's. In addition, just to get a jump on this week, if you plan to vote in the Democratic Primary, here are some endorsements from ================ Nancy Pelosi energized Harris County Democrats and Mike Pence revved up Dallas Republicans at each party's respective fundraisers ahead of the GOTV effort for the primaries. The San Antonio Current offers the city's voters their primary guide. And Grits for Breakfast is watching DA races in Bexar, Dallas, McLennan, and Smith counties. The Lewisville Texan Journal covered the Democrats from Highland Village, Flower Mound, and Lewisville who met the voters and discussed the issues Saturday at the Barn in Highland Village’s Double Tree Ranch. The candidates discussed an array of topics, including gun control, the justice system, climate change, and funding. Moderated by the party’s parliamentarian George Nassar, the event featured debates between 63rd state district candidates Richard Wolf and Laura Haines, 26th congressional district candidates Will Fisher and Linsey Fagan, county judge candidates Willie Hudspeth and Diana Leggett and county chair candidates Angie Cadena and Phyllis Wolper. In the Texas Observer, Michael Barajas covered the social media storm of Texas public education supporters who "blew the whistle" on conservatives trying to engineer some Lone Star-styled voter suppression. The highly motivated bloc of Democratic voters (teachers and administrators) who've been on the front lines of the Lege's War on Education for the past several sessions made a mockery of the effort. #BlowingTheWhistle
Juanita Jean at the World's Most Dangerous Beauty Salon passes along a couple of primary recommendations. DBC Green picked up on "Bob" O'Rourke's duplicity regarding his promise (videotaped and YouTubed) to debate his primary opponents. At post time, that doesn't appear to be on his schedule. Texas Rural Voices conducted an interview with D LG hopeful Mike Collier when he visited Caldwell recently. The first of that four-parter focuses on education and property taxes. Off the Kuff questions the assumption that Republicans have the advantage for November in Harris County. And as with so many other hopeful Democrats, Ted at jobsanger wants to believe that Texas might really be turning blue this year. SocraticGadfly has some First Amendment and other questions about the Mueller indictments. ================ Neil at All People Have Value said school shootings are an intended result of America's gun culture rather than an aberration. And Brene Brown speaks truth to bullshit on gun reform. Texas Leftist shares news about the brave students of Houston's Austin High School, who protested the ICE detention of an undocumented classmate just months shy of his graduation. Is it truly the priority of our federal law enforcement to persecute high school students who have done nothing wrong? #FreeDennis Texas Vox celebrates the closing of three coal-fired electricity plants in the state. Paul Battaglio, Doug Goodman, and Meghna Sabharwal at the Houston Chronicle voice concerns about how nonprofits are handling sexual harassment allegations. Jason Pittman and Anita Ledbetter at the Rivard Report explain how Trump's tariffs on solar panels will affect Texans. ================ In lighter blogging fare... Jim Schutze at the Dallas Observer considers AG Ken Paxton as nothing less than an agent of Satan, and considers him representative of the RPT at large. The Lunch Tray highlights a class difference in how parents treat junk food for their kids. Stace at Dos Centavos is still sad that RodeoHouston doesn't have any Tejano Music on GoTejano day. But San Antonio is having one awesome music fest in March with the Tejano Music Awards Fan Fair Weekend. Because without Tex-Mex culture, politics is pretty boring. Millard Fillmore's Bathtub reposted Phillis Wheatley's inspiring poem about George Washington to note Presidents Day, and reminds you to fly your flag. And Texas expat Elise Hu prepares for the Year of the Dog. The Texas Progressive Alliance reminds everyone that early voting for the primaries begins next week as it brings you this week's roundup.
In the interest of equal time, DBC reminds you that Progressives who don't identify with either the Democrats or the Republicans have the right and/or duty to avoid voting in the primaries. The precinct conventions for the Green and Libertarian Parties happen Tuesday evening, 13 March. County conventions are Saturday morning the 17th. Venues for both in Harris County are still to be determined. ===================== Off the Kuff emphasizes that the bathroom bill issue isn't going away any time soon. Stace provides some insight on the latest voter registration data from Harris County. Socratic Gadfly notes that various activist groups can't get on the same endorsements page. Neil at All People Have Value said it is okay not to give money to the rich. APHV is part of NeilAquino.com. For all the press and hype which surrounds the leading Democratic candidates for Governor, Texas Leftist continues to wonder when the actual FUNDRAISING will show up. Less than a month from the primary, it’s past time to make some money moves!! ===================== And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs. G. Elliott Morris interprets the state of the polls. Durrel Douglas finds lessons from the Astros for Democrats. Juanita would like to know when Rep. Blake Farenthold is going to pay us taxpayers back for that sexual harassment settlement money. Paradise in Hell collects a list of things Mike Pence was surprised to learn. The TSTA Blog casts a wary eye on the latest anti-education campaign from Empower Texans. Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!! It did not entirely escape my attention that Houston finally threw a free downtown Mardi Gras celebration. However, despite the unusually warm weather conditions, I did not get downtown. Instead I spent a big chunk of Saturday in Montrose, in a deep soul-searching session with some of my Green comrades: identifying sources of internal conflicts, recognizing are own culpability, figuring out ways to respond better when confrontations arise, and describing the emotional toll the last few years have taken on us as we have striven to the continued existence of a progressive political movement.
============ Here's the blog post and news roundup from around the state... Socratic Gadfly notes that various state Democratic activist groups can't get on the same endorsements page. Houston Justice names five things Texas Democrats could learn from the Houston Astros. In the Texas Senate District 10 D primary, the Texas Tribune finds the 2016 Clinton/Sanders feud still being contested. Jonathan Tilove at the Statesman also covered the Dem primary for TX-21 and heard the same echoes of the national party debate between the liberal/progressive candidates—Derrick Crowe, Elliott McFadden, and Mary Wilson—and the centrist money leader, Joseph Kopser. |
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