Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Round-Up

A day late and a dollar short (as usual) but...

It is Monday, and that means it is time for another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance's weekly blog round-up. Here is your round-up for April 6, 2009.

Neil at Texas Liberal writes about Off the Kuff takes a look.

Justin at AAA-Fund Blog writes about the Pew study indicating Asian American students in Fort Bend and Pasadena ISDs face some of the highest segregation rates in the nation.

At McBlogger, we take a look at Ag Commissioner Todd Staples' efforts to make people sick. Nice work, Todd!

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme is thoroughly disgusted with the crony-loving Texas Supreme Court which is hereby officially renamed the Texas Cronies' Protection Agency. Workers and consumers beware!
Labor gets its own television talk show, as MSNBC prepares to introduce Ed Schultz as part of its evening progressive lineup. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs has the details.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson has a round up of The state of the stimulus money in Texas.

WhosPlayin's MexicoBob took time to poke fun at the Republican Tax Day Tea Parties, wondering what other necessary evils that Republicans might protest next.

Over at TexasKaos Libby Shaw updates us on Houston KBR corporation's onging legal problems. It seems they got paid and paid and paid to create electrical death traps for our troops. As one civilan expert put it , " It was horrible - some of the worst electrical work I have ever seen. Read the rest here:
Lawsuit Claims KBR Responsible for Deaths of US Troops in Iraq


BossKitty at TruthHugger was struck by a single line on the news describing an Austin man turned away from medical care for lack of insurance, then going on a violent rampage, No Insurance, Meds Denied, Tate Mayhem and Perryman Murder - Op Ed. On a lighter note, it is amusing to watch opponents to gay marriage wring their hands in despair every time a court reverses the ban, Gay Marriage Apocalypse - Really Now

Vince at Capitol Annex points out that Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-Tyler) has decided that the Iowa Supreme Court gay marriage decision signals the end of American civilization.

Just So You Know...

Folks, I have it on good authority that the picture at left is of the Obama's arrival at the White House this afternoon for their meetings with the Bush family. Seeing that reminds me of how giddy I still am from election night and I can't wait for his team to get on with the business of governing the country. Yet I realize that a significant part of the electorate is not happy.

At all.

I mean the Black/White; Christian/Muslim, Socialist/Communist, Terrorist-sympathizer won, and I’m sure a lot of people are wondering how the hell that happened. Of course, a lot of those folks live here in Texas, which predictably fell into the McCain column on election night. But I’ve noticed something strange since then, and I wonder if any of you are experiencing the same thing. Right now I’m calling it the “If an election happens and I voted for the losing candidate(s), does it still count if I don’t talk about it?” syndrome.

I mean, this was the first time I’d ever come to work the day after a national election, and no one wanted to talk politics. Last Wednesday was a political dead zone around my office building, and dramatically different from the last national election. I could tell that some folks were upset about the results. I also know that a lot of people were very pleased with the outcome. While in conversation with like-minded people I’ve expressed my justifiable joy at Barack Obama’s victory and overwhelming pride at its historic significance. However I (and seemingly everyone else) basically tip-toed around the folks on the losing side of the election, and let them grieve in their own way. Well no more.

This post is my official notice that I’ve ended that policy and will from this point forward express my unbridled pride and optimism towards the incoming Obama administration every chance I get. I’ve been unhappy after elections too, yet it didn’t stop me from discussing the results with people who agreed or disagreed with me. In other words, I don’t really care if you’re over it or not, although I hope you are. You just can’t expect for the nearly 3.5 million of us in Texas who voted for the winning candidate to continue to spare your feelings.

I guess looking back it was predictable that something like the “If an election happens and I voted for the losing candidate(s), does it still count if I don’t talk about it?” syndrome would happen...

I remember a conversation I had in Nov. 2004 with a guy who worked in my building, let's just call him G.D. Now G.D. was a conservative. I mean to the core. The kind of person who would get all fired up listening to Hannity, Limbaugh, and Fox News and come to work looking for someone with an opposing point of view to argue with. Invariably, he’d find me and rattle off the talking points of the day, and I’d invariably rebut them. This went on practically every day for the 2 years we worked together in that building, and while I disagreed with his positions on just about everything, I definitely respected G.D. for his commitment to his opinions, and willingness to defend them in open debate.

After the 2004 election Bush was reelected and a Republican majority in Congress elected, and I made the point to G.D. that Bush and the Republicans were most likely going to overreach, and that it would come back to hurt them in future elections. He vehemently denied that would be the case, and laid out the argument that the Republicans were more in tune with the American people than Democrats/Liberals/Progressives. I simply said “wait and see.”

Well, the Republicans under G.W. Bush not only overreached, they did so seemingly as a matter of policy. So much so that a lot of us were/are suffering from outrage fatigue, making it impossible to stay angry at anything for too long because the next outrage is always right around the corner. You had to pace yourself in order to maintain your sanity during the Bush administration.

And lo and behold the last two election cycles have proven me right, with the 2006 Congressional elections flipping control of the House and Senate to the Democrats, and the last Tuesday’s results speak for themselves. The funny thing is that after the 2006 Congressional elections, G.D. stopped talking politics with me. Just like that. Cold turkey. Anything but politics. I thought it was strange at the time, and an isolated case. However with the overwhelming results from last Tuesday apparent, I recognize it for the serious ailment that it is, and that its effects are more widespread than previously thought.

Regardless, pretending there’s not a problem is not helpful to anyone, so I’m not going to do that. I just hope y’all get over it soon.

One Of These Days I'll Get It Together And Submit a Round-UP Post

Until then, please check out the following from folks who already have their stuff together.

It is the Monday after the election, and that means it is time for another Texas Progressive Alliance weekly blog round-up--but with a twist. In this edition, TPA member blogs bring you some of their best posts from the last year of election coverage. Enjoy this trip down memory lane, courtesy of the TPA.

Muse enjoyed all things Hillary leading up to the March 4th Texas Primary. There was the Hillary endorsement post that made her mom cry. A high point was the event where Muse fulfilled her lifelong dream to touch Bill Clinton. (Little did she know there would be a more up close and personal opportunity.) She got to see Hillary four times in person, including this event. Even her Prius got in the act: Prius Owners for Hillary!

BossKitty at TruthHugger is angry that Sarah Palin's nasty rhetoric has ignited hateful fallout, she let the white Supremacist Genie Out Of The Bottle, Thanks Sarah - There are still 'stone aged' creatures marching around calling themselves Christians, wearing NAZI paraphernalia! Woe be to anyone who would harm the first family of America! On a more personal note, BossKitty has ideas about what to do when you lose your job ... but, the most daunting agenda on our plate is that our New America Must Reduce It’s Seven Deadly Sins if we want to survive as a nation.

Brains and Eggs had the good, the bad, the ugly, and some TBD in a series of election postmortems, and then a little more of each. PDiddie wrapped last week with the finger-pointing and recriminations that marked the last throes of the McCain-Palin campaign, which included an luxury undergarment update.

It's been a tumultuous week for everyone, but at McBlogger it was remarkably calm. We're chalking it up to a change in prescription medications. First up was Donna Keel attacking Austin Interfaith. Then there was an attack on Diana Maldonado by her parish priest and, for us, that was enough religion for all week. The funniest thing we saw was a commercial shot by former celebrities going after Al Franken that made us want to move to Minnesota and vote for him. There was also some funny about people upset that they weren't getting help from the Federal Government, even though they didn't need it. Wrapping everything up was our final farewell to those who loved them some Austin Proposition 2.

Justin at AAA-Fund Blog covered the presidential primacaucus in Texas including Clinton’s sweep of Asian American surrogates and both candidates' Asian American outreach . Justin also scolded Hubert Vo, evaluated Noriega’s immigration plan, and was amazed that both Barack Obama and Sherrie Matula were "That Ones."

Off the Kuff has some early observations about what happened on Election Day, plus a look at turnout figures and statewide trends.

At Texas Kaos, the bitter and the sweet mix together as we look back on an amazing rollercoaster of an election season. While it looked like there was a contest for the U.S. Senate nomination, Boadicea put together Rick's answers for Democracy for Texas to paint a picture of the candidate, This is Rick Noriega-Texas Progressive Leader Covering the snark beat, our friend from the Soggy North, Fake Consultant, gave some pointers to a hockey mom thrust onto the national stageOn Dressing for Success, Part One, or, How Much is Armani, Anyway? and followed up with more helpful tips in On Dressing for Success, Part Two, Or, We Costume Palin… for 2/3 off! Lightseeker took a reasoned and sober look at a more serious element this election: Respecting Life, Making Hard Choices and finally makes the point that the Nov 4 vote was not an ending, but a beginning, Looking Now, Looking Forward.

Ah the memories at The Texas Cloverleaf during the 2008 election season. The candidates would make their case on WWE Monday Night Raw. We learned that McCain would lose early on, with our own Congressman Michael Burgess advising him on healthcare. We wished Governor Palin well on her first Grandparents Day. We learned Texas Republicans can't figure out education, much less spell it correctly. But we finally came out on top with Barack Obama, and some mixed Texas results. Here is to a classic 2008!

Vince Leibowitz of Capitol Annex focused a considerable amount of energy this cycle covering Texas Democrats' attempts to retake the Texas House of Representatives. From racist mailers and decitful TV ads in Dallas and Houston area House districts to the battle to unseat Texas' most ethically compromised legislator, down to catching Republicans telling blatant lies, this was a busy cycle in Texas. In the primary, he was one of a few Texas bloggers who supported Senator Hillary Clinton, and offered her this open letter when she left the race.

Neil at Texas Liberal offers up his post on early voting in Downtown Houston. The post tells what Democrats Neil enjoyed voting for and also has colorful pictures that will please the eye.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme debunks 10 Republican excuses.

In the 2008 primary and election, Jobsanger continued his penchant for supporting losing candidates by backing Bill Richardson, Rick Noriega, Sherrie Matula and Nancy Moffatt, before finally breaking through with a winner in Barack Obama.

What a long strange journey it has been for the Easter Lemming. Gary has started pushing for a poll-workers union after working the primary and then another election this Spring. He found out people read blogs about as much as newspapers! Guess who the Easter Lemming supported? And finally, he ended too tired to party but not too tired to blog with a special mention that MoveOn.Org is bigger and more important than the NRA in politics now.. And here is the rest of it.

Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Round-Up

Hey, better late than never, right? I have been kind of busy the past few days with an unwanted guest named Ike and cleaning up the mess he left behind. But enough with the excuses, here’s the latest edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Round-Up.

This week, many bloggers in Houston and in the Gulf Coast region are without power and digging out from Hurricane Ike. We extend our best wishes for a speedy recovery not only to our member bloggers in these regions but to all citizens in the areas hit by Ike.

Why does Sarah Palin hate wolves? The Texas Cloverleaf clues us in.

Everybody knows that this year's wedge'em and hate'em issue is Hispanics immigration. CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme says Texas leads the way with banning rents in Farmers Branch, denying passports to citizens in the Valley and threatening document checks during an evacuation.

During the preparations for Hurricane Ike, Off the Kuff noted yet another lawsuit filed against Farmers Branch for its ongoing war against immigrants and apartment renters.

Sen. John Cornyn claims to be voting "Texas values" when he consistently rubber-stamps Bush in the U. S. Senate. Eye On Williamson asks, since when have torture, spying on Americans and misleading the country on matters of war and peace been Texas values?

PDiddie survived Ike almost exactly as he predicted.

BossKitty at TruthHugger wonders if disaster lessons recently learned, will be used as we watch Hurricane Ike Recovery, Texas Style

Colloquialisms are a wonderful rhetorical device to create an instant sense of commonality within the minds of the voting public. However, they can at times be misconstrued (right, Governor Swift?) which is why McBlogger took some time to offer Sen. Obama (The BEST!) a phrase he could use that can't possibly be interpreted as anything other than an attack on John McCain and his worthless ideas, proposals and suggestions.

North Texas Liberal examines in-depth the Palin pick, comparing and contrasting her with Obama's VP pick of Joe Biden, and dissecting the media's coverage of Sarah Palin.

jobsanger writes about how United States interference into Bolivia's internal affairs have gotten American ambassadors kicked out of two countries in South America, and how some politicians can't refuse even a bad photo op.

Vince at Capitol Annex notes that State Rep. Phil King (R-Waxahachie), chair of the House Regulated Industries Committee, is having a fund-raiser at the home of a lobbyist for telecom giant AT&T. King's committee just happens to regulate telecommunications in Texas.

Texas Progressive Alliance Round Up - August 11, 2008

It's Monday, and that means it's time for another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance's Weekly Round-Up. The weekly round-up is complied from submissions made by TPA member blogs. This week's round-up is compiled by Vince from Capitol Annex.

The Truth About Texas Republicans, a new blogger-powered website designed to expose the real truth about GOP Texas legislators looks at the stuff State Reps. Dwayne Bohac, Betty Brown, John Davis, Bill Zedler and State Sen. Mike Jackson don't want you to see.

refinish69 was happy to introduce a real progressive Democrat to the readers of Doing My Part For The Left a few weeks ago but has to wonder how to describe Mike Skelly: Democrat or Republican Lite?

Vince at Capitol Annex takes a look at the Texas State Teacher's Association lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency for giving public funds to private institutions.

Irony Alert: Mary McDaniels, Manager - Pipeline Safety, Texas Railroad Commission, who lied on camera about the Atmos Energy gas pipeline couplings, spoke in Ft Worth about pipeline safety, inspections and regulations, for Chesapeake Energy's Barnett Shale pipeline.TXsharon at Bluedaze.

Julie Pippert at MOMocrats asked, "Offshore drilling---whose issue is it anyway? The people's? Or the politician's?"

Women who enter the military know they may encounter danger along the way, just as their male counterparts do. Diarist Liberal Texas at Texas Kaos highlights an additional danger they face in Assault on Women in the Military, and calls on all of us to ensure that our fighting women are protected from sexual assault from the companions they should be able to trust.

WhosPlayin used to think John McCain was worthy of respect, even if wrong on issues. But mocking conservation and lying about Obama raising taxes show who John McCain really is.

jobsanger thinks Democrats should let Clinton's backers have their vote at the convention, and believes Barack Obama has a chance to win Texas this November.

Neil at Texas Liberal talks about AIDS and African Americans.

Due to purchase of McBlogger by a rival blogging firm, the regular writers are on strike. This week, we'd like to introduce you to a new McBlogger, Rose
Petal.

North Texas Liberal remarks on John McCain's anti-Obama ad comparing the Democratic nominee to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, and also includes Hilton's response ad. Still waiting on Britney's energy policy...

Off the Kuff takes a look at The Queue behind KBH for her maybe-to-be-abandoned Senate seat.

YaGottaLoveIt of South Texas Chisme urges Barack Obama to have a fundraiser for money that stays in Texas while urging Hillary Clinton to campaign for Rick Noriega in South Texas.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the Williamson County DA's unwillingness to test DNA evidence in a almost 30 year old unsolved murder, Lawsuit Filed Against County For New DNA, Fingerprint Tests.

Tropical Storm Edouard was more like a decent rainstorm, but that didn't stop the media -- old as well as new, including madcap reporter/Congressman John Culberson -- from building it up to a height it could no more sustain than its winds. PDiddie at has the roundup of the hyperventilating in Houston.

BossKitty at TruthHugger is concerned about the economy "Purses Tighten, Small Business Suffers, Families Budget"

nytexan at BlueBloggin points out, as the Gerogia Russia war continues and Bush plays with U.S. athletes at the Olympics, Could The U.S. Get Pulled Into Georgia�s War?

XicanoPwr discusses the immigration survey that was sent presidential candidates Obama and McCain put together by The Sanctuary, a web base grassroots community of pro-migrant, human rights, and civil-rights bloggers.

And here is the rest of it.

A Good, Swift, Kick In The...

I know, I know. Our blogging has been pretty infrequent as of late. I could offer up the usual excuses; busy, tired, brain lock, etc., but I won't. I think I've just been a little lazy for the past couple of weeks.

Wait a minute. Alright, it's full disclosure time. I actually received an email from Menopausal Mick, late of The Llama Ate My Flipflops. Mick basically told me that "Hey, some of us come here to your blog because we value your opinions. You kind of screw that up when you don't post for days at a time."

You know what Mick? You're right. Consider that kick in the a** duly received. And since you delivered it in such an eloquent manner, I'm going to include some excerpts from your email and my brief comments here in this post as a starting point towards catching up.

MM: What do you think about our fella (Barack Obama) voting for FISA? Are you going to do apost about that? I'm pretty steamed that he rolled over on this issue.

DP: Well, I think I will do a post on it, but for now, I think it's pretty sad that Obama and so many other Democrats rolled over on this issue. The rights of the individual have been sold down the river in support of corporate and so-called *national security* interests. I also think that the progressive folks might want to transition from the rock star adulation of the candidate and start holding his and other Democrats feet to fire as regards the party platform. There are only a couple of months left to shape the agenda.

MM: On another front, I understand why he's talking about faith based initiatives. He's used faith-based before with great success in Illinois. I still twinge at the blurring of separation of church and state but at least he's proposing an initiative that is all-inclusive of religious flavors.

DP: Agreed but I do think he's treading a thin line with the faith-based stuff. Some people looked at that whole Bush administration initiative as a good thing, but others of us saw it as a very effective way of splitting the Black community, and the Black vote. The Repubs only need a tiny percent of our votes to move into their column in order to win elections. Faith based initiatives effectively did that for them in the last couple of cycles by silencing many preachers who received the money. Besides, most religious conservatives are not voting for Obama no matter what, so why pander? His faith seems to stand on its own.

MM: OK, I guess what I'm asking is: Were we right about our fella or were we fooled into thinking he'd defend the constitution and put things back to a more constitutionally sound government? Whatcha think, DP? Am I gonna get my heart broken?

DP: I don't think Obama will be a disappointment, but I do think we're all gonna find out he doesn't walk on water, heal the sick, and feed the masses with a few loaves and fishes. He's a politician. I do think we all need to look at what the alternative to him is in this election. When I do that, I jump back on the bandwagon pretty quick.

MM: Oh! and what's up with Rev. Jackson? Don't you think he's mainly just jealous of what is obviously a crowning of the new guard. Obama doesn't fit anyone's stereotypical template. It appears to me that Jackson is both jealous of Obama's success and missing the spotlight.

DP: Regarding Jesse, the old saying goes that an old bull doesn't give anything up to the younger one. He has to take it. I think that's what's going on in this case. Not to mention a terminal case of stupid. I mean, how could you not know, as an "activist" that the microphone is most likely on when you appear on Fox News, apparently for this exact reason. Sheesh. My feeling is that Jesse and Obama will continue to make nice for the rest of this campaign season. But as soon as he hits the Oval Office, it's on again. We'll see how that pans out for the good Reverend. I for one am glad to see a Black, secular leader arise.

So how's that? I didn't hit everything (the New Yorker cover, etc.), but I'll catch up on the rest later.

Thanks a lot Mick for the wake up call and being a good friend. I know that removing yourself from political blogging has to be a painful experience. But you know you always have a home here. Maybe we'll make these public conversations a regular thing.

What do you think?

And here is the rest of it.

Texas Progressive Alliance Round Up

Round up time. Here are some posts you should've read last week from the Texas Progressive Alliance.

South Texas Chisme got what they were asking for - a spotlight on the Webb County Sheriff's race. BlackBox Voting's Bev Harris has asked for relevant auditable materials.

CouldBeTrue can hardly wait to find out what happened. WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the "rail-rage" that's hitting Central Texas, Rail, Rail, Rail - Do It Right, Not Fast.

President Bush hasn't seen Russian President Medvedev since his 'election' to the Russian Presidency. Last week, he had his first opportunity to look into his eyes. Check out McBlogger to see what he saw.

Lightseeker at Texas Kaos tells the chilling tale of Goodhair and the Fire at the Governor's Mansion. Governor Rick Perry didn't light the match, but decisions laid at his door certainly made things a lot easier for the arsonist who did.

The Texas Cloverleaf examines T. Boone Picken's Plan to save us from evil oil men and move forward with greener energy.

Texas Senators Cornfed and Bailey scored a perfect ten in synchronized flip-flopping on the Medicare bill last week, shortly after they and the rest of their Republicans exhibited mirror-image coordination on FISA. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs has the details.

BlueBloggin sees Maliki making the same mistakes as King George Iraq Hands Out Stimulus Money As Us Shifts Occupation.

BossKitty worries about the consequences of revaluing human life in America Dollar Value of American Life drops - Now What.

Vince at Capitol Annex notes that Senate Democrats have taken a strong stance on calling for reform of the Texas Department of Insurance, with one senator even calling for the Insurance Commissioner to be an elected official.

MeanRachel wonders when politics became unpatriotic on July 4th. Off the Kuff had a guest post from Rep. Pete Gallego about the HDCC and its efforts to reclaim the State House for the Democrats.

WhosPlayin was impressed that Ken Leach, candidate for U.S. Congress in CD 26 got good coverage in the Gainesville Register, even though his totally honest quote didn't pass the "smell" test.

jobsangertook a look at the lies being told in a McCain campaign ad in this post.

Nat-Wu of Three Wise Men ponders whether long-suffering American Indians could Bay Area Houston details the record $52,000 fine by the Texas Ethics Commission against State Senator Craig Estes.