State Rep. Richard Raymond (D-Laredo) has started something he's calling the Thomas Jefferson Movement in response to the Texas State Board of Education removing Jefferson from the list of prominent philosophers in the World History standards.
I signed up to be a member of the movement, and I hope you will, too. The site is very social network-y and fun. Go give it a look.
If you had told me that after the ELA debacle in 2008 and the science debacle in 2009, that it would be Thomas Jefferson who would unite seemingly the whole world against the religious fanatics on the Texas SBOE who are driving Texas education into the ditch, I would have laughed at you and patted you on your crazy head.
On a related note, Bill White is asking you to email Rick Perry and tell him he needs to send the social studies standards back to the educator review teams. White is rightly hanging this latest SBOE madness around Perry's neck, as he nominates the SBOE chair (and the Texas Senate confirms). We all know Perry's appointments do what he wants, or else they get replaced.
Elections matter, and we have a chance to rectify this mess in November by electing Judy Jennings to SBOE 10 (Cynthia Dunbar's current seat) and Rebecca Bell-Metereau to SBOE 5 (Ken Mercer's current seat). The religious right hijacked the State Board of Education by taking advantage of the fact that voters are very uninformed about SBOE races. Thankfully, the Board is making it very easy to bring attention to these races this go round.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Hobbyist Spanks NASA
Some of the details about this guy who figured out a way to take what looks like satellite photos with a balloon, a point and shoot camera, a parachute and a GPS device, all launched from basically his back yard:
Robert Harrison rigged a Cannon camera to a helium balloon to take photos from the edge of space - images that NASA admits would have cost the space agency tens of millions of dollars to capture.
The whole project cost Harrison about $765.
“A guy phoned up who worked for NASA who was interested in how we took the pictures,” Harrison told The Times U.K. “He wanted to know how the hell we did it. He thought we used a rocket. They said it would have cost them millions of dollars.”
The Icarus Project, as Harrison has dubbed his ongoing experiments, features a point-and-shoot camera, a parachute and a GPS system all attached to a balloon. The balloon ascends up to 35 km before it pops, sending the camera floating gently back to the ground below. The GPS allows Harrison to track it to where it lands.
From his home computer, the GPS also allows him to track the camera's progress as it climbs towards space – snapping photos every five minutes before switching off to sleep.
The camera is wrapped in insulation so it continues to function in the frigid -60 C temperatures high in the Earth’s atmosphere.His photos can be found here. I'm trying to find a link of NASA images of earth, but the main site they seem to be on has a complicated search engine. Try this. Not sure it has the most current photos, but I guess it will do.
Another Textbook Myth
The Texas Tribune's Brian Thevonot has a terrific post up about textbook myths, number one being that what goes into Texas' textbooks drives the market nationwide and gets forced on other states. That used to be true because we are such a big market, and publishers would cater content to whatever our state board of education foisted upon Texas public school children. (You can ride the way back machine back to 2002 here and get a sense of how that used to work, along with a sigh inducing glimpse of past SBOE hijinks with the statewide textbook adoption process.) Modern, digital publishing has flipped that scenario. Textbooks are created with core content that applies nationwide, then content is tweaked according to standards in individual markets.
Thevonot accurately describes how it's not what is in the textbooks that will drive classroom instruction, it's the 60% or so of the TEKS selected in every grade level and content area that will appear on TAKS and end of course exams. If it's not on TAKS or EOC's, it may or may not be taught.
There's one more textbook myth that I've been meaning to blog, and it's that textbooks are actually used to any real extent in Texas classrooms. I've been in an out of many elementary, middle and high school classrooms over the past three years and the usual scenario is that a classroom set of textbooks is sitting on a shelf somewhere in the room, occasionally used when there is a sub, along with an accompanying worksheet ripped out of a supplementary textbook resource.
If you are a parent with a school age child, you may or may not see textbooks come home with your child - maybe a math textbook, right? But otherwise, when you ask, "where is your textbook?" when you are pulling your hair out trying to get your kid to study, the answer is usually, "in my locker - we never use them" or "we only have a classroom set, MOM" with accompanying eye rolling.
Many millions of dollars are in each year's Texas state budget for textbooks, and school districts in the past were required to buy one textbook per student from a SBOE approved list. Each subject area gets a new textbook every ten years. In 2010, schools get new English Language Arts textbooks, tailored to the TEKS adopted in 2008 by the SBOE in a contentious fight waged by the far right majority on the board.
The good news for textbook adoption in Texas beginning this year with the ELA textbooks, is that school districts are required to buy only one classroom set of textbooks, and they can be digital textbooks. Districts still get the same amount of money for textbooks (enough for one book per student), but they can spend the remainder of their money - after purchasing the classrooms sets - on supporting hardware and technology to go with the digital textbooks (such as laptops or netbooks), or they can purchase more hardcopy textbooks, up to a maximum of one textbook per student.
There's an interesting twist - the electronic textbooks are selected and approved by the Commissioner of Education, not the State Board of Education. For those who are not fans of the SBOE, don't get too excited. The education commissioner is appointed by the Governor, meaning our current commissioner, Robert Scott, is Rick Perry's guy, and will not cowboy off away from Perry's Christian conservative agenda, if he wants to keep his job. (This is just another reason why elections matter, and we need to elect Bill White as our governor.)
How are students learning material right now in classrooms, if they are not using textbooks? Mostly through teacher created powerpoints, or powerpoints found on the internet (that may or may not exactly match the TEKS.) Currently, students are not able to do a lot of learning by searching the internet, or going to a teacher approved site, because there aren't enough computers for every student.
There's reason to be hopeful about electronic textbooks, as they will enable Texas public school children to dig into learning the way the grown up world does, through materials that are hyperlinked to original sources, videos, interviews, etc. I think school districts are going to take the state up on this option, and I'm eager to see how that changes teaching and learning in Texas.
Thevonot accurately describes how it's not what is in the textbooks that will drive classroom instruction, it's the 60% or so of the TEKS selected in every grade level and content area that will appear on TAKS and end of course exams. If it's not on TAKS or EOC's, it may or may not be taught.
There's one more textbook myth that I've been meaning to blog, and it's that textbooks are actually used to any real extent in Texas classrooms. I've been in an out of many elementary, middle and high school classrooms over the past three years and the usual scenario is that a classroom set of textbooks is sitting on a shelf somewhere in the room, occasionally used when there is a sub, along with an accompanying worksheet ripped out of a supplementary textbook resource.
If you are a parent with a school age child, you may or may not see textbooks come home with your child - maybe a math textbook, right? But otherwise, when you ask, "where is your textbook?" when you are pulling your hair out trying to get your kid to study, the answer is usually, "in my locker - we never use them" or "we only have a classroom set, MOM" with accompanying eye rolling.
Many millions of dollars are in each year's Texas state budget for textbooks, and school districts in the past were required to buy one textbook per student from a SBOE approved list. Each subject area gets a new textbook every ten years. In 2010, schools get new English Language Arts textbooks, tailored to the TEKS adopted in 2008 by the SBOE in a contentious fight waged by the far right majority on the board.
The good news for textbook adoption in Texas beginning this year with the ELA textbooks, is that school districts are required to buy only one classroom set of textbooks, and they can be digital textbooks. Districts still get the same amount of money for textbooks (enough for one book per student), but they can spend the remainder of their money - after purchasing the classrooms sets - on supporting hardware and technology to go with the digital textbooks (such as laptops or netbooks), or they can purchase more hardcopy textbooks, up to a maximum of one textbook per student.
There's an interesting twist - the electronic textbooks are selected and approved by the Commissioner of Education, not the State Board of Education. For those who are not fans of the SBOE, don't get too excited. The education commissioner is appointed by the Governor, meaning our current commissioner, Robert Scott, is Rick Perry's guy, and will not cowboy off away from Perry's Christian conservative agenda, if he wants to keep his job. (This is just another reason why elections matter, and we need to elect Bill White as our governor.)
How are students learning material right now in classrooms, if they are not using textbooks? Mostly through teacher created powerpoints, or powerpoints found on the internet (that may or may not exactly match the TEKS.) Currently, students are not able to do a lot of learning by searching the internet, or going to a teacher approved site, because there aren't enough computers for every student.
There's reason to be hopeful about electronic textbooks, as they will enable Texas public school children to dig into learning the way the grown up world does, through materials that are hyperlinked to original sources, videos, interviews, etc. I think school districts are going to take the state up on this option, and I'm eager to see how that changes teaching and learning in Texas.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Russia Lands Astronauts & My Cell Phone Still Works
Apparently lost on Congressman Mike McCaul, who had this to say at Mayor Parker's NASA press conference in DC yesterday - "What I am concerned about is that we're not going to be speaking English in outer space, but rather Chinese and Russian" - is that Russians already ferry NASA astronauts in space. Just today, a Russian cosmonaut piloted a Soyuz spacecraft back to earth with two NASA astronauts on board:
Another thing Mitchell said caused me to drag out a calculator:
Let's go with $450 million, with each launch carrying seven astronauts. Our current manned space program, with our own rockets and crew vehicles costs $64 million per astronaut. So, the Russians, with their pesky notions of capitalism, are offering a good deal right now. Commercial space companies are projecting their costs will be anywhere from $20 million to $100 million per astronaut.
There has got to be a way to message the importance of keeping manned space program jobs at JSC without resorting to fear and misinformation. Anyone want to give that a stab?
John has more on Mitchell's remarks, and it's no surprise he's got a very strong reaction.
With Suraev at the controls, the Soyuz TMA-16 that they rode to the station undocked from the new Poisk module at 4:03 a.m. EDT and touched down near Arkalyk, Kazakhstan at 7:24 a.m. EDT. Both space travelers were reported in good shape after the landing on the snow-covered steppe.Remarkably, the cosmonaut did not take the opportunity to shoot down any U.S. satellites, thereby destroying our ability to use our cell phones. No, really, one of the guys leading the charge to save NASA - Bob Mitchell with the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership - suggested that possibility at a League City Chamber of Commerce meeting (he's referring to Obama's plan to have Russia take astronauts to and from the International Space Station until private industry builds a new rocket and crew vehicle system):
“Then, when they finally realize what has happened (and that they are in control of space), I think they are going to say to us, ‘We don’t have any seats left on our Soyuz or to carry your experiments to the space station.’”
If we don’t have control of space and the Russians do, Mitchell said they could easily shoot down our satellites and we would have no cell phones.
“Think about that.”I am thinking about it, and I think there is some misunderstanding, and perhaps fear mongering, going on. My understanding is that the U.S. is not getting out of the manned space flight business, we are just giving that business to private U.S. contractors, and taking it away from the Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake. So, Russia won't be "in charge of space." Also, Russia is a partner in the International Space Station and so far, as of today, my cell phone still works.
Another thing Mitchell said caused me to drag out a calculator:
“The Russians did charge us $25 million to carry one of our astronauts on the Soyuz to the space station. Now it’s $50 million. They learned capitalism pretty darn quick. What happens in two years -- $100 million? $150 million?I tried to find the per astronaut cost to ride on the Space Shuttle. On a NASA website, it says that each launch costs $450 million. Other places, I see $1.3 to $1.5 billion. A friend told me it was $2 billion. Those bigger quotes seem to be the lifetime cost of the space shuttle program divided up by the total number of launches.
Let's go with $450 million, with each launch carrying seven astronauts. Our current manned space program, with our own rockets and crew vehicles costs $64 million per astronaut. So, the Russians, with their pesky notions of capitalism, are offering a good deal right now. Commercial space companies are projecting their costs will be anywhere from $20 million to $100 million per astronaut.
There has got to be a way to message the importance of keeping manned space program jobs at JSC without resorting to fear and misinformation. Anyone want to give that a stab?
John has more on Mitchell's remarks, and it's no surprise he's got a very strong reaction.
Pete Olson: NASA Employees Need Health Care Reform
The emails I got today from Team Obama asking me to call my representative - Pete Olson - requesting he vote "yes" for health care reform, would be amusing, if the situation wasn't so pathetic.
When Republican Olson ran against Nick Lampson, I knew our congressional district would get ignored by the Democratic President, the Democratic Congress and the Democratic Senate, if he - Olson - won. Any thinking person could see that coming, except for the non-thinking voters in Clear Lake. But, I never dreamed a whole industry would get lopped off because of the nasty campaign Olson ran, lying to voters about Lampson being a promise breaking, big spending lover of Nancy Pelosi. It's a little hard to crank up the imagination and envision JSC getting thrown in the ditch if Lampson were our congressman.
It's also a little hard for me to imagine how stupid Olson is not to connect the dots and realize that the loss of 8000 jobs (or whatever the number is today) in his district, might require health insurance reform for the newly unemployed, and their families.
I think the situation sounds JSC dire. Mayor Parker came back from DC reporting she asked NASA Administrator Charles Bolden to allow JSC a "soft landing" and not a sudden loss of all of the jobs. I read several versions of this story and they all gave me the sense she didn't hear good news in her meetings. I think JSC employees and contractors thought she was going up there to save the day, not lessen the inevitable pain.
We'll have Olson voting no on health care reform, even though 19.6 percent of his constituents in TX-22 are uninsured. 19.6% and growing.
When Republican Olson ran against Nick Lampson, I knew our congressional district would get ignored by the Democratic President, the Democratic Congress and the Democratic Senate, if he - Olson - won. Any thinking person could see that coming, except for the non-thinking voters in Clear Lake. But, I never dreamed a whole industry would get lopped off because of the nasty campaign Olson ran, lying to voters about Lampson being a promise breaking, big spending lover of Nancy Pelosi. It's a little hard to crank up the imagination and envision JSC getting thrown in the ditch if Lampson were our congressman.
It's also a little hard for me to imagine how stupid Olson is not to connect the dots and realize that the loss of 8000 jobs (or whatever the number is today) in his district, might require health insurance reform for the newly unemployed, and their families.
I think the situation sounds JSC dire. Mayor Parker came back from DC reporting she asked NASA Administrator Charles Bolden to allow JSC a "soft landing" and not a sudden loss of all of the jobs. I read several versions of this story and they all gave me the sense she didn't hear good news in her meetings. I think JSC employees and contractors thought she was going up there to save the day, not lessen the inevitable pain.
We'll have Olson voting no on health care reform, even though 19.6 percent of his constituents in TX-22 are uninsured. 19.6% and growing.
Perry's Spillover Voter Contingency Plan
The mighty warrior campaigner that is Texas Governor Rick Perry has taken a momentary break from seceding from the United States, bankrupting education in Texas, lining the pockets of his business buddies, raising insurance rates and jacking up college tuition, to tend to the the problem that just won't go away - he got only 39% of the vote when he was re-elected in 2006, and damn if he is not facing a credible, smart, popular, well financed opponent this time in Bill White.
So, he activated his Spillover Voter Contingency Plan after he took a trip on the way back machine and relived the last time he got all lathered up about the Texas border - in that storied 2006 campaign season, with the piss poor results, when he did that commercial with him looking all cowboyed up taking credit for "keeping Texas safe". Of course, that time around it was about keeping scary, illegal peeps out of Texas, and this time it's about made up "spillover violence" of the Mexican drug cartels.
Here's the reality of what this is about: Rick Perry is about Rick Perry, not about Texas. He's about keeping and consolidating power, to further his own best interests, which apparently involve dreams of a stint in the White House. He'll cowboy off and do his own thing (see the letter below - click to enlarge - about how he did not consult the Border mayors when he started this latest round of Perry, Texas Savior) to make himself look strong and effective to Independent voters, who are going to be the key to either a Perry win or a White win in November.
Burnt Orange Report is doing a terrific job calling Perry out on this nonsense - see here and here.
So, he activated his Spillover Voter Contingency Plan after he took a trip on the way back machine and relived the last time he got all lathered up about the Texas border - in that storied 2006 campaign season, with the piss poor results, when he did that commercial with him looking all cowboyed up taking credit for "keeping Texas safe". Of course, that time around it was about keeping scary, illegal peeps out of Texas, and this time it's about made up "spillover violence" of the Mexican drug cartels.
Here's the reality of what this is about: Rick Perry is about Rick Perry, not about Texas. He's about keeping and consolidating power, to further his own best interests, which apparently involve dreams of a stint in the White House. He'll cowboy off and do his own thing (see the letter below - click to enlarge - about how he did not consult the Border mayors when he started this latest round of Perry, Texas Savior) to make himself look strong and effective to Independent voters, who are going to be the key to either a Perry win or a White win in November.
Burnt Orange Report is doing a terrific job calling Perry out on this nonsense - see here and here.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Spending Campaign Cash: TX-22 Democratic Candidates
Elise Hu's post at the Texas Tribune about Kesha Rogers, Democratic nominee for TX-22, got me to thinking about what each of the three Democratic candidates in the Primary raised and spent. I had been saying to anyone who would listen that Rogers did not run a real campaign - no TV, no mail, no emails, no phone calls to voters - nothing but a bunch of sign waving by the Johnson Space Center. Hu confirmed that, saying she had spent less than $5000 total on her campaign.
I checked out the Federal Elections Commission website to see what the three Democratic candidates for TX-22 raised and spent. Here's what I found, through 2/10/10:
Kesha Rogers
Raised $6088 total. Spent $4701.83. There was a lot of printing of flyers and posters on her last expenditure report, with zero spent on voter contact. Big surprise. She advocates invading the British Empire. I've recapped some of the crazy here, along with the Democratic response.
Doug Blatt
Blatt out raised Rogers with a whopping $7378.92. He spent $3964.25. His last expenditure report included $330 for postage (for what, I wonder), nearly $1000 for yard signs (I never saw one anywhere), around $900 for advertising (including Facebook ads . . .not sure I ever saw one) and his filing fee ($3125) with the Texas Democratic Party. Blatt was the only real Democrat in the race, albeit an ineffective one.
John Wieder (or Fred Wieder or Freddie Wierder or Minister Wieder - I'm not sure what he goes by)
Well, first of all, he got a failure to file letter from the FEC on 2/19/10. He filed on 2/22/10. By that date, he had raised $5024 total for his campaign, and spent $3696. On the period covered by that report, his only expenditure was a $777 loan repayment to himself. This guy is a tea bagger, and not a real Democrat. This is the hobby he had listed on his website: "My Hobbies - Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and later someone killed him, but I want to free the unborn Americans from murder inside the womb."
For anyone who thinks Democratic voters in TX-22 had any information about who to vote for in the congressional race, my response is "um, no they didn't, and the campaign finance reports prove it." There was basically zero real voter contact going on to impact the choice of Democrats in this large congressional district. There were some exceptions - a few of us searched around for information on the internet. A few others saw Kesha waving posters around on the street in Clear Lake. A handful of voters saw these candidates at Democratic club events.
As I've said before, I believe Rogers won because she is a woman and an African American. Being first on the ballot may have helped her get a few extra percentage points. She did not win because she appealed to young people or Obama haters. Bottom line: No one spent enough money to influence anyone, but someone had to win the Democratic Primary for TX-22 and that person was Kesha Rogers.
I checked out the Federal Elections Commission website to see what the three Democratic candidates for TX-22 raised and spent. Here's what I found, through 2/10/10:
Kesha Rogers
Raised $6088 total. Spent $4701.83. There was a lot of printing of flyers and posters on her last expenditure report, with zero spent on voter contact. Big surprise. She advocates invading the British Empire. I've recapped some of the crazy here, along with the Democratic response.
Doug Blatt
Blatt out raised Rogers with a whopping $7378.92. He spent $3964.25. His last expenditure report included $330 for postage (for what, I wonder), nearly $1000 for yard signs (I never saw one anywhere), around $900 for advertising (including Facebook ads . . .not sure I ever saw one) and his filing fee ($3125) with the Texas Democratic Party. Blatt was the only real Democrat in the race, albeit an ineffective one.
John Wieder (or Fred Wieder or Freddie Wierder or Minister Wieder - I'm not sure what he goes by)
Well, first of all, he got a failure to file letter from the FEC on 2/19/10. He filed on 2/22/10. By that date, he had raised $5024 total for his campaign, and spent $3696. On the period covered by that report, his only expenditure was a $777 loan repayment to himself. This guy is a tea bagger, and not a real Democrat. This is the hobby he had listed on his website: "My Hobbies - Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and later someone killed him, but I want to free the unborn Americans from murder inside the womb."
For anyone who thinks Democratic voters in TX-22 had any information about who to vote for in the congressional race, my response is "um, no they didn't, and the campaign finance reports prove it." There was basically zero real voter contact going on to impact the choice of Democrats in this large congressional district. There were some exceptions - a few of us searched around for information on the internet. A few others saw Kesha waving posters around on the street in Clear Lake. A handful of voters saw these candidates at Democratic club events.
As I've said before, I believe Rogers won because she is a woman and an African American. Being first on the ballot may have helped her get a few extra percentage points. She did not win because she appealed to young people or Obama haters. Bottom line: No one spent enough money to influence anyone, but someone had to win the Democratic Primary for TX-22 and that person was Kesha Rogers.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Fort Bend Democratic Party Chair Denounces Kesha Rogers
Steve Brown, incoming Fort Bend County Democratic Party Chair, adds his voice to the Democratic Party officials who are refusing to support Kesha Rogers as the Democratic candidate for TX-22. Good for him! I hope Harris County Democratic Party Chair Gerry Birnberg comes around and does the same thing. He recently made some very odd remarks to the Chronicle supporting her :
Great background info on this story can be found in this Texas Tribune post by Elise Hu. After you read this, I think you will realize why I think Birnberg's comments are off the mark and why it's significant that incoming Steve Brown has denounced Rogers. Hu suggests that Brown, because he is African American, and was in a hotly contested race, may have helped to drive out African American voters for Rogers. Brown addresses that in his statement below.
“If she can turn out young people to vote for Democrats, all the better.”
Birnberg said Rogers has much to commend her. He said his main objection to her candidacy is her association with LaRouche, and that if she instead held many of the same views but belonged to a group called “LBJ Democrats,” her ideas would appear much more mainstream.
Birnberg and Rogers both said much of LaRouche's economic thinking is in line with Franklin D. Roosevelt's, including investment in public works, separating commercial from investment banking and opposition to corporatism.John Gorczynski, President of the Harris County Young Democrats, made this comment on my Facebook page after I posted Birnberg's remarks:
Mr. Chairman, May I suggest working with the Harris County Young Democrats instead of collaborating with LaRouche or his followers to get out the youth vote.I totally agree with John.
Great background info on this story can be found in this Texas Tribune post by Elise Hu. After you read this, I think you will realize why I think Birnberg's comments are off the mark and why it's significant that incoming Steve Brown has denounced Rogers. Hu suggests that Brown, because he is African American, and was in a hotly contested race, may have helped to drive out African American voters for Rogers. Brown addresses that in his statement below.
This past weekend's resolution by the State Democratic Executive Committee against supporting Rogers can be found here. In it, the Texas Democratic Party makes it clear she will not be allowed to speak at the state convention in June, nor will she be listed on the Party website.
It's my opinion that the voters in TX-22 were duped into voting for this person who advocates waging war against the British Empire because they had no information about any of the three running, and voted for her because she is a) a woman b) an African American c) first on the ballot and/or d) they landed on her when they played "spin the E-slate. In no way, shape or form do I believe she won because people buy into her impeach Obama rhetoric.
It's my opinion that the voters in TX-22 were duped into voting for this person who advocates waging war against the British Empire because they had no information about any of the three running, and voted for her because she is a) a woman b) an African American c) first on the ballot and/or d) they landed on her when they played "spin the E-slate. In no way, shape or form do I believe she won because people buy into her impeach Obama rhetoric.
FORT BEND COUNTY CHAIR: LAROUCHE FOLLOWERS ARE NOT DEMOCRATS
Incoming Fort Bend Democratic County Chair Steve Brown issued the following statement regarding this weekend’s State Democratic Executive Committee resolution on Kesha Rogers’ candidacy in TX Congressional-22:
“While Texas law provides that anyone who votes in a Democratic Party primary is legally a Democrat, those of us who call ourselves Democrats know we’re defined by much more than a provision in the election code.
“We’re a “big tent” party, proud to welcome Texans from all walks of life to our growing Party, and we leave a lot of room for individual Democrats to debate and disagree with one another. However, many of the beliefs of the LaRouche Movement are in direct conflict with the inclusiveness that is at the core of what we as Democrats believe.
“While LaRouche follower Kesha Rogers won her primary and will remain on the ballot, Saturday’s action by the State Democratic Executive Committee frees all Democrats and Democratic Party officers from any obligation to support her individual candidacy.
“We will continue to encourage Democrats to cast straight ticket votes that can make a difference between winning and losing for our credible Democratic nominees, but as incoming Fort Bend County Chair, a proud Texan, and an African-American man, I can never support the extremist views of the LaRouche movement. Any candidate who joins Lyndon LaRouche in seeking the impeachment of our Democratic President is not a Democrat, and no such candidate will be recognized to speak or allowed to participate at any Party event over which I preside.”
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Linda Chavez-Thompson on Dropouts
Her personal story is compelling, as well the picture she paints of the future of Texas if we don't act to improve our education system. She's got the statistics on Texas public school children - 50% are Hispanic, one out of every two Hispanic children live in poverty, one out of two does not graduate from high school - and calls out the Republican leadership in Texas for creating the problem.
Linda Chavez-Thompson “What it means when the last bookstore closes...”
Laredo, Texas, with a population of 250,000 now has the distinction of being the largest city in the nation without a bookstore. B. Dalton’s bookstore shut its doors for good on January 16.
Put another tombstone in the predominantly Hispanic south side of San Antonio now that Waldenbooks has left, leaving no bookstore for miles. We’re not looking for pity here in Texas, but we are waiting for Republican leaders to recognize that this is an economic crisis of our own making.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, by the year 2014, 2 million jobs will be created in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. A bookstore would sure come in handy. But despite the bragging of Governor Rick Perry and Lt. Governor David Dewhurst that Texas is creating jobs, the reality is one out of three students are walking out of our high schools without a diploma. Among Latinos, it’s one out of two.
But dropouts are just a symptom of a broken system — a system that has already failed our children before they’ve even entered the first grade. Parenting Magazine, not your typical political reading I realize, recently spelled out the epidemic that is the early literacy crisis, “While a child growing up in a middle class neighborhood will own an average of 13 books at any given time, low-income communities average about one book for every 300 children.”
By the way, not only do Hispanics now make up over 50% of public school students from kindergarten through second grade in Texas, but one out of every two Hispanic children lives in poverty.
So if the Republican leadership doesn’t want to listen to a lifelong labor organizer and the daughter of a cotton sharecropper, they should at least listen to their own advisors. Steve Murdock, the former state demographer and Bush appointee, warned years ago that, “our fates are intertwined and related. How well our non-Anglo citizens do in Texas is how well Texas will do.” (Amen.) Murdock explains that because educational attainment is faltering, average wages in 2040 will be lower in constant dollars than wages in the year 2000.
For those who don’t know my story, I was forced to quit school in the ninth grade to help support my family in the cotton fields of West Texas. It’s ugly work. So when I got a chance to work as a bilingual secretary for the local labor union, I took it. Twenty-eight years later, I was the first woman of color to serve as the Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO. After a lifetime of working to lift wages up for working families, I’m not going to sit idly by as Republican neglect of education — from pre-K to college — drives wages down.
I realize Texans are known for their big talk. But the outside world needs to know there is some truth to the Texas myth. Because when you’re born in the Lone Star State, you just grow up believing the sky is the limit. It’s true for this daughter of a cotton sharecropper. And in today’s economy, it can still hold true for any Texas child with a book in their hand.
Linda Chavez-Thompson is the Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor of Texas. In a career devoted to fighting for better wages for working families, Chavez-Thompson served twelve years as Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO, the first woman and the first person of color to serve in that position. President Bill Clinton appointed Chavez-Thompson to serve on his Race Advisory Board, as well as on the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. The daughter of a cotton sharecropper, Chavez-Thompson has devoted her campaign to increasing economic opportunities through education.
To find out more, or to support her campaign, visit electchavezthompson.com.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
New Expense Reporting Rules for Texas Candidates and Officeholders
The Texas Ethics Commission has new rules about how candidates and officeholders report expenses. They apply to expenses made on or after July 1, 2010. My advice is to be mindful now of these new reporting categories for expenditures, before they are required. Note that you do not have to report expenditures this way on the report that is filed on July 15th. All of those expenditures will be made prior to July 1. But, if you go ahead and start applying these categories now, you'll practice staying out of trouble with the TEC. I'll go so far as to suggest you may want to design an expense reimbursement form that requires selecting one of these categories for each expense.
Also, remember, that you always report where the expense actually occurred (and the address) - Office Depot, Cafe Express, the name of the print shop, etc. You don't report "Visa" or the name of the staff person who requested the reimbursement. Complete TEC rules can be found at this link.
After July 1st, here is how you are going to have to categorize and describe campaign and officeholder expenses, or else take the risk of having a complaint filed against you:
Subchapter B. GENERAL REPORTING RULES
§ 20.61. Purpose of Expenditure
(a) For reporting required under Section 254.031 of the Election Code, the purpose of an expenditure means:
(b) The description of a political expenditure for travel outside of the state of Texas must provide the following:(1) A description of the category of goods, services, or other thing of value for which an expenditure is made. Examples of acceptable categories include:(A) advertising expense;
(B) accounting/banking;
(C) consulting expense;
(D) contributions/donations made by candidate/officeholder/political committee;
(E) event expense;
(F) fees;
(G) food/beverage expense;
(H) gifts/awards/memorials expense;
(I) legal services;
(J) loan repayment/reimbursement;
(K) office overhead/rental expense;
(L) polling expense;
(M) printing expense;
(N) salaries/wages/contract labor;
(O) solicitation/fundraising expense;
(P) transportation equipment and related expense;
(Q) travel in district;
(R) travel out of district;
(S) other political expenditures; and(2) A brief statement or description of the candidate, officeholder, or political committee activity that is conducted by making the expenditure. The brief statement or description must include the item or service purchased and must be sufficiently specific, when considered within the context of the description of the category, to make the reason for the expenditure clear. Merely disclosing the category of goods, services, or other thing of value for which the expenditure is made does not adequately describe the purpose of an expenditure.
(1) The name of the person or persons traveling on whose behalf the expenditure was made;(c) This rule applies to expenditures made on or after July 1, 2010.
(2) The means of transportation;
(3) The name of the departure city or the name of each departure location;
(4) The name of the destination city or the name of each destination location;
(5) The dates on which the travel occurred; and
(6) The campaign or officeholder purpose of the travel, including the name of a conference, seminar, or other event.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Primary Endorsement Watch: Houston GLBT
The Houston GLBT Political Caucus has endorsed in the Harris County Primary Runoffs. Below are the four runoff races in Harris, with the two top vote getters and their percentage of the vote in the March 2nd Primary Election. The first name listed, in bold, is the HGLBT endorsed candidate:
Judge, 234th District Court: Tanner Garth 46.20%, Jim Peacock 29.21%
Judge, 270th District Court: Lee Arellano 29.67%, Bob Thomas 44.15%
Judge, 308th Family District Court: Bruce Kessler 45.94%, Julia Maldonado 43.56%
Judge, 311th Family District Court: Deborah Wright 45.15%, Brad Morris 26.03%
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3, Place 2: Denise Graves 24.38%, Don Coffey 46.28%
John Cobarruvias has info on Bob Thomas and Jim Peacock - both have Republican Primary voting history and he questions if they are not Republicans, in disguise, taking advantage of a Democratic voting wave in Harris County. Definitely worth a read.
Judge, 234th District Court: Tanner Garth 46.20%, Jim Peacock 29.21%
Judge, 270th District Court: Lee Arellano 29.67%, Bob Thomas 44.15%
Judge, 308th Family District Court: Bruce Kessler 45.94%, Julia Maldonado 43.56%
Judge, 311th Family District Court: Deborah Wright 45.15%, Brad Morris 26.03%
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3, Place 2: Denise Graves 24.38%, Don Coffey 46.28%
John Cobarruvias has info on Bob Thomas and Jim Peacock - both have Republican Primary voting history and he questions if they are not Republicans, in disguise, taking advantage of a Democratic voting wave in Harris County. Definitely worth a read.
Friday, March 05, 2010
Top 100 Precincts for Total Number of Votes in Harris County Democratic Primary
Earlier today, I posted a list of the top 100 precincts by turnout for the March 2nd Democrat Primary in Harris County. Below is a list of the top 100 precincts by number of raw votes.
Again, you'll see U.S. Congressional District 18 (Sheila Jackson Lee vs. Jarvis Johnson) and Texas House District 146 (Borris Miles vs. Al Edwards) frequently in the top 100.
You'll also see:
Congressional Districts:
2: Ted Poe
7: John Culberson
9: Al Green
22: Pete Olson
29: Gene Green
Texas House Districts:
126: Patricia Harless
127: Joe Crabb (i), Joe Montamayor, challenger
131: Alma Allen
134: Ellen Cohen
138: Dwayne Bohac
139: Sylvester Turner
142: Harold Dutton
147: Garnet Coleman
Note how many of these top performing precincts are represented by an African American. The consensus at last night's Harris County Democratic Party event at St. Arnold's Brewery was that if an African American woman was on the ballot in a contested race, she won. Absent that, if there was an African American male on the ballot in a contested race, he won. Absent both of those, if there was a woman in a contested race, she won or is in a runoff. Interesting. Click on these results from Tuesday to peruse, and let me know of any conclusions you draw.
PCT NUM. TOTAL = precinct number
TOTAL = total number of votes cast in that precinct
TURNOUT = percent of registered voters in that precinct who voted
Cong = U.S. Congressional District
St Rep = Texas House District
Again, you'll see U.S. Congressional District 18 (Sheila Jackson Lee vs. Jarvis Johnson) and Texas House District 146 (Borris Miles vs. Al Edwards) frequently in the top 100.
You'll also see:
Congressional Districts:
2: Ted Poe
7: John Culberson
9: Al Green
22: Pete Olson
29: Gene Green
Texas House Districts:
126: Patricia Harless
127: Joe Crabb (i), Joe Montamayor, challenger
131: Alma Allen
134: Ellen Cohen
138: Dwayne Bohac
139: Sylvester Turner
142: Harold Dutton
147: Garnet Coleman
Note how many of these top performing precincts are represented by an African American. The consensus at last night's Harris County Democratic Party event at St. Arnold's Brewery was that if an African American woman was on the ballot in a contested race, she won. Absent that, if there was an African American male on the ballot in a contested race, he won. Absent both of those, if there was a woman in a contested race, she won or is in a runoff. Interesting. Click on these results from Tuesday to peruse, and let me know of any conclusions you draw.
PCT NUM. TOTAL = precinct number
TOTAL = total number of votes cast in that precinct
TURNOUT = percent of registered voters in that precinct who voted
Cong = U.S. Congressional District
St Rep = Texas House District
| PCT. NUM. | TOTAL | TURNOUT | Cong | St Rep | ||
| TOTAL | 100897 | 5.36 | ||||
| 0286 | 712 | 13.21 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0259 | 703 | 27.78 | 18 | 142 | ||
| 0140 | 673 | 21.8 | 18 | 146 | ||
| 0156 | 626 | 19 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0318 | 602 | 17.52 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0271 | 565 | 23.35 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0422 | 556 | 17.13 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0542 | 536 | 14.28 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0219 | 514 | 19.27 | 18 | 146 | ||
| 0136 | 509 | 23.75 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0722 | 507 | 11.94 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0132 | 503 | 19.9 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0396 | 471 | 21.92 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0294 | 468 | 20.96 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0158 | 458 | 15.94 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0240 | 432 | 16.05 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0276 | 430 | 16.31 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0365 | 429 | 32.38 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0656 | 428 | 15.98 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0180 | 426 | 14.7 | 18 | 146 | ||
| 0402 | 426 | 18.04 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0660 | 419 | 8.67 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0031 | 418 | 15.98 | 18 | 146 | ||
| 0252 | 415 | 16.68 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0197 | 403 | 13.36 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0210 | 402 | 19.28 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0288 | 401 | 17.34 | 09 | 147 | ||
| 0541 | 389 | 9.69 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0576 | 388 | 14.18 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0525 | 385 | 13.37 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0169 | 382 | 14.62 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0057 | 373 | 12.46 | 18 | 148 | ||
| 0068 | 372 | 14.73 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0104 | 365 | 19.27 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0497 | 365 | 16.14 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0228 | 364 | 33.36 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0611 | 364 | 14.47 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0147 | 357 | 13.02 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0390 | 355 | 21.98 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0506 | 355 | 10.98 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0080 | 351 | 9.54 | 29 | 142 | ||
| 0109 | 351 | 12.03 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0039 | 339 | 13.43 | 07 | 134 | ||
| 0192 | 339 | 15.98 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0122 | 336 | 14.83 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0040 | 334 | 12.73 | 07 | 134 | ||
| 0157 | 331 | 14.03 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0281 | 331 | 12.77 | 07 | 146 | ||
| 0237 | 325 | 14.37 | 18 | 146 | ||
| 0285 | 323 | 12.66 | 09 | 147 | ||
| 0045 | 321 | 5.76 | 29 | 142 | ||
| 0379 | 321 | 16.12 | 09 | 147 | ||
| 0251 | 319 | 15.15 | 02 | 127 | ||
| 0652 | 319 | 12.6 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0222 | 314 | 13.2 | 07 | 134 | ||
| 0849 | 314 | 9.71 | 22 | 147 | ||
| 0630 | 313 | 12.24 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0034 | 311 | 11.89 | 07 | 147 | ||
| 0038 | 307 | 11.89 | 07 | 134 | ||
| 0053 | 303 | 11.35 | 18 | 148 | ||
| 0454 | 298 | 11.44 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0462 | 298 | 8.99 | 09 | 149 | ||
| 0336 | 295 | 12.27 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0392 | 292 | 18.99 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0059 | 289 | 13.52 | 18 | 148 | ||
| 0200 | 288 | 9.26 | 07 | 134 | ||
| 0353 | 288 | 7.98 | 29 | 142 | ||
| 0458 | 287 | 15.31 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0085 | 285 | 13.9 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0239 | 284 | 13.72 | 09 | 147 | ||
| 0238 | 283 | 14.48 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0319 | 283 | 13.18 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0663 | 283 | 8.4 | 18 | 138 | ||
| 0148 | 279 | 11.36 | 07 | 134 | ||
| 0195 | 276 | 15.28 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0327 | 276 | 15.53 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0270 | 275 | 7.86 | 18 | 138 | ||
| 0413 | 275 | 9.1 | 29 | 142 | ||
| 0083 | 274 | 5.43 | 29 | 141 | ||
| 0236 | 274 | 12.18 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0384 | 274 | 10.43 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0455 | 274 | 15.87 | 18 | 142 | ||
| 0205 | 273 | 16.61 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0287 | 273 | 10.31 | 07 | 146 | ||
| 0605 | 273 | 5.38 | 29 | 127 | ||
| 0033 | 271 | 8.42 | 07 | 147 | ||
| 0204 | 271 | 7.97 | 18 | 148 | ||
| 0017 | 269 | 10.64 | 07 | 146 | ||
| 0638 | 269 | 7.2 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0054 | 267 | 8.08 | 18 | 148 | ||
| 0614 | 267 | 6.72 | 18 | 126 | ||
| 0004 | 266 | 16.31 | 18 | 148 | ||
| 0354 | 264 | 8.26 | 29 | 142 | ||
| 0448 | 264 | 7.72 | 18 | 138 | ||
| 0494 | 262 | 8.29 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0145 | 261 | 16.58 | 18 | 142 | ||
| 0255 | 261 | 10.91 | 07 | 146 | ||
| 0573 | 261 | 16.09 | 18 | 146 |
Top 100 Precincts for Turnout in Harris County Democratic Primary
Note how many of the top 100 turnout precincts are in U.S. Congressional District 18 (Sheila Jackson Lee vs. Jarvis Johnson race) and in Texas House District 146 ( Al Edwards vs. Borris Miles). And, yes, the downballot results in these top 100 precincts look like what you would expect - African American candidates in all races did extremely well.
You gotta love low turnout Primaries! Always fascinating to see who turned out their vote and where.
Top 100 precincts for turnout in the March 2, 2010 Democratic Primary in Harris County:
| PCT. NUM. | TOTAL | TURNOUT | Cong | St Rep | ||
| 0228 | 364 | 33.36 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0365 | 429 | 32.38 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0259 | 703 | 27.78 | 18 | 142 | ||
| 0136 | 509 | 23.75 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0271 | 565 | 23.35 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0390 | 355 | 21.98 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0396 | 471 | 21.92 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0140 | 673 | 21.8 | 18 | 146 | ||
| 0294 | 468 | 20.96 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0186 | 163 | 20.25 | 18 | 142 | ||
| 0132 | 503 | 19.9 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0210 | 402 | 19.28 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0104 | 365 | 19.27 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0219 | 514 | 19.27 | 18 | 146 | ||
| 0156 | 626 | 19 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0392 | 292 | 18.99 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0402 | 426 | 18.04 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0318 | 602 | 17.52 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0288 | 401 | 17.34 | 09 | 147 | ||
| 0422 | 556 | 17.13 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0144 | 206 | 16.93 | 18 | 142 | ||
| 0252 | 415 | 16.68 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0235 | 222 | 16.62 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0205 | 273 | 16.61 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0207 | 189 | 16.59 | 29 | 148 | ||
| 0145 | 261 | 16.58 | 18 | 142 | ||
| 0276 | 430 | 16.31 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0004 | 266 | 16.31 | 18 | 148 | ||
| 0150 | 188 | 16.29 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0497 | 365 | 16.14 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0379 | 321 | 16.12 | 09 | 147 | ||
| 0573 | 261 | 16.09 | 18 | 146 | ||
| 0240 | 432 | 16.05 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0031 | 418 | 15.98 | 18 | 146 | ||
| 0192 | 339 | 15.98 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0656 | 428 | 15.98 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0158 | 458 | 15.94 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0455 | 274 | 15.87 | 18 | 142 | ||
| 0042 | 177 | 15.79 | 18 | 142 | ||
| 0406 | 96 | 15.56 | 18 | 142 | ||
| 0327 | 276 | 15.53 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0007 | 168 | 15.44 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0458 | 287 | 15.31 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0161 | 168 | 15.31 | 18 | 142 | ||
| 0195 | 276 | 15.28 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0251 | 319 | 15.15 | 02 | 127 | ||
| 0685 | 52 | 14.94 | 07 | 146 | ||
| 0122 | 336 | 14.83 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0068 | 372 | 14.73 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0180 | 426 | 14.7 | 18 | 146 | ||
| 0243 | 66 | 14.67 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0169 | 382 | 14.62 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0858 | 58 | 14.57 | 18 | 146 | ||
| 0238 | 283 | 14.48 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0611 | 364 | 14.47 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0237 | 325 | 14.37 | 18 | 146 | ||
| 0005 | 196 | 14.31 | 18 | 148 | ||
| 0542 | 536 | 14.28 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0344 | 175 | 14.18 | 18 | 142 | ||
| 0576 | 388 | 14.18 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0157 | 331 | 14.03 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0194 | 212 | 14.01 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0230 | 156 | 13.92 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0085 | 285 | 13.9 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0848 | 260 | 13.9 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0583 | 178 | 13.88 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0239 | 284 | 13.72 | 09 | 147 | ||
| 0030 | 259 | 13.72 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0048 | 138 | 13.7 | 18 | 142 | ||
| 0538 | 174 | 13.68 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0863 | 90 | 13.55 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0059 | 289 | 13.52 | 18 | 148 | ||
| 0168 | 74 | 13.5 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0039 | 339 | 13.43 | 07 | 134 | ||
| 0525 | 385 | 13.37 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0197 | 403 | 13.36 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0286 | 712 | 13.21 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0222 | 314 | 13.2 | 07 | 134 | ||
| 0319 | 283 | 13.18 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0582 | 215 | 13.04 | 18 | 142 | ||
| 0147 | 357 | 13.02 | 18 | 139 | ||
| 0247 | 217 | 12.93 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0202 | 188 | 12.9 | 18 | 142 | ||
| 0193 | 143 | 12.89 | 18 | 147 | ||
| 0295 | 114 | 12.81 | 09 | 146 | ||
| 0281 | 331 | 12.77 | 07 | 146 | ||
| 0216 | 253 | 12.77 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0040 | 334 | 12.73 | 07 | 134 | ||
| 0047 | 211 | 12.71 | 18 | 142 | ||
| 0371 | 56 | 12.7 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0285 | 323 | 12.66 | 09 | 147 | ||
| 0401 | 245 | 12.62 | 18 | 141 | ||
| 0652 | 319 | 12.6 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0790 | 1 | 12.5 | 29 | 128 | ||
| 0355 | 148 | 12.49 | 09 | 131 | ||
| 0164 | 190 | 12.47 | 18 | 142 | ||
| 0057 | 373 | 12.46 | 18 | 148 | ||
| 0171 | 198 | 12.45 | 18 | 142 | ||
| 0580 | 141 | 12.43 | 18 | 142 |
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Kesha Rogers Leading War Against British Empire
Dear TX-22 Democratic Primary Voters:
Kesha Rogers thinks that you were well aware of her single minded focus on impeaching Obama when you voted her as our nominee for the 22nd Congressional District (see below). I think you, not having done any research, were just playing with the E-Slate and landed on her name. Whee! That was fun. Now our "Democratic" nominee is saying, “I am leading a war against the British Empire. I'm not worried about what Democratic Party hacks say or do.” Won't that be fun to take up arms against Britain! I think this fits right in with Rick Perry's secession plan. We can cowboy up and send Texas troops across the Atlantic to kick some real tea party butt.
So, did you vote for Kesha because you want Obama impeached? Or, are you just lazy and stupid?
Your friend,
Muse
P.S. For your reading pleasure, here's a post-eleciton message from Kesha Rogers, straight off her website:
Kesha Rogers thinks that you were well aware of her single minded focus on impeaching Obama when you voted her as our nominee for the 22nd Congressional District (see below). I think you, not having done any research, were just playing with the E-Slate and landed on her name. Whee! That was fun. Now our "Democratic" nominee is saying, “I am leading a war against the British Empire. I'm not worried about what Democratic Party hacks say or do.” Won't that be fun to take up arms against Britain! I think this fits right in with Rick Perry's secession plan. We can cowboy up and send Texas troops across the Atlantic to kick some real tea party butt.
So, did you vote for Kesha because you want Obama impeached? Or, are you just lazy and stupid?
Your friend,
Muse
P.S. For your reading pleasure, here's a post-eleciton message from Kesha Rogers, straight off her website:
The Ides of March are coming: Pro-Impeachment Democrat wins nomination in Texas
Houston, March 3, 2010 – The victory in the 22nd Congressional District yesterday by LaRouche Democrat Kesha Rogers sent an unmistakable message to the White House, and its British imperial controllers: Your days are numbered. Kesha's campaign hit relentlessly at a single theme, that President Obama must go, that his attacks on this nation – with his dismantling of the manned space program, his efforts to ram through a fascist, killer “health care” policy, his endless bailouts for Wall Street swindlers, while demanding budget cuts which will increase the death rates among the poor, the sick, the elderly and the unemployed – are not acceptable, and will not be tolerated.
Skeptics said that LaRouche's approach is impractical, it won't work, that Democrats will never support someone who is calling for the President's impeachment. Obviously, the voters of the 22nd district disagreed with those skeptics, as Kesha received 53% of the vote against two opponents. As Kesha told the Galveston Daily News last night, when a reporter asked if she expected support from the Democratic Party in the fall election, “I am leading a war against the British Empire. I'm not worried about what Democratic Party hacks say or do.”
The arrogance of those hacks, who seem to be taking their lead from the Narcissist-in-Chief, was evident in the statement issued last night by her losing opponent, Doug Blatt, who was endorsed by all the “official” Democratic clubs in the District. He wrote:
“I'm sorry to inform you that we lost.
“The winner, Kesha Rogers, is already claiming on her web site that this means that voters in the 22nd District want to impeach the President.
“I can't believe that most people who voted for her knew that she wants to do that.
“I do believe that most of them didn't do any research about the candidates before voting.” [emphasis addeded]
He is wrong. The voters knew exactly what they were doing when they cast their ballots for Rogers. They saw Kesha and her campaign army every day. The LYM forces ruled the streets, walking the neighborhoods, taking an uncompromising message to the voters: This is your time to make history, to take this country back from the global speculators who are destroying everything precious to us. After we impeach Obama, we are going to implement the LaRouche Plan, beginning with a global Glass-Steagall, and full-funding for a Moon-Mars mission, as the essential science driver behind a major commitment to build the modern infrastructure this nation needs.
And the voters responded, proving again, that courage and imagination will defeat immoral skepticism and cowardly capitulation.
Harley Schlanger
LaRouche's Western USA spokesman
LaRouche's Western USA spokesman
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