No To Dunbar Gets Us Gail Lowe

We implored everyone to block Governor 39% from appointing Cynthia Dunbar to head the TX State Board of Education this week. It worked. But now we are going to be stuck with someone just as bad.

 

Perry nominated Gail Lowe (R-Lampasas) to head up the board today. Granted, Lowe is not quite as psychotic as Dunbar and seems like a nice lady. But she is still a member of the socially retarded block of 7 on the 15 member board. She also publishes her own newspaper in Lampasas, which essentially gives her free advertising to do and say whatever she likes.

 

Keep an eye on this one. Lowe still has to be confirmed by the TX Senate. If you care about the future of Texas children, you will not let this be swept under the rug.

Dunbar For Head Of SBOE? Aw Hell No!

We've been following the oddities of TX politics for a while, but one of the more odd has reared it's ugly head. Governor Rick 39% Perry is ready to give Texas the ol' fuck you once again.

A little back story if you will. The TX State Board of Education is made up mainly of whackjobs who have never held a job in education before their time on the board. Dentists, attorneys, real estate agents, stay at home moms, what have you. That has also made for a Republican majority on the board, however only 7 of the 15 are evangelicals. People like David Bradley (R-Beaumont), who refers to anyone on the left as a pagan. Don McLeroy (R-Bryan) was until recently head of this gaggle of supernatural dingbats. Fortunately for us, the TX Senate refused to reconfirm him as leader of the pack this past session, much to the dismay of Governor Goodhair.

That leads us to this past weekend. Tea was tossed by a few thousand. Millions more didn't give a shit what "conservatives" had to say. Until now. The Guv is ready to shove another dip shit down our throats. The Houston Chronicle reported over the holiday that Cynthia Dunbar (R-Richmond) may be McLeroy's replacement. We remember Dumb and Dumber-bar don't we? She was the patriot who lumped our new President in with terrorists citing her freedom of speech. Never mind the fact her speech was essentially treasonous and asinine.

So this is what we have as a potential head of a body that educates our children. Children, who mind you, are mostly dead last in every category in the country. Someone like Dunbar can not be allowed to lead us into the 21st Century. The only thing more frightening is someone like Gail Lowe of Lampasas leading. She is just as insane, but in a more motherly Anti Christ like way, but with less ambition. Dunbar wants the job and for good reason. She is up for reelection in 2010. And she clearly is using the lowly SBOE as a stepping stone to higher office, as most GOP party stars do in Texas. She doesn't give a shit about your kids. She doesn't even care about the public school system. She has said herself she doesn't believe it should even exist. And what is Perry's interest here? Just the fact he may have his ass kicked by Kay Bailey Hutchison in a primary in 2010. What better way to solidify the Christian right than to appoint one of their own?

If you want to attempt to keep crazy ass people from ruining our society and our education system, you can do a couple things. You can sign this petition from Credo Mobile, and share with friends. And you can join or keep up with organizations fighting for our right to not have dumb ass kids, like the Texas Freedom Network. But we implore you! Do not let this slip through the cracks. The repercussions are immense.

Texas Blog Roundup

Now that we've celebrated another birthday for America, it's time for the weekly Texas Progressive Alliance blog roundup. Here are your highlights from the holiday week.

Neil at Texas Liberal says that while people went on about Michael Jackson, the U.S. Supreme Court was making it more difficult for black folks to get promoted at work.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme thinks Manuel Bañales should recuse himself from all things Mauricio Celis.

Off the Kuff takes a look at what happened during the blink-and-you-missed-it special session.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson has more on the impending statewide campaign of former Travis County as the draftronnie.com site goes live, Ronnie Earle is causing a stir.

Mr. The Plumber took some time out recently to talk about much the Founding Father's hated those Godless Communists. McBlogger, obvs, thinks he's kind of a dummy.

Over at Texas Kaos, Libby Shaw catches John Cornyn in yet another big bad whopper. John Cornyn Out to Kill Health Care Reform: Misleads Houston Doctors.

WhosPlayin wondered what could be the real reason for Sarah Palin quitting her post, and decided to post a little poll.

Texas Blog Roundup

It's Fourth of July week, and so it's time for an extra-patriotic rendition of the Texas Progressive Alliance blog roundup.

Off the Kuff takes a look at the latest Lyceum poll on the Governor and Senate races in Texas.

Neil at Texas Liberal suggests that instead of blowing of your fingers lighting fireworks--during a drought in Harris County no less---that maybe you would be better off reading a book instead.

With 2010 spinning up, it's funny to watch all the different players already on the field line up to take their first hits. McBlogger, of course, thinks they're all deeply in need of a little advice which he graciously provides (with surprisingly sparse use of profanity)!

WCNews & Dembones at Eye On Williamson post on the latest controversy involving the Williamson County Commissioners Court, Budget officer not just a good idea, it's the law.

John at Bay Area Houston says Turn out the lights, the family values party is over.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme thinks online Texas Republican commentary on Mark Sanford is interesting.

The similarities between Mark Sanford and Ray Bolger (as the Scarecrow in "The Wizard of Oz") are just too weird, notes PDidde at Brains and Eggs.

The wise men are willing to pay a tax on their favorite junk food to pay for health care reform.

WhosPlayin.com Video bring you EXTREME Congressional Town Hall - Special "Losing our freedoms" edition, sponsored by Prozac.

Over at TexasKaos, Libby Shaw calls our attention to Confessions of a Former Health Insurance Exec: "We Dump the Sick". Who knew? All the posturing , hypocritical , offers of self-reform and insurance relief are just so much bogus cover up for an industry too greedy to ever be trusted to regulate themselves!

The Texas Cloverleaf discusses gay pride, bar raids, and millions of gays marching in DFW this past weekend during the 40th anniversary of Stonewall.

Burnt Orange Report covers TX-10 Congressional candidate Jack McDonald's campaign expansion in the Austin area.

Texas Vox reports on Texas'
record setting energy consumption and the need for renewable peak
energy over boring old baseload from coal, gas, and nuclear.

Gay Pride, Police Raids & Millions Of Gays On The March

This weekend was certainly one to remember. 40 years ago, the Stonewall riots broke out in New York City. Even though many gays fought for equality long before that, Stonewall was a turning point for the LGBT movement toward equal rights. In 2009, we're still fighting.

To start on a positive note, a gay pride event was held in Denton TX for the first time in many years. Numerous organizations have been to Denton before, some even as far back as the 70's with some statewide conferences. The Stonewall Democrats of Denton County, an organization barely two years old, took it upon itself to honor their namesake, the Stonewall riots. An opening mixer at the town's only gay bar, Mable Peabody's Beauty Shop & Chainsaw Repair (yes that is the name), hosted 60 people with the courage to actually sign Stonewall's list, and many more of the regular patrons. Saturday saw an event at Trinity Presbyterian Church, showing a documentary, discussion panel, etc. with another 40 people. The city itself even agreed to proclaim June 27, 2009 as "Denton LGBT Pride Day", showing how far we have indeed come.

But since LGBT people still have a ways to go, organizers held a nationwide event - the Million Gay March for Equality, held in at least 10 states on June 28. At least 1000 people marched in Dallas in the 105 degree heat, to express their frustration with the slow pace to equality.

On a negative note, we got word that a gay club in Fort Worth was raided. It had only been open for one week, and the Fort Worth police department chose Saturday evening to arrest people at the Rainbow Lounge for public intoxication. We don't know about you, but typically people drink at bars, correct? And many are intoxicated-- in public! Apparently TABC officers in Texas can do this now. But why would you choose the GAY BAR on the 40th anniversary of Stonewall?? Seems a little suspect. Maybe Fort Worth wants its own riot to drum up tourism dollars? That CAN be arranged, Cow Town.

All in all, 40 years later, some has changed and a lot remains the same. But if people remain silent and sit at home on their hands, then nothing changes. Remember that when you remember Stonewall.

Texas Blog Roundup

It's time for another Texas Progressive Alliance blog roundup.

President Obama, Bill White, and John Sharp are all in the same sinking DOMA boat. The Texas Cloverleaf comes off of hiatus to tell you why.

CouldBeTrue from South Texas Chisme cheers the impeachment of Judge Kent. 4 articles passed without a single nay. Lets hope the Senate is through with him by August.

BossKitty at TruthHugger finally signed up for Twitter to get updates on the Iran protests. What a day of drama and emotion it brought, Icons and Martyrs – All Day On Twitter Watching Iran. (I was really meaning to highlight the regressive influences causing upheaval in personal lives, especially in Texas. Immigration Policies and Gay Rights – Contradictions)

Unlike Nevada Republican Senator John Ensign, Neil at Texas Liberal makes a promise he'll keep - He'll never cheat on his wife! Also, Neil sings the Damned's Wait For The Blackout at the Houston Ship Channel.

Off the Kuff takes a look, then a second look, at the bills Governor Perry vetoed.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson knows in order to solve big problems it takes leadership, Who is willing to lead, who has enough LBJ in them?.

Castle Hills Democrats heard candidates Tom Schieffer, John Sharp, Bill White, and Neil Durrance speak at the Dual County Fish Fry in north Texas. The blogger reviews their messages--and reports on feedback from the Dems in the audience.

WhosPlayin investigated the claim by a former mayoral candidate that the city is hiring illegal aliens for its road projects because one of its contractors doesn't yet use the E-Verify program.

Teddy at Left of College Station writes about escorting at Planned Parenthood and how what happens in Kansas doesn’t stay in Kansas. Today on Left of College Station: a report from the T. Don Hutto Residential Detention Facility and the protest on Saturday (including exclusive photographs).

Big Gas wants you to believe that regulating hydraulic fracturing is a state's rights issue. The truth: Only one state in the US regulates hydraulic fracturing. TXsharon busts the Big Gas bubble again on Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.

Citizen groups opposed to new coal plants being built in Robertson County and near Victoria were given a chance to intervene last week when two of the 12 newly proposed coal plants in Texas had preliminary hearings for their waste water permits. Check out the video over at Public Citizen's Texas Vox.

Over at TexasKaos, Libby Shaw tells us that Dumb, Self-serving Politicians Make Dumb, Self-serving Decisions. What a surprise that Governor Goodhair takes the starring role in this little drama. Check out the details.

Do you love the Real Housewives on Bravo? Were you a little less than impressed by the NJ version? So was Barfly over at McBlogger.

Obama, White, & Sharp All In The Sinking DOMA Ship Together

The Leaf is back. We have come out of hiatus. You may all exhale. The reason we are back are to address some issues on the federal level in regards to LGBT rights.

The last time we wrote a blog here was in March. Things seemed to be going well in the country, besides the economy. There was discussion of the repeal of DADT. Since then, more states have legalized gay marriage. America was going in the right direction to equality.

Then, June came along. Pride Month. In a month in which the Stonewall riots mark 40 years of the modern gay rights movement, the federal government began throwing LGBT citizens under the bus again. The US Dept. of Justice moved to dismiss a pending federal case challenging the Defense of Marriage Act.

President Obama himself has stated that DOMA is discriminatory and should be repealed. But even former Congressman Bob Barr, it's original author, has stated the very same. The only reason each of them has cited is that it prevents the states from doing what they want. And ya know, that simply is not good enough. Letting states do what they want lead to Jim Crow Laws, bans on interracial marriage, and now bans on gay marriage.

The reason we bring up Bill White and John Sharp, is because of an event we attended last evening in McKinney TX. A member of Stonewall Democrats of Denton County stood up with the last question to them of the evening-- "what is your position on the legality of DOMA, because LGBT people are not second class citizens?", to which a large applause came from the mostly caucasion suburban crowd. Both White and Sharp spent exactly one sentence to state that they "support President Obama's position" and then proceeded to ignore the topic and go on 5 minute diatribes about what they wanted to talk about. Keep in mind, each US Senate candidate had time to give speeched and talk up their love for public education. And keep in mind, they also took the time to actually answer everyone's question in detail. But not this one. The DOMA question was given the brush off, with White pulling the bus up to the curb, and Sharp putting it into reverse to back over us a second time. We found the lack of willing by both candidates to actually answer the question completely disrespectful, not only to the person asking the question, but all LGBT people.

So as LGBT people, or straight readers of this blog, ask yourself what you can do. Until these candidates, and this administration shapes up, then your money should stay in your wallet. The DNC, Obama administration, and these US Senate candidates do not deserve one penny until they can clearly explain why they won't touch the topics at hand. We need a little more audacity! The audacity begins with tough decisions and not waffling.

Obama's Word

First, let us hail the return of PinkDome.

Second, let us talk about something PD brought up earlier this evening. When President Obama gives his opinion, he isn't selling it enough. Your opinion is all we need to hear right now, O-dawg. Every claim you make does not need to be followed up with "but don't take my word for it. I'm not the only one who believes this..."

No shit? We hoped you weren't the only one who believed what you said, which is why we elected you in the first place. If you were in your own little Obama Land of craziness, you'd still be in political oblivion with Grandpa Munster and Governor Winksalot. You are the man! Act like it! Keep your pimp hand strong!

We half expected the press conference to be like an episode of This Is Your Life. "Don't take my word for it Rahm...take it from Lyndon Johnson! LBJ, get on out here you rascal!" Now sadly, LBJ did not make a special guest appearance. He is still in box number 1 behind the curtain. But you never know what is going to happen next. Of course Rahm Emanuel would miss the spectacle since he is too busy texting during the entire hour! Damn dude. Tweet on your own time.

Ok we're starting to ramble now. But you get the point. And we're sorry if this upsets our liberal readers who now hate us for speaking of LBJ's corpse and Rahm Emanuel in the same paragraph. But these are hard time and it is time for hard action. Even if it invokes the dead.

Texas Blog Roundup

With the arrival of Spring, a legislative session in Austin, municipal campaigns revving up around the state and Texas' primaries less than a year away, the blogs of the Texas Progressive Alliance continue to bring you insights from our members around the state. Here's a roundup of what we've been reporting.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas is now saying that the recession has landed full-force in Texas. Spared from the worst job losses during the first six months of the current recession, Texas is now shedding jobs at an alarming pace. Wcnews at Eye On Williamson looks at the trends, and offers a sobering assessment of the hard line, let 'em crash, mentality of Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas GOP.

Off the Kuff points to a bill by State Rep. Dwayne Bohac to demonstrate that the push for voter ID really is about vote suppression.

If Republicans really cared about election integrity, then why do we still have non-auditable electronic voting machines? CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants to know.

BossKitty at TruthHugger sees an opportunity to get a degree in the dark arts If Texas HB2800 Passes, I Want A Masters Degree In VooDoo

In a post that took some work and came out well, Neil at Texas Liberal wrote about what Google searches miss. Also, Neil read the bird sermon of St. Francis to a dancing duck chicken.

John Coby at Bay Area Houston says Why Ethics Reform is Needed in Texas.

The Texas Cloverleaf looks at a few local Twits in the GOP. Twittering Republicans, that is.

Over at TexasKaos, Libby Shaw tells us that in Hutchinson's world "It's All About Me". So she is going to run for governor, keep her Senate seat and give the people of Texas absentee represenation. Whatever makes her happy, heaven forbid she should put her constituents first.

WhosPlayin examined HB 4441, an attempt by Rep. Yvonne Gonzalez Toureilles to solve some problems related to pipelines.

Nytexan at BlueBloggin is stunned that Obama Taps CitiGroup Economist For Treasury Spot. So, how does Washington's logic work? They offer a job, at the Treasury Department, to Lewis Alexander of CitiGroup. The Global Marketing Division, that Alexander heads up, was just fined $2 million by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) for trade-reporting violations, including publishing flawed quotations. Let me know how that works out for you!

Xanthippas at Three Wise Men has some thoughts on the goals of American foreign policy, and is wondering if the war in Afghanistan is winnable, at least as we appear to be defining victory.

Molly Ivins warned us years ago about AIG, "too big to fail", and Phil Gramm. So says PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.

McBlogger takes a look at the valuations being placed on the evil CDO's. Lots of laughs, of course, follow.

Our Reps Are A Twittering

Tweet tweet. I tawt I taw a puddy tat!

 

No, Tweety. We're in the 21st Century now, and Twitter is all the rage. In an effort to understand how or why baby boomers would use Twitter, you can start following your local Congressmen on the service. Denton County's reps Michael Burgess CD-26 and Kenny Marchant CD-24 both Twitter now. Burgess seems to enjoy his TwitterBerry, while Marchant is new to the service within the past week.

 

In case you can't get enough, some of the more interesting tweets come from Governor 39% Rick Perry. Rather than discussing politics, he has told us about his relay races and WWII bombing runs. Typical of Governor Do Nothing.

 

There's plenty of Democrats on Twitter as well, but we will have to cover them at a later time. We have to go check our updates now in case we miss something from M.C. Hammer.