July 1, 2014

Houston media helped spread lies about city's NDO

Houston media outlets helped spread misinformation about the city's newly enacted non-discrimination ordinance, parroting the talking points of anti-LGBT groups working to repeal the measure.

On May 28, the Houston City Council voted 11 to six to approve the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), which prohibits discrimination based on categories including race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Opponents of the ordinance, led by the Houston Area Pastors Council, immediately announced a repeal drive and have spent the month of June attempting to collect the 17,000 valid signatures needed to put the measure up for a vote in November.

Anti-LGBT activists, like Texas Values' Jonathan Saenz and Fox News' Mike Huckabee, focused particularly on the measure's protections for transgender people, asserting that the protections will make it easier for sexual predators to sneak into women's restrooms. That myth has been extensively debunked by independent experts in states and cities that have already adopted similar protections.

Many embedded links at source.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/06/30/houston-media-helped-spread-lies-about-the-city/199931

The locals will get an opportunity to redeem themselves in the fall, as it appears that God's Army of H-Town Homophobes has collected enough signatures to place a repeal initiative on the November ballot.

And that might just be a godsend for Harris County Dems, as it could goose turnout from liberals.

June 17, 2014

Who's going to be in Dallas in nine days?

http://www.texasdemocraticconvention.com/

I'm going as both delegate and media, with the SDEC kicking things off Thursday afternoon and the visit to the Sixth Floor Museum Sunday morning wrapping things up. In-between, a lot of caucuses and speeches will be consumed (along with small quantities of alcohol). In years past I remember informal DUer caucuses at local watering holes. The Bloggers Caucus has fallen by the wayside -- who reads blogs anymore? That's so 2006 -- but the politicos are picking up the slack.

"Beers and Bad Precedents":



Stonewall Dems/Texas Young Dems Blue After Party

http://secure.campaigner.com/Campaigner/Public/t.show?6qdlt--3m0z1-rj5fxt0&_v=2

Trey Martinez Fischer and the Spazmatics:



So... you in or out?

June 13, 2014

State rep. Chris Turner for Karin Johnason

Not a big deal, either.

Turner was Davis’ first choice to manage her bid, said someone close to the campaign, but was initially unavailable due to timing with the legislative session. Washington Democrats had been excited about Johanson, who they saw as an experienced hand who lent credibility to the campaign.

(The AAS article Google found was behind their paywall, so here are a couple of other stories that dig a little into the "why" of the switch.)

Johanson took credit for the decision in a farewell email.

“A few weeks ago I suggested to Sen. Davis that she reach out to Rep. Chris Turner to lead the campaign to election day. Chris has managed tough Texas races and as member of the Texas House is respected across the state for his smarts and common sense,” Johanson wrote in an email to the campaign staff, which was forwarded to msnbc by the campaign. “I am proud of what we have all built in this campaign…We have raised more money, have more donors (133,600) and have more volunteers (18,222) than any candidate ever in Texas. We have raised more money than any non-incumbent candidate for Governor in the country. We are organizing voters in every region of the state.”

Though Johanson was a D.C.-based consultant who helped get Tammy Baldwin elected in Wisconsin and spent decades working Democratic politics and with EMILY’s List, Turner is a seasoned Texas consultant and Democratic state representative.

http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/wendy-davis-campaign-manager-karin-johanson-replaced


The real reason she decided to leave, IMHO.

Recently the Davis campaign got into a bit of a spat with the Democratic Governors Association after Johanson criticized the organization for not listing the Texas gubernatorial race as a top targets for Democrats in the 2014 cycle.

"The uninformed opinions of a Washington, DC desk jockey who's never stepped foot in Texas couldn't be less relevant to what's actually happening on the ground," Johanson said.

In response the DGA communications director Danny Kanner said that Texas is a historically difficult state for Democrats to win statewide.

"Governor Shumlin stated the obvious fact that Texas has historically been a tough state for Democrats, but that -- because we have a strong candidate -- we are hopeful about our chances this year," Kanner said.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/wendy-davis-campaign-manager-karin-johanson-chris-turner

The DGA isn't going to send millions of dollars to Texas for Wendy -- probably the opposite in fact, as has traditonally been the case -- but they do need not to be dismissive of the Davis campaign... and Johanson shouldn't have kicked them in the shins when they were.

Anyway, tempest in a teapot... seas are calming.

The poll numbers simply reveal the historical baseline for the Republican advantage here: 8 to 10 to 12 to 14 points, depending on the personalities involved. We're coming off an election just a couple of weeks ago where 1% of registered voters cast a ballot in the D primary runoff. Three times as many voted Republican, but that's still not saying much. Obviously this is what BGTX is working hard to change.

Too early for any declarative statements about the races until Texans start paying more attention.

June 12, 2014

Abbott 44 Davis 32

In the latest TexTrib poll.

http://www.texastribune.org/2014/06/12/uttt-poll-abbott-leads-davis-12-points/

Rest of the statewide executive office races hold to the historical trend (Dems trail Republicans by 8-10 points).

It's going to be a long hot summer for Battleground Texas.

June 11, 2014

The subjugation of women

has to include limiting their sexual options to whatever men decide is right for them. If a woman without a husband gets pregnant, she is not allowed to have an abortion. But certain male-dominated conservative political caucuses (I can't call 'em a party) don't want to pay for her birth control, either -- the easiest, most effective, least morally conflicted option.

So once they have accomplished those two things, the last thing that is left to them -- the men, the ones in control -- is for them to say, "No sex for you". Or more precisely, only heterosexual sex, sanctioned by the church, for the purposes of procreation... the only kind they actually approve of. For women, not themselves.

The "violence prevention" rationales have gained more popularity in the wake of Elliott Rodger, and going further back, to Muslims promised scores of virgins on the afterlife. The "If these young men could just get laid on a semi-regular basis, they'd put down their weapons" sort of premise.

Not a whole lot of personal responsibility in that line of testosterone-poisoned thinking.

I thought the WaPo couldn't get any misogynistic after George Will, but I was wrong. Bezos is driving that bus right off a cliff.

June 7, 2014

We couldn't tell the difference between

BSE and the plain old, run of the mill Tea Party crazy. Until it was too late.

(I can be mean to 'em; I have to live with 'em)