Texas State Representative Jonathan Stickland (R) identifies himself as a former fetus. Stickland's bio states his anti-choice beliefs.
Jonathan is adamantly pro-life and believes it is part of the government’s role to protect the unborn lives of children. He was honored to help author House Bill 2, which restricted abortions after 20 weeks, and made abortion clinics adhere to stricter rules that protect Texas women. This was a huge victory for the pro-life movement and Jonathan was proud to be a part of it.
Unsurprising but more depressing news. Louie Gohmert is re-elected to the House of Representatives. I wonder what the people of the 1st congressional district of Texas are smoking.
The Republican Party of Texas 2014 platform endorses reparative therapy for gays. Reparative therapy has been conducted by people such as Marcus Bachmann. Christian conservatives have claimed that reparative theorapy can make gay people straight. San Francisco State University has found that reparative therapy has highly destructive results on gay people.
The lack of scientific backing on reparative therapy hasn't stopped the Republican Party of Texas from placing reparative therapy in the platform.
Homosexuality must not be presented as an acceptable alternative lifestyle, in public policy, nor should family be redefined to include homosexual couples. We believe there should be no granting of special legal entitlements or creation of special status for homosexual behavior, regardless of state of origin. Additionally, we oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values. We recognize the legitimacy and value of counseling which offers reparative therapy and treatment to patients who are seeking escape from the homosexual lifestyle. No laws or executive orders shall be imposed to limit or restrict access to this type of therapy.
Fortunately, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis has come out against reparative therapy. From the Lone Star Q.
In response to the headline-grabbing plank, a spokesman for Davis’ campaign confirmed this week in an email to Lone Star Q that the Democratic gubernatorial nominee would back a statewide ban on reparative therapy for minors similar to laws that have passed in California and New Jersey.
Reparative therapy is dangerous. The Southern Law Center is asking for people to share stories of their bad experiences with reparative therapy.
"I mean this president has continued the policies of supporting Nazis in Ukraine…That's what he's doing right now."
Kesha Rogers, fringe Democratic candidate running for John Cornyn's Senate seat.
Rogers has been running on a platform of impeaching President Barack Obama. The Democratic establishment has been working to make sure she doesn't become the nominee. Rogers will be in a Democratic runoff election against David Alameel. The winner will have the honor of being crushed by John Cornyn in the general election. I am so glad I do not live in Texas.
Tea Party Conspiracy Theory That United Nations is Taking the Alamo
This op-ed is not from The Onion. George Rodriguez, former president of the San Antonio Tea Party, believes that the United Nations is going to take control of the Alamo.
Texans should be aware that San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro may have started a new “battle of the Alamo”. He has made some initial moves to allow the United Nations to influence and even manage the Alamo, and the San Antonio Express/News is doing a soft sell of the idea in their Sunday, September 15 opinion page. It has been reported that Mayor Castro and his close ally, City Councilman Diego Bernal, have been meeting with U.S. Department of Interior officials about the future of San Antonio’s historical missions. Castro wants to make the missions a greater tourist attraction by designating them national and world cultural treasures.
It is bad when a conservative Republican, Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, calls rumors of the U.N. taking over the Alamo "Horse hockey." Translation: that is a polite way of Patterson saying the rumor is bullshit.
Alex Jones has been running false stories of a United Nations take over of the Alamo on his website. There is a video on the linked (factually inaccurate) InfoWars article of Alex Jones speaking in front of the Alamo with an assault rifle strapped to him. Jones just rambles nonsense. Jones is a horrible public speaker. Unfortunately, there a lot of conspiracy theorists that need a leader.
Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis spoke at the National Press Club. Davis hinted that she may run for governor.
"I do think that in Texas, people feel like we need a change from the very fractured, very partisan leadership that we've seen in our state governor right now," Davis said at the fundraiser luncheon. "I can say with absolute certainty that I will run for one of two offices -- either my state senate seat, or the governor's."
The fact that a previously unknown State Senator is now speaking at the National Press Club tells you that Davis is a rising political star.
This is the bizarre security state we live in. The Texas Department of Public Safety is confiscating tampons from women wanting to enter the gallery of the Texas legislature. A copy of the TDPS press release.
AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) today received information that individuals planned to use a variety of items or props to disrupt legislative proceedings at the Texas Capitol.
Therefore for safety purposes, DPS recommended to the State Preservation Board that all bags be inspected prior to allowing individuals to enter the Senate gallery, which the State Preservation Board authorized.
During these inspections, DPS officers have thus far discovered one jar suspected to contain urine, 18 jars suspected to contain feces, and three bottles suspected to contain paint. All of these items – as well as significant quantities of feminine hygiene products, glitter and confetti possessed by individuals – were required to be discarded; otherwise those individuals were denied entry into the gallery.
In the interest of the safety and security of Texas legislators and the general public, these inspections will continue until the conclusion of Senate business.
Andrea Grimes reports Texas state troopers spent 1 1/2 hours confiscating tampons and other female hygiene products. GCitizens were allowed to bring guns in the gallery. How else would conservatives be able to protect themselves in the event of a tampon attack.
The Republican majority in the Texas legislature can't even pretend they're not sexist.
Pro-Choice Activist @VictoriaPrude Removed From Texas Legislature Hearing
Pro-choice activist @VictoriaPrude ripped into the Texas legislature. She was removed by Texas state troopers before she finished speaking. She was interviewed later by Daily Kos. @VictoriaPrude told Horace Boothroyd III that she was never given a reason as to why she was removed from the hearing.
There was no explanation. Senator Jane Nelson tried to say I was being disrespectful but how would she know? I barely got to give the complete performance review of every member on the committee. Pointing out that Sen. Donna Campbell is an ophthalmologist is not disrespectful when she asserts in a state hearing that she should be THE expert on reproductive health. What was disrespectful was the parade of anti-choice zealots and misogynists who got up for 13 hours and called women murderers, killers, promiscuous, thoughtless, and selfish. Not a peep from committee chair Nelson on those.
@VictoriaPrude was escorted off the capital. Her behavior may have been rude. I have seen tea party protesters go near riot mode against elected Democratic officials and not be removed from town hall meetings.
The first reaction was a true shock. And that was the hundreds of people who applauded me as I was escorted out of Capitol and who stayed with me so police couldn't isolate me. You can see some of it here. Parade as girl is escorted out of testimony Next, I came home to hundreds of new followers on social media. And finally, the texts, tweets, emails, and phone calls haven't stopped from friends and family alike. Texans are as angry as I sounded. We don't benefit at all from the polite oppression of Texas legislature "decorum". Dissent and rebellion continue to drive this fight.
This is true rudeness. This is the behavior of tea partiers at a Kathy Castor town hall meeting. These people thinks the Constitution gives them permission to act like obnoxious assholes and be respected for such behavior.
Iraqi citizens have to worry everyday about IEDs and suicide bombers. The English was terrorized by the IRA after several attacks from 1973 to 1975. These can be considered terrorism. Zedler's idea of terrorism is an elected official debating the merits of a bill she opposes. Zedler is calling the practice of the democratic process an act of terrorism. Zedler has an extremist view that has no respect for the democratic prospect.
This is a disturbing graph. Texas has more executions than Virginia, Oklahoma, Florida and Missouri combined. Texas is set to execute its 500th inmate. The details of the murder committed by Kimberly McCarthy are gruesome. I am not arguing that she is a saint. However, the reinstatement of the death penalty was suppose to lower the murder rate. There is no evidence that the death penalty prevents murder. There is also the question of how many innocent men are women have been executed. Anthony Graves is the perfect example. Grave was wrongly sentenced to death by the state of Texas. His charges were dismissed in 2010.
Graves wrote this op-ed. Graves details the brutal conditions in the Texas prison system.
The jury had already convicted me of murdering six people and burning their house down to cover up the crime. I was completely innocent: they had the wrong guy. I was scared of dying for a crime I did not commit, but I knew I was innocent and hoped someone, somewhere would make it right.
What I didn't know then was that this wrongful death sentence was only part of the torture I would experience for the next 18 1/2 years. I didn't know that I would be forced to live in an 8-foot, by 12-foot cage. I didn't know I would have to use a steel toilet, connected to my steel sink, in plain view of the male and female corrections officers who would walk the runs in front of my cell. I didn't know that for years on end I would have no physical contact with a single human being.
I didn't know that guards would feed me like a dog, through a slot in my door. Instead of providing basic nutrients, the food sometimes contained rat feces, broken glass or the sweat of the inmate who cooked it. This diet caused me health problems that continue today.
The prison gave me no phone to call my loved ones, no television to keep up with the world and local events, and no real medical care. I lived behind a steel door, with filthy mesh-covered windows looking out to the run.
Ask yourself if wrongly imprisoning Graves and sentencing him to die prevented one murder.
This amazing viral moment happened during the Wendy Davis filibuster of the Draconian anti-abortion bill making its way through the Texas legislature. Women in the chamber will not allow male elected leaders to silence Davis. Let her speak.
“I’m going to be real honest with you, the Republican Party doesn’t want black people to vote if they’re going to vote 9-to-1 for Democrats,” Ken Emanuelson said.
Emanuelson made the comment at a Battleground Dallas meeting. Texas GOP chairman Steve Munisteri started Battleground Dallas to counter the efforts of former Obama campaign staffers starting Battleground Texas. The demographics in Texas are changing. The state's Hispanic population is growing and Democrats know that. Republicans countered by creating Battleground Dallas. The result has been a tea party activist alienating black voters. We now see that Emanuelson is doing a serious backtrack.
"What I meant, and should have said, is that it is not, in my personal opinion, in the interests of the Republican Party to spend its own time and energy working to generally increase the number of Democratic voters at the polls, and at this point in time, nine of every ten African American voters cast their votes for the Democratic Party," he wrote on Tuesday.
That nonapology isn't any better. Emanuelson's walk back unintentionally does explain the mentality behind the voter suppression laws passed in red states. These laws do nothing to reform voting. The laws do create longer lines and a teacher treated like a criminal for attempting to register first time voters. Republican want people to have proof of both a driver's licence and voter ID card when casting a ballot. Yet they refuse to back a national motor voter bill. Why have people be able to register to vote when they get their driver's license? That would make voting too easy.
Florida & Texas Will Not Steal Businesses From California
Gov. Rick Scott has a novel idea on how to steal businesses from California. Put a billboard somewhere in California. It doesn't matter where.
"I'm working on putting up a billboard out there that has Jerry Brown's picture and mine. We both have the same haircut," said the similarly hair-challenged Scott at a Republican Party meeting in Sarasota County last week. "It's going to say: 'Same haircut, no income taxes. No. 1 in teacher quality. Move to Florida.'"
Scott's idea is so original. It is strange that it sounds a lot like an idea by America's favorite intellectual Gov. Rick Perry. Perry released a radio ad in California declaring that "next Silicon Valley." Does Texas have a place that computer programmers and rich gay people both reside. Otherwise, they aren't the next Silicon Valley. Perry would have at least sounded like he knew what he was talking about if he said next Palo Alto.
Scott had this to say about California's economy.
"Unlike Florida, it is clear California does not have a climate for businesses to succeed," Scott said in announcing that letter-writing effort.
Actually, that is false. California has the biggest state economy in America. California has a bigger economy than many nations. KPCC's business analyst Mark Lacter made this point about how Perry's radio ad is not likely to succeed.
Steve Julian: Mark, what's working for or against him?
Mark Lacter: First off, Steve, his timing in trying to recruit businesses out here is pretty bad. Job growth in California has been outpacing the nation, the state's fiscal situation is improving, the housing market has been coming back over the last few months – this is not the place it was just a few years back. As for Texas, yes, job growth has been strong, but those jobs are often the low-wage, low-skilled kind, and they could easily move from Texas to some other state (or some other country) where the wages are even cheaper. One other point Gov. Perry neglects to mention is the disastrous health care system in Texas. Roughly one quarter of the population is uninsured – that's the highest level in the nation, higher even than California, which itself is pretty bad.
Julian: Then why is he making a big stink about the federal Affordable Care Act?
Lacter: He believes Medicaid should be turned into a block grant for the state, which many experts say could make a bad situation a lot worse. In any event, it's worth pointing out that there hasn't been any great exodus of California businesses and people to Texas. Sure, companies have left over the years in slightly larger numbers than companies coming in, but what's often not factored is the large number of business start-ups in California - way more than in Texas. To give you an idea, more than half of all venture capital funds in the U.S. involve California companies.
Jerry Nickelsburg, senior economist at UCLA's Anderson School of Management, splashed cold water on Scott's billboard idea luring any businesses out of California.
"It is unlikely that these actions would induce a business to move," he said.
Scott and Perry think they can lure Apple or a major movie studio with a billboard or radio ad. That shows amazing stupidity.
The Army told the AP that seven people are dead from a mass shooting at the Fort Hood, Texas base. 20 people were woulded from the attack. One alleged shooter is in custody. CNN reports 11 dead, including a second gunman. The FBI is on the scene.
The first shooting occured at 1:30 PM at the medical processing office. The second shooting occured at a theater. A graduation ceremony was scheduled at the latter. Apparently, the shooters had access and knowledge of the facilities.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports the gunmen are military personal. One gunman is still on the loose. The death count is reported at 12.
A news report on the missing gunman.
Update: the New York Times reports the missing gunman has been killed.
Christopher Hogue, a spokesman at Fort Hood says that the gunman who was killed had two handguns. He confirms that 12 people are dead, including the gunman and that 31 have been wounded. The base remains locked down.
We don't yet know all the details at this moment. We will share them as we get them. What we do know is that a number of American soldiers have been killed and even more have been wounded in a horrific outburst of violence. My immediate thought is with the wounded and the families of the fallen. These are men and women who have made the selfless and courageous decision to risk and at times give their lives to protect the rest of us on a daily basis. It's difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans overseas. It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil. I've spoken with Secy Gates, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Adm. Mike Mullin and we continue to receive a constant stream of updates as new information comes in. We are working with the Pentagon, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security all to ensure that Ft. Hood is secure. And we will continue to support the community with the full resources of the government. In the meantime I would ask all Americans to keep the men and women of Ft Hood in your thoughts and prayers. We will make sure that we get answers to every single question about this horrible incident. I want all of you to know that as commander in chief that there's no greater honor but also no greater responsibility for me than to make sure the extraordinary men and women in uniform are properly cared for and that their safety and security when they're at home is provided for. So we are going to stay on this. I hope all of you recognize the scope of this tragedy and keep everybody in their thoughts and prayers....
Update: Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is the shooter that was captured killed. Hasan is a psychiatrist reassigned from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Hasan's Arabic name is definately going to raise red flags.
Twelve people were killed and at least 31 others were injured when a soldier opened fire at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas, military officials said. One gunman was shot to death, and two other soldiers were in custody, Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone, commanding general of the Army’s III Corps, told reporters.
Lt. Col. Eric Butterbaugh called the shooting "isolated and tragic case." Three people suggest a conspiracy. We will have to wait for the results of FBI investigation. Terroist-backed attack or not, this is horrible.
Update:it is not clear if the the other soldiers fired weapons. The news video below confirms the shooter is dead and two suspects are being held for investigation.
Update: according to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s spokesman, Jeff Sadoski, Hasan was unhappy about being deployed to Iraq.
David Carney is a political consultant for Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Carney made a comment that illustrates how the GOP is not serious about being a Big Tent Party.
Carney said he agreed the Republican Party needed to attract new voters. But, he added, "that doesn't mean you take your principles and throw them out the door and become a whorehouse and let anybody in who wants to come in, regardless."
Female Republicans are angered by Carney's statement. Former Republican National Committee member Denise McNamara and other conservative women want Perry to apologize and denounce Carney.
"As businesswomen, community leaders and mothers, it is always concerning and disheartening when we see people resort to behavior aimed at belittling women. Therefore, you cannot imagine how appalling it was to see your campaign's chief strategist liken our Senior Senator's primary campaign to 'opening the doors of a whorehouse,'" they wrote in a letter to Perry on Tuesday.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is running against Perry in the primary. The Hutchison campaign has used the Carney quote against Perry. The Governor is doing his best to distance himself from Carney. (That does not include firing Carney.) Perry appeals to the far-right elements of the Republican Party. Hutchison wants the party to steer away from social issues. What could hurt Perry is far-right candidates do bad in high turn out elections. Hutchison has unofficially recruited Karl Rove as a campaign advisor.
Hutchison's political team believes its campaign would benefit from a higher turnout and is targeting center-right voters, including suburban women and economic conservatives.
"What Hutchison is saying is that what most of us are looking for is a party that has core fiscal principles – Republican principles that include people who may or may not agree on the social issues," said Rich Galen, a GOP political consultant and one-time Hutchison adviser.
It will be interesting to see if Perry attempts to use his office to suppress voter turnout.
Salon takes a state by state look at the Republican Party. Florida is marked as a purple state turning blue because of Barack Obama's victory. Salon reports the DNC will attempt to pick off some of Texas' congressional seats. Texas will likely pick up seats in the next Census.
The GOP faces an increase of Southern Hispanics that aren't anti-Castro and pro-immigration. The Southern strategy and race-baiting of the Nixon era won't work.
Texas State Representative Jonathan Stickland (R) identifies himself as a former fetus. Stickland's bio states his anti-choice beliefs.
