Fun in Austin / UPDATED
Okay, campers, I’m in Austin today to holler at the Texas Democratic Party Platform Committee.
Our party chairman, Gilberto Hinojosa, put me on the platform committee. Whether he’s the smartest man you ever knew or totally drunk when making the selection is up for speculation and your viewpoint. I can promise you that the Texas Democrat roaches, who linger even after a decade of being proven wrong, losing everything, and throwing $11 million down the toilet, are still fighting for the “persuadable Republican” instead of firing up the base. I have one thing to say, “persuadable Republicans” are like unicorns – fun to talk about but they don’t exist.
I will be there to fight for core Democratic values. Y’all might want to organize a posse with some big ole encyclopedias – not for the information but for the whacking upside the head value.
I’ll keep you updated if we get a break or some damfool drones on and on about how he dislikes section C, subtext 4, bullet point IV.
Bubba and I arrived last night and, as required by statute, went for Margaritas and tamales with some of our favorite people. Little did we know that the hole-in-the-wall joint we chose for last night’s cuisine had won an award in 2005 from the Austin Chronicle, an alternative newspaper.
Here ya go. It was hanging over the door as you exit. Thanks to Mark for being tall enough to take the picture. You might have to click the little one to get the big one.
If the Austin Chronicle cannot spell tortilla, then they are an alternative newspaper in every sense of the word – including spelling.
If you’re ever in Austin, their tortilla soup is amazingly great but their Margaritas are the worst ever. The first hint was blue salt around the rim.
UPDATE:
We took it seriously and we worked nicely together.
I’m home. We are going to have an excellent platform if it survives the convention committee. I’m thinking of running for the convention committee.
Go get ’em and knock some heads!
1As you know, Austin isn’t so bad. A persuadable Republican, there isn’t, but there are a lot of Ds who do need to be fired up. I was surprised at the reaction I got just before my surgery when they asked if I would accept blood if I needed it. I said, as long as it didn’t come from a Republican. Didn’t get dirty looks, but did get a few laughs. My cardiologist told me I didn’t have to worry about that because they don’t give blood.
2I concur on the food at El Borrego de Oro. It’s great, but don’t get the margaritas! How can they get it so wrong?
3Republican’ts don’t give anything except negativity, cruelty, obstruction, perversion and self-righteousness.
4Loved the doc’s quip about giving blood.
Anyone with a brain who still belongs to that party is in a serious state of self-denial. They are not worth the effort to “persuade”.
Ted Cruz is doing a pretty good job of persuading Republicans to join our side. With the help of Louie Gohmert and Dan Patrick, I’m pretty sure all the sensible Republicans will take advantage of that secret ballot and dissent from the party line. But then, there is only a handful of sensible Republicans. And they aren’t worth our effort.
5I agree! fire up your base! Our primary produced a poor choice because the base wasn’t fired up enough.
6First of all, I was a Republican for over 40 years. Even voted for Goldwater.
7I cracked up at the “required by statute” snark for tamales and margaritas.
Tortilla soup is a work of art, and there just flat are not enough artisans in the kitchens of America.
My next youngest brother has been infected by the Koch disease. I hope he pays me back the money I loaned him before his heart and brain turn to stone.
“The Koch disease.” I like that. I hope we find a cure for that often fatal disease which seems to be passed by the twins of greed and fear. I may have mentioned this before but it never stopped me before. Recently at Strange Brew (which is taking over BAKE OVEN) one of my friends and I have discovered that there are lots of potential Democrats there but they have pretty much given up on the political system. Some are registered, some are not. We think that we need to spend time there just listening and talking to these young folks. I’m really concerned. How about the coffee houses near you?
8Real proud you’re on the Platform Committee, Ms. JJ. May I suggest y’all come up with a really good, strong, workable plank about climate change and how many good jobs can come from moving forward with energy efficiency, conservation of water, and expanding renewable energy use? If any of you read Leonard Pitts today in the STATESMAN you know how he feels about climate change. You think it would help if all the rest of us chimed in on that?
9I once got so frustrated during a debate over a resolution that I leaned over to a fellow delegate and asked, soto voice, “Is there a hyphen in anal-retentive?” He, very justifiably, kicked me under the table but a couple of my fellow delegates had a T-shirt made up for me!
Fire them up JJ, and if all else fails make up a couple of nifty T-shirts for the meeting! Maybe you can put a picture of a Margaritas on it!
10Fire up the base and any persuadable Republicans will get swept up in the process.
We are ALL tired of the political process but the only way to fix it is to vote and clean house. When our ‘house’ is as dirty as it is you cant do a five minute fix-up. If every single person went to vote with a ‘newly registered to vote’ friend we would double the turnout
11I’m with Bananas. I haven’t seen anything resembling a persuadable Republican here in Pennsyltucky and for all I know that subspecies may be extinct here. There are even fewer in Texas.
12Persuadable Republicans went the way of the dodo bird, the carrier pigeon and the 2000 version of John McCain. They do not exist anymore.
13Deb, it depends on where it is in the sentence…
Years ago I was married to a lovely man with a passion for grammar. He was in a full persnickety rant on another subject when one of our best friends interrupted with, “Hey, Diarmuid! Just how long is the hyphen?” It startled him so much he burst out laughing and it ended the rant. (And yes, he knew the answer.)
14I keep reminding friends and coworkers to vote. My goal has been to get a few non-voting Democrats (“What does it matter when the state is red? My vote means nothing.”) to get themselves into the booth and vote. This year I’ll be making extra effort.
15It has frustrated me for years that the Dems are so mushy (I grew up in the Lyndon Johnson era). I could name a dozen issues that clearly define the GOP–guns, religion, regulation, science, women’s rights, gay rights, immigration, etc.
The Dems don’t seem to have even one.
They should be the party that unswervingly protects Social Security, but they swerve all the time.
Women’s rights? Sort of.
Fair taxes? Well, rich people are their main contributors.
And so forth and so on. The Dems need to decide on a few core principles that they truly believe in and act accordingly.
16LynnN, I agree. We need THREE MAIN TALKING POINTS and personally I think WATER should be at the top. Without water nobody can live and Texas is turning into desert out west at ten miles a year. And water shouldn’t be stolen from rural areas so rich urban dwellers can grow lawns. Let the lawns die. That era is over.
17Marge, I can get behind that. Ever since Gov. Perry took office and started “inviting” people to move to Texas, I’ve been throwing a fit because we do NOT have the water infrastructure to support it, particularly in Central Texas. The year I heard about LCRA denying water to the rice farmers (and other agriculture downstream of Austin) I had another fit.
During the drought, I’ve watched state reservoir lake levels on pages like this one http://www.waterdatafortexas.org/reservoirs/statewide. While a few of these lakes are for flood control and are supposed to be empty (they’ll have footnotes), an amazing number of these are under a quarter full. The recent rains have filled the ones in east Texas, thank God, but west Texas is still critical.
18Rethuglicans don’t give blood,they are out for blood,preferablly someone else’s blood.
19Thanks, SusanF. I remembered later that last year, Weinert, Texas (not on the map of lakes etc) was told they had to reduce their water usage by SIXTY PERCENT! That, along with folks like The Greg saying basically he didn’t care if Texas got water from “where it wasn’t needed”. Ha. Where in Texas is it NOT needed? Oh, east Texas. Should building codes be changed? Lots of stuff we could do that only will get done if the super duper rich think they can get rich from it.
20Unfortunately, nothing has changed since you and Bubba went up to Austin.
Another school shooting… this one in the Northwest …. up toward Portland.
How long…. are we supposed to put up with this sh**?.
Please, let our Democratic brethren know…… that this Democrat will NOT EVER AGAIN vote for any candidate…. who takes blood money from the NRA.
Open Secrets.org……….. Yes….. we know who you are.
Give ’em He**…. Enjoy.
21http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/10/justice/oregon-high-school-shooting/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
More dead… More wounded.
22There is no such thing as a persuadable Repug. What we to go after is non voters. That is the difference and our base turns out. It would not be a base if it did not.
23Glad you are looking out for the Platform. Persuadable Republicans already are voting for Democrats, just not telling their friends and relatives. The only possible conversions are young folks, hatched by Republicans, who may start to think about their own futures.
24Its primary day here in Virginia. I was the 1st one to stumble in from the street to vote. Rather exciting! The County Elections Officials who volunteer for this sort of event tell me they except constant business today, barring any of the truly gut-busting nasty storms that are predicted for our area. Whoever the Dem is that wins today he/she will face Ed Gillespie, an old Repub who has done just about everything political over the years, and I do mean old. He’s been around so long he was the one crying at Appomatox.
25I’ll vote for anyone who promises to stop those damn telemarketers and credit card scam artists from calling 3 or 4 times a day EACH.
Just saying……
26Alacrity F-try this website http://www.donotcall.gov and register your phone number(s). Should stop most solicitations after a grace period.
27Glad you are there Juanita, keep up the good work. We just have to get everyone out to vote. there is more of us,than them.
28EPO @27,
29Been on that list for years, just need the “.gov” to truly do something about it.
” I have one thing to say, “persuadable Republicans” are like unicorns – fun to talk about but they don’t exist.”
Now, now, I still retain my GOP voter identification cards from other states. Granted, I’m more like a Republican anarchist, who wants to burn down the existing GOP (preferably with the leadership locked inside the building) but like a Phoenix, they’ll just reincarnate in a new form.
The only reason I’m not a registered Democrat is that I’m having fun being a thorn in the side of the right-wing members of the party… and someone’s gotta hang around to turn off the lights when the GOP implodes from its own stupidity.
30Yes, indeed, THREE MAIN TALKING POINTS that every voter (except maybe Rick Perry!) will remember in November.
31@Deb #10 – “Is there a hyphen in anal-retentive?” May I use this? I will hang it as a needlepoint on my cubicle wall.
32Bill, I would be honored, you certainly may.
33Three talking points:
#Water
#Student Debt
#ACA
You’re welcome.
34Zyxomma you hit it.
Water, water, water. Education and health care.
Build us a platform, Juanita Jean. “Whether he’s the smartest man you ever knew or totally drunk when making the selection is up for speculation and your viewpoint.” I vote that Gilberto Hinojosa is the smartest man ever for selecting you to be on the platform committee.
35What a great night, and it’s early here on the west coast.
The smug little twin evil, corporatist/AIPAC Cantor lost his seat.
Better news following. Juanita Jean is considering doubling down on everything she does for Texas. Her update: “I’m thinking of running for the convention committee.”
Juanita Jean, whatever decision you arrive at, we trust in your TX experience and wisdom to make the best choice possible to turn Texas blue in 2014. Rock ’em!!!!!
36HURRAY FOR ZYXOMMA and also for MIZ JUANITA JEAN HEROWNSELF! Now I’m going to hush and be quiet.
37Water is a good goal and tough to argue against but its an el Nino year and rain is predicted to ease the TX drought, especially in the fall. Your winner is “imigracion.” 2 Medicare/ACA. 3 Women’s issues.
If you need more than that, you’re doing it wrong.
38Persuadable Republicans? SNORT! There needs to be an appeal to persuadable discouraged democrats. After decades of Neo Liberal pro business Republican lite, they are legion. I read the “party line” from the DNC about how “progressive” candidates don’t have a chance of getting elected (Liz Warren, bitches, so bite me) until progressives start making head way in spite of their lack of support and THEN the “main stream” of the D. Party try to grab the “progressive” mantle for themselves. Tell me when and where I’ll bring my full volume Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary.
39Had the newly hired Battleground Tx kid play the “crisis crash card” on my couch last night. After 10 pm… got the call, needed to crash at my house. Not a problem. Doing laundry in the morning. I offered after watching him sniff his horribly wrinkled shirt before he put it on, on the way to his appointment at Starbucks this morning. He’s crashing again tonite… because my place is “so much easier” than driving an hour out into the hinterlands of southern Nolan County, only to discover that the folks who had offered him shelter last night were not home.
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU…. if you are in Texas, and you hear that there is a new Battleground Tx Coordinator hired in your area…. offer them sustenance, shelter, and laundry services. They are good kids. THEY ARE GOOD KIDS!
We can do this. A meal. A load of laundry. Give me a break! I was ashamed that in Abilene that I was his only option at 10 pm. He was ecstatic to have a banana, a gin/tonic, some cheese and crackers while watching Jimmy Fallon together.
Walk the talk.
40I’m late, but I’ll play. 1) Education – fully fund our schools, do away with the stupid tests. There are perfectly good nationally normed tests that we could administer, preferably optionally, once a year. Like we used to do the Iowa achievement tests. Stop making everybody crazy and spending money making our own tests that don’t tell anybody anything about what their kid knows. 2) Women’s issues – primarily the shutdown of women’s clinics. There are a lot of women who don’t think of themselves as liberal who used those clinics for regular women’s healthcare. 3) drug laws.
41