"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing." To evil, "I fart in your general direction." Check out our podcast Jav & Charles Talk Comics at JavandCharles.com. Email: contact@AfterThoughtsNow.com
Arlington, Texas mayor Robert Cluck allegedly referred to a gathering of elected and appointed Latino officials as, "a bunch of Mexicans."
Where to start? Not all Latino or hispanic persons living in the United States are "Mexican." Guess what Mayor Cluck, there are countries other than Mexico south of the United States. Moreover, a lot of hispanics in America were actually born here, especially elected and appointed politicians. They are United States citizens. They are American.
Look at it another way. There are those with ancestry from other countries such as Ireland or other continents like Africa. I wonder what would Mayor Cluck would call a gathering of African American political types or a group of Irish Americans?
Yep. The above is correct. Forth Worth, Texas' Police Department is going to attempt to curb its officer's problem with drinking and driving. That's how the headline reads from local DFW TV station CBS11's website. They're just going to try to curb it. Just lessen it. Eliminate it? Heck no. C'mon, let's not set goals that are too high.
Mayor Leppert of our fair city, Dallas, Texas, is opposed to the Dallas City Council officially protesting Arizona's new "Show Me Your Papers" law. What other things might Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert be opposed to? How about Hispanic votes should he choose to run again?
Tea Party activist Dale Robertson, who runs TeaParty.org, was photographed carrying a racist sign at a rally. Of course he misspelled the racist word. The sign read, "Congress = slave owner; taxpayer = n[-word]." You know Robertson is having issues when other Tea Partiers are distancing from him. And of course Robertson is from Texas. Way to make the Lone Star State look great Robertson. Racist moron.
What, you might ask, is my problem with Tea Partiers? Here's my problem.
(please note that to the right there is a new "Subscribe Via Email" box. You can enter your email address, go through a couple steps and then you should receive an email when there are new posts. The service is free and should be secure. It's provided by the Google owned outfit called Feedburner. So if you want to, subscribe to PTN via email and let me know how it works. I'm interested to see if it works/works well. Your feedback, as always, is appreciated.)
or alternate title, "What Does a Cheney Endorsement(or, in this case, Non-Endorsement) Go For These Days?"
Seriously, is Cheney doing Perry a favor by endorsing Hutchison? And does Hutchison really believe getting Cheney's endorsement is a is a positive for her campaign?
What's in Perry's hair you might be asking? Click here for what's going on in Rick Perry's hair and more of the ongoing saga of Rick Perry's the Hair Aliens...
Here's an actual news story about Cheney's endorsement of Hutchison.
...kind of, sort of, well it is but, it's just not nearly as sexy as say the last time we had the polls open last November. There are some Texas contitutional amendments up for consideration and, if you live in Dallas, Texas like me, some Dallas Independent School District board seats up for election, namely seats 1, 3 and 9.
I'll be honest, I've been busy and dropped the ball on getting on top of the issues related to the constitutional amendments or informing myself about the candidates for the school board seats. However, below are some helpful links:
Want to know where to vote (in Dallas County)? Click here.
In case you didn't hear, Gov. Perry made a joke about the recession.
Apparently, according to Gov. Perry it's OK to joke about the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. The recession is no laughing matter to Texans and Americans suffering the affects of the the economic downturn. People have lost their jobs. Companies have gone out business. And, yes, that is happening in Texas too. Perry again demonstrated his remarkable ability to discount, marginalize and make jokes at the expense ordinary people and voters.
Side Note / Question: Are we looking at a "the lesser of two evils" decision for governor in Texas between Perry and Sen. Hutchison? And is Sen. Hutchison really the lesser? At least she's against toll roads everywhere, all the time. That's about all I know regarding the differences between the two, otherwise I need to educate myself on where Hutchison stands on different issues.
And I am just now educating myself on the Democrats running for the nomination. Any insight into the Dem candidates would be appreciated. Is there already a "front runner"? Are they going to be another sacrificial lamb put up for the slaughter?
You should let your elected officials in Washington D.C. or your state or your town know how you feel on issues important to you, no matter what side of any issue you're on. Imagine how tedious it was in decades past when you had to actually write a letter, address an envelope and take said letter to a mailbox. Now with this marvelous invention called the internet you have no excuse. And if you don't think they or their staff read emails you're wrong. They're in the business of getting elected so they take their constituents' emails very seriously. Click on the links above and email your elected officials and let them know what you think on any issue you'd like. Pass this along to others so they can too.
DallasSouthNews.org is up and running. It's a non-profit site that focuses on a myriad of things local, state and national. It pays particular attention to issues relevant to South Dallas, as you may have been able to infer by the title of the site and web address' url.
Yours truly has been asked to contribute to DallasSouthNews.org. Of course, I will still post first here on PTN. And, don't worry, I'll still post whatever I want, when I want here on PTN. It'll be up to those at DallasSouthNews.org to decide what content they choose to use from here at PTN.
I didn't think I'd ever write this but, I guess Governor Rick Perry, his hair and secessionist talk in my home state of Texas, at least for now, is at least equally as crazy as Governor Schwarzenegger of California, with his freakin' knife, talking to the public about some crazy money making ideas on a twitter video that he put out:
Seriously, you freakin' cannot make this stuff up! I'm not sure I want any chief executive to start any address to anyone on any video to involve him or her wielding a knife. Of course CA did elect a former movie action star whose best work is...I don't know you tell me. Idiocracy here we come!
What does this portend politically? Here are my prophesies:
1) State of the Union? Sure. In between UFC matches!
2) Visiting dignitaries from foreign countries wanna talk to our President? They'll have to sit through the Wrath of Khan drinking game first!
3) Senate debates? Senate arm wrestling!
4) Presidential debates? No! PRESIDENTIAL DEATH MATCHES! THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(that's all the Idiocracy ideas I could come up with based on this video off the top of my head. If you have any other Idiocracy ideas based on the above clip email me at: contact@politicalthoughtsnow.com)
Diann Jones, a Vice-Chairman (even though she's a she, more on that below) of the Collin County (just north of Dallas County) Republican Party, sent an email to her fellow local Republicans regarding a fictional proposed tax on firearms that in part read, "another terrific idea from the black house and its minions." One Republican who found it offensive was a local judge who forwarded the email on to fellow judges. Then it leaked to the media. Of course Jones claims that she didn't write that portion of the email and wasn't aware that the racist portion was included in her email. Right, sure she didn't notice the racist remark. And the GOP wonders why some say it's turning into the White Male Christian Republican Party.
To further prove the point about the closed, backwards nature of some in the GOP, the Collin County GOP calls her, Ms. Jones, a female, a "Vice-Chairman", go look ontheir site if you don't believe me. They haven't progressed to the point of referring to female leaders as chairpersons. I know it's just a word but words have meaning and impact people's perception. In this case they think little enough of her and fellow female Republicans that they refer to heras a man, albeit a chairman in this case. Brilliant.
Vice-Chairman Diann Jones' phone number is 972 540 5985, the Collin County Republican Party can be emailed at collincountygop@sbcglobal.net, their website is http://www.collincountygop.com/.
Would you want a judge hearing your case on appeal when that judge has received campaign contributions from your adversary or your adversary's attorney? I wouldn't. I would hope you wouldn't either.
Pending in the Texas House is a bill that would require justices/judges on the Texas Supreme Court/Court of Criminal Appeals (the highest appellate civil and criminal courts in Texas, respectively) to recuse themselves from a case if that justice/judge received $1,000.00 or more from someone involved in the case. (text of bill here)
House Bill 4548(H.B. 4548) is still in committee, and we'll have to see if it gets out. After that, there's no assurance that it passes the Texas House and Senate. Why? Who could be against a bill like this? Surely it would pass with little or no opposition. Well, some folks might like having judges in high places to whom they've paid money. But, I don't know how anyone, organization, or business entity could be openly against this bill without looking like they just wanted to line the pocket of justices and judges that would be hearing their cases.
Of course I'm all for the bill.
Want to let your Texas representative and/or senator know how you feel about this bill (whether you agree with me or not) or any other piece of legislation? Then, click here.
Betty Brown (who recently appeared on my list of terrible Texas politicians), a member of the Texas House of Representatives, recently suggesed that Asians and Asian Americans adopt names that are easier (for people like her?) to deal with:
Betty Brown just suggests, like it's no big deal, that all Asians and Asian Americans adopt Americanized names. ALL of them! Wow! I wonder if Ms. BETTY BROWN has trouble with any of those other crazy languages like Spanish or Portuguese or German or Italian or Polish or Russian. Maybe ALL of those from and descended from countries that speak languages other than English and with ethnic names should adopt Americanized names so it's "easier" for folks like her.
The respectful speaker at this hearing should have suggested that instead of Asians and Asian Americans adopting names that are easier for Ms. Brown to understand maybe Ms. Brown should change from being an ignorant talking head to a thoughtful policy maker.
Below is a clip of Ron Paul defending the idea of secession and Gov. Perry:
Ron Paul defends secession as American and at least at one time grounded in constitutional principles. I'll disagree with Ron Paul when he says that secessionist talk isn't treasonous. There was a Civil War about it. When we revolted from England the only reason it wasn't considered treason was because we won. But, because the U.S. won the Revolutionary War it was historic and brilliant. Had we lost, it would have been treasonous, at least according to Britain. In other words, history is written by the victors and thankfully the U.S. won both the Revolutionary War and Civil War. Revolting because of lack of representation is one thing. States seceding in defense of the states' right to allow slavery is another. Threatening secession and defending secessionist talk because you disagree with tax policies, tax policies elected officials from each state voted on, is ridiculous. Of course these are just my thoughts on the subject.
Please note however that I may not be alone in my thinking, polling suggests that the vast majority of Texans are not in favor of seceding. The fact that we have polling on the issue is sad. Furthermore, over 60% of Americans approve of the job Obama is doing.
Of course let's put Ron Paul's comments into perspective. Ron Paul gripes about the Pledge of Allegiance's wording regarding the United States being "indivisible", and implies Woodrow Wilson should not have entered World War I.
So lets add Ron Paul to the list of Texas politicians that our great state has supported and given to the nation:
First here's Gov. Perry's comments regarding Texas secession at a "Tea Bag" demonstration:
Next is a clip of Delay on Chris Matthews defending Gov. Perry's secessionist comments:
It is sad that this is even a topic of conversation (using the word "conversation" in the loosest way). I only offer the following observations:
1) The bailouts and record spending began under the previous Republican administration yet there was not this outcry and demand that people "tea bag" D.C. or understanding from Republicans regarding some fringe Texans advocating secession from the Union.
2) The hard core Texas secessionists are out there (even though, thankfully, they are a fringe movement) and they are dangerous. Leaders of the movement have been convicted of threatening to kill political leaders.
3) Many understand secessionist talk as code for racism.
4) Questions: Is actively advocating and working towards Texas secession treason? If so, does Perry and Delay's "understanding" of secessionists make them, at the very least, sympathetic towards traitors?
5) Lastly, I sarcastically applaud Gov. Perry and Delay for again making Texas look oh so good when in the national spotlight.
Again, this secessionist talk is so inane that it's troubling the amount of media attention it is receiving. However, these "red herrings" continue to be rolled out, whether promoted by Republicans or Democrats, and distract from the very real problems at hand.
Some recent "red herrings":
1) tea parties
2) tea bag D.C.
3) Obama bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia
4) Steele
5) Limbaugh hopes Obama fails and is leader of conservative movement
6) Levi Johnston calls Palin a liar regarding living with Palin's family before birth of child (really, who cares about this?)
7) Chuck Norris being taken seriously by anyone, including Glenn Beck
I'm sure there are more red herrings. Keep in mind, the above distract from serious issues facing the nation including, but not limited to, two wars, economy losing half a million jobs per month, recession and failing businesses. So, when folks talk about tea parties and secession I wonder why, especially given the gravity of the multiple dilemmas we face.
