Winged Messenger Mercury Brings Texas Progressive Alliance Round-Up

The messenger of the Gods, Mercury, with his winged shoes, brings this week’s Texas Progressive Alliance round-up of the best in liberal and progressive Texas blogging.   

The TPA is pleased to unveil its newly redesigned website, where you can connect with the Alliance and our member bloggers via Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, DFA, Party Builder, Ning and other social networking tools.

Mike Thomas of Rhetoric & Rhythm looks at a week’s worth of opinion columns from the San Antonio Express-News and determines there is a nearly three-to-one imbalance of conservative/Republican columns compared to liberal/Democratic ones.

On Bluedaze,TXsharon busts the myths that natural gas is cleaner, that shale drilling will make us safer, and that domestic drilling can make us energy independent.

There was no attempt of a citizens’ arrest of Karl Rove while he visited Houston last week, raising money for Texas House Republicans. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs hoped it would happen, to no avail.

WhosPlayin is concerned about operators wanting to drill for gas in Lewisville’s urban forest area near Central Park.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders why sexual assault equates to perjury — wink, wink — if you’re a person of power in Texas.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on HD-52 Democratic candidate Diana Maldonado’s opponent Bryan Daniel sharing his campaign office with a local charity: IRS Complaint Filed Against Round Rock Charity.

I Support Any Energy Policy That Wins Votes For Obama

So-called Energy Independence has been a topic of political debate for many years.

( Wind power has a long history. Maybe Mr. Obama should push for wind power.)

The following is from the 1976 Republican National Convention platform—

“One fact should now be clear: We must reduce sharply our dependence on other nations and strive to achieve energy independence at the earliest possible date. We cannot allow the economic destiny and international policy of the United States to be dictated by the sovereign powers that control major portions of the world’s petroleum supplies.”

Sure.

Dick Cheney, who was Chief of Staff for the nominee of that convention, Gerald Ford, says conservation is a “personal virtue.” John McCain mocks the idea of energy conservation.

These people were not serious 30 years ago and they are not serious today.

( Mr. Obama could show respect for rural America by backing an energy plan that makes greater use of animals.)  

The following is from the 1976 Democratic National Convention platform—

“The huge reserves of oil, gas, and coal on federal territory, including the outer continental shelf, belong to all the people. The Republicans have pursued leasing policies which give the public treasury the least benefit and that energy industry the most benefit from these public resources. Consistent with environmentally sound practices, new leasing procedures must be adopted to correct these policies….” 

This debate may well go on for years to come.

Given all these years of empty talk, I don’t believe either party will seriously address this problem until forced to do so by events. Despite high gas prices in recent years and the fact that oil profits have helped fund terrorists, the public is not ready yet to talk about solutions that will either cost money at the pump, or that will involve scaling back our lives.

Mr. McCain’s view that mocking Mr. Obama’s reasonable suggestion that correct tire pressure makes a difference in fuel efficiency is a good campaign tactic, suggests a public not looking for real progress on energy independence.  

And falling, for the moment at least, for the quick-fix false promise of offshore drilling, again shows a public not serious about the issue.

If Mr. Obama wants to talk about more domestic drilling—fine. If gas prices go down for a few months, the issue will recede. If gas prices stay high, he’d likely have to bend in any case if elected President. It’s not worth giving Senator McCain an issue.

What either Mr. Obama or Mr. McCain will do as President will be dictated by unforeseen events and the composition of Congress after the election. Just tell people what they want to hear on this one and maybe—against the odds—we can move on to an a issue where a more helpful discussion is possible.

Though don’t bet on that either.

(How about solar power satellite arrays serviced by fleets of yet to be built spaceships? If Mr. Obama can sell this idea I would be in agreement.)

Japanese Death Poem

Here is a poem from the book Japanese Death Poems—Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death.  The book was compiled by Yoel Hoffman. The poem was written by a man named Hakurin who died in 1817 at age 68.

Well, then, let’s follow

the peal of bells to the

yonder shore.

I’d say Hakurin was taking his impending demise well enough.

I Signed Up For Obama Text Message—A First Use Of Telegraph Was Coverage Of 1844 Democratic Convention

I signed up to get the text message from the Obama campaign that will announce his Vice Presidential selection. I did so after reading today about use of the telegraph at the 1844 Democratic Convention in the book What Hath God Wrought—The Transformation America, 1815-1848. This book, by Daniel Walker Howe, is the most recent winner of the Pulitzer Prize for history.

The 1844 Democratic Convention was held in Baltimore and nominated James K. Polk of Tennessee for President and George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania for Vice President. Dallas, Texas is named after Mr. Dallas.  

Here is information about the 1844 Election. Mr. Polk and Mr. Dallas won the election over Henry Clay of Kentucky.

The telegraph was invented by Samuel F.B. Morse and was first demonstrated in 1844.  

From the book— “ within a few days of the initial demonstration…Morse was keeping members of Congress in Washington abreast of developments at the Democratic National Convention in Baltimore as they happened….The first practical application of Morse’s invention—to report a political party convention—was no accident. The formation of mass political parties, their organization on local, state and national levels, the application of government patronage to knit them together, their espousal of rival political programs, and the ability to command the attention of the public all combined to give this period in American history its distinctive politicized quality. The rise of mass parties has often been traced to extending the franchise…to include virtually all white males. However, no parties with mass following could have come into existence without a revolution in communication. …Newspapers quickly enlisted the telegraph in their quest to gather and distribute information….”  

It’s silly I suppose to have signed up for the text message. Yet reading about first political use of a new type of communication in 1844, made me want to be part of the first mass political use of a relatively new form of communication in 2008.

Here is information about the telegraph and the history of the telegraph.

My Views On Abortion

I’ve been wanting to do a post on the issue of abortion. I’ve just not found the right way to express myself on the matter. 

A few days ago I read the views on this question of Democratic U.S. Representative David Obey of Wisconsin. I’m going to let him speak for me—

“While I detest abortion and agree with Catholic teaching that in most instances it is morally wrong, I decline to force my views into laws that, if adopted, would be unenforceable and would tear this society apart.”

Though I’m not Catholic or a follower of any religion, I go here with Mr. Obey. I feel a deep wariness of abortion is the stance most consistent with my opposition to the death penalty, my opposition to unnecessary war and obscene amounts of defense spending, and my support of an activist government that helps meet the needs of individuals in society.

I feel this society will kill any anytime it gets the chance. This whether it be high rates of murder or a barbaric affinity for the death penalty, Afghan or Iraqi civilians at the wrong place at the wrong time when our drones and airplanes come around, or poor people who are in essence left to die because they can’t afford the basic needs of our society.         

I support a woman’s right to choose. Not because I assume a good choice will be made, but because of the mix of abstract reasoning, optimism, and nihilism that makes my support for democracy personally tenable. 

If you don’t like nihilism, than how about a strong sense of the absurd.

People must be able to choose the course they will follow in life. ( As long as they pay their taxes. You can’t have a society without taxes.) This ability to choose is essential in a society that would see itself as free.

Birth control, access to affordable day care, and the prospect of decent-paying jobs for hard working people might lower the abortion rate in our country. But politicians absurdly identified as “pro-life” don’t do much to encourage these things. Instead, they often work diligently to make life even more difficult for young families, single mothers and children of all ages.

Congressman Obey represents much of rural northwestern Wisconsin. The largest city in his district is Wausau. Why rural voters keep voting Republican when they get little in return, just as Democrats often use city voters, is something of a mystery. 

Rep. Obey seems in many respects close to my own views. Mr. Obey advocates government mandated universal health care, and a government with a role in job creation and in the economy as a whole. At the same time, he seems hesitant about libertine personal behavior, but without race-baiting or gay-baiting. He favors stem cell research. 

Please click here an account of many of Mr. Obey’s votes and positions. Mr. Obey is 69 and has been a member of the House since 1969.

How Paul Revere Saw Life At 50

The following about how Paul Revere saw life at age 50 is from Paul Revere And The World He Lived In by Esther Forbes—

“Very few people ever live their middle years in the same world they grow up in as children. None whose lives have been broken in two by a great war ever do, and none of Paul Revere’s generation did. They could fall to rioting, as they did in the western part of (Massachusetts.) They could slip into embittered old age as did Samuel Adams. Or they could take things as they found them and go ahead. Paul Revere did the last.”

Reagardless of if you’ve been in a war or not, this seemed to me a useful passage for people of all ages.

Above is a picture of the Boston house Paul Revere lived in for much of his life.

Please click here for a Paul Revere reading list.

Paul Revere lived 1735-1818.

I’m A Liberal Okay With Evan Bayh As Vice President

Some on the left object to the idea of Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana being chosen as running mate for Senator Barack Obama. The claim is that Mr. Bayh is a centrist, or within the context of the Democratic Party, on the right.

Here is an account of votes Evan Bayh has made in the Senate. 

Here is Senator Bayh’s Senate page.

Here is Mr. Bayh’s official Congressional profile.   

Here is a Chicago Tribune profile of Senator Bayh.

I don’t object to Senator Bayh’s possible selection. I want to win the election. If the Obama campaign makes the call for Mr. Bayh, that’s fine by me.  

Senator Bayh has shown the ability to win in Indiana. Indiana, bordering Mr. Obama’s Illinois, is seen as a swing state in 2008 despite a strong Republican history. If Mr. Bayh can help in Indiana, and maybe in next-door Ohio as well, then he is my man.

And I’m not so certain that Mr. Bayh is as to the right as is being suggested. The following is from his profile in the 2008 Almanac Of American Politics—

“… he joined filibusters to stop the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, the bill to limit medical malpractice lawsuits and several judicial nominees; he joined almost all other Democrats in rejecting individual retirement accounts in Social Security; he took a harder line stance on trade; he voted not just against Samuel Alito but also against John Roberts.”

Mr. Bayh will adjust himself to the needs of the moment and the constituency. That’s what they all do within, much of the time at least, the confines of party ID.

One concern about Senator Bayh as VP is that the Republican Governor of Indiana is currently the favorite to win another term. Mr. Bayh as Vice President would cost Democrats a Senate seat. 

A black man named Barack Obama has a lot of work to do in this country to reassure voters that he is not a Black Panther. If Evan Bayh is the course to follow to accomplish this goal—then okay.  In contrast to a victory for John McCain, the difference between what Mr. Bayh would mean for the country rather than a more liberal Vice President is on the margins.

Here is the U.S. Senate’s Vice President web home. It describes the history of the office and has good profiles of each Vice President. It’s the best resource I have seen on the topic.

Below is Schuyler Colfax of Indiana. Mr. Colfax was Speaker of the U.S. House, and Vice President between 1869 and 1873 under U.S. Grant. Regretably, as the profile I link to details, Mr. Colfax had some ethical issues in his political career. 

Ragtime Musician Scott Joplin—A Rough Road To Travel In Many Respects

Below is the profile of Ragtime musician Scott Joplin (above) from the book Who’s Who In The 20th Century. This book was published by Oxford University Press. Mr. Joplin lived 1868-1917. 

“Born in Texarkana, Texas, Jopin won several local piano contests before turning his attention exclusively to the syncopated piano style known as ragtime. A strong influence on the stride piano style of Fats Waller,ragtime became a precursor of Jazz. The first two pieces called rags were written in 1897-98: two of Joplin’sbest known, “Original Rags” and “Maple Leaf Rag” were written in 1899. The latter was so successful that a publishing company was formed on the strength of it, and a million copies of the sheet music were soon sold, Ragtime became nationally popular and for a time Joplin achieved his ambition of wealth and fame…However, he he aspired to create a more serious school of ragtime composition although the style does not sustain extended forms. He also wrote two operas…and started an opera company based on ragtime. None of these ventures succeed…These failures , the ravages of syphilis and the declining interest in ragtime combined to lead to his early death in a mental house. He wrote about fifty piano rags, of which many are subtle and stylish compositions as well as delightful period pieces.”

Black people of high creativity long had a very rough road to travel in America. Please click here for Texas Liberal posts on the great actor Ira Aldridge and the writer Paul Laurence Dunbar.

For Mr. Joplin, beyond the barriers his skin color presented, he was also hindered by the artistic limits of his music. You don’t have to know much about either ragtime or opera, to wonder about an opera made from rag music.  

My guess is that Mr. Joplin did the best he could against the obstacles he faced. 

Here is more information about Mr. Joplin. 

Here is more information about Ragtime music.

I Am Not A Bridge-Builder

At the top of this blog it says All People Matter. I believe this. Everybody has value.

At the same time, I am not a bridge-builder. I have the resources of time and effort that I have. These resources allow me to reach the people I can reach. There will always be people who don’t agree with what I say. That’s just as well because I’m often wrong and because people have minds of their own.

I would not restrict the ability of others to say what they wish. I’m for as open a society as possible. If my view loses out in public debate and at the ballot box, so be it. That there is an element of nihilism in that view may or not be apparent, but life is what it is.   

I think that in this country, as much as it has offer in many regards, nothing is so awful it can’t be true. Our history bears this assertion out in many respects. As do current conditions for many. I’m not going hide my views that many in our society are as mean-spirited and as selfish as could be.  

Disagreement, and partisanship, is natural. I’m not a strict partisan for the Democratic Party because I’m open to third parties, such as Greens, and because I often criticize the Democratic Party for its frequent disregard of poor voters and minority voters. I view my blog as ideological more than partisan.

When I say “All People Matter”, I’m telling you, among other things, that I support universal health care, decent wages, a fair criminal justice system, and peace instead of unnecessary war. I’m telling you I support the rights of people to have the beliefs they choose, follow the religion they choose, and live pretty much as they wish. ( As long as you pay your damn taxes. You can’t have a civilization without raising sufficient taxes.)

What I’m telling you with this post is that I’m not going to go out of my way to make my views more palatable to others. If you agree with me–Wonderful. If not—maybe I’m mistaken—but maybe you’re wrong. 

What we do with the people in our personal lives is one thing.  We’ve got to reach out when possible. How we conduct our political lives in a country that has made so many wrong choices at the polls in recent years is another thing. I only have so much energy and, as my time grows shorter, so much willingness, to engage in debate with people who believe mean and crazy things.

It is often only mean and crazy things that are on the table anymore when you are dealing with modern conservatives and Republicans.

I will, however, include below a picture of a good-sized ferry to show that while I’m not a bridge-builder, nor do I feel we can fully cut off communication. I will use the ferry below to bring others back on over to my point of view.  

Photo Of Big Artichoke & Paul Revere Book

Above is a photo I took last night of a very large artichoke and, also, my copy of Paul Revere And The World He Lived In by Esther Forbes. I’m not fully sure the picture captures the size of the artichoke, but it was a big one.

Below is a picture of an artichoke field. I had never contemplated how artichokes were grown. Here is information about artichokes. It seems people have been eating artichokes for thousands of years.  

Paul Revere And The World He Lived In was a Pulitzer Prize winner for history. It’s one of the best books I’ve read. You feel you are in Colonial Boston and that you have a sense of Paul Revere. Here is a review of the book from Time Magazine in 1942. 

College Advice—Anybody Can Study, But Don’t Neglect Making Friends

Young people across the nation will be starting or returning to college over the next few weeks.

Here is the advice of a college graduate who is now 40–Anybody can study, but don’t neglect making friends.

I know college costs a lot of money and I realize how important it can be to job prospects. I know many students are working hard to pay for classes. I understand all this.

I would just tell you that in college you have a measure of personal autonomy without all the responsibilities of so-called adult life. It may not seem that way now, but it may well later.

I’m not suggesting you go out and get drunk every night. I’m suggesting that you look for friendships that will last when you are done with college. I still keep in touch with a number of people I met in my college years. These are people who have known me now for 20 years or more. These friends give my past added meaning. They help me look at the future with the knowledge that I’ll have people I like and trust in the years ahead.  

The older you get, the harder it can be to meet new people. It’s possible of course, and hopefully you’ll never stop making new friends. But, for my money at least, even if you are a social butterfly all your days, little outside of a great marriage is better than people you’ve known for almost a lifetime.

So hit the books—But don’t let your social life slip by you. Think about who you know and who you think might be with you for the long haul.

Painting Of Sappho & Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Round-Up

Above is the painting Sappho which was completed by Charles Mengin in 1877. It is hanging in the Manchester Art Gallery in Manchester, England. The Manchester Art Gallery is publically owned. I’m sure many of my Texas Progressive Alliance blogger friends would support the idea of public ownership of an art gallery.  

The current definitive translation of Sappho’s poetry is If Not, Winter–Fragments of Sappho by Anne Carson. Sappho lived on the Island of Lesbos 2600 years ago. Here is a link to a 1925 translation of Sappho’s poetry.

The Texas Progressive Alliance is a group of Texas bloggers, connected yet autonomous, who blog on Texas politics and other subjects. Each week a round-up is offered of best posts from the previous seven days. Here is this week’s collection—  

Check out The Truth About Texas Republicans, a new blogger-powered website designed to expose the real truth about GOP Texas legislators. The opening posts look at the stuff state representatives Dwayne Bohac, Betty Brown, John Davis, Bill Zedler and State Sen. Mike Jackson don’t want you to see.

refinish69 was happy to introduce a real progressive Democrat to the readers of Doing My Part For The Left a few weeks ago, but has to wonder how to describe Michael Skelly: Democrat or Republican Lite?

Vince at Capitol Annex takes a look at the Texas State Teacher’s Association lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency for giving public funds to private institutions.

Irony Alert: Mary McDaniels, Manager – Pipeline Safety, Texas Railroad Commission, lied on camera about the Atmos Energy gas pipeline couplings. She spoke in Fort Worth about pipeline safety, inspections, and regulations for Chesapeake Energy’s Barnett Shale pipeline, says TXsharon at Bluedaze.

Julie Pippert at MOMocrats asked: “Offshore drilling — whose issue is it anyway? The people’s? Or the politician’s?”

Two Great Sins—Vulnerability And Innocence

Public expressions of sentiment are often the kiss of death in America.

If elected officials, corporations, the media, or just plain folks, routinely express care and concern for specific groups of people, you can bet the objects of the attention are in for a rough ride.

Old people. Children. Veterans—They all need to run for cover.

We say we care. But if so, why don’t we do more for these people?   

I’ve long thought the sin of people who may need our help was simply vulnerability. In America, we often despise those we see as unable to “pull their own weight.”

Recently I read something that did not change my perspective on this question, but amended and expanded my view.

I read the ancient Babylonian epic poem Gilgamesh. (The ancient tablet in the picture has a fragment of Gilgamesh written on it.)  I read a 1970 translation by Herbert Mason that was a finalist for the National Book Award. This poem is over 4500 years old.

In Gilgamesh, one of the two main characters, Enkidu, lives in innocence with animals. From the poem—

He ran with the animals,

Drank at their springs,

Not knowing fear or wisdom.

He freed them from the traps

The hunters set.

The hunters resent Enkidu for freeing the animals. They ask the King, Gilgamesh, to do something.  Gilgamesh sends a prostitute to the woods to lure Enkidu out of innocence. The prostitute accomplishes her task and the animals no longer want anything to do with Enkidu.

Enkidu joins human society and he and Gilgamesh become inseparable. Enkidu has the strength of the animals and is seen as an equal of the powerful king. Gilgamesh’s mother is a goddess.

At first Gilgamesh and Enkidu fought— many friendships start with conflict—but they see themselves in each other and they balance each other. 

Gilgamesh and Enkidu are strong together and this angers the gods. Enkidu is wounded and marked by the gods to die. At the beginning of the story, Gilgamesh was portrayed as an arrogant king who slept with the future bride of every soon-to-be married couple in the kingdom. But it is the more innocent Enkidu who dies. Why this is so is explained by Enkidu to Gilgamesh—

That night the wound Enkidu received

In his struggle with Humbaba grew worse.

He tossed with fever and was filled with dreams.

He woke his friend to tell what he heard and saw:

The gods have said that one of us must die

Because we killed Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven.

Enlil said I must die, for you are two-thirds god

And should not die. But Shamash spoke

For me and called me “innocent.”

They all began to argue, as if that word

Touched off a universal rage.

I know that they have chosen me.

The anger that innocence provoked amongst the gods got me thinking. 

While vulnerability and innocence are kindred in some respects, they are not the same. An innocent person may not be a vulnerable person, and a vulnerable person may not be an innocent.

When we see a child, a veteran wounded serving others, or an old person no longer capable of what he or she was once able, our response is quite often not one of kindness or assistance.

I think these circumstances remind us of our own failings. And that we may someday be reliant on others. The idea we might be vulnerable makes us afraid. The idea that some are more innocent or blameless than we are makes us angry.

Our reactions toward people who make us feel this way often ranges between indifference, and the active pursuit of public policies that harm children, veterans and older people.

It seems this reaction towards people who need help is as old as human society. Though it is hard to imagine that the cowboy go-it-alone strain in American thinking helps very much.

Still, we can mend our ways. People who require help are likely not as vulnerable or innocent as we imagine.

And we do not have to be the people we have been before.

Hillary Clinton And Supporters Have Earned Convention Spot

Hillary Clinton and her delegates and supporters have earned the right to be heard at the Democratic National Convention in Denver later this month.  

All the votes should be counted.  

We hear about party unity and that is very important. But folks are not simply going to forget that just a few months ago there was a tough nomination fight. Senator Clinton won many Democratic votes and her followers worked hard. This work has earned a spot in Denver.

Let’s follow the open and correct path. Let people have their day and take it on faith that they will focus on Mrs. Clinton’s virtues, and not on what some may feel are failings of Mr. Obama.

Let’s put the nomination battle behind us by recognizing the importance and accomplishments of everyone who wants to see a Democrat in the White House next year.

1980’s Punk Rock Fanzines—Like A Blog You Produced At Kinko’s

I’ve been reading the book American Hardcore–A Tribal History by Steven Blush. The excerpt below is about the 1980’s punk rock fanzine Flipside— –

“…Flipside, a fanzine out of Whittier, California, 20 miles east of LA. It first appeared in August ’77 as a 25-cent, 100 run xeroxed rag documenting LA punk. By 1980 its coverage expanded to include the entire country, with several thousand copies….It wasn’t a magazine in the traditional sense—rather a bunch of kids turned on by a scene cranked it our whenever possible. The rumblings…fit perfectly into its coverage of acts like Germs and Ramones. Flipside scribes with sames like Hud, Pooch and X-8 delivered chatty interviews crammed in small type accompanying poorly reproduced photos.”

Reading this brought back memories. In my hometown of the time, Cincinnati, there were a number of punk fanzines. ‘zines they were called. They did not last very long. But just as was Flipside, they were written, photographed, and produced by a bunch of kids. You’d work on it and then go to Kinko’s to make your copies.

I guess if we had been punk rockers today, many of us would have punk rock blogs.

Being a hardcore punk rocker was a fleeting thing. You had to be around at the right time—the early 1980’s— and in a place with a good scene. Still, I feel some sympathy for kids today who seem to spend so much time isolated behind a computer. It appears to be so inward looking.

You don’t have to be a punk rocker to be a happy young adult. I suppose many might say avoid being a punk rocker to be a happy young adult. But it was sure fun to be part of something and to find people who saw the world, to a degree at least, as I did.       

Please click here for my greatest punk rock moments.