Give Yourself & Others The Gift Of Involvement In Public Affairs In 2012—Texas Progressive Alliance Round-Up

At the end of this post is the most recent edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance round-up. The TPA is a confederation of the best political citizen-bloggers in Texas.

TPA bloggers blog away even at the holidays.

We also wish for you and your family to have an excellent holiday season

For example, the family you see below is enjoying a fine Texas Christmas.

And , of course, Texans know that Santa is from Texas. Nobody else is aware of this fact, but I’m certain it is being taught in our schools by order of the far right-wing Texas State Board of Education.

Not all Texans celebrate the same holidays. Below we see Texas Governor Rick Perry helping light a menorah. Governor Perry is quite ecumenical in the sense he is willing to use the cover of any faith to obscure how he is running a terrible Presidential campaign, and getting all the government money he can for his own pockets as he slashes funds for education.

No matter what holiday you celebrate, a great gift  you can give yourself, to the people in your life, and to your fellow citizens, is the gift of your increased  involvement in politics and public affairs in 2012.

Every Texan and every American has the ability to attend a public meeting, attend or organize a protest, write or call an elected official, talk to friends and family, start a blog, donate money, write a letter to the editor, volunteer for candidates and causes, engage in acts of civil disobedience, and to run for public office.

The work of freedom and democracy is up to each of us. This work is a gift we can all give ourselves and our fellow Texans and fellow Americans.

Things are a little different from what they were this time last year. The Occupy Wall Street movement is strong across the nation. What a hopeful move in the right direction after the Tea Party year of 2010.

Find an Occupy effort near you by searching the web or on Facebook. If there is not one near where you live, start one yourself.

The stakes are going to be very high in so many ways in 2012. Like the elves in the picture below who are Occupying Santa’s workshop, we are going to have to fight and advocate for ourselves and for the 99%.

Here is the round-up—

SCOTUS has issued a stay and scrambled the 2012 elections again. Off the Kuff tries to make sense of it.

BossKitty at TruthHugger notes that it’s business as usual for Texas politicians to tilt the voter tables in their favor by gerrymandering: US Supreme Court May Like New Texas Gerrymandering.

Occupy went to Washington and comes to Houston on Monday, December 12. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs follows along.