Harris County District Clerk Candidate Jackson Gives Me A Shirt—I Will Wear It Where It Will Be Seen

This afternoon Harris County District Clerk Candidate Loren Jackson gave me a campaign tee shirt. I promised him I would wear this shirt while walking around Houston’s Memorial Park. There is a popular walking/jogging trail at Memorial Park and the shirt will be seen by many voters.   

Candidate Jackson obeys all laws and, unlike his opponent, does not place campaign signs on public property.  

I read as I walk around the Memorial Park trail. Today I will be reading Arthur M. Schlesinger’s Journals 1952-2000.

If you see me, please say hello.

Biden-Palin Debate Summary—I Did Not Watch A Minute Of The Debate

Due to other obligations, I was not home for the debate last night between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. I have it recorded, but I don’t think I’ll watch it. That would be 90 minutes of my life I’d be unable to get back.

I got home last night around midnight and saw some headlines online suggesting the debate had been pretty much a draw. Though some focus groups felt Senator Biden had done better. The two print newspapers I get each morning also said both candidates had done well enough and that no knock-out punch had been delivered.  

That tells me pretty much what I need to know. A great thing about live TV is that you can’t be sure one of the candidates won’t walk over the other and unload a kick in the shin. Once you realize that nothing like that took place, it all seems a bit less interesting.

I’ve written before that I make a point to spend only so much time following the Presidential campaign. It is not an edifying process. You’d be better off reading a good book of American political  history such as America’s Three Regimes–A New Political History by Morton Keller. Reading a book of political history provides more context about what is taking place now in politics than yet another tracking poll or debates over lipstick.

If the debate between Vice Presidential candidates has made you wonder about the history of the office and the people who have served as Vice President, the U.S. Senate has an excellent web home for the Vice Presidency. There is a history of the office and strong profiles of each of our Vice Presidents.

Above is Vice President Thomas Marshall of Indiana who served as Vice President under Woodrow Wilson between 1913 and 1921. Vice President Marshall was kept out of the loop after President Wilson had his stroke.

Many Presidents Have Died Early In Their Terms—President Palin

When a President has died in office, it has often been quite early in his term. This has often made a big difference in American history.

This is the Texas Liberal Election Fact of the Day.

The first President to die in office, William Henry Harrison, expired just a month into his term. Harrison died in 1841. President Harrison, at 68 the oldest President to that point, was a Whig. His Vice President, John Tyler, was a representative of the Southern planter class picked to help balance the ticket and not in full agreement with the Whig mainstream. As President, Tyler pursued policies, such a veto of a national bank, that greatly distressed Whig leaders such as Henry Clay.

President Zachary Taylor passed on in 1850 after serving just 17 months of his term. He was succeeded by Millard Filmore. 

Abe Lincoln’s (above)1865 assassination occurred just a month into his second term. His Vice President, Andrew Johnson (below), who had not been Lincoln’s first term VP, had very different views than Lincoln on Reconstruction, and how the South and Southerners should be handled after the Civil War.

Here is a stark difference between the person elected President and the person elected Vice President. The United States got one month of a great President and just under four years of a terrible President. And black folks got a century of Jim Crow.  

James Garfield was shot in the first year of his term in 1881. He died a few months later. Garfield’s successor, Chester Arthur, might well have been an improvement. President Arthur sought Civil Service reform and was surprisingly independeant despite a reputation as a machine politician.

William McKinley was shot and killed in the first year of his second term in 1901. McKinley’s Vice President, Theodore Roosevelt, who like Andrew Johnson had not been the first term VP, was a very different man than McKinley.

Franklin Roosevelt was shot at in 1933 in the time between his election and inauguration. Roosevelt’s Vice President-elect, John Nance Garner was far more conservative than F.D.R. You might never of had a New Deal if Garner had become President instead of Roosevelt.

Roosevelt would later die in the first weeks of his fourth term. Vice President Harry Truman who had not been VP in the first three F.D.R terms, took the White House and did a pretty good job.  

Also, Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously wounded in his first year as President in 1981.

Let’s say you are less than a hardcore Republican, yet are still considering voting for 72 year old John McCain. American history shows us that you may feel you’re voting for Mr. McCain, but that what you really may get is President Sarah Palin.

Quick Observations On Bailout Bill Failure

The House of Representatives has voted no on the Wall Street Bailout bill. Here are some quick observations I have on the subject.

I support this legislation.

1. If this nation ran on a parliamentary system, the government would collapse. 

2. While I am ideologue in many respects, this vote is being held hostage to ideologies of both the right and the left.

3. After the failures and lies of Iraq and this possible failure of our financial system, how can average people trust anything they are told?

4. Average people–the Main Street we keep hearing about—have some fault here. Many sought to live beyond their obvious means.

5. The flawed initial proposal from the White House, John McCain’s seemingly pointless suspend the campaign stunt, and the rabid free-market ideology of many House Republicans, show that Republicans are simply not competent to govern.

6. The idea that any speech by Nancy Pelosi killed the bill is silly. If House members felt this bill was good the country, why would a speech change people’s minds?

7. I understand that this bill came from the White House and that House Republicans are often very far to the right, but Democrats have a majority in the House. They have the obligation to make this work in the House.

8. Members of Congress had the right to vote as they saw fit. Even in crisis we have to keep our faith in democracy and move ahead to the next solution.

Let’s Take The Lemon Of The Bailout And Make The Lemonade Of Greater Regulation And Universal Health Care

With the $700 billion Wall Street bailout moving towards a vote in Congress, let us no longer hear that government should stay out of our economy.

This proposal came from a far-right Republican President and has had the support of most Republican senators.

If we can do this, we can have universal health care. If an argument in favor of the bailout is that in time taxpayers will get the money back from the bailout, why not also invest in average Americans? Won’t we also get a return on an investment in average folks?  

(Here in Texas, many are making use of government programs to help recover from Hurricane Ike.  Even in Texas people are finding that stuff happens and that help is sometimes needed from government.)

It’s clear now that we can have more regulation of our economy and that government can take steps needed to protect Americans from the excesses of Wall Street and irresponsible banks and financial firms. 

Do you think your retirement is safe in the hands of an unregulated Wall Street? And in regard to health insurance, do you trust the private sector to ever deliver on the right that all have of access to health care?   

I understand the bailout is hard to accept in many respects. Who wants to bailout Wall Street?

It is conservatives from the White House and Senate who have made the case here for government intervention in the economy. We should take advantage of this unexpected support for a place for government in our economy. We should do this just as Franklin Roosevelt turned the Great Crash into something better. Let’s take this lemon and make lemonade.

This Is Sarah Palin

This recent Associated Press story details abuses of power and favor taking Sarah Palin took part in as Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.

From the story—-

Though Sarah Palin depicts herself as a pit bull fighting good-old-boy politics, in her years as mayor she and her friends received special benefits more typical of small-town politics as usual…When Palin needed to sell her house during her last year as Wasilla mayor, she got the city to sign off on a special zoning exception — and did so without keeping a promise to remove a potential fire hazard… She gladly accepted gifts from merchants: A free “awesome facial” she raved about in a thank-you note to a spa. The “absolutely gorgeous flowers” she received from a welding supply store. Even fresh salmon … Some of her first actions after being elected mayor in 1996 raised possible ethical red flags: She cast the tie-breaking vote to propose a tax exemption on aircraft when her father-in-law owned one, and backed the city’s repeal of all taxes a year later on planes, snow machines and other personal property. She also asked the council to consider looser rules for snow machine races. Palin and her husband, Todd, a champion racer, co-owned a snow machine store at the time…James Svara, professor of public affairs at Arizona State University and author of “The Ethics Primer for Public Administrators in Government and Nonprofit Organizations,” suggested such behavior is part of small-town politics…”Small towns are first-person politics, and if people are close, it’s hard to separate one’s own personal interest and one’s own personal property from the work of the city,” Svara said. The key questions from an ethics standpoint include whether the politician makes a potential conflict of interest known and removes himself or herself from actions related to it, he added.

Most people who read Texas Liberal don’t like Sarah Palin no matter what. But there are also many who come to this blog via Google or other search engines. 

You’re reading here what kind of person John McCain picked to be Vice President. This is someone who one year from today could be President.

Here is a view from right-wing columnist Kathleen Parker saying Governor Palin should be dumped from the ticket for the good of the nation.

This column discusses how women had to pay for rape kits while Governor Palin was Mayor of Wasilla.

These are the facts about Sarah Palin. No amount of hiding her from the press is going to change these facts.

Obama-McCain Debate Summary With Peter Fonda Picture

The first debate between Barack Obama and John McCain is over. It won’t surprise you that I feel Senator Obama won the debate. I’m going to spare you my thoughts because there is no way I would have said Senator Obama had lost the debate even if he had appeared on stage carrying a bottle of whiskey while singing Danny Boy.

Such is my summary of the debate. You can take it or leave it. By Monday we’ll be on to other issues and people will barely recall the debate took place.

(Above is a car buried in the sand on Bolivar Peninsula, part of Galveston County, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. For the purposes of this blog, the car represents how Barack Obama buried Senator McCain’s postions with the truth. The photo is from the Houston Chronicle.) 

In my home we’ve already turned off the post-debate coverage–the debate ended maybe half an hour ago–because it is tedious. We have on an infomercial featuring Peter Fonda discussing a Time-Life collection of music of the 1960’s. The ad says I’ll get extra benefits if I order within the next few minutes. Below is Mr. Fonda, the biker, with Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider.

As Senator Obama moves towards victory, there are a few things I would like my readers to please note—

Well-known political analyst Charlie Cook says Democrats have at least some chance of winning 60 Senate seats.

Sarah Palin still won’t explain why women had to pay for rape kits while she was Mayor of Wasilla.

And for those of you looking for the longer view, Hugh Brogan’s The Penguin History of the United States is the best one-volume history of the U.S. I have read.

Democratic Harris County District Clerk Candidate Loren Jackson Leaves Excellent Comment on This Blog—Mr. Jackson Respects All Laws

Last month, I made a post about incumbent Harris County District Clerk Theresa Chang planting campaign signs in public parks here in Houston.

It seems that wrongdoer Chang is committing this offense around the county. Loren Jackson, who will be elected County District Clerk at the expense of Ms. Chang in just a few weeks, recently left the comment below on my blog in response to my post of last month.   

Thank you Mr. Jackson for your comment, for you service to the people of Harris County, and for your respect for our laws.

From Mr. Jackson— 

Mr. Aquino,

This came to my attention the day that it happened. I gave Ms. Chang the benefit of the doubt and e-mailed her campaign manager privately asking for the removal of the signs and to refrain from posting her signs in public rights-of-way in the future.

Four days before, she also had illegally placed signs at 59 and the Beltway (right-of-way of a highway). The week following the e-mail, she placed signs in a public highway right-of-way at Hwy 59 and Townsend Blvd near Humble, and in public rights-of-way all over Fairmont Pkwy in Pasadena, on 34th Street, on TC Jester, on Scarsdale, and many other locations around the city.

Both Mrs. Chang and myself are attorneys, who swore an oath to uphold and defend the laws of this great State. The very law we swore to uphold happens to be located on each sign that we place. I have chosen to uphold that law. I publicly encourage Mrs. Chang to also begin upholding that law.

Please report illegally placed signs to the following:

Harris County Commissioner Precinct 1: Theodus Gay (713) 991-6881 ext. 1105
Harris County Commissioner Precinct 2: Laura (281) 487-2910

Precincts 3 and 4 are Republican controlled, and therefore, may or may not be of assistance in removing a Republican candidates’ illegally placed signs.

Other contact numbers for illegally placed signs:
City of Humble: (281) 446-2327
City of Pasadena (713) 475-4826
Texas Department of Transportation (Highway Rights-of-way): (713) 802-5071
City of Houston: Dee Harris (713) 218-5820.

Post #1000—Little Is So High Or So Low That It Is Unwelcome

This is the 1000th Texas Liberal blog post. That’s a lot of work.

Is blogging a good use of time? How we use our time is many respects a roll of the dice. Hopefully, when the bell tolls, you’ll be glad with the things you did.  

We’re having a big party to celebrate my blogging milestone. See above the top name entertainment at the party. It’s a wild night. Salma Hayek was nice to give of her time.

What? You did not get your invitation? It must have been lost in the mail.

Texas Liberal knows no boundaries—high or low—when it comes to serving the blogging public.

Did you know the National Enquirer reported last week that the Palin family kids have been engaged in any number of misdeeds over the years? The Enquirer was one of the few magazines restocked at Walgreen’s after Hurricane Ike last week. I read all about it. Here is the link to the Enquirer.

They have a new Sarah Palin scoop that is pretty good. They have the name of her lover.

No–It is not John Edwards.

I hope these stories, if true, are able to be worked into the campaign in a way that hurts the McCain/Palin ticket.

It’s all about family values. That’s what Governor Palin says.

Despite the tawdry nature of this post so far, Texas Liberal remains able to meet your intellectual needs.

Check out here the Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virgina. They have complete information on all the Presidents. It is very well done.

Or click the link for a review of Alan Taylor’s American Colonies—The Settling of North America. This is one of the best books I have read in recent years. Read it and you’ll not just have a sense of what life was like before the American Revolution, you’ll have a sense of why the American political and social landscape is as it is today.

I have used both these sources a number of times for this blog.

And please never forget–Texas Liberal has the best Martin Luther King Reading & Reference List on the web.

Here is the one post I’m most glad I’ve written. It’s called People Have A Right To Define Family As They Wish.

Thank you for reading Texas Liberal.

McCain Debate Delay Is A Stunt

Below is an example of a stunt–

 

And here is another example of a stunt—

As a final example of a stunt, below you see John McCain who wants to suspend his campaign and delay this Friday’s debate because of the financial crisis.

If Mr. McCain were President and we had a financial crisis at the same time as a foreign crisis, would he suspend work on one of the issues to deal with the other? Is he just hoping two big things won’t happen at the same time?  

Maybe the real crisis Senator McCain is facing is that he is falling behind in the polls.

Harris County Republicans Fail To Prevent Hurricanes

The Houston Chronicle recently ran a story about the post Hurricane Ike campaign hiatus in Harris County. It seems that because we had a hurricane, most candidates for Harris County office are afraid to run negative ads or campaign aggressively. 

I’m not sure why they see a problem. One-third of people still don’t have power, and many who do have not had cable TV service restored. Who would see the ads?

This is, I suppose, good political sense by the candidates. People want to hear about when they are getting power back and when the debris will picked up off the curbside.

Still, so many people in Harris County live in day-to-day disaster conditions. They lived this way before any hurricane. Negative ads are run all the time when people are suffering. I guess the issue here is that it is not just the poor who are suffering. It’s people who matter to politicians having the hard time, so the suffering has to be acknowledged.

Let me get the ball roiling on the attack ads in Harris County. If this turns out to be a terrible nasty campaign, I want some credit. 

Since Tropical Storm Allison and Hurricane Ike took place while Republicans were in control of Harris County Government, it seems that Republicans are unable to protect hard working tax paying Harris County residents from punishing tropical weather. Just look at the picture above to see the damage these storms do to Houston.

If storms continue in Harris County after Democrats win control of county government in 2008, it will be because of weather patterns left by the previous county administration.

Both sides to to get with the program and start with the attacks. Imagine the relief voters will feel when they see all is truly back to normal after Hurricane Ike.

Just One Republican U.S. House Member Left From New England—Let Us Hope He Is Defeated In 2008

There is only one Republican U.S. House member left from New England. There are a total of 22 House members from New England. The six New England states are Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

This is the Texas Liberal Election Fact of the Day. 

The remaining offending House member is Christopher Shays (Photo above) of Connecticut’s Fourth District. Mr. Shays was first elected in 1987.

This district includes both affluent New York City suburbs and struggling urban centers such as Bridgeport.

Like you and I as individuals, this district is your proverbial study in contrasts. 

In some cases, it may be best to keep at least a few Republicans around. For example, a city council with only Democrats may suggest that all the Republicans have move to the suburbs. A state legislature with one party in longterm total control may make that state legislature an even greater den of corruption. ( I don’t have the highest view of state governments.)

In this case though, the U.S. House won’t be running out of Republicans anytime soon and turncoat U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman can plead for Connecticut among Republicans.

So let’s hope Mr. Shays is defeated.

Running against Mr. Shays is Democrat Jim Himes. Mr. Himes is given a good chance of winning the seat.

The last time one party had full control of the New England House delegation was after the election of 1864. Republicans held all 27 New England seats between for the term completed between 1865 and 1867.

Here is some good information on the election of 1864.

Republicans dominated New England from the Civil War up until the Depression. From the Depression until the 1960’s, the area was somewhat more balanced. Southern New England, more urban, industrial and Catholic, had many Democratic voters. Northern New England stayed, for the most part, with Republicans.

Since the ’60’s, New England has moved more firmly to the Democrats. The Southern/Sunbelt social conservative bent of the modern Republican party has been a turnoff to voters in all six New England states.

(Below is a 1911 scene from Stamford, Connecticut. This is a city in Mr. Shay’s district.) 

People Who Should Know Better Who Won’t Vote For Obama Because He Is Black

There have been some recent articles and polls suggesting that some union members and some Democrats are hesitant to vote for Barack Obama because he is black.

Though here is a contrasting view.

If some unknown number of union members and Democrats don’t want to vote for Barack Obama because he is black—Well, that is a decision that people are going to have to make. I just know that I’d rather lose the election than not have nominated a black candidate because of his race. 

I’m not talking here about consistent Republican voters. I’m talking about people who most often pull the correct lever on Election Day.

If after 40 years of voting for George Wallace, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and the Bushes, some blue collar voters still don’t get the idea that these people are not helpful for average working folks, then good luck to them in finding a future for themselves and their kids.

If cultural issues such as guns and gays are the most important things to these voters, that is a call they are free to make. I know the issue here is not God because Barack Obama is a fully believing Christian.

Every election of my adult life–I’m 41– has been about the same stuff. And our national life just seems to get worse and worse.   

I’m hopeful good sense and optimism will prevail and that Senator Obama will win this election.  But win or lose, maybe we need to look at some new options to make our lives better. 

How about a liberal only open-enrollment health plan? Or a liberals only credit union for car loans and college loans? There are millions of us. Enough to make grand plans work. We could work it out so that our organizations donate some amount of fees and dues to liberal causes. Discounts could be offered if you could show proof of a donation to liberal candidates or reliable voting in Democratic primaries.

I’ve wasted enough of my life waiting for people who should know better to come around. I’m not giving up on people. But this is one of those times when we are really going to see what is in some people’s hearts.

Personal Bankruptcy More Difficult—Giant Bailouts Of Banks And Big Firms Okay

I’m not going to pretend I understand all the ins and outs of this most recent financial meltdown.

(Below is Three Mile Island where a meltdown was also avoided.)

I don’t need to know all the details to get the drift of who gets bailed out and who does not.

In 2005, a bill was passed and signed by the President that made it more difficult for Americans to declare personal bankruptcy. Click the link to see how Joe Biden and Harry Reid voted the wrong way.

( Below is the King’s Bench Prison which was used as a debtor’s prison in 19th century London.) 

Here is more on Senator Biden’s support for the bankruptcy bill and on the kind of person who is left with no option but to file for bankruptcy. Some good news is that Barack Obama has at least mentioned that bankruptcy laws need to be changed for the better. John McCain has offered no relief for average people. 

We are told that the institutions being bailed out are “to big to fail.” I guess that means everybody else is not big enough to matter.  

I’m not suggesting these most recent bailouts are the wrong idea. It seems we were just a few days from a real panic. Nancy Pelosi’s insistence that their be more regulation of Wall Street as part of any bailout seems prudent.

( Below is a crowd that assembled outside the New York Stock Exchange after the 1929 Crash. I guess today we might just text each other.) 

Yet I’ll also say that a lot of well-educated, well-paid folks who made bad business decisions, engaged in predatory lending practices, and bought into a lousy system of finance must be getting bailed out. At the same time, more average folks and poor folks are getting nothing but trouble.

It is stuff like this why people are so unwilling to trust government, even when it is government that is the most likely source of possible solutions to big social and economic problems.

Last Post Before Hurricane Ike Arrives In Houston/Galveston Area

This will be my last post before Hurricane Ike reaches the Houston/Galveston area. My wife and I live in Houston. The storm is expected to arrive in just a few hours. It’s unclear what conditions will be like after the hurricane. I don’t live in a flood area and I’m likely to be fine. Strong winds in the city of Houston are a cause for thought. But we will come out of it okay. 

As it stands currently , this storm is a very severe matter. Because of its erratic course, and because Houston has not had the recent experience New Orleans had of Hurricane Katrina, the national attention on Ike is coming only now.

It’s possible the path of the storm may change in the next few hours in a way that would minimize damage to the most populated portions of the Houston/Galveston area. Though I would not bet much on this prospect. The best scenario, that the storm shrink and weaken, is a hope we can also retain to the last moment. Yet again, the course and force of the storm appears largely set.   

Above is a picture of Galveston, Texas. You see how low-lying it is. A very strong storm surge is expected and the island may be fully undewater by this evening. I’ve visited Galveston at least every couple of months for the ten years I’ve lived in Houston. Galveston is a fifty mile drive to the south. I view Galveston as a home away from home. I hope that the city and the island are able to recover as quickly as possible. Here is some history of Galveston.

We have the things we need for an extended power outage. I think having no power for one or two weeks is our greatest concern. That this is what worries me most shows that we are fortunate. Many people living closer to the coast are going to lose their homes. Some people will be hurt and I suppose some will die. 

Let me take this chance to express my complete contempt for the idiocy of the ongoing Presidential campaign. Maybe the one advantage of not having power for a few days is that I’ll not have to hear about the campaign. You get a clear sense of how awful and dumb the campaign is when something as potentially bad as this hurricane is at your doorstep. A leading reason it is so bad is the constant lying by John McCain and his campaign. Stuff like allegations that Senator Obama supporting sex ed for small kids. We have more important concerns to discuss than deflecting these lies.

Just as a hurricane can be a life and death matter, so is politics in many respects. Issues of greater access to health insurance and climate change need to be addressed now. 

During the hurricane and in the days after, I’ll be reading What Hath God Wrought—The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 by Daniel Walker Howe. This book is the most recent Pulitzer Prize winner for history.

Good luck to everybody impacted by Hurricane Ike. I’ll post again after the storm has passed, and depending on when power is back up and running.

Thanks for reading Texas Liberal.