Firebombing Of Office Of Texas State Senator Wendy Davis An Act Of Brutality Consistent With The Enactment Of State-Mandated Rape In Texas

The Fort Worth office of Democratic Texas State Senator Wendy Davis was attacked with Molotov cocktails on Tuesday.

(Above–The aftermath of the attack. Photo from the Facebook page of Anthony Spangler via the Burnt Orange Report.) 

While two staffers were present in the office at the time of the attack, nobody was hurt. Senator Davis was not present when the Molotov cocktails were thrown at the office.

Senator Davis has been quite vocal in opposing Governor Rick Perry on a number of issues.  She has recently spoken out against Governor Perry and Republicans in control of the Texas legislature gutting funding for women’s health services such as cancer screenings.

While it is not currently known who committed this act, it is a deed consistent with the mindset and actions of people who support cutting off funding for cancer screenings for women, and who support laws such as the Texas forced sonogram law which is state-mandated rape.

It is also an act that is consistent with people who do not recognize the rule of law. They are trying to intimidate, to frighten, and to destroy law and people.

By tossing Molotov cocktails at an office, the person who did this thing should be strongly punished. This person is rightly termed a criminal.

At the same time, a measure of irony is found in that we address people who cut off cancer screenings and who enact state-mandated rape with titles such as “Governor” and “Senator.”

What act of terror will be next in the war against Texas women?

What will you do to change the climate in Texas, and to repeal the state-mandated rape of the forced sonogram law?

(Off The Kuff  has also posted about this attack.)

Of Course The Texas Motor Speedway Received A Large Public Subsidy When It Was Built

Republican U.S Senator from Texas John Cornyn attended a NASCAR race at the Texas Motor Speedway over the last weekend.

Above is a picture of our white-haired blue-shirted Senator.

He is just one of the folks out at the NASCAR race. He is just one of us.

When I saw that our conservative  government-bashing Senator Cornyn had visited the Speedway, I just knew that the Texas Motor Speedway had to have been built with at least some government help.

I Googled something like “texas motor speedway public money” and found that–of course–the construction of the Texas Motor Speedway had received a significant public subsidy, and that the owners of the speedway have a 30 year exemption from city and county property taxes.

The book Sports Finance by Gil Fried, Steven Shapiro, and Timothy Deschiver reports that the speedway received $16 million in tax money from the City of Fort Worth and Tarrant County for road and sewer improvements.  This money was in addition to the 30 year tax break.

The Texas Motor Speedway opened in 1997.

I’ve got no problem with NASCAR. If folks want to see an automobile race, then that is great.

It simply would be good if people like Senator Cornyn would admit that government has always had a large role to play in the building of Texas.

And, since Senator Cornyn will never tell the truth about much of anything, if would be helpful if everyday Texans better understood that they benefit all the time from the works of government.

Though, as it so often is with these things, while helping with the roads and sewers for the Speedway might be of some economic value to the people of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the 30 year property tax exemption is another matter.

The next time NASCAR fans in Texas ponder the subject of welfare, they might keep in mind who really gets the big breaks.

Texas Progressive Alliance Names Joel Burns As 2010 Person Of The Year

Each year the Texas Progressive Alliance names a Texan of the Year. The TPA is a confederation of the best political bloggers in Texas. I’m glad to report that the blog you’re reading is a TPA member blog. Below is the press release for our 2010 Texan of the Year. Fort Worth City Councilmember Joel Burns is this year’s winner. Mr. Burns made a speech at a council session in 2010 where he addressed being bullied as a teen because he is gay. I’m glad we have selected Mr. Burns. I believe that the rights of all people are connected, and that rights for gay folks are an important civil rights question. I do, however, wish that GLBT political groups across the country would make greater outreach to other groups in our society that are also fighting for social justice. I am concerned  that GLBT political orginizations do not always see economic justice as an issue that merits attention. I wonder sometimes if many quite vocal Republicans would stop condemning gay folks to eternal hell, if some number of gays would not then bolt the Democratic Party so they could get lower taxes. I hope that humanity shown by Mr. Burns in his brave remarks will remind all freedom loving Americans that when justice is denied for one, it is denied for all.

Included in the release below is the full list of nominees. Congratulations to Mr. Burns and to all who work to make Texas and our nation a more just place. Progress is always possible.

The Texas Progressive Alliance (has) named Fort Worth city councilman Joel Burns as its 2010 Texan of the Year.

Burns, who represents Fort Worth’s District 9, received international attention and acclaim in October of this year after delivering a speech at a Forth Worth city council meeting concerning suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered youth as part of Dan Savage’s “It Gets Better”campaign.In his speech, Burns spoke eloquently and emotionally about his own experiences as a teen facing bullying in Crowley because of his sexual orientation. Burns’ speech, which became an internet sensation, resulted in interviews on CNN, NPR’s All Things Considered, an in-studio interview with the Today Show’s Matt Lauer, and an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

“Joel Burns’ speech did more to raise awareness of the difficulties LGBT youth in Texas face on a daily basis perhaps more than anything else this year,” said Vince Leibowitz, Chair of the Texas Progressive Alliance. “His courageous action in delivering this speech was worthy of recognition, and progressives everywhere should salute him,” Leibowitz continued.

TPA Vice Chair Charles Kuffner of Houston echoed these sentiments. “As progressives, we stand for equality for all people. It is rare that public officials have the courage to do what Joel Burns did,” he noted.

Burns, the first openly gay municipal elected official in Tarrant County, was first elected in 2007.

Burns joins past TPA Texans of the year including Houston Mayor Annise Parker (2009); the Harris County Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign (2008); the House Democratic Leadership Team of State Rep. Jim Dunnam, State Rep. Garnet Coleman, and State Rep. Pete Gallego (2007); and Carolyn Boyle and Texas Parent PAC (2006).

In addition to giving Burns its top honors, the Alliance also named Dr. Al Armendariz, Administrator for Region 6 of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Texas DREAMers as Honorable Mentions.

Armendariz was recognized for cracking down on polluters in Texas in spite of immense political pressure from state leaders and corporations. Armendariz issued the first Emergency Imminent and Substantial Endangerment Order against a natural gas operator in Parker County which caused high levels of methane in private water wells.

The Texas DREAMers — students and activists involved in supporting the DREAM Act through peaceful protest and other means — were recognized for their work in Texas which has included everything from organizing phone banks to call and persuade U.S. Senators, to staging sit-ins and demonstrations at the offices of U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. The group has even staged hunger strikes in support of its efforts.

The Texas Progressive Alliance is a coalition of more than 50 of Texas’ most prominent netroots activists, blogs, and bloggers united to help further the progressive movement in Texas. Founded in 2006, the TPA is the largest state-based coalition of netroots activists in the United States and was instrumental in bringing Netroots Nation to Texas in 2008.

Additional nominees for our annual award included Ana Yañez-Correa, executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, and Texans Together/Houston Votes.

In a difficult year for Texas progressives, these individuals and organizations stood out for standing up to the onslaught of extreme conservatism the state of Texas and the nation weathered. They will no doubt continue to be under fire for expressing their views and championing their causes in the year ahead, and the TPA both salutes and stands with them.

Chisholm Trail Info & Photo Of Chisholm Trail Room In Austin’s Driskill Hotel

Here is a photo of the Chisholm Trail room at the Driskill Hotel in Austin.  

You walk in to this meeting room and a big painting of the Chisholm Trail is on all four walls. 

The Chisholm Trail was used between 1867 and 1884 to get cattle out of Texas and up to access to transport and markets in Kansas.

It can also be known as the Chisum Trail.

Here is a history of the Chisholm Trail.

Here is information about Jesse Chisholm who, at the least, played a large part in establishing the trail.     

Here is a biography of former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm of New York. Ms. Chisholm was the first black woman to serve in Congress.

Here is a link to the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center in Duncan, Oklahoma.

Here is a link to a story about the harm done to Native Americans in Oklahoma by white settlement. 

Here is a link to the Fort Worth Stockyards. This is a fun place to visit for both kids and adults.  After Galveston, Fort Worth has been my favorite Texas city to visit in my nine years in Texas.

Here is a brief biography of former House Speaker Jim Wright of Fort Worth.

And, since you are at a liberal blog, here is the link to the good liberal magazine The American Prospect.