Texas Attorney General Abbott Threatens To Arrest United Nations Election Observers In Texas—I’ll Buy Any U.N. Election Observers In Houston A Glass Of Texas Wine

United Nations observers will be in the United States to monitor our upcoming elections.

( Above–The United Nations General Assembly Hall. After all the ballots are cast in Texas, they will be flown to New York to be counted by the U.N. The election will be official when U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon declares the winners. Photo by Patrick Gruban.)

Republican Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott says that any such observers in Texas may face arrest.

From The Huffington Post—

“Greg Abbott, the Republican Attorney General of Texas, issued a stern warning this week to members of a United Nations-affiliated delegation expected to be on hand to monitor voting at polling places around the country on Election Day…In a letter to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, a body created by U.N. charter and responsible for helping to ensure the integrity of elections, among other tasks, Abbott warned the diplomatic poll-watchers that their involvement in U.S. elections could have strong legal repercussions…”It may be a criminal offense for OSCE’s representatives to maintain a presence within 100 feet of a polling place’s entrance,” he writes. “Failure to comply with these requirements could subject the OSCE’s representatives to criminal prosecution for violating state law.” Such a restriction makes election monitoring highly difficult. The OSCE announced earlier this month that it would send 44 observers to polling places around the country on Election Day in order to monitor possible disputes that could arise in the voting process. The move came in response to a petition from liberal-leaning voting rights groups, including the NAACP and ACLU, that suggested the OSCE’s presence could help combat what they fear will be a concerted effort to suppress votes from supporters of President Barack Obama.”

Houston hate-speech Clear Channel radio station KTRH mentioned this topic recently on Facebook.

Here is how some KTRH Facebook followers responded—

“i say shoot anyone seeking to come into this country to try and oversee our elections. And shoot anyone who does not have a state or federal picture ID when they show up to vote”

“What next, they’ll be observing in our bedrooms.”

“We do not need the UN interfereing with Texas.Maybe it is time to succeed.”

“Observing from a far? I could care less! Up in our business? I say welcome to Texas and GET A ROPE…..”

“I run the election process in Galveston County. If one of the UN observers shows up at one of our polling locations they will be asked to leave. If they do not, law enforcement will be called to forcibly remove them. Only election workers, bona fide poll watchers and voters are allowed in at the polling sites!”

Absolutely. Our big state of Texas could at any time be put under United Nations control. I am very glad that Attorney General Abbott will protect us from whatever number of the 44 poll observers who may be sent to Texas.

There have been real efforts at voter suppression in Texas. The so-called Texas Voter ID law was struck down by the courts because it targeted minority voters.

Attorney General Abbott backed the ID law even though it sought to make it more difficult for Texans to vote.

Here is information about helping fight voter intimidation in Houston and Harris County.

Here is a report by Common Cause about efforts to suppress the vote in Texas and in others parts of the nation.

I will take any United Nations elections observers in Houston out for a glass of Texas wine should I encounter them at the polls. I’m certain I will be able to identify them by their blue U.N. helmets, and by the black helicopters they will have parked near the voting locations.

Here is the link to the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association.

Here is the link for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. These are the folks who will be sending the observers.

The OSCE has issued a statement saying Attorney General Abbott’s threats violate international agreements.

From that statement—

“Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), expressed his grave concern today over the threat of criminal prosecution of OSCE/ODIHR election observers. This threat, contained in an open letter from the Attorney General of Texas, is at odds with the established good co-operation between OSCE/ODIHR observers and state authorities across the United States, including in Texas, Lenarčič said, adding that it is also contrary to the country’s obligations as an OSCE participating State. The ODIHR Director shared his concerns in a letter to United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.“The threat of criminal sanctions against OSCE/ODIHR observers is unacceptable,” Lenarčič said. “The United States, like all countries in the OSCE, has an obligation to invite ODIHR observers to observe its elections.”

Damned right. I welcome these observers with open arms. The one-word state motto of Texas is “Friendship.” A threat to arrest people who have every right to be here is not very friendly.

Welcome U.N. Observers! And good luck with your mission of improving the quality of our democracy in Texas. We can use all the help we can get.

Michael Berry Has A Right To His Views And We Each Have The Right To Assess Michael Berry

Blogger’s Note—-Below is a post I made last September about comments that did not seem very nice about gay people made by former Houston Councilman and current right-wing KTRH talk show host Michael Berry.  (The picture above is of Mr. Berry at the microphone.) In my September post I said that Mr. Berry was making a clear expression of his views.  This is a right that we all should have as Americans. Mr. Berry has been in the news in recent days for alleged involvement in a hit-and-run incident outside a gay bar in Houston.  Here is a link to a report on this matter from Houston TV station KPRC.  The KPRC report has video that the station asserts is of Mr. Berry inside the gay bar. The Houston Chronicle reports that Houston Police are looking into the incident again after an initial determination not to press charges.  I don’t know what exactly took  place the night of the alleged hit-and-run, or why it may be that Mr. Berry was in the bar if what KPRC says is correct.  I’d ask folks to read the stories  about the concern and to reach their own views.  Just as the post below may tell a story about Mr. Berry’s nature, the facts of this more recent development may also offer insight into the life of this well-known  public figure in Houston 

Here is what former Houston City Councilmember and current KTRH 740 AM radio host Michael Berry had to say on his Facebook page today  about Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham–

“Lindsay Grahamnesty is on Fox right now. Acting gayer than hell as usual. He grates on my nerves. Liberal Lindsay. Squish.”

I’m appreciative of people like Mr. Berry who tell us exactly who and what they are.

There were a number of comments after Mr. Berry’s Facebook post that appeared to suggest a measure of agreement with his views.

For example–

“Posts like this are why I love you. In a non gayer than hell way of course.”

Or this view expressed by a fellow citizen of our nation–

“He needs to go. I can’t stand this man. Lindsay, is that like Pat- is he a man or a woman?”

People are free to believe what they want to believe, and they are free to express themselves.

I encourage all people to speak their minds and to be involved with the issues of the day.

The facts are out there for all to see and consider. We can decide to make clear our own views to the contrary, or we can allow people such as Mr. Berry to have a free run.

KTRH 740 Host Michael Berry Says Senator Lindsey Graham “Gayer than Hell..”—We Are All Free To Express Ourselves

(Update 2/16/12–Mr. Berry  has been reported in the media has being invloved in a hit-and-run outside a gay club in Houston. Read the story and reach your own views.)  

Here is what former Houston City Councilmember and current KTRH 740 AM radio host Michael Berry had to say on his Facebook page today  about Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham–

“Lindsay Grahamnesty is on Fox right now. Acting gayer than hell as usual. He grates on my nerves. Liberal Lindsay. Squish.”

I’m appreciative of people like Mr. Berry who tell us exactly who and what they are.

There were a number of comments after Mr. Berry’s Facebook post that appeared to suggest a measure of agreement with his views.

For example–

“Posts like this are why I love you. In a non gayer than hell way of course.”

Or this view expressed by a fellow citizen of our nation–

“He needs to go. I can’t stand this man. Lindsay, is that like Pat- is he a man or a woman?”

People are free to believe what they want to believe, and they are free to express themselves.

I encourage all people to speak their minds and to be involved with the issues of the day.

KTRH 740 Is A Terrible Radio Station—No News 740

Above is the 740 KTRH SUV I saw today in my travels around Houston.

KTRH can afford that car in the picture and they can afford to paint it all up, but they cannot afford a real news operation.

The car says “NewsRadio 740.” However, what they should really now call this station is “No-News 740.”

KTRH recently dumped longtime morning news hosts Lana Hughes and J.P. Pritchard.

Instead, KTRH now has even more right wing talk for the morning hours.

KTRH is now so bad, that even the misguided folks at Blog Houston say it is bad.

KTRH is just another dime-a-dozen Clear Channel station that cares a lot about money and nothing about the towns and cities where Clear Channel stations can be found.

Even if you are on the right politically, why would you listen to station that does not care at all about where you live?

Some On The Right Doubting The Fact That Osama Is Dead—These Are The Voices Directing Today’s Republican Party

Osama bin Laden has been killed and buried at sea.

Will it surprise you to know that some of our fellow Americans remain unconvinced that this is really what has taken place?

(Tea Party protestors. Photo by dbking.) 

Below are just a few of the comments in reaction to Osama’s death from the Facebook page of Houston radio station 740 KTRH and from the Facebook page of Texas U.S. Senator John Cornyn.

These people don’t represent all Americans or all Republicans. Yet given that Donald Trump is leading the polls for the Republican Presidential nomination, and given the extreme tone overall of the Republican Party/Tea Party, it has value to understand the voices that will be well-heard  by elected Republicans and by Republicans seeking office around the nation in 2012.

They don’t believe the birth certificate is real and they don’t believe that Osama is dead. Are these the folks you want directing the future of the United States of America?

From the reactions to Osama’s death—

As long as our country hunted this so called man they should of hung him on the whitehouse lawn for all the world to see not at sea.I ‘m not buying it.

how do you know he didn’t die of natural cause he’s old and sick just to get credit for his death.

Now why on Earth would they have done something so incredibly stupid as to dispose of the body??? Me smells a rat.

How convenient for Obama, who has thw lowest approval ratings of his career. And wasn’t Khalid Sheik Mohammmd the mastermind of the attacks, Osama just bankrolled them. Where was Osama killed? When? Where is video of his corpse, man?

It makes me rather suspicious. Now I wonder just how real this is.

Obama made sure his brother’s remains were properly disposed of according to the Muslim tradition hmmmmmmm…..how convenient.

How convenient, no one knew where he was. Obama’s popularity is falling even among the unthinking masses on the left. Now we hear reports of the man everyone has been looking for dead, and we dispose of the body before anyone can see it, “out of respect”. Just before a second run for president for the man who has been lying to us since he took office. Next we’ll get a photoshop picture as proof.

Buried at sea before an autopsy or proof could be gathered? To respect Muslim traditions? Come on, America…. start demanding some proof.

This just in: Osama’s body has been buried at sea! Can we say “Big fat HOAX” boys and girls? Can we say “Election Ploy”? Dear Mr. Obama: April Fool’s Day was April 1st. You’re a month late!

Is Bin Laden dead? Wheres the proof? Did you guys at least bring his head back. To show us that he is dead.

Obama is blowing smoke up our asses. I want to see Osama and think he needs to be on exhibit for ALL Americans to see that he’s REALLY DEAD!!!

There BETTER be pictures.

Right buried the body at sea? WTF are you kidding me?

Senator Cornyn, there better be a Congressional hearing for testimony on all this. The Administration dumped evidence into the sea under the guise of respect for Islamic law, I’m sorry why would we throw away very important evidence????

Sort of like the Obama Birth Certificate, all on paper with no physical proof!!!!!!!!!!! Just like all the MSM reports

DNA test that was done on the spot, in one day? No other samples to confirm it?? HAHA

Obama Birth Certificate Issue Will Never Go Away—“Test The Ink On It And See How Old It Is”

President Obama has released his birth certificate. 

The President was born in Honolulu, Hawaii.

(Above—Honolulu from space. Many on the right persist in the far out view that President Obama was born outside the U.S.) 

I’m not sure why the birth certificate was released. Why not take the political gain offered by folks who never let up on the birth certificate issue?

With Donald Trump taking the credit for the release, maybe the intent is to enhance Mr. Trump among Republican primary voters.

Maybe the Obama folks know exactly what they are doing. When you are dealing with folks who are not rational, facts are not going to matter. Let them be seen for what they are.

What they are at this point is the mainstream of the Republican Party. Two-thirds of registered Republicans believe that President Obama was born outside the country or are not sure.

Among these not so rational people are Republican elected officials. Already this morning Republican Texas State Representative Leo Berman has said he is still not convinced that Mr. Obama was born in the United States.

From the Texas Tribune–

State Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, has checked out the birth certificate President Barack Obama released this morning — and he’s not satisfied. Berman, who has raised persistent questions about Obama’s birthplace, said he has many more questions and that it will take “someone like a Donald Trump” to really determine whether the president has “pulled the greatest swindle, the greatest hoax, in the history of the United States.”  Berman, who has filed a “birther” bill this session that would force future presidential and vice presidential candidates to show their birth certificate in order to get on the Texas ballot, said he’s got several key questions with Obama’s birth certificate: Why did it take the president so long, amid a conservative firestorm, to release it? Why does it look “brand new,” he said, when it’s supposed to be five decades old? Why doesn’t the hospital listed on the birth certificate have a “plaque on the door” commemorating Obama’s birth there? And has anyone checked with the delivery room doctor listed on the birth certificate (whose name Berman says is curiously difficult to make out)?

I’m hesitant to write about this silly issue at all, but the matter is an insight into the nature of American conservatives. Are these the people you want running our nation? Are they grounded in day-to-day reality?

On the Facebook page of Houston right-wing talk radio station KTRH, a posting was made about the release of the birth certificate.

Below is a sampling of what people had to say at the KTRH page —

If you believe that, I have 40 acres of swamp land to sell you !!! He did not produce it till TRUMP put the pressure on him. Test the ink on it and see how old it is!!

Took a while to get it doctored I see !

Ok and as has been discussed before a cert of live birth is very diff from a birth cert…. Just saying….

About time…he probably had to find somebody to do it under the table. I highly doubt that is real and genuine. That cert is about as real as Pam Andersons Boobs.

Question: 1) Why does this one look VERY different than the one released years ago? 2) Why is he just now releasing this one if the one released years ago isn’t the real one? 3) How can be believer this one is real if there has already been a fake one released in the past?

But its the same old COLB. NOT a certified copy of his birth certficate.

Wonder which flea market he purchased it from?

Is this a real one? or one the CIA made for him?

I’ll never believe it’s real!

“As long as an adult can walk into Hawaii’s version of the Department of Records and provide proof that they are a legal resident of Hawaii, the document is issued. The child, on the other hand, could have been born in Hawaii, Kenya, or a back-alley in Budapest.”

Throughout Kenya, people will chant “You Lie”