Ann Johnson Offers A Voice In Tune With Texas House District 134—Focusing On Public Education And Women’s Health

Above you see Texas State Representative District 134 Democratic nominee Ann Johnson.

Here are the boundaries of District 134. I am a resident of District 134 where I live in the Memorial Park area of Houston.

Ms. Johnson is running to unseat first term incumbent Republican Sarah Davis. Ms. Davis defeated then-incumbent Ellen Cohen in the Tea Party wave of 2010.

I spoke with Ms. Johnson at her campaign headquarters last week. The picture here was taken during that conversation.

While I wish Ms. Johnson were more to the left, she represents a clear improvement over the incumbent.

Beyond being an improvement over the incumbent, Ms. Johnson merits consideration on her own accord.

Here are issues that Ms. Johnson cites as important in this race—

* Sufficient funding for public education.

* Making use of available federal funds–despite resistance from Governor Perry and Sarah Davis–for Medicaid in a way that will help Texans get care and protect jobs at the Medical Center.

* Protecting women’s health in Texas from attacks on cancer screenings and family planning services.

Here is an interview with Ms. Johnson conducted by Texas and Houston political blogger Charles Kuffner.

My friend Perry Dorrell has endorsed Ms. Johnson at his blog Brains & Eggs.

I talked to Ms. Johnson for about 45 minutes and I found her to be smart.

Here is how Ms. Johnson is described on her website—

Ann is an attorney who represents children, an adjunct professor of law at South Texas College of Law and a former prosecutor. She took on Texas’ criminal justice system to protect children from exploitation and human trafficking. She fought all the way to the Texas Supreme Court – and won a landmark victory that has become a model for other states.

In private practice, Ann represents child victims of harassment and bullying in schools and is often appointed to represent children, including in two of the newly created alternative courts: the Harris County Mental Health Court and Growing Independence Restoring Lives (GIRLS) Court.

Ann is also a survivor. Ann fought cancer and won – and she’ll stand up to fiscally irresponsible, partisan attacks on health care for women and all Texas families.

In her alliance with Governor Rick Perry’s reckless slashing of public education funds and relentless attacks on women’s health, Sarah Davis has shown herself comfortable with extremist views, and out of touch with the concerns and moderate political leanings of District 134.

I ask my fellow voters in Texas House District 134 to please consider Ms. Johnson in the upcoming election.

The RR On Mitt Romney’s Jet Stands For Redefining Rape

(Blogger’s Note 10/26/12– I need to add a mention here of Republican Indiana U.S. Senate nominee Richard Mourdock. Mr. Mourdack said that pregnancy that results from rape are “something God intended.”  Mr. Mourdock is one of a number of Republican candidates across the nation in 2012 who oppose abortion even in cases of rape. Mr. Romney recently filmed an ad for Mr. Mourdock and still says he supports Mr. Mourdock. These are  positions supported by Republican Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan.  

When I was in Cincinnati recently I saw Mitt Romney’s jet at Lunken Airport in Cincinnati.

Above you see a picture I took of Mr. Romney’s plane. Governor Romney was speaking at Cincinnati’s historic Union Terminal.

The RR on the tail of plane stands for “Redefining Rape.”

Or–if maybe there are 3 R’s on the tail–it could be “Romney Redefines Rape” or “Ryan Redefines Rape.”

Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan shares the view of Missouri Congressman Todd Akin that some forms of rape are not “legitimate rape.”

How have we reached the point where we feel that some forms of rape are not rape at all?

Here in Texas, women who seek a constitutionally protected abortion are subject to the state-mandated rape of the forced sonogram law. Rick Perry signed that law.

These folks fly around in big airplanes and hold the highest offices in the nation and run for President and Vice President of the United States–But really they are simply brutal men who would redefine rape and brutalize the poor.

As Cruz And Dewhurst Debate Who Can Kill The Most Texans By Denying Them Health Care, Obama Flies Texas Democratic Money Out To Other States

I made the mistake this evening of listening to a few minutes of the Republican Senate debate between Lt. Governor David Dewhurst and Ted Cruz.

The portion of the debate I heard was about which of these morally bankrupt persons could do more harm to everyday Texans by denying access to health care and by fighting Obamacare. Texas has the highest percentage of people lacking health insurance in the nation.

Mr. Cruz is a full-fledged nut who believes that the United Nations dictates U.S. policy right on down to how many bike trials we build. Mr. Cruz will also be the next United States Senator from Texas after he beats Mr. Dewhurst in the runoff later this month, and then wins the general election in November.

Governor Rick Perry supports Mr. Dewhurst in this race.

Below is the hunky photo of Mr. Perry that is on his Facebook page.

Governor Perry backs Mr. Dewhurst because the Governor knows that if Ted Cruz is elected he will be eclipsed as the biggest health care-denying, states rights-zealot holding statewide office in Texas.

Here is what Governor Perry said on Facebook this evening in defense of Mr. Dewhurst—

“Debate rhetoric can get loose and heated, but the honest truth is David Dewhurst is a successful conservative Texan who’s made Texas a successful conservative state. David Dewhurst led the Texas Senate to cut government spending, balanced budgets, fight federal excess and protect life and families. He is the only candidate for the U.S. Senate with a proven conservative record. David’s background as a veteran, intelligence officer, successful businessman and conservative leader prove he’s the right man to overhaul Washington, fight Obamacare and the restore the Constitutional principals Washington insiders have forgotten.”

Here is how a few Texas Republicans responded to the Governor—

“Sorry Governor, I think Dewhurst is to liberal for me. Texas needs Cruz”

“daivid dehurst vote for amenstey fo illegals aliens he is a rino.”

“Gov. Perry I have been a big supporter of yours and was thrilled when you decided to run for the republican nomination but you make me sick with this support of Dewhurst. You abandon your so called conservative values in order to play politics. You and every intelligent person know Ted Cruz is the real conservative in the senate race. I don’t have the words to describe how disgusted I am with you about this. Can I ever trust again what you say??”

“I love you Gov, but looks like the majority of us disagree with you strongly on this one, sir. You’ve made the wrong choice and I’m sorry, but it may cost you.”

There is also a Democratic U.S. Senate race.  The Democratic nominee will be not be nearly as well-funded as will be the Republican nominee.

There is Democratic money in Texas—It is just that a lot of that money leaves the state.

For example—President Obama was in Texas just today to raise money so he can buy more television ads in Pittsburgh and Tampa.

As President Obama flies away with the money, what the millions of people who will vote for President Obama in Texas will be left with is little chance to even make the case against right-wing extremist Ted Cruz.

(Below–There goes the money.)

Rick Perry’s States Rights Views Will Not Help You When You Cannot Get Health Care

Governor Rick Perry won’t be implementing ObamaCare in Texas.

From The Texas Tribune—

“Texas will not expand Medicaid or establish a health insurance exchange, two major tenets of the federal health reform that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld last month, Gov. Rick Perry said in an early morning announcement. “I stand proudly with the growing chorus of governors who reject the Obamacare power grab,” he said in a statement. “Neither a ‘state’ exchange nor the expansion of Medicaid under this program would result in better ‘patient protection’ or in more ‘affordable care.’ They would only make Texas a mere appendage of the federal government when it comes to health care. ….The governor will appear on Fox News at 10:30 a.m. to talk more about his decision.”

Texas is first in the nation in the rate of uninsured persons and last in many measures of the provision of health care.

You would think that a so-called “pro-life” Governor would be glad for the chance to expand Medicaid to the working poor.

But Governor Perry and the extremist Texas Republican Party is more concerned with states rights/libertarian ideology than it is with helping people get health coverage from the health care reform that has been passed by Congress and affirmed by the Supreme Court.

Read here for yourself what ObamaCare will do for everyday Americans. 

Extreme states rights views will not help you when you or a family member cannot get care.

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.)

Texas Forced Sonogram Law Is A Form Of State-Mandated Rape—Texas Progressive Alliance Round-Up

At the end of this post you will find the weekly posting of the  Texas Progressive Alliance round-up. The TPA is a confederation of the best political bloggers in Texas. TPA members are citizen-bloggers working for a better Texas.

With the round-up this week is a link to a recent column by Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times.  In this column, Mr. Kristof writes about the forced sonogram law here in Texas.

From Mr. Kristof-—

“Here’s what a woman in Texas now faces if she seeks an abortion.  Under a new law that took effect three weeks ago with the strong backing of Gov. Rick Perry, she first must typically endure an ultrasound probe inserted into her vagina. Then she listens to the audio thumping of the fetal heartbeat and watches the fetus on an ultrasound screen. She must listen to a doctor explain the body parts and internal organs of the fetus as they’re shown on the monitor. She signs a document saying that she understands all this, and it is placed in her medical files. Finally, she goes home and must wait 24 hours before returning to get the abortion. “It’s state-sanctioned abuse,” said Dr. Curtis Boyd, a Texas physician who provides abortions. “It borders on a definition of rape. Many states describe rape as putting any object into an orifice against a person’s will. Well, that’s what this is. A woman is coerced to do this, just as I’m coerced.”

We need to be clear about the fact that the Texas forced sonogram law is a form of state-mandated rape.  Governor Perry and the Texas legislature enacted this law in good part because they had the power to do so.

I’m going to be writing much more about this issue in the days and weeks ahead. I encourage all Texans to do what they can to draw attention to the forced sonogram bill, and to help change the social and political climate in Texas to where this law can at some point be repealed and to where we can start to treat every Texan with respect.

Don’t forget—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 is up to each of us.

Here is the round-up–

Off the Kuff connects the Republican war on women’s health to the 2012 legislative elections in Texas.
BossKitty at TruthHugger has decided that the Devil is in the words spewing from the mouth of GOP wannabe Rick Santorum, who says that “suffering is good”.

BlueBloggin thinks that Planet of the Apes escapee Rush “Rusty” Hudson Limbaugh III should be handed over to the Amazon Women on the Moon and hits him below the belt.

Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast Rally For The Health Of All Texans On 3/12—All People Are Connected

There will be a March 12 rally at Planned Parenthood in Houston to protest the drastic and unwarranted cuts for the health care needs of so many Texans.

And don’t forget the Texas forced sonogram law which many see—correctly in my view—as a form of state-mandated rape.

Below are details of the March 12 event. What I have posted is a Planned Parenthood press release that I received.

The only regretful aspect of this press release is the failure of Planned Parenthood to include any men as speakers, and, by doing so, to ignore the obvious fact that this is a matter for all Texans and not just women.

All people are connected. Health and human rights are universal concerns.

Here is the link for Planned Parenthood–Gulf Coast.

Here is the press release—-

TEXAS WOMEN TO GOVERNOR RICK PERRY:

“DON’T MESS WITH US”

Community Leaders Speak out at the Latest Stop on the 

Women’s Health Express 

Houston, Texas — In support of Texas women and in response to the disastrous women’s health policies of the Perry Administration, Texas women, health providers, elected officials and other women’s health supporters and community partners speak out tell Governor Rick Perry:  DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS WOMEN.   

On March 12, 2012, the Women’s Health Express will be rolling into Houston to meet supporters who will rally against the State’s continued attacks on women’s health care programs. From all across the country, women have been mobilizing to fight back against politicians who try to restrict women’s access to reproductive health care.  Now, Governor Perry is about to see what happens when you mess with Texas women.

WHAT: “Don’t Mess With Texas Women” Rally

WHEN: March 12, 2012 at 11:30 am/Official program to begin at 11:45 am

WHERE: The Women’s Health Express Bus at PPGC: 4600 Gulf Fwy Houston, TX

 SPEAKERS: State Representative Carol Alvarado 

      State Representative Jessica Farrar

    Dr. Michelle Curtis, OBGYN

A patient who receives health care through the Women’s Health Program

    Melaney Linton, CEO, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, Inc. 

More than one-quarter of Texas women are uninsured, and women in Texas have the third-highest rate of cervical cancer in the U.S., yet Texas Governor Rick Perry is effectively sabotaging the entire Medicaid Women’s Health Program, risking the health and lives of thousands of women who rely on the program for lifesaving screenings for breast and cervical cancer, birth control, screenings for diabetes and hypertension, well woman exams and more. 

Perhaps even more shocking, this is just the latest move Texas officials have made to deny health care to women.   

In the last few months, budget cuts passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor Perry cut the state’s family planning program by more than two-thirds — which will take health care from 160,000 women per year.  These cuts also affect services including Pap tests, clinical breast exams, and birth control. The well woman exam a woman receives through WHP is often her only opportunity to receive health care.

For more than 75 years, Planned Parenthood has been Texas’ most trusted source of nonprofit reproductive health care. Planned Parenthood’s 65 health centers in Texas provide health care to nearly 260,000 Texans each year including 104,604 cervical cancer screenings; 122,928 breast cancer screenings; and 440,931 tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections.

Number Of Texans With Health Insurance Will Soar With Health Care Reform—It Was Mitt Romney’s Idea

The percentage of Texans with health insurance will sharply increase to 91% after President Obama’s Health Care Reform takes effect in 2014.

From the Houston Chronicle—

“The percentage of Texans with health insurance will increase to 91 percent – up from 74 percent today – after the national health care law takes effect in 2014, the state’s Medicaid director told lawmakers….”

Texas has the highest rate of uninsured Americans in all the nation. 

Here is the website for the Affordable Care Act.  Read for yourself what Health Care Reform will accomplish.

This issue will soon be debated before the Supreme Court.

Texas Governor Rick Perry hopes that–against the odds– the Court strikes down the whole Act or portions of the Act, so he can go on not caring when Texans die or go bankrupt from the absence of health coverage.

Will states rights issues decided by the Civil War help you when you or your family members are sick and have no coverage? Do you want to give up the provision of Health Care Reform that allows people with pre-existing conditions to get coverage?

Governor Perry and Texas Republicans running the show in Austin have had years to deal with this crisis. What have they done beyond attacking cancer screenings provided by Planned Parenthood so that even more Texans can get sick and die?

For all the Republican griping, what did President George W. Bush and Republicans in control of Congress for much of the last decade do to help more people get health coverage?

One Republican who did do something is former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Governor Romney is a major architect of the individual mandate for health coverage that is also part of President Obama’s plan.

Don’t worry though–Governor Romney is pledging to repeal Health Care Reform should he be elected President.

Governor Romney enacted Health Care Reform before he repealed it.

The Affordable Care Act is a middle-of-the-road law based in part on Governor Romney’s Massachusetts plan. This law will help millions of people in Texas and all across the nation.

Top Texas political blogger Charles Kuffner has more on this important concern.

Rick Perry Back To Doing Harm Primarily In Texas—Texas Progressive Alliance Round-Up

Here is  the weekly posting of the  Texas Progressive Alliance round-up. The TPA is a confederation of the best political bloggers in Texas.  TPA members are citizen-bloggers working for a better Texas.

It’s been a mixed week for freedom-loving Texans. The menacing prospect of Rick Perry winning the Republican nomination is gone. Yet now Rick Perry will be back in Texas with plenty of free time to do harm. There is rarely any hopeful scenario when Rick Perry is involved. At least though we have the satisfaction of having witnessed Mr. Perry’s terrible Presidential campaign.

In any case, Mr. Perry is back and he is still Governor. You can enjoy a brief laugh at his expense as you get back to the work of mitigating the evil Governor Perry will surely attempt  now that he is back in Austin. The moment you think you are smarter than your foes is the moment they get the best of you.

(Above–Governor Perry at the 2011 Iowa State Fair. This did not turn out to be time well spent. Photot by IowaPolitics.com)  

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 is up to each of us.

Here is the round-up–

Off the Kuff takes a look at Democratic primary races as they now stand in Harris County and elsewhere in Texas.

Refinish69 at Doing My Part for the Left thinks sometimes you just have to say “What the Hell?”

Bay Area Houston says it is time for a Joe Driver law.

Republicans Attack Romney For His Predatory Anti-Worker Business Practices—Everybody For Themselves In Every Respect

It is simply amazing how quickly Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry have engaged in bashing the predatory business practices of Mitt Romney.

(Above–Mitt Romney. Photo by Brian Rawson-Ketchum.)

I can’t imagine that any of the loyal base of the Republican Party would be open to arguments based on that terrible evil of class warfare.

Never would such good upright people succumb to such arguments.

While Governor Romney has engaged in predatory practices that have enriched him on the backs of the people he has had a large hand in laying off , you’d think leading Republicans would have enough loyalty to the power of money in the United States to let it go unaddressed.

Nope. Mr. Gingrich and some of his fellow Republicans are loyal to the party in the sense that are loyal first of all to themselves. These folks understand the Republican message quite well.

Here is a link to the video released by a super pac allied with Newt Gingrich that talks about layoffs at hand of Governor Romney and Bain Capital. It is quite a video–Well worth your 28 minutes.

Perry Dorrell at the great Texas political blog Brains & Eggs has written on this subject as well. 

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.

Gingrich The Latest To Wade Into The Republican Far Right Tar Pit Of Oblivion

Newt Gingrich is currently the  leading anybody-but-Romney choice of far-right Republican extremists.

At first it was Donald Trump who held this position.

Then Michelle Bachmann.

Then Rick Perry.

Then Herman Cain. 

And now, as mentioned above, it is Mr. Gingrich’s turn.

This all reminds me of the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.

At the La Brea Tar Pits back in Ice Age times, a creature would fall in the sticky tar and start to sink.

Another creature would see this vulnerability and leap in expecting an easy meal.

That predatory beast would sink as well.

They are all leaping in—One after another after another.

If Governor Romney is nominated by Republicans , how will he be able to withstand the pressures within his party to govern from the extreme right? Mr. Romney rarely score above 25%  in polls. What will he have to do to win over a voter base that will support anybody at all to avoid backing Mr. Romney? Already Mr. Romney has gone back on his own health care plan from Massachusetts.

(At the top of the post—A 1921 illustration of the Tar Pits by Charles R. Knight. A Giant Sloth has been trapped in the pit while foolish snarling Sabre Tooth Tigers think they are going to get fed. Above are some California Condors who can maybe –blissfully unaware of how rough a future they are going to have— swoop down for some sinking flesh. )  

(Below–Elephants–of one kind or another–have been lured into a pit of no return for many years. Here is a post I wrote in 2009 about a big fossil find at the Tar Pits and about if the DNA of Ice Age beasts should be used to someday bring them back.) 

Texas Drought Goes On And On—Texas Progressive Alliance Round-Up

Here is the most recent Texas Progressive Alliance round-up. The TPA is a confederation of the best political bloggers in Texas.

TPA members are citizen-bloggers who are working everyday for a better Texas.

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 democracy and freedom is up to each of us.

With the round-up this week is the latest Texas drought map from the federal government. I swear the map is not a federal trick to convince Texans that it is dry when it is fact it is raining.

It is very dry.

Here is the full U.S. drought map.

Here is a history of droughts in Texas from the excellent Handbook of Texas Online.

From that history—

“In 1720 a summer dry spell in Coahuila killed 3,500 of the 4,000 horses that the Marqués de Aguayo, governor of Texas, was prepared to bring to Texas. A drought in Central Texas dried up the San Gabriel River in 1756, forcing the abandonment of a settlement of missionaries and Indians.Stephen F. Austin’s first colonists also were hurt by drought. In 1822 their initial food crop of corn died from lack of moisture.”

The fact that Texas has always had severe droughts makes it clear that this current drought is not necessarily a result of climate change.

However, it is fully possible that global warming does have something to do with the drought conditions we are seeing across Texas.

Regretfully, with Rick Perry as Governor and with Republicans in strong control of the Texas legislature, there will not even be any discussion of the possible impact of climate change on Texas.

Here is the  round-up—

Off the Kuff discusses the latest Texas polling data and what a Rick Perry candidacy might mean for downballot Democrats.

On a night during which both Georgia and Texas put men to death, Letters From Texasvisits the moral and practical implications.

Amy Price, the progressive running for Houston’s city council at large #4 seat, had a great week of news coverage. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs collected the stories, audio, and video.

Senator John Cornyn Cares A Great Deal About Texas Wildfires And About Photo Ops

Texas U.S. Senator got a briefing yesterday from the Texas Forest Service about the wildfires in Texas.

Above you see a picture from this briefing.

The Senator is the gentleman with white hair.

Do you think the folks from the Texas Forest Service briefed Senator Cornyn on the sharp cuts to the Forest Service approved by Governor Rick Perry and the Republican-controlled Texas legislature?

From the Fort-Worth Star Telegram-—

The Legislature cut the agency’s funding this year to $83 million from $117 million, according to Robby DeWitt, the forest service’s associate finance director. … Chris Barron, executive director of the State Firemen’s and Fire Marshals’ Association of Texas, said: “It’s very frustrating that they don’t have the proper tools and resources to fight these fires. If fire departments had enough funding, if the forest service had enough funding, we wouldn’t be in this predicament over each and every year.” 

Senator Cornyn wants you to know that he is very concerned about the wildfires in Texas.

Senator Cornyn is real concerned just as long as you know that his concern does not translate beyond a photo op, and a briefing with people who have no choice but to sit with the Senator and to be used as props.

Republican Presidential Debate Crowd Boos A Soldier Serving In Iraq—Rick Santorum Says Dumbest Thing Ever

Here is what we have learned from the Republicans running for President in 2012—

* The chief of the Federal Reserve should be roughed up if he visits Texas according to Texas Governor Rick Perry.

* Texas-sized use of the death penalty is a cause for cheering.

* Letting the uninsured die is a cause for cheering.

* Booing soldiers serving in Iraq is okay if they happen to be gay.

The Republicans are telling us all who and what they are.

What are you going to do it about it?

The work of freedom and democracy is up to each of us.

If this what the American people support in 2012, then we will all know where we stand in this country.

Also—Did you catch in the Republican debate that Rick Santorum said the following—

“Any type of sexual activity has absolutely no place in the military.” 

That may be the dumbest comment ever made by a candidate for public office.

That is something I would like to see Mr. Santorum try to enforce.