Finally I Get It - Why Bernie Must Stay In The Race Until The Convention

It took The Young Turks to explain it to me... well, them and the short Bernie clip they play in this segment. Bernie cannot drop out now and accomplish his most significant goal, specifically, shifting the Democratic Party... the party platform and Clinton's expressed positions... leftward far enough to make a difference.



Bernie is not stupid, far from it. And I understand he would make a great president... if there were a way for him to get from here to there. But there's not. Any honest American (and that certainly includes Bernie) knows that the president who takes office in January will be the candidate of one of the two major political parties, Democratic or Republican, not anyone else. Bernie will not be one of those candidates... but even so he has a real opportunity from his current position to influence the behavior of one of those parties, by staying in the race all the way to the Democratic convention. If he withdraws earlier, he loses that power. If he announces a third-party presidential run, he becomes Ralph Nader writ large, almost certainly assuring a President Trump (about whom, not so incidentally, I agree with Bernie: America would collapse in chaos within a year if Trump became president).

So Bernie, smart guy that he is, does the one thing open to him that accomplishes the most significant of his goals. In support of his run... even if its success in the usual sense is certainly unrealizable... I continue to endorse him, on this site and in personal conversations, until he and his surrogates have accomplished what they can at the convention. At that point, if I'm still alive, you can anticipate a "Clinton for President" banner in the left column of this blog. Politics makes strange bedfellows, a fact that in this case I willingly accept.

Vote!

Early voting in the 2016 primary starts this Tuesday. Here's the Harris County, TX early voting schedule:

Early Voting Hours of Operation:
February 16 - February 19: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
February 20: 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
February 21: 1:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. 
February 22 - February 26: 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Choose your early voting location at this page (.pdf). Any registered voter in Harris County can vote at any early voting location shown on that map. Be sure to bring an approved photo ID (e.g., your Texas driver license or a concealed-carry license). For good measure, if you have your voter certificate, bring that, too, but it is not sufficient; you must have an approved photo ID.

Later today I'll post additional info, but there is no official word on Election Day poll locations yet (goddamn Republicans anyway). Also, there will be a bit of doggerel on this post...

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ADDENDUM: Doggerel as promised, a parody with apologies to the late great Nat King Cole... sing this to the tune of his song "Smile":

Vote, though your brain is aching;
Vote, though bad news is breaking.
When their attack is a weight on your back,
If you vote, yes, despite your terror,
Vote, you can face your mirror;
You'll find your life ain't worth a groat,
If you... don't... vote!

        - SB after NKC

Please Welcome Mayor-Elect Sylvester Turner!

By a fairly close vote, about 51%-49%, Sylvester Turner is the newly elected mayor of the City of Houston!

There are many things to be thankful for in Sylvester Turner. Some of them are listed in the endorsement vote below. Beyond his many manifest virtues as a consensus-builder (look at his legislative record as a State Rep.), there is the non-negligible fact that Sylvester Turner, now age 61, was once a child of Acres Homes in northwest Houston, one of Houston's most impoverished neighborhoods, and knows firsthand how essential it is to assist hardworking people near the bottom of the economic ladder to climb to middle-class status. Not everyone climbs as high as Turner has... a JD from Harvard, an active attorney and a legislator widely respected in both major political parties... but everyone deserves a chance to rise as high economically as their skills will take them, and Turner not only understands that, he acts on that understanding in his capacity as an elected official.

A word about Bill King, to his supporters and detractors alike: Bill King is not a nut-job! GOPers nationwide, please take note... by running as a genuine conservative, not a radical, they came very close to winning, and in Houston at least, they would not have come so close had King run as a Tea Party radical. That became apparent to me in the candidate debates: he is a mainstream Republican, but his key issues are exactly that, mainstream Republican issues. Regular readers know how much I despise much of the nut-jobbery of the Republican Party today, the Tea Party, the extremists among fundamentalist evangelicals (that's not all of them, but the worst of them are bad enough), etc. Bill King is pretty obviously not an outright right-wing extremist. Perhaps Mr. Turner really can call on him for advice on matters that fall astride the left-right divide.

My congratulations to Mr. Turner. I look forward to his term(s)!

Please Vote For Sylvester Turner For Mayor: Prof. Bob Stein Doesn't Quite Say ‘Ku Klux To Call’ In Turner-King Mayoral Runoff, But Admits Race Is A Factor

Those not blinded by the race difference in this race will agree that State Rep. Sylvester Turner is, on paper and in fact, more experienced in the craft of governance than his opponent, businessman Bill King, notwithstanding the cliffhanger discussed yesterday in 88.7 FM commentator Jose Jimeniz's interview of political scientist Dr. Bob Stein.

King is running ostensibly on his skills as a businessman; unfortunately for him, Turner manifestly has those skills, too, having run his own businesses successfully, and claiming in the first debate (probably factually; I am certain a panelist would have called him on it if it weren't true) to have met every employee payroll. In past years I have heard Turner speak in person: he is a dynamic, driven, passionate person, and his constituency is one of the things he is most passionate about.

Although Houston city offices are elected on a nonpartisan basis (by law), this blog is, at least in principle, a Democratic site; Democratic voters will be happy to note that Mr. Turner is solid on many basic Democratic issues, including LGBT rights, public education, affordable health care, equal justice under law (Turner is an attorney who graduated JD, Harvard Law School), and others too numerous to list, a product of his 26 years as a state legislator.

If you haven't already voted, please come out tomorrow (Sat. 12/12) to vote for Sylvester Turner.

(If Bill King's list of failures were not long enough already, his web site... search for it yourself... has serious mechanical flaws in its home page when viewed with a fully updated Google Chrome browser. Prepare to shade your eyes if you visit!)

Houston Election Yields A Fallen HERO

The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), approved by City Council and Mayor Parker, failed in its judicially mandated vote by the people of Houston. It wasn't even close: when I went to bed, it was losing about 39% — 61%. I suppose the leaders of the opposition and the fear-filled citizens they misled at every turn (and "misled" is putting it politely) simply cannot abide being protected by a HERO. Well, damn them to HELL (Houston Equality Losing... Lost). Considering how many of the people engaged in the assassination campaign likely consider themselves Christian, the whole sordid business gives me one more reason not to be one.

Sylvester Turner and Bill King will be in a runoff for mayor of Houston. I like Turner well enough and have voted for him in a couple of his many past runs for mayor, more with a shrug than a happy dance, but he seems the best available this time as he was back then. The other guy, a colorless (pun intended) businessman with apparently sterling if not golden conservative credentials, leaves me wondering: which citizens is he Bill‑King?

In Houston, not all precincts have been counted, either citywide At-Large districts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) or regional City Council districts (A, B, C... etc.), so I'll defer addressing those races. And in the districts without incumbents, I don't really know much about a lot of the candidates The only observation I'll offer now is this:

• Incumbency is an almost overwhelming advantage, but many races have no incumbent running this year.

I'll try to write more later. Today I have to grocery‑shop before another possible bayou‑filling event Thu/Fri/Sat...

Election Day!

It's time, my fellow Texans and Harris County residents and Houstonians. This is your last opportunity to vote for local offices! See harrisvotes.org for the info you need if you want to vote. I confess to some relief that we shall see no more "bathroom invasion" ads about the HERO on TV; I was beginning to have trouble restraining my murderous impulses toward the people who framed that ad and anyone else who agreed with them... seriously, it's much better to vote on the matter than to threaten someone over it; go vote while you still can!

I Voted Against Term Limits For City Of Houston

I voted. I know that by looking at the sticker a poll worker applied to my shirt pocket. At least the "sticker" (heh) reminds me when its low-bid not-very-sticky stuff doesn't send it straight to the floor again. Must have been a "brother-in-law contract" for the stickers, as my late father used to say.

And never forget what I used to say was the slogan behind this city seal: "Houston — come here to be railroaded! (Or get plowed.)"

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If by chance you haven't voted yet, and you live in Houston, here's an alert...

You know, without a doubt about the HERO (Houston Equal Rights Ordinance), City of Houston Proposition 1, which has already passed City Council and (if I understand correctly) is on the ballot because some cranky judge ruled that it had to be approved directly by city voters.  Please vote FOR it.

But I'll bet you don't know about City of Houston Proposition 2: it would impose term limits on all city elected officials, both duration (maximum 4 years) and number of terms (maximum 2). I urge you to vote AGAINST it. If you're voting, you already have a powerful term-limiting document in your pocket which gives you the power to decide whom to re-elect and whom to term-limit. This proposition would wrest that power from your grasp and automate the process; that's about as antidemocratic (small-'d') as it gets. I do not know which political slimeballs a) are convinced they cannot get elected often enough without this change to the city charter, or b) fail to see that forcing the electorate to shake up the whole slate of government officials and replace them with a bunch of newcomers every few years is a terrible idea, but as we lack the authorization to boil the slimeballs in oil (and besides, gulab jamun are much tastier), I suggest you vote AGAINST City of Houston Proposition 2.

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See harrisvotes.org to find your early voting polling place and an early voting schedule. Or vote on Election Day, Nov. 3, at your regular polling place (NOT typically one of the early voting locations!). Final reminder: bring your !@#$%^& photo ID! Republicans did this to you, but you can't vote without it, so bring a Texas DL with your current address on it.

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(I surely do miss the helpful election website that Scott Hochberg used to put up before he retired from running for office; we all have to compensate the best we can for that loss... of the site and of Rep. Hochberg, who was the Rep. you longed for if you supported responsive representative government. Thanks, Scott, for your years of service!

Bernie In The News This Week

First, let me say I saw Bernie live on CBS News this morning (sorry; I can't find that particular segment online) and I am even more convinced we need this man as president.

Second, note that Hillary no longer has an insurmountable monopoly in all polls, indeed she has dropped even in some national polls. And in at least two early states, New Hampshire and Iowa, Sanders leads Clinton: he holds a 22% lead in NH and a 10% lead in Iowa. I am not an enthusiastic poll-watcher and I don't think this means Bernie will become the Democratic candidate; I just want to rebut those who insist I am wasting my vote. Strategy is well and good, but an honest, democratically motivated vote is never wasted. And yes, I'll switch to Hillary when Bernie leaves the race.

Now a couple of article links:

• Catherine Thompson at TPM: Bernie Sanders Thinks The GOP Debate Was 'Pretty Sad'
• Joshua Holland at The Nation: What ‘The Wall Street Journal’ Gets Totally Wrong About Bernie Sanders’s Agenda
• Jen Hayden at Kos: Bill O'Reilly tried to ambush Bernie Sanders—Bernie wasn't having it

You gotta love a man that Bill-O can't succeed in ambushing...

Endorsing Bernie: Four Posts, A Video And A Short Rant

I am endorsing Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) (no, that's not a mistake; from what I've read, he's running as a 'D') for President, for as long as he's in the race. Yes, I'll switch my vote to Hillary when Sanders inevitably loses at the primary level. Why am I doing this? That's easy to demonstrate.

First, the video:



... then some articles:

• DSWright at FDL: Team Clinton Worried Sanders Will Make Hillary ‘Look Like A Corporatist’
• John Nichols at The Nation: Bernie Sanders to Billionaires: ‘You Can’t Have It All!’
• tvdude at Kos: Bernie Sanders blows Wolf Blitzer's mind with a simple idea (guess it doesn't take much)
• John Nichols at The Nation: ‘Don’t Underestimate Me’: Bernie Sanders Knows a Thing or Two About Winning

Look. This could easily be my last presidential election. When it comes to voting, I've been a dedicated Democrat all my life. What did I get for my troubles? A rightward-running party (or at least its leadership), almost as corporatist as the GOP, wholly devoted to the surveillance state, supporting secret "free trade" agreements guaranteed to damage the average working American, running presidential candidates more conservative than Dwight Eisenhower, absorbing immense "campaign contributions" (virtual bribes) from corporations, again just like the GOP. As restaurant customers sometimes say, who ordered that? Not I, and not any other rank-and-file Democrat I know!

If I am to continue as a Democrat, there are going to have to be some changes to the disappointing entity the Democratic Party has morphed into in the past few decades. If that means I have to retract my commitment to strategic voting and actually vote my conscience in this potentially last show, well, damn the whole Obama‑Rahm‑a, that's what I'll do.

And there's no one actually running in the Democratic presidential field more credible, more consistent with my own political conscience, than Bernie Sanders. So at least for the primary, I'm voting for Bernie, and I urge you to do the same. If we end up with the semi-corporatist anyway, well, at least we will have done what we could toward the creation of (to paraphrase the late great Paul Wellstone) a democratic wing of the Democratic Party.

Bernie 2016... join me!

In Case You Had Forgotten, Bill Moyers And Two Legal Scholars Explain How Citizens United Allows Corp's To Buy Elections

The video below appears originally as the first video on this page. Please watch Bill Moyers interviewing Monica Youn, an attorney at the Brennan Center for Justice, and Zephyr Teachout, a professor at Fordham School of Law, on the direct and indirect consequences of Citizens United:

If we want to preserve any semblance of democracy in America, we must find a way to rid ourselves of that execrable Supreme Court ruling. Otherwise the Golden Rule applies ("those who have the gold make the rules"), and we the people (except for the very wealthy) will have no participatory role in our government, and our flag may as well look like this:

I understand Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has a good campaign underway to rid us of Citizens United; perhaps you can join his effort. If that doesn't suit you, please find something, or prepare to lose your democracy.

(Barf. Poop. Green Doggerel-Doo.)

"Don't Tempt Me..."

I'm not sure I've ever seen an election result suck worse than this one does, or at least seems to be, certainly not in a midterm election.

Voters are very, very angry and disappointed with their government (are they? well, aren't they? you don't think unlimited, easily funded campaign lies might have affected their reaction, do you?), so their reasoned, practical response is to take their pistols and shoot every family member who might help them out, or rather, take their fingers and vote out most of the decent politicians who remained in office.

Get your election returns somewhere else; I'm not writing up this dog-awful shit-pile.

If I were a young American woman, between now and 2016 I would scout out a country where one might apply for political refugee status and still have some hope of finding a job. Just in case America is not "Ready for Hillary" ... in fact, I may keep my own eyes open for such a place.

VOTE TODAY!

With Republicans like the ones we have today, it may be your last chance.

Robert Reich's ‘Election Day Carol’, OrA Dickens Of An Election

Let Robert Reich lead you through the four Ghosts, one of Election Day Past, one of Election Day Present, and two of Election Day Future, whose identity should surprise no one.

Reich's tale has a happy ending. If you want a happy ending to the actual election this year, you'd better get to the polls on Tuesday; notwithstanding Republican braggadocio there are many races that are right on the knife-edge: 50% Dem, 50% GOP. C'mon, go to the polls and at least try to make it happen for the D's!

Early Voting Is In Progress!

I voted today. Have you voted?

Democratic Primary Runoff

It's underway right now. Early voting today (5/22) and tomorrow (5/23); Election Day is 5/27. Harris County residents, schedules and early voting locations can be found here. Personal voting info is available at harrisvotes.org, including your Election Day polling place. NOTE: as of this morning, the search for my voter registration info by address failed... searching by voter certificate number shows I am registered. BE SURE TO BRING YOUR GODDAM VOTER ID MATERIAL (e.g., a Texas driver license) to the polls! And please vote for David Alameel, because his opponent is a Larouche "Democrat," i.e., a right-wing nutjob who among other things wants to impeach Obama.

Mar. 4 Texas Primary, Harris County: Uncertain Where You Vote, Or What Candidates Your Ballot Will Contain?

Use this tool to find out. If you want to vote early (already underway!), here is a map of all the early voting locations in Harris County, with dates and times the polls are open.

Here's the first of several public service announcements: be sure to take an accepted photo ID (e.g., your Texas driver's license) with you as well as your voter registration certificate. You won't be able to vote without the photo ID. The voter certificate alone is not enough. This VOM (Voter Obstruction Measure) is brought to you by your Texas Republican Party... Oh, and please note: some Election Day polling places have been moved from their historical locations. Be sure to check yours online before you head for the polls! This VOM is doubtless also bestowed on us by the GOP...

Joint Runoff Election, City Of Houston, Houston Community College System: Runoff Date Dec. 14, Early Voting Dec. 4-10

Most early voting details (schedules and locations) are available here. As for the location of your polling place for runoff election day Dec. 14, and the specific content of your ballot for this runoff, our brilliant County Clerk Stan Stanart (R) says it will be available soon. The message is clear: do not ever elect as County Clerk a member of a political party that depends for its continued existence on your not being able to vote. How hard is that to understand?

Post-Election Headline Of The Morning: Is It Spousal Abuse?

Headline in the Houston Chronicle online:

Wife beats husband in Maine municipal election

I'm sure it happens every day...

... but not usually at the polls.

Texans: Tuesday Is Election Day — Vote!

Raise your Voice - Vote!

Texans... Tuesday Nov. 5 is Election Day. If you're a Houstonian, it's your chance to shape City Council. Wherever you are in Texas, it's your one rock to throw at the State Board of Education. Don't waste the opportunity... vote!

Be sure to bring your voter registration AND your driver's license, to appease the goddamned Governor and the goddamned GOP. If your names don't match on those two documents, you may be able to vote by signing an affidavit, which the election judge at the poll should provide you (though you may have to harass a GOP election judge to get yours). Do NOT be intimidated! If you are registered to vote, you have a right to vote!

(This post will float to the top through Tuesday. Newer posts may appear below.)

Schadenfreude: Go Watch A Video Of Karl Rove...

... (figuratively) eating his hat, without mustard (YouTube), on the air on Fox as the call for Obama is made and then explicitly confirmed. Priceless! (H/T TPM.)

(Well, that sucks. The video has a Share link, but the resulting video frame won't play. Just click through on the above link labeled 'TPM'. Grrrr...)

(Fixed. There's an equivalent YouTube out there; the first link above now points to it. The TPM article associated with its video still has some interesting material in it, so I'll leave it linked. But fuck 'em for making their video so inaccessible!)