Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Gays can't divorce in Texas after all

A state appeals court in Dallas has rejected a lower court’s decision that two gay men who married in Massachusetts had the right to divorce in Texas.

In October 2009, state District Judge Tena Callahan ruled that the men could legally end their marriage and that the state’s prohibition against same-sex marriage violates the federal constitutional right to equal protection.

But today, the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas reversed that decision and ordered Callahan to dismiss the case.

Same-sex marriages or civil unions are prohibited by a voter-approved amendment to the state Constitution and the Texas Family Code.

The appeals court said today that the trial court had wrongly ruled that those provisions violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Additionally, Justice Kerry P. Fitzgerald wrote in the decision: "We hold that Texas district courts do not have subject-matter jurisdiction to hear a same-sex divorce case." 

You may recall that Attorney General Abbott also waded into rolled into this case.

Abbott said last fall that he was appealing the ruling "to defend the traditional definition of marriage that was approved by Texas voters."...

(Attorney for the plaintiffs Peter) Schulte wrote in a court filing that the state's arguments were an attempt "to mislead the court in an effort to pursue the attorney general's own political agenda."

Back to the DM News for the OMG (my emphasis):

And in arguments before the three appellate judges, all Republicans, attorneys for the state and the conservative Plano-based Liberty Institute repeated the claim that to recognize same-sex divorce, Texas would have to recognize same-sex marriage.

Plaintiffs are deliberating whether to appeal to the (all-Republican) Texas Supreme Court. How do you think that will go if they do?

Oh, yes: The Liberty Institute. Where have we seen their name in recent developments in Houston lately?

Monday, August 30, 2010

Harris commissioners OK $13 MM for more e-Slates... and paper ballots *updated*

I was unable to be present, so this post pieces together some eyewitness as well as media accounts of this afternoon's emergency gathering of county commissioners to address concerns surrounding the November election in the wake of last week's warehouse fire which destroyed all of the county's voting machines.

The $13.6 million approved will cover 2,325 voting machines and support equipment, and Beverly Kaufman indicates she has offers of "fifty here and a hundred there" from other elections administrators around the state, but not nearly enough to replace what was lost in last Friday's inferno. So while she pledges to "protect everyone's rights" by not consolidating precinct locations, she will also have 1.4 million paper ballots on hand "as a backup".

KPRC's Mary Benton, in this video report, holds a copy of a sample paper ballot. The two-page ballots will be available to "anyone who asks" for one, according to Benton.

Texas Watchdog's Twitter feed from this afternoon's meeting is here, yet Lee Ann O'Neal's report makes no mention at all of paper ballots.

State representative Garnet Coleman was present and publicly underscored concerns about voter suppression simply by virtue of fewer locations, fewer machines, and longer lines. Kaufman's pledge, as mentioned in the first graf, is to satisfy all those concerns.

I'll update this post with more as it comes around.

Update: Harvey Kronberg adds the following -- desperately in need of proofreading -- related to Garnet Coleman's public remarks at the hearing.

HARRIS COUNTY DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATORS CALL FOR DOJ TO REVIEW PLANS FOR ELECTIONS POST-VOTING MACHINE FIRE

Consolidating voting places, long lines and other other measures could reduce minority participation, they say

Sixteen Democratic lawmakers today signed a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder calling on the Department of Justice to "assist and oversee the development of new plans for conducting the upcoming elcections (sic) in Harris County."

They continue, "While we are heartened by the stated intention of local officials in Harris county and across the state to condut (sic) a fair and open election in November, we are concernece (sic) that some of the options for conducting the election could have an adver (sic) impact on voter participation...."

The lawmakers note, "...In recent elections, there have been controversial actions on the part of the Harris county officials that administer and oversee voter registrations and elections."

The entire letter can be found here.

Also the Houston Press' Hair Balls ...

For all those who pine nostalgically for cardboard privacy boxes and paper voting ballots, oh boy is this the year for you.

At an emergency meeting of the Harris County Commissioners' Court on Monday, County Clerk Beverly Kaufman said paper ballots will be used to help compensate for the 10,000 pieces of electronic voting equipment that went up in flames last week.

The paper ballots will be the same as the ones regularly used by mail-in voters, and will be two-pages long for the November 2 election. Kaufman is urging residents to vote by mail and use the early voting period, which begins October 18.

8/31 a.m. update: Burka shares a letter from a friend and Harris County Democratic election official, and Glenn Smith expands on the conspiracy theory. Go read both.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance sure hopes that Harris County has a disaster recovery plan for the loss of its voting machines as it brings you this week's blog roundup. (There's an emergency commissioner's meeting on the topic scheduled for this afternoon that I will attend and report on.)

Off the Kuff had three more interviews this week, with state representatives. Armando Walle, Ellen Cohen, and Kristi Thibaut.

Meet Jeff "The Trucker" Evans, an unemployed 49-year-old whose unemployment benefits were restored by congressional Democrats after a Republican filibuster caused the payments to temporarily cease. Eye On Williamson returns to the Wrangle and explains how misdirected Tea Party anger causes Jeff the Trucker to vote against his economic best interest.

John Cornyn, known as a rapist enabler, decides to waffle on 14th amendment to the Constitution. CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme is certain that Cornyn doesn't care about civil rights -- just his fat a**.

Over at TexasKaos, lightseeker summaries the latest scandals at the Texas Youth Commission. The more things change over there, the more they remain the same, sadly.... Check it out : TYC Abuses Make the News Again.

Neil at Texas Liberal attended press conferences held by both Houston Votes and by a local so-called Tea Party group, as a possible pattern of harassment and intimidation against likely Democratic voters in Harris County may be at work. Also, Neil announced that he will now also be blogging at The Daily Hurricane as well as at Texas Liberal. Neil is also a featured politics reader-blogger at the Houston Chronicle.

WhosPlayin reports that the local school district sent a letter to the Texas Attorney General's office requesting exemption from release on the grounds that some personal expenses on district credit cards were too embarrassing to release.

The warehouse where Harris County's election machines are stored erupted in flames last Friday morning, and PDiddie at Brains and Eggs had the early line on what it means for Houston and the surrounding area, which represent 15% of the statewide vote tally. Coupled with the histrionics of Leo Vasquez vis-a-vis Houston Votes, it's going to be a real lively election season (and that's before a single race gets mentioned).

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Sunday Evening Funnies


Anniversaries and updates

-- Five years since Katrina hit New Orleans. You can read my previous takes as the event unfolded at the top of the August 2005 archives, and from 9/05, some accounts from the Astrodome as evacuation center, Katrina's evacuees and Houston by the numbers, the days before Katrina we spent at Camp Casey, my own Astrodome volunteering experience (as well as dining at Brennan's a few days later), some of the ridiculous things said during the crisis, and a few posts about Hurricane Rita, which came to Southeast Texas a week later and caused its own bit of havoc.

Among current reading, see this account by the Louisiana Superdome's director in which he is haunted by an evacuee whom he saw for several days and then didn't, ever again. And this one about the farm which now grows in the Ninth Ward. And these three stories of survival and life after the storm.

-- Twenty years since Stevie Ray Vaughn died in a helicopter crash. I'll direct you to Charles Kuffner for the videos.

-- Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman is putting on a happy face about her burned-up election machines ...

"I'm very optimistic in spite of this great challenge," she said. "We've had floods and other issues in the past and we've always come out and provided the service people expect, and I expect we will do the same here. There is no dout in my mind that we will have a timely election and take care of our voters."

...but Burka isn't buying it (nor is anybody else, for that matter):

The continuing investigation into the origin of the fire that destroyed all of Harris County’s voting machines has not arrived at a conclusion. I’m not going to jump the gun. But I will say this: If arson proves to be the cause, the feds are going to be swarming into Harris County. With early voting less than two months away, the election has been seriously disrupted. If the fire was deliberately set, the immediate question is, who benefits from consequences of the fire, which will be long lines, changes in polling places, tens of thousand of people trying to figure out where they go to vote, and, possibly, the use of paper ballots and all the uncertainties that go with them? We could see a replay of Florida 2000.

No doubt the Democrats will feel that they are the losers in the fire. Bill White has been counting on a big turnout in Harris County to propel him to victory. The disruptions will surely depress turnout, but you can argue that two ways: (1) Republicans are more motivated than Democrats in this election cycle, so if turnout is depressed, Perry is damaged more than White. Or, (2) The confusion about polling places is more likely to depress turnout among minorities, who, of course, are likely Democratic voters.

Right now we are just at the beginning of this story. If the cause of the fire turns out to be bad wiring, much of the drama evaporates. But if it is arson, look out. Already Democrats have expressed concern that the courthouse Republicans who control the voting system will compress the number of polling places, making it more difficult for Democratic voters to find where to cast their ballots. This could get really ugly.

John Cobarruvias also compiles the conspiracies.

-- Houston Votes hits back at Leo Vasquez (bold emphasis mine).

Fred Lewis, head of Houston Votes, said, “Those who propagate lies and distortions like those of Mr. Vasquez and his partisan allies are eroding our democracy, and we ask the Voting Rights Section of the Justice Department to immediately investigate and monitor his office and his radical allies.”

Mr. Vasquez’s histrionic complaints are false and defamatory. Houston Votes seeks to register as many Houstonians as are eligible, which Mr. Vasquez unfortunately sees as a “burden” and a threat. Rather than celebrate new registrants, Mr. Vasquez apparently intends to reduce his workload by intimidating people from registering. He and his staff are paid with taxpayer dollars to process voter registration cards. They should do their jobs without complaining or engaging in partisan, political activity.

The recklessness and falseness of Mr. Vasquez’s allegations, combined with his unprofessional and partisan actions, raise serious questions about his political motivations. Houston Votes is asking the Justice Department to investigate voting rights violations by Mr. Vasquez and his office through a political campaign to intimidate voter registration. The Registrar’s Office has a long history of voter suppression. We have reason to believe that his office is continuing its systematic practice of illegally not approving registration applications from eligible citizens despite public outcry and costly litigation.

Mr. Vasquez’s press conference, as part of his official non-partisan duties, was a political circus, with dozens of partisan operatives present. Mr. Vasquez appears to have abused the power of his office by collaborating with the King Street Patriots, a partisan organization that took credit for uncovering the “fraud” alleged against Houston Votes This political organization’s website states “that current political initiatives must be focused on mobilizing the conservative electorate”. It appears that Leo Vasquez openly coordinated with King Street Patriots to further personal political goals and retard the efforts of Houston Votes in registering people. He also appears to have shared legally confidential voter registration data with partisan political third parties, which is unlawful. Both activities warrant a criminal investigation by the Justice Department.

Neil Aquino made it to the press conferences by HV as well as the Liberty Institute (affiliated with the KSP) and reported on them here.

Snoring Honor, and additional mendacity

My observation -- having not watched a millisecond of the teevee coverage but having read plenty of reports -- is the tent revival aspect of the gathering. Many of the attendees were Midwestern and Southern, reflecting the cross-section of Christian fundamentalism that holds up Sarah Palin as its icon. But Beck, a Mormon, was the one on stage drinking the strychnine and handling the snakes.

They told people to leave their misspelled political signs at home, and aspiring politicos like Gingrich and Huckabee stayed away. Speaking of Mormons, where was Mitt Romney?

Some other reactions to Beckapalooza yesterday ...

Glenn Beck promised there wouldn't "be a dry eye in the house" after his big speech today at the Lincoln Memorial for his "Restoring Honor" rally -- because, you know, it was going to be "so stirring."

Riiiiight. Well, Glenn Beck's eyes certainly weren't dry. He started weeping while telling the crowd that somewhere out there was "the next George Washington".

Dunno about you, but when I saw pan shots of the crowd -- which was one of the whitest crowds in D.C. in recent memory -- I mostly thought I saw "the next Timothy McVeigh." But your mileage may vary.

As for the speech itself: Lunesta in verbal form. I'm having to pick my head up from my desk just to write something about it.

It was essentially Beck's call for a return to the religious life in America -- which was why he assembled 240 representatives of various churches in the crowd and dubbed them his "new Black Robe Regiment". This part was particularly creepy, since it came with an admonition that religious leaders needed to focus on "fundamental values" -- as defined by Glenn Beck, of course.

This means, naturally, that the "social justice" for which Martin Luther King fought -- and which Glenn Beck has vigorously condemned -- would not be part of those fundamental values.

As predicted, the whole show was a hoax -- a civil rights rally for easily frightened white people.

The people who attended were clearly there for a red-meat tossing tirade about how the evil Socialist President Obama and the handmaidens of Satan – aka The Democratic Party – were destroying America. What they got instead was a long-form Christian revival meeting combined with a military recruiting show. The message was pretty clear and nothing new – “If America doesn’t turn toward God we’re all doomed!” combined with speaker after speaker pretty much fetishizing the military.

The faces in the (nearly all-white) crowd told the story – they came from all over the country for THIS? I’ve never seen so many frowns concentrated in one spot in my life. The only people of color were on the stage and it was a parade of sermons and tales of military bravery, one after the other. None of them ever did get around to defining what they meant by “honor” either (neither Beck nor Saint Sarah of the Perpetual Victim), just that we didn’t have it like the Founding Fathers did. Martin Luther King’s name was invoked a few times to scattered applause. People on Twitter were reporting that the attendees said they felt “snookered” by Beck and weren’t happy at all.

Billed as a nonpolitical event, it nevertheless was a clarifying moment for those curious as to what clout an anti-Washington sentiment could have on midterm congressional elections in November. The gathering was advertised as an opportunity to honor American troops. But it also illustrated voters' exasperation — and provided additional evidence that Democrats in power — as well as some incumbent Republicans — may pay the price when voters go to the polls.

The tea party is essentially a loosely organized band of anti-tax, libertarian-leaning political newcomers who are fed up with Washington and take some of their cues from Beck. While the movement drew early skepticism from establishment Republicans, these same GOP powerbrokers now watch it with a wary eye as activists have mounted successful primary campaigns against incumbents.

Today, political conservatives led by media showmen such as Glenn Beck are once again turning to Dr. King to deflect charges of racism as they advance their agenda by questioning, among other things, the legitimacy of the nation’s first black president. To mask their own racism, they have turned history on its head, bastardizing Dr. King’s dream.

Political conservatives are not the heirs to Dr. King’s legacy, and to suggest otherwise is not just fanciful, but farcical. Unfortunately, too many Americans don’t know enough about history to separate fact from fiction.

Nobody landed with a parachute. Nobody took off in a balloon. And where was (were?) Up With People? I only watched on the tube, but at about the two-hour mark of Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally I was wishing Beck's liberaliberatiosyndicalarian enemies were right: Where's Mussolini when a crowd needs him?

"This is a moment," said Glenn Beck three months ago on his radio program, "...that I think we reclaim the civil rights movement. It has been so distorted and so turned upside down. ... We are on the right side of history. We are on the side of individual freedoms and liberties and damn it, we will reclaim the civil rights moment. We will take that movement, because we were the people that did it in the first place!"

... You'll notice he didn't define the "we" he had in mind, but it seems reasonable to suppose Beck was speaking of people like himself: affluent middle-aged conservatives possessed of the ability to see socialism and communism in places where it somehow escapes the notice of others.

If you agree that assumption is reasonable, then you must also agree Beck's contention that his "we" were the architects of the civil rights movement is worse than nonsensical, worse than mendacious, worse than shameless. It is obscene. It is theft of legacy. It is robbery of martyr's graves.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Abbott punts debate decision; White to debate empty chair

While Rick Perry continues to duck a debate with Bill White, Greg Abbott apparently delegates those decisions to his staff. So while BAR waits for Abbott's people to decide whether he's a chicken or not, White prepares to debate the governor in absentia.

The Austin American-Statesman and the state's other major newspapers will host a gubernatorial debate event this fall, even if just one candidate shows up.

The newspapers, along with Austin public television station KLRU, will deliver a letter to Republican Gov. Rick Perry and Democratic challenger Bill White today inviting them to a debate at the KLRU studios on the University of Texas campus at 7 p.m. on Oct. 19.

Perry has said he will not accept debate invitations until White agrees to release his income tax returns from his time as deputy energy secretary in the mid-1990s.

"If only one candidate shows up for the debate, we will discuss issues with him alone for the entire hour," says the letter, which is signed by the editors of the American-Statesman, The Dallas Morning News, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News, as well as Bill Stotesbery, the CEO of KLRU.

Meanwhile, Abbott (with the Texas Tribune's Evan Smith -- video at the link):

I asked Attorney General Greg Abbott if he planned to debate his Democratic opponent, Barbara Ann Radnofsky, in the weeks before the Nov. 2 general election. Against the backdrop of the Perry-White debate do-si-do, I figured Abbott, a self-professed champion of open government and transparency, would leap at the chance to say, in essence, "Yes, anywhere, any time, etc." To the contrary, the GOP incumbent turfed the responsibility for making that decision to his staff.

Abbott seems to be coasting on several things lately.

Is this really the "leadership" Texas needs now? Or any time, for that matter?

Update: from the most recent Radnofsky press release...

(Abbott:) "That is going to be up to the people who run my campaign. I don't make those decisions." When a follow up question asking why it couldn't be up to him to make the decision, Mr. Abbott said, "I pay good money to people who run my campaign. I make them earn their money." Mr. Abbott also emphasized: "As far as I know my team either has or has not decided. They will let me know as we build out our schedule."

Radnofsky: "Mr. Abbott's statements reflect his bad judgment. Taxpayers pay Mr. Abbott 'good money' to make key decisions. A public official should not palm off the decision to debate vital issues of the day. Mr. Abbott wrongly abdicates his responsibility."

Harris County elections warehouse burns *updates*

It's where the voting machines are stored.


Firefighters are battling a three-alarm blaze at a northeast Houston warehouse that stores the majority of voting equipment in Houston and Harris County, according to HFD.

The Harris County Election Technologies Center, located on Canino at Downey, caught fire around 4:20 this morning, quickly growing to three-alarms.

The warehouse stores more than 10,000 pieces of equipment including voting booths and E-slates, which are used in the election process.

This comes before the general elections to be held November 2, which includes Governor’s race. Early voting is scheduled to begin in October.

Beverly Kaufman probably wishes she had retired a few months ago. Now she has a fairly huge challenge. Depending on the scope of the damage, of course (which I'm certain is still being assessed as I post this) she must choose -- and then train poll workers and then implement -- a partial or entirely new voting method for the second-largest county in the nation. All in about seven or eight weeks' time. Projected voter turnout somewhere around four million hundred thousand, give or take a million hundred thousand (sorry, one too many zeros).

Is there sufficient equipment stored elsewhere in the state by Hart InterCivic that can be shipped to arrive here in time? If not, then what alternate system will be used?

You can almost hear the shrieking now of "voter fraud" from both camps, can't you? Then there will naturally be the lawsuits, some before and more after the fact.

Together with the Vasquez vs. Houston Votes undercard, we are guaranteed a barnburner (*groan*) of an election cycle in Harris County, and that's before we mention a single race.

Lunchtime update: all 10,000 e-Slates and accompanying MBBs were destroyed. There's a press conference scheduled this afternoon where Kaufman will announce a plan going forward, which seems at this point to consist of borrowing machines from neighboring counties. There isn't anything close to 10,000 DREs on standby in the entire state; I'd be surprised if she can collect 1,000 from Harris County's next-door neighbors. So rather than try to get something in on short notice to replace the former system, Kaufman apparently wants to keep the current protocol in place, which does have the value of minimizing errors, opportunities for mischief, and liability on her part. I predict she will underscore the importance of early voting and patience. Early conclusion: we'll have considerably fewer machines to vote with, and much longer lines to stand in to vote.

Evening update:  First, from Kos ...

"Because I don’t expect to have 10,000 pieces to work with, no matter what we do, I’m sure that we’re going to be putting on a full court press urging people to vote early," Kaufman said.

Then this from Brad Friedman ...

A source familiar with Hart Intercivic tells The BRAD BLOG that the nation's fourth-largest e-voting company has fallen on hard times of late and does not have machines to ship to replace those lost in the fire.

If they can't get "similar machines" from somewhere, how, oh, how will the citizens of Houston be able to have elections this year?! Especially since pieces of paper, pens, eyeballs, citizen oversight and common frickin' sense were all long ago outlawed in Harris County, Texas, apparently.

More on Houston Votes vs. Vasquez (and a real firestorm)

While I've been detached from the online world, Stace Medellin and Charles Kuffner and Neil Aquino have updated this week's most significant election-related story. Stace with his dos centavos first ...

Perhaps the appointed and losing candidate for Tax Assessor-Collector Leo Vasquez is doing one last favor for his Republican Party.  Yes, the same Republican Party which abandoned him for being Latino, yet, Vasquez still feels the need to stop the voter registrations of Latinos, African-Americans, the elderly and poor Whites by spreading outright lies about a voter registration group, Houston Votes.

[...]

There’s something different this time around, and that’s the use of a right-wing voter suppression group calling itself “True the Vote.”  Given their own description that they seek out “voter fraud” by placing “conservative” poll watchers at the polls is suspect in itself–reminders of the good ol’ Texas way of running polling locations where the boss is looking after the workers making sure they vote his way.

[...]

Needless to say, I find the motives of such a right-wing group suspect–they yell “fraud” whenever too many Latinos and Blacks votes, such after the 2008 election. But to find out that Vasquez allowed them to pore over applications containing voter information is something that should be investigated.


Some Off the Kuff next, cogent as always ...

Vasquez lobbed these charges at a press conference that was more political rally than anything else, as he packed the place with the sort of people who are convinced that the streets are teeming with illegal voters. You can just imagine them high-fiving and chest-bumping in the background.

[...]

It’s entirely possible that Texans Together has been sloppier than they should be. Maybe they’re not up to this task; maybe no one is. But to claim nefarious intent is quite a stretch, and I’ll be very surprised if the District Attorney, to whom Vasquez says he’s going to refer this, makes anything of it. I’m never quite sure how these schemes that Vasquez and his buddies dream about are supposed to work. Are all these people who’ve never voted before expected to show up at multiple polling places and hope nobody notices? Assuming that the bogus and duplicated registrations made it past both Vasquez and the Secretary of State, of course. Sure, that sounds bulletproof to me. I’ll bet Pat Lykos can’t wait to bring that before a jury.

I’ve also never quite understood why some people want to make it so hard for others to vote. I grew up believing that the right to vote was precious and what made democracy the best system of government there is. Apparently, that’s now a matter of partisanship. The story notes that much of the Texans Together board is made up of Democrats. Maybe that’s because the type of person who thinks it’s good for more people to vote tends to be Democratic. It’s been made quite clear in recent years that the type of person who wants to see fewer people vote tends to be Republican, that’s for sure.

And lastly a bit of Texas Liberal ...

Mr. Vasquez is working in tandem with local Tea Party groups. This despite the fact that Mr. Vasquez was defeated in the Republican primary earlier this year. At the time of his defeat, Mr. Vasquez said he felt that one of the reasons he had lost was possibly the fact he is Hispanic.

Mr. Vasquez is now in league with these bigoted so-called Tea Party Groups.

One local Tea Party group, the King Street Patriots , seems also to be offering up its resources to serve as a meeting place for a major Rick Perry for Governor event in Houston. 

The Tea Party wants change in Texas and in America so badly that they are supporting for reelection a man who has been Governor of Texas for ten years already.

It is as if the Boston Tea Party was all about keeping King George in power.

[...]

The fact is that there is not much voter fraud in Texas. 

What may well be at work here is orchestrated voter suppression and intimidation of voters.

[...]

It is a Texas Two-Step of voter suppression and intimidation. Mr. Vasquez works on the suppression while the Tea Party handles the intimidation.

I excerpted for brevity here but all three commentaries merit a full read. Their takes are clear, calm, and strike the nail solidly. Houston Votes will have their own public response later today, and coupled with the news this morning that a three-alarm fire has engulfed the building where Harris County's voting machines are warehoused, Houston appears well on its way to a most lively election season.