Picking up the pieces

-- Read, please, the definitive account of why HERO went down in flames even as Sylvester Turner surged.  Look at the precinct maps if you're into that.  My own two Meyerland/Willowbend precincts had turnout in the mid-forties, and turned back the ordinance with low-50's percentages.

-- Business leaders are concerned about the future of Houston's tourism, an economic engine meant to sustain the region during the oil economy's latest collapse.

Business and tourism leaders worried Wednesday that voters' rejection of a citywide anti-discrimination ordinance has hurt what had been one of their best recruiting tools: Houston's emerging reputation as a diverse metropolis that supported an openly gay mayor and welcomes young talent looking to launch careers in a progressive environment.

Suddenly at risk, they say, are corporate relocations, nationally prominent sporting events and the lucrative convention business that generate millions of dollars and help the region thrive.

"In recent years, we have done a remarkable job of changing the perception and attracting people to Houston," said Bob Harvey, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership. " ... We have to quickly re-establish that this is a modern, open city."

Statistics show that the economic arguments against rejecting HERO found traction among African Americans, and particularly black women.  When the rationale was employed, that is.   Indeed, at Houston's leading voice for transgenders, Transgriot all but pleaded for Houston Unites to canvass the black communities for support.  That did not happen until too late (if it happened at all), and the "not getting it" part is reflective of a societal concern that transcends GLBT and even politics generally: white privilege.  The HGLBT Caucus has far too many middle-aged white guys and gals wearing white collars running the show; they're more clique-ish and exclusive than anybody, and they did the things they wanted to do without much input from the locals on the ground, which resulted in reacting too late or dropping the ball altogether.  The paid professionals at ACLU and HRC helped them lose this.  Why does a guy from Minnesota need to be in charge?

Moni wasn't a big fan of the #BeyBeaHERO thing either.  Another big red flag -- waved in mid-August, mind you -- that was missed.

-- One thing that didn't surge was the Latino vote.  Again.  "The community turning out in historic numbers" is now as prevalent an urban legend as La Chupacabra, except that she's engaged to Bigfoot and they're shacked up somewhere between the "boarder" and the East Texas Piney Woods.

If they're already having babies growing up to be Republicans... I'm moving to Syracuse.

-- Speaking of hideous creatures... it's the Ghost of Lee Atwater.  Seriously, fuck this Jeff Norwood dude.   Dead, face-down in a ditch, on the side of the road. 

-- And finally, let's hope that the mayoral runoff really doesn't come down to "Linebarger Goggan versus Linebarger Goggan".

Where HERO was lost

And also, in more topographic terms, here.

As long as the supporters of Sylvester Turner are unable to acknowledge that many of the voters who put him in the runoff also voted 'No' on HERO, then we're going to have some cognitive dissonance about who Democrats are and what they stand for, who and what liberals are, and of course the meaning of 'progressive' and who qualifies by word and deed.  And who do not.  These are distinctions with great differences (as long as you're not a Republican, that is).

We've seen it already with self-described progressives (sic) declaring that Hillary Clinton is more liberal "than some think", and supporting her in the primary because of the 'Supreme Court', two facetious premises rolled into one.  We'll see it again when Bernie Sanders supporters finally realize he's been defeated for the nomination, and then helpfully allow themselves to be herded onto the Clinton bandwagon.  (Way back in the summer I offered a Plan B for them when this happens.  It's time to at least start considering that, Berners.)

These things (HERO's defeat, the false choice of Clinton or Sanders, how each of these uses its version of our cash-corrupted politics to get what they desire, losing several times before finally succeeding) are, as my brother Neil says frequently, all connected.

We just don't need two major parties in this country when most Americans have no use for either one.  Try as they might to distinguish themselves, they both still look alike to the vast majority of people who have quit voting, having all but given up on the "democracy" we thought we knew, loved, and that soldiers believed they died for.  It would be best if the Tea Party hurried up and cleaved itself away from the Tories, and the Whigs finished pushing out the Progressives (or Democratic Socialists, or what have you).  So that we could all better find our own way.

Hope I live to see it, but don't believe I will.