Sunday Not Funnies At All

Ted:

It's been 10 years since the terrorists struck the Twin Towers in New York City, killing 2,973 people of all ages, sexes, colors, and many ethnicities and religions. And today there will be little else discussed. There will be myriad television programs reliving the horror both on news and entertainment channels. There will be articles in all the newspapers and across the internet. And there will be ceremonies, both large and small.

Even now, ten years later, the attack is still a national obsession -- one could say it has sort of morphed into a very macabre American holiday. Why is this? What makes this disaster so different from the many other disasters in our history?

Some might say it is because it took the lives of so many people. That doesn't really ring true. There have been American disasters that took more lives, and yet they weren't turned into some kind of sacred day of remembrance. The Galveston hurricane killed between 6,000 and 12,000 people. The San Francisco earthquake killed between 3,000 and 6,000 people. The infamous Trail of Tears killed at least 4,000 people. And the Johnstown Flood killed 2,209 people. And yet there is no special day on the calendar on which the nation remembers these events.

Others will say it is because it was a terrorist attack on the government and people of the United States. And I'll admit that the idea of being targeted by terrorists is frightening. But wasn't the attack on Oklahoma City just 16 years ago also a terrorist attack on the government and people of the United States? It is nearly as recent as the 9/11 attack, and yet I doubt that many Americans even remember what date on the calendar that it happened.

Could the reason the 9/11 tragedy has struck such a chord with Americans be because it feeds into the innate bigotry and hatred of far too many Americans? Oklahoma City was done by white, male, christian, Americans, and that strikes too close to home for many people. After all, most of the people in power in this country (at all levels) are white, male, christian, and born in this country. Examining the Oklahoma City terrorist attack too closely would require we look in the mirror and consider the problems this country has.

But 9/11 was different. It was done by foreign, brown-skinned, muslims. It is tailor-made for the inherent bigotry of this country. It is easy to hate foreigners. It is easy to hate people of color. It is easy to hate people who believe in a different religion. To hate the terrorists of 9/11 doesn't require we look in the mirror and examine our own faults, because it is easy to tell ourselves they are "different" from us.

The sad fact is that 9/11 made it easy for too many of us to wrap ourselves in the flag and boast of a false patriotism -- and then use that to spread hatred and bigotry against muslims, immigrants, and brown-skinned people (many of whom are our fellow citizens). It has given bigotry a reason to rear its ugly head again in America -- disguised as patriotism (and even echoed in the halls of government by dishonest politicians).

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying we shouldn't remember the 9/11 disaster. It was a tragedy, and we should remember the innocent people who lost their lives. But we should remember it the same way we remember other American tragedies, and not use it as an excuse to foster hatred or encourage bigotry.

The attack on Pearl Harbor was also a great tragedy, and we still remember it on a specific calendar date. But we don't use it to spread hatred of Japan, Japanese-Americans, or Shintoism. Why can't we take the bigotry out of 9/11 and remember it the same way?

Neil:

I’m sorry for the people who died on 9/11.

I’m sorry we were told to shop after 9/11 and that many of us chose to consume beyond our means.

I’m sorry that some of the financial firms in Manhattan chose to cheat people and to rip people off.

I’m sorry we sometimes used 9/11 to scapegoat Muslims and torture people.

I’m sorry we used 9/11 to start wars based on lies, kill civilians, and then treat our veterans like crap.

We had choices to make about how we would honor the dead from 9/11 and honor our soldiers fighting abroad.

I’m sorry and ashamed that this is how our nation chose to act after we were attacked by the terrorists on 9/11/01.

The good news is that we always have the ability to learn from the past, and to make better choices for the future.

Last, from William Wordsworth's "Splendour in the Grass", via my mother:

That though the radiance which was once so bright
be now forever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
of splendour in the grass, or glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind.

Rick Perry gets punked by Taiwanese animators, threatens Ron Paul

Thanks, TexTrib, for this.

Thanks to the folks over at Next Media Animation, Taiwan's premier purveyors of CGI-animated humorous political reenactments, many great moments in the life of Perry and his home state of Texas can be relived on YouTube. For example, there's the moment a snake jumped out of Karl Rove's mouth and convinced Perry to become a Republican, the time he recklessly wielded a human-sized needle full of Gardasil, his famous boxing match with U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, and that awkward strip-tease performed for him by Abraham Lincoln.

Speaking of fights, what do you suppose Perry said to Ron Paul last night when he took hold of his arm and wagged a finger at his nose?

During a commercial break, Perry walked up to Paul's podium, physically grabbed Paul's wrist, and pointed at Paul's face with his other hand ...

What's that about? "Imo kick yer ass" or some variation?

Why is our governor threatening an 80-year old Congressman? Is it just because he's getting worked like a sour mop in a debate? Or is there more to it?

Update: Mediaite has more photos and more snark.

Dick gets hammered again

Greg Wythe nails Eric Dick to a utility pole the wall, again.

But there are other times when you just know the candidate is flat-out lying about their very deliberate breaking of the law. And that’s what Eric Dick is doing when he says that there are nefarious “overzealous volunteers” placing yard signs 20-feet up on utility poles. If that’s how he runs his campaign, just imagine what kind of city councilman he’d make. 

I wish someone would get a few thousand signs made and have some overzealous volunteers attach them everywhere they see a Dick sign. Those signs would say: "No More Dicks On Houston City Council".

Marc Campos also piles on Illegal Sign Dude:

The slimy fella that makes a living putting out the campaign signs had a hand in recruiting candidates to run against the City Council District H and I incumbents.  He was at City Hall yesterday with one of the challengers.  Some folks will do anything to get campaign work.  Would Democratic candidates please stop paying this fella to put out your signs?  If he hasn’t already ripped you off or double dipped on you, you’ll soon get taken for a ride.  Commentary learned his lesson an election or two ago.

In a vaguely similar appeal, this is another reason you should vote for Amy Price in At Large #4. It's obviously a different race and different candidates, but the sentiments are exactly the same.

Drought, wildfires, and the Texas legislature's budget cuts

So this must be what "being broke" looks like. So goes Texas with Rick Perry at the helm, so goes the United States.

The 82nd Legislature slashed budgets for the state's volunteer firefighters, and now those volunteers are battling the wildfires devastating Texas without the things they need to do the job.

Across the Central Texas region wildfires are placing a severe strain on firefighting resources, and much of that strain is borne by a large number of firefighters who already work for free.

"77 percent of the fire-service in Texas is made up of volunteers, and Texas is a huge state," said Chris Barron with the State Fire Marshall Association.

Barron said all of state’s volunteer firefighters purchase their equipment with money from the same budget. State lawmakers cut that budget from $25 million to $7 million during the recent legislative session.

This has left many volunteers with old or outdated equipment. Chris Barron has made it his mission to raise money for new gear, like the gear that kept volunteer Jerrid Coffin out of the hospital.

“It helps a lot. I was out there yesterday for a couple hours and I fell in a hole about four inches deep and I wasn't even burned,” he said. “If I were in my Wranglers like I normally wear, I would be burned from the waist down."

“I can only hope that the fund is restored at the next legislative session,” Barron said. “We can only hope that once they get back in session, they can see we have had extreme circumstances with droughts and they will help the fire service out. There is no guarantee that it will happen. There is no guarantee that anyone will get any reimbursement, but we are hoping that they will help us out.”

Basic gear for a volunteer firefighter costs about $200.

If you would like to learn how you could help out, visit TexasWildfireRelief.org.

Volunteer firefighters are coming out of retirement to battle the blazes burning Texas. Spending their own money so they aren't burned up while they do so.

Because the good Republican leaders of Texas refuse to consider doing anything but cutting government resources and services.

Of course it's not just Texas volunteer firefighters who are suffering from this incompetent ultraconservative management, it's also the victims of the wildfires -- the people who have lost their homes and their timber and their livestock and their livelihoods and some even their lives. We already knew the price being paid by Texas teachers and their students, as well as Texas' seniors, the poor and the hungry. It is eventually going to be all of us who pay for their pound-foolishness.

State lawmakers - led by Perry's stand against raising taxes or dipping too deeply into the state's rainy day fund - cut appropriations for the Texas Forest Service even as they had to dig for more money to meet existing expenses.

Even the supplemental spending bill they passed this year will not be enough to cover the expense of fighting fires through Aug. 31, the end of the 2010-11 fiscal period. The state agency anticipates it will need another $61 million to cover those costs.

Perry spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said the Legislature had provided agencies the flexibility to meet emergencies with their regular budgets, and Perry is seeking federal assistance.

Ah, that damned federal government again.The same one he cursed in May, when the fires first began.

I just wish Obama had the nads to tell Rick Perry: "No more handouts!"

Let's hope that Bob Perry and James Leininger and all of those other people who have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Rick Perry's campaigns through the years -- and who are being shaken down right now for contributions to his presidential run --  will click on this link and send an equally generous donation to the state's volunteer firefighters, so they don't asphyxiate or burn to death while they try to save the rest of us.

Because the rest of us are tapped out, and the fires are just going to keep on burning.

Update: More like this at Texas Kaos.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance hopes everyone had a fine Labor Day weekend as we bring you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff looks at a movement to end pensions for public employees.

Amy Price is one of just a few progressives running for Houston City Council in 2011, and PDiddie at Brains and Eggs is helping her campaign.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson shows that the Texas GOP's next trick will be to come after pubic employee pensions to protect their wealthy campaign contributors: "Wisconsin-style" pension scheme coming to Texas.

My favorite Rick Perry costume is "tough cowboy who shoots coyote with laser pistol". Libby Shaw has some of the others at TexasKaos. Read all about it in her piece: Rick Perry's Colorful Costumes.

This week, McBlogger considers The Audacity of Hopelessness.

Neil at Texas Liberal noted the absence of Tea Party-sponsored highway rest stops between Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio. Government plays a role in our everyday lives that some of us may only consider when they are constant attack.

With the beginning of the college football season this weekend, Citizen Andy asks "Why does Rice play Texas?" And how does it relate to the wildfires, Obama's cave-in on the EPA's smog rules, the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline protests, Hurricane Irene, drought and economic malaise, clean air, climate change, and a switch to a clean energy economy? Read up at TexasVox.

America must decide, all right

The Grand Old Psychopaths are amping things up this week.

Ron Paul is taking on Rick Perry in a new television ad blasting the Texas governor for for supporting Al Gore’s 1988 presidential campaign, POLITICO has learned.

The 60-second spot, backed by a six-figure ad buy — the first negative ad attacking Perry to come directly out of a Republican campaign this primary season — contrasts Paul’s endorsement of Ronald Reagan in 1980 with Perry’s role as the Texas chairman for Gore’s first presidential campaign.

“The establishment called him extreme and unelectable, they said he was the wrong man for the job. It’s why a young Texan named Ron Paul was one of only four congressmen to endorse Ronald Reagan’s campaign for president, believing in Reagan’s message of smaller government and lower taxes,” the ad says. “After Reagan, Senator Al Gore ran for president, pledging to raise taxes and increase spending, pushing his liberal values. And Al Gore found a cheerleader in Texas named Rick Perry. Rick Perry helped lead Al Gore’s campaign to undo the Reagan revolution, fighting to elect Al Gore President of the United States.”

You were aware that tomorrow night's debate was being held at the Reagan library*, right?

The ad, which Paul’s campaign is also trying to place during Wednesday’s POLITICO/MSNBC presidential debate, comes as Paul has increasingly focused his fire on his fellow Texan. The two have never had much of a relationship, and Paul’s repeatedly tried to paint Perry as an establishment candidate no different from the rest, and dismissed him Friday as just a “candidate of the week.”

“There are a lot of candidates who climbed real fast and went down real fast,” Paul told The Associated Press.

Perry’s camp has so far resisted engaging with Paul, though that may prove trickier when the two share the stage for the first time during the campaign at Wednesday’s debate.

Unlike his previous volleys, in this ad Paul only goes after Perry, leaving Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama alone.

“Now America must decide who to trust,” the ad closes. Al Gore’s Texas cheerleader, or the one who stood with Reagan.”

This is why I'm glad the president's speech on jobs isn't conflicting with the Showdown in Simi Valley. Like the rest of the nation, I'm going to be glued to my seat in front of the teevee so that I can witness the destruction, howl at the monkeys, and document the atrocities.

Go Ron Paul. LMFAO

*This link has some must-see video of Perry's debate with Kay Bailey last year.

Labor Day Not Funnies

The Colbert Report
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"Governor" Steve Ogden: 'politics is bad'

Peggy Fikac from Texas on the Potomac:

The Bryan-College Station Eagle spotlighted a speech by state Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, mentioning the effect of political ambition on the legislative session:

“He said Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst was ineffective because he ‘made it clear early that he wanted to be the United States senator from Texas rather than lieutenant governor.’

“‘If you’re elected to a job you don’t really want, and you’re trying to use that job for something else,’ Ogden said, ‘you’re pretty miserable while you’re in that job and everybody else around you is pretty miserable.’”

When I caught up with Ogden last week, he said the comments about Dewhurst were part of a bigger point he was making about politics in the legislative session (the newspaper also reported other remarks in that vein) and added, “I’m sorry I said it. I’ve endorsed him” for U.S. Senate. Ogden said he didn’t find the endorsement inconsistent, saying, that Dewhurst “is the most qualified candidate in the race and knows more about finances and health care reform than anybody else.”

Steve Ogden is one of three state senators mentioned in this Texas Tribune straw poll of political insiders who would likely be selected governor and/or lieutenant governor if Rick Perry is elected president and David Dewhurst is elected US senator. I say 'selected', because it's the Texas Senate -- 31 men and women, two-thirds of whom are Republicans -- who do the 'electing'.

Hand a bunch of insiders a list of 31 senators and ask what's going to happen next, and you turn them into outsiders. The most insider deals of all happen when legislators meet amongst themselves to choose their leaders. It happens in the House every session. In the Senate, it only happens when the lieutenant governor leaves in mid-term. With David Dewhurst running for U.S. Senate, the game is afoot; if he wins in 2012, the Senate will pick his replacement. If Rick Perry leaves the governor's office, the lieutenant governor — Dewhurst or otherwise — would get his job.

That's the setup. We asked the insiders to forecast what might happen if the senators were to meet to choose new high officials. Who would win? Would the Democrats have any say in a Republican Senate? While we were at it, we asked the insiders which senators won't return in 2013, either because of retirement, defeat or the search for another office.

The results? No clear winners. If senators were picking a new lieutenant governor, the insider money is on Kevin Eltife of Tyler, with 36 percent, Robert Duncan of Lubbock, 26 percent, and Steve Ogden of Bryan, 18 percent. Only one other senator — Tommy Williams of The Woodlands — broke 5 percent. No Democrats made the list.

Picking a governor? Duncan led, with 26 percent, followed closely by Ogden, at 24 percent. Eltife came in at 11 percent, followed by John Carona, R-Dallas, at 9 percent. Nobody else crossed the five percent line.

Who's Steve Ogden, you're still wondering? He's the fellow who sneered at Texans when they came before his committee last June to protest the legislature's budget cuts to Texas education.

After hearing several witnesses urge lawmakers to use the reserve Ogden pointed his finger and told them to forget it.

"Hope is not a plan," Ogden said shortly before the bill passed the committee.

[...]

Ogden also said he doesn't believe what he called threats of "draconian" cuts to local schools.

"We're not cutting school budgets," Ogden said. "We're just not giving them as much money as they think they are entitled to."

To hear him tell it, though, Steve Ogden stands above the fray, making the difficult and important decisions about the future of Texas without regard to politics or ambition.

Do you believe that?

RIP Ester King and Jon Axford

The progressive movement in Houston lost two of its warriors last week.

"From the '60s to 2011, there was barely a progressive movement that took place that did have the involvement and leadership of Ester King," said longtime friend and fellow Houston activist Omowale Luthuli-Allen. "I'm going to miss his intellectual brilliance, his unceasing devotion to peace and freedom and I'm going to miss the steadfastness that he had to encourage the community to have a backbone."

[...]

Of the many writings King left behind is this explanation about his initial interest in social justice: "There was one incident that really caught my attention, the Emmett Till lynching in Money, Mississippi in 1955. He was my age, on vacation with relatives in a rural farming town just like Magnolia Springs. As I looked at that infamous picture of his coffin-enclosed corpse (almost recognizable as human) in Jet magazine, I learned to my utter horror that lynching was not reserved for adults."

[...]

King supported causes ranging from environmental justice as well as the rights of workers, women, tenants, children and immigrants. He was involved in the Free South Africa movement, anti-death penalty coalitions and efforts to address police use of deadly force.

"He was consistent. Some people were involved when they were young, but he stayed on the front lines and he helped train a whole new generation of organizers and activists in the community," said Kofi Taharka, national chairman of the National Black United Front. "There are a lot of younger people, like myself, that consider him a mentor and adviser. He dedicated his life to the liberation of African- American people and social justice causes for all people."

At the Harris County Green Party's Labor Day function Saturday evening, the lives and legacies of King and Jon Axford were celebrated.

Here's what Jon had to say about himself on his Facebook page: "I post pictures on Indy Media, I try to help promote peace in the world, etc." Indeed Jon contributed much to many peace and justice campaigns over the years. From anti-war protests to Veterans for Peace to campaigns against Halliburton, Jon was always there to help.

One of his enduring contributions is the hundreds of photo essays he took and posted here on the Houston Indymedia site.

Even as progressives in Houston and Harris County grow the movement, it hurts to lose the history and the spirit these two men represent.

May they rest in peace.

My Hope for Labor Day 2011

From my friend David Van Os.

This weekend a multitude of elected and would-be political officeholders are appearing at Labor Day picnics. Hoping to obtain labor endorsements for their next candidacies, they ascend the speaker’s platforms and loudly swear their undying loyalty to the issues of working families.

My great hope for this Labor Day 2011 is that working people will finally tell the politicians:

“We are tired of Labor Day speeches without action. Talking big at a Labor Day picnic where it is safe and convenient is meaningless crap. Tell the truth out there in the world about the class war that the gilded aristocracy of corporate executives and bankers is waging against the people. Tell the truth out there with passion and anger. Fight for the truth. Use your votes in the assemblies of government to defend the people against the powerful. Stop compromising with evil. Stand up and fight for us. Fight to tax the rich, stop the wars, defend workers and unions, restore the Constitution, defend the poor and the helpless, and protect the environment.

And next year don’t come back with mealy-mouthed excuses for why you didn’t fight for these things and why you compromised us. We don’t expect you to win every vote but we DO expect you to fight like Travis at the Alamo, like the Minutemen at Bunker Hill, like Chavez in the lettuce fields, like King in Alabama, like Gandhi in India, like Mandela in South Africa -- always fighting for the right and never giving up.

Fight like a warrior for truth and justice or don’t come back.

We would rather be left alone to enjoy next year’s Labor Day with our friends and families whom we love and trust than listen to one more lie or one more excuse from one more compromising politician.”

Sunday Funnies

Waiting for the skinny kid to fight back against the bullies. Still waiting.

The Audacity of Weakness.

So, (capitulating on the the day of his jobs program speech to Boehner) leads to the eternal question of whether Obama is just weak or if he is a brilliant strategist who has been playing rope-a-dope all along. I am so silly that I still had hope. My hope this morning was that Obama was laying a trap for the Republicans. He picks a day for his speech that is the same as the GOP debate. Then if Boehner says he won't let him give the speech on that day, he seems so petty and harsh.

That way, either the president gives his big speech on jobs and bigfoots the Republican contenders or the Republicans look disrespectful and petulant for turning down the president. Well, if you're playing rope-a-dope, that's not a bad maneuver. But it turns out that's not what he was doing at all. He just stumbled into this problem and then stumbled out when he let Boehner dictate when he could and could not have his speech. That looks so sad.

You see, if you're playing rope-a-dope, at some point you have to actually swing. When your opponent has worn himself out knocking you around the ring, you counter-attack. But that counter-attack is never coming. We're holding our collective breaths in vain.

Really, I go back all the way to the second debate with John McCain (the one where they stood at lecterns, not the first one where they sat on stools and walked around, or the third one where they sat at the 'newsdesk'). I watched it at a public venue, the Cotton Exchange bar in downtown Houston. Peter Brown sat right beside me. I was literally screaming "punch back!" at the television.

This must be how parents feel when they have a child who keeps getting bullied at school.

I long ago realized that Obama just wasn't a fighter. And the problem with that is -- see, people understand this instinctively -- if you won't fight back for yourself, you sure as hell won't fight for anybody else.

Why is this definitely not rope-a-dope? Because Obama hates risk. Even his most ardent supporters will tell you that he does not like to take big risks. He thinks it is imprudent. They see that as one of his strengths. McCain was a wild gambler, Obama was a cautious and smart poker player. That's why he won the election.

But would a man who dislikes risk that much risk his entire presidency on a strategy where he gets pummeled for three straight years and then finally comes out swinging at the very end? No way. That's a tremendous amount of risk. I don't mind taking plenty of risks, and I wouldn't do anything half that crazy.

No, the answer is much simpler. He doesn't realize he's getting pummeled. He thinks this is all still a genius strategy to capture centrists by compromising on every single little thing. He is not trying to put on an appearance of weakness to lull his opponent into a false sense of complacency. He doesn't even realize he is being weak. He's the one with the false sense of complacency. As he's getting knocked around the ring, he thinks he's winning.

These guys in the Obama camp are in for a horrible, rude awakening. Sometime in the next year, they are going to blink and realize they are lying flat on their back on the canvas. Then as they finally stumble up, they'll realize they should have started fighting 11 rounds ago. Then a panic will set in, but I'm afraid it will be too late by then.

I feel like I'm watching that movie Million Dollar Baby, and the fight scenes where she gets mortally wounded are in slow motion. We still have over a year to go of this scene.

Here is what all voters, and especially independents, despise and disdain in a politician -- weakness. Nobody wants to see their leader get beat to a pulp every night and then bow his head again.

There is no secret, brilliant strategy. This White House is in a bubble. They think they're winning when the roof is about to cave in. 

Did I forget to mention that since he caved on his jobs speech, he also caved to the Republicans and the oil companies on EPA regulations?

But nothing tops the quarrel our nation's leaders had over a speech about jobs for America conflicting with a primary debate. And now that speech conflicts with the opening game of the NFL season. Thank goodness the NFL isn't whining about that.

Update: Oops. They did.

The Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints kick off at 8:30. Would the president mind too terribly much speaking before the game so as not to interfere? Once again, Obama obliged.

I suppose conflicting with the pre-game is no problem. The president should just be thankful he's not going up against American Idol. Or Dancing With the Stars.

We're all the way to Idiocracy now.

I think we're done. I know I am.

Update: Susan still holds a flicker of hope.