Nader's rationale

Updating the previous post -- it's a little long already and Matt in the comments wants to steer it off topic, as usual -- here is Ralph Nader on Lawrence O'Donnell's The Last Word last night explaining his reasons for holding what I will call a 'topics primary challenge' to Obama.

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I agree with everything Nader says here. If this is the exclusive premise for his tack (no agenda to turn it into another Quixotic bid for the White House), then I can get firmly behind it. Nader and I would still disagree about working within the Republican-Democratic duopoly for progressive change as opposed to without, but there's certainly no reason why both couldn't happen at the same time.

Here's the letter (.pdf) his group has written to the "slate of potential primary challengers", and here's a sample from the announcement:

The letter points to numerous decisions that have drawn criticism from Obama’s own Democratic Party including his decision to bail out Wall Street’s most profitable firms while failing to push for effective prosecution of the criminal behavior that triggered the recession, escalating the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan while simultaneously engaging in a unilateral war in Libya, his decision to extend the Bush era tax cuts, and his acquiescence to Republican extortion during the recent debt ceiling negotiations.

“Robust debate on the crucial issues facing our nation, including global environmental devastation, should characterize all races for national public office and the Democratic presidential primaries are no exception,” said Brent Blackwelder, President Emeritus of Friends of the Earth. “The public needs to hear whether a second term Obama will be like the first term Obama, or perhaps more like the 2008 presidential candidate Obama or something else altogether.”

I'm in. Let's have that conversation with the president and not just at him. Compel his attendance and participation, and make him listen. That's a very worthwhile objective in our republican democracy.

Otherwise, the 2012 campaign -- the next thirteen and one-half months -- is going to be the same old weekly Republican freak right debate, where TeaBaggers cheer death and corporate takeovers, and the Congress bogs down in another squabble with repetitive conservative talking points and FOX-News-buzzworthy phrases ("class warfare" is this week's poll-tested one).

Otherwise, Obama is reduced to what's he been doing ever since he was elected: forced to defensively respond to some right-wing lunacy. Birth certificates, death panels, job creators, Ponzi scheme, blah blah blah. In other words, losing.

And I'm not in on that.

But hey, don't feel bad if you don't get it; Russ Feingold apparently doesn't either.

Ralph Nader, a Democratic primary against Obama, and better options

With this news, Ralph Nader is once again inserting himself into the process of a presidential election.

Worried the liberal voice is being drowned out in the presidential campaign, progressive leaders said Monday they want to field a slate of candidates against President Obama in the Democratic primaries to make him stake out liberal stances as he seeks re-election.

Ralph Nader warns that without an intraparty challenge the liberal agenda “will be muted and ignored,” the one-man primary will kill voter enthusiasm and voters won’t get a chance to reflect on the real differences that divide the Democratic and Republican parties.

“What we are looking at now is the dullest presidential campaign since Walter Mondale — and that’s saying something, believe me,” Mr. Nader told The Washington Times.

The group’s call has been endorsed by more than 45 other liberal leaders. They want to recruit six candidates who bring expertise ranging from poverty to the military.

I think Nader probably is going to find -- like Dick Cheney twelve years ago --that he is ultimately the best man for the job. And that is bad for progressives and the progressive movement, whether perceptible progressive movement is occurring within the Democratic Party (it is not) or outside of it (barely).

In its recruitment letter, the group faulted the administration’s handling of the Wall Street bailouts, the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the U.S. involvement in the military effort in Libya. They also criticized Mr. Obama’s decision to extend the Bush-era tax cuts and the recent deal he struck with Republicans over cutting spending to raise the debt ceiling.

“We need to put strong Democratic pressure on President Obama in the name of poor and working people” said Cornel West, an author and professor at Princeton University. “His administration has tilted too much toward Wall Street, we need policies that empower Main Street.

I have enormous respect for Dr. West and even agree with him for the most part. Nader is the problem here, however.

To be sure, there are plenty of Democrats who still hold a grudge against Nader for 2000. I believe that blame is misplaced, even when it comes from the most esteemed sources (.pdf). My rebuttal is that Theresa LePore, the Democratic elections administrator for Palm Beach County, Florida, designed a butterfly ballot so confusing that it caused thousands of elderly residents there to punch a chad for Pat Buchanan, thinking they were voting for Al Gore.

That's what most directly caused the defeat of Gore, IMHO, more than anything Nader did or did not do.

But Texas Democrats are also still litigating over the Texas Green Party's ballot access for 2012, secured not only with the generous help of prominent Republicans but also by the Democrats' own ineptitude at failing to field a candidate in 2010 for the state comptroller's contest. The Green in that race, Ed Lindsay, surpassed the 5% threshold to secure ballot listing for the GP in '12. I spoke out loudly against this unholy alliance at the time, but came around to the understanding that the Democrats did it to themselves.

So once more, misdirected outrage. But I digress.

Nader has actually accomplished things of great significance in his life, most notably automobile safety activism, but today is more of an egotistical geriatric -- a crank -- who appears to believe that only he is capable of representing the will of liberal people in the United States. He's sucked all of the oxygen out of the room for decades now, stunting progressive growth in this country in the process. If he spent time recruiting and training people to a/the cause in-between his various presidential bids (a la Wellstone Foundation, for example), I'd have more respect for him.

To Nader's credit, and unlike Jim Hightower -- a progressive who has reduced himself to mere grifter and attention whore ever since he endorsed Kinky Friedman for governor in 2010 -- he's never done anything solely for the money in his life, from what I can tell.

Anyway, I wish Nader wouldn't run at all for anything -- his time has long passed -- and I would really prefer that, rather than an Obama primary opponent, there be a significant and notable presidential challenge from the Green Party ... preferably someone whom Nader has 'blessed' to some degree or another (rather than take potshots at).

Maybe that's going to be David Cobb again. He's making the rounds in Texas next month as part of the "Move to Amend" effort. From the inbox:

The recent U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. FEC opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate spending on elections.

David Cobb, an attorney and organizer for the Move to Amend coalition, will be touring Texas from October 2-10 to help local residents understand the history behind the recent decision and how they can work to abolish "Corporate Personhood" and establish a government of, by, and for the people by joining the Move to Amend campaign.

David Cobb is fiery speaker and former Green Party presidential candidate. His talk "Creating Democracy & Challenging Corporate Rule" is part history lesson and part heart-felt call-to-action!

“Corporate Personhood” is the court-created doctrine that gives corporations constitutional rights intended for human beings. “Corporate personhood is not an inconsequential legal technicality. The Supreme Court ruled that a corporation was a ‘legal person’ with 14th Amendment protections before they granted full personhood to African-Americans, immigrants, natives, or women”, says Cobb.

Move to Amend is a coalition of over 132,000 people and organizations whose goal is to amend the United States Constitution to end corporate rule and legalize democracy.

David is available for events in these places and tentative dates if we can find folks on the ground who will help us out:

• Bryan - College Station (Oct 2)
• Huntsville (Oct 3)
• Houston (Oct 4)
• San Antonio (Oct 5)
• San Marcos (Oct 6)
• Austin (Oct 9)
• Corpus Christi (Oct 10)

And wherever else you may be!

Update: Socratic Gadfly piles on.

Steve Ogden joins a lengthy line headed for the exit

Retiring from politics.

State Senator Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) announced Tuesday he would not seek reelection to the Texas Senate, nor does he plan to run for lieutenant governor.

Ogden, who will serve out his term, told WTAW he did not feel it was right to ask voters to reelect him to the Senate to improve his chances of running for lieutenant governor.

He says his primary reasons for not running again are to finish raising his family and concentrate on his business.

Williamson County state representative Charles Schwertner wasted no time throwing his hat into the ring for Ogden's seat.

Ogden joins FloShap and Inaction Jackson and 26 other statehouse members who voluntarily won't run for return to their currently-assigned seats in the Texas Legislature when it next reconvenes in January, 2013 (barring special session between now and then) according to Harvey Kronberg, who considers that normal turnover for a redistricting year. Update: As Robert Miller specifies, many are running for other positions in the Lege or for statewide promotions, some are running for Congress, the number of those actually quitting is now up to nine.

I have written quite a forceful bit about Ogden so this news comes with a sign of relief ... mixed with the usual trepidation about what TeaBagging asshole might replace him.

One of the biggest rats on the ship of state just leaped into the water, swam over to a yacht, climbed onboard and is eating caviar and truffles. Not much cause for celebration by anybody but the rat.

Update: Eye on Williamson with more.

Texas news breaks out all over the place

Yes, like a bad rash (but some of it is good and all of it is juicy). Let's begin with ...

-- The Texas Perrymander got crushed under the boot heel of the US Department of Justice today. The Texas Senate's redistricted maps passed VRA muster but the Texas House and Congressional maps failed. A 3-federal-judge panel will eventually settle the matter. That's because Greg Abbott and the Perrymanderers ...

... chose to skip the cheaper pre-clearance process, which would have put the decision in the hands of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. A hearing is set for Wednesday.

-- Two unrelated resignations happened today; first, Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole has run out of money to pay his lawyers to defend him against ongoing federal corruption charges, so he's quitting his low-paying job. I'm sure that in this economy he wouldn't be doing that without a better one to go to ...

Our sources and common sense both tell us this resignation may be connected to a possible plea deal in the criminal case. We're told this has been in the works for weeks. Eversole is facing a bribery re-trial in a little more than a month, and now it appears most of those charges have been dropped.

[...]

Eversole said for a long time he had no interest in resigning and planned to fight. But campaign records show Eversole's ability to pay for what had become a very pricy legal defense was pretty limited.

Eversole was using campaign funds, legal under Texas law, but after spending more than a million dollars on legal fees, Eversole had just $50,000 left to spend, according to his last report. The math was not in his favor.

The math, the money, public opinion, his own assmunchery ... the list of tolerances exceeded is long.

“I ran for this job to try to solve problems and then I looked in the mirror one day and I was the problem, so that’s the main reason I’ve resigned,” Eversole said. ...

A mistrial was declared in the commissioner’s corruption trial earlier this year. Jury selection is scheduled to begin in the second round of that trial in late October.

The Department of Justice’s four-count indictment alleges that Eversole, 68, took nearly $100,000 in cash and gifts from longtime friend Michael Surface in exchange for steering millions of dollars in county contracts to companies in which Surface had an interest.

Eversole won his sixth term on the court last fall, running unopposed.

County Judge Ed Emmett will appoint his successor to complete the remaining five three-plus years on his term. Update: Unless the redistricting matters compel a special election in 2012.

What local GOP toadie has earned a big favor? Toni Lawrence, perhaps?

-- ... and also state Sen. Florence Shapiro has pulled the plug, saying that, at 63, it's "time for her to grow up." I have no idea what the hell that means, either.

Shapiro, a former mayor and city council member in Plano and head of the Texas Municipal League, came to the Senate in 1993, defeating incumbent Democrat Ted Lyon of Mesquite. She chairs the Senate Education committee, is a longtime member of the budget-writing Senate Finance Committee, and also chaired the State Affairs committee earlier in her tenure.

FloShap was in the running to challenge for Kay Bailey's chair in the US Senate as recently as a year ago. Apparently she needs to go make some big money, too.

State Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, who sought to topple House Speaker Joe Straus at the start of the 2011 legislative session, starts as a strong replacement candidate ...

Great. Another Dan Patrick clone in the Senate. Just what we've been waiting for.

-- More on redistricting: It turns out that Aaron Peña is a big fat liar. What a revelation. NewsTaco ...

Republican State Rep. Aaron Peña allegedly lied about his involvement in redistricting along the Rio Grande Valley (the border for non-Texans), according to a report from the Texas Democratic Party. Here’s an excerpt from the report:

In April, during floor debate on the state house redistricting proposal, Republican State Representative and member of the House Committee on Redistricting Aaron Pena emphatically and repeatedly stated that he had no role in drawing the actual lines for the controversial district that was created for him in Hidalgo County.

During last week’s redistricting trial, Ryan Downton, the House Redistricting Committee Counsel, testified in open court that he worked with Representative Pena on the district lines after the first draft of the map was released. He then went on to say that Pena would identify specific neighborhoods that he believed were favorable to him so that Downton would include those in his district.

If you recall, Peña switched parties late last year, giving Republicans in Texas just the edge they needed to be able to take ideological issues like abortion and voter ID to the legislature and pop out some harsh new laws.

NewsTaco has much more, including profiles of the three judges who comprise the committee that will determine the maps' boundaries.

-- The Texas Tea Party is demanding Rick Perry take some kind of action to deal with the non-existent problem of sanctuary cities.They held a protest at the state Capitol building today.

Tea Party leaders confronted Rick Perry in his own back yard Monday, calling on him to use his power as Texas governor to crack down on illegal immigration.

The activists, representing Tea Party groups from around the state, want Perry to either sign an executive order or call the Legislature back into a special session to enact a ban on so-called sanctuary cities. They also want him to eliminate a  policy that they say discourages the state police from enforcing federal immigraiton laws.

After holding a press conference about it at the Capitol, the group delivered petitions from more than 3,000 Texans who want the governor to act now.

"Gov. Perry needs to clarify his position on illegal immigration, and he needs to come back to Texas and to finish the people's unfinished business," said JoAnn Fleming, chair of the Tea Party Caucus Advisory Committee of the Texas Legislature. "The ball is in Gov. Perry's court. He needs to make a decision. He's running out of time."

In mocking tones, Fleming threw Perry's signature phrase "fed up" — the title of his Washington-bashing book — right back at the governor.

"We're fed up, too, Gov. Perry, and we're ready for you to take care of this issue," she said.

There's a video of an angry, well-fed white female bigot at the link.

Do the Texas TeaBags really think they're more powerful than Bob Perry and Bo Pilgrim? Truthfully though, these people might be the biggest cockleburr under the governor's saddle blanket in his quest for the Republican presidential nomination.

Isn't that sad?

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance is still wondering what this wet stuff falling from the sky is as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff noted that even the state's own expert thought that the redistricted Congressional map was bad.

There's a difference between what Michele Bachmann is calling 'PerryCare' and actual peri-care, but there's not as much difference as you might think. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs elaborates.

Austin Energy's proposed rate increases hurt Austin's residential consumers and continues the city's corporate welfare program, and you can tell the city how you feel about it. Visit TexasVox for more info.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme notes that the Republicans' plan to make us ignorant and poor is going great.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson on the latest legal action on school finance: Taylor and Hutto ISDs join lawsuit .

Neil at Texas Liberal posted about the high poverty level in the United States.

This week on Left of College Station, Teddy wonders if the battle over collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin is coming to Texas. LoCS also takes a look at the most misleading chart of the week, and covers the week in headlines.

Libby Shaw points out the sad pattern: "Tea Party Republican candidates seem to bring out the very worst of their base." Check out the details at TexasKaos.

Sunday Funnies

PerryCare, not peri-care

In the wake of her disastrous attempt to score a political point on Rick Perry's Gardasil problem in this past week's Republican presidential candidates debate, Michele Bachmann is now referring to a government official's interference in the occasionally difficult medical decisions people must make as "PerryCare".

"Whether it's Obamacare or Perrycare, I oppose any governor or president who mandates a family's health care choices, and in turn, violates the rights of parents on these issues ..."

Forget for a moment the conflation of disparate issues. Ignore Bachmann's stark contradictions associated with this statement and her virulently anti-choice view. Overlook the redux of fear-mongering we last saw in the discussion regarding 'death panels' and that nonsense.

Bachmann might be onto something, however unwittingly, with PerryCare and its phonetical twin, peri-care.

I'm certain she has no idea that peri-care (short for perineal care) is ...

... the washing of the genital and rectal areas of the body. Perineal care should be done at least one time a day during the bed bath, shower, or tub bath. It is done more often when a client is incontinent. Perineal care prevents infection, odors and irritation.

Perineal care is done when a patient has a urinary catheter in place. It is also done when the client does not have a urinary catheter. Perineal care is done differently for men and women.

The link gets more specific about how the procedure is specifically performed for men and for women.

If any of you have cared for an elderly parent or an incapacitated person then you might already be familiar with peri-care, usually (thankfully) performed by home health aides when a person is confined to bed at home and by nurses and nurse's aides in hospitals, nursing homes, etc.

So my first response was: 'It makes perfect sense that both PerryCare and peri-care are close to an asshole'.

I think this could quite possibly develop into a meme. "PerryCare: when you care enough to do the very best for your loved ones."

"Under PerryCare, Texans are getting their clocks cleaned. And that's not all."

"Without PerryCare, we'd have been in a world of shit."

"PerryCare covers my entire family. And when I say 'covered' and 'entire', I mean it."

Do you have a similar campaign slogan for 'PerryCare'?

Update: In related news, Bachmann reinvigorates her continuing quest to out-"side of life" Rick Perry ...

“We must respect every life, even those yet to even be created. If we don’t give them the hope of becoming an embryo, we are letting down future generations of American citizens.”