Brainy Endorsements: David Courtney

David Courtney is the Green nominee standing against Republican incumbent state Sen. Joan Huffman for SD-17. There is no Democrat running; there is a Libertarian on the ballot. Here's an interview that the Indo-American Times published back in March, when Courtney announced.

Why have you decided to work with the Green Party?

Because both of the major parties are playing the same game. They are pandering to money and not responding to the needs of the people. Since they are both playing the same game, the voters could jump back and forth between the Democrats and the Republicans forever and never see the needed reforms.

What reforms need to be made?

There are larger structural problems and there are smaller partisan ones.

What are the larger issues?

The fundamental problem is that we have a political system which responds to money and not to people. Therefore we cannot really consider the US to be any form of democracy. It is a plutocracy, that is to say a country which is “ruled by the wealthy.” The nature of the American plutocracy is staggering. It is a staggeringly small percentage of the population which controls the lion’s share of the wealth of this country. The political structure in turn is answerable only to this miniscule percentage of the population. It is time for the people to stand up and say, “Enough is enough!”

If elected, do you think that you could change this system?

No single individual could do that. But when the “pigs are at the trough,” I can do everything in my power to make it a little less palatable for them. I can be the eyes and ears of the people and make noise when things are not right. Hopefully more of the public will also stand up, and en masse we can make the necessary changes. Reform never comes from the top down, it must always come from the bottom up.

What about the smaller issues?

There are numerous ones. These include education, infrastructure and all of the usual things that politicians talk about.

However there is one thing in particular that should be of concern to the readers of this paper. The mood in Austin, especially under the Republicans is amazingly anti-immigrant. Let us take an example from my Republican opponent Joan Huffman. She was co-sponsor of an amendment to a recent education bill (Senate Bill 1581), which would prohibit any institution of higher education from extending in-state tuition rates to non-US citizen.

Think about what this means. We all know people who have been here for 10 years or more under H1 visas and green cards who would have been forced to send their children to college only by paying the outrageous out of state tuition. They would have to do this even though they lived here legally for years and paid into the system with their taxes. This is just one example but it is very typical of the anti-immigrant sentiments of the Republican dominated state Senate in Austin.

Courtney is, as you may have surmised, a lot like me. A disaffected former Democrat and even a member of the now-defunct Progressive Populist Caucus, Courtney was overcome by his disenchantment with corporate Democrats a little earlier than me. Along with the rightward shift and the crippling culture of defeatism, it was conservaDems like Chris Bell and Barbara Radnofsky that chased him away; I was still of the opinion at the time (2005-10) that those two could make a progressive difference if they got elected.

Silly me...

A balkanization of the Democrats -- particularly at the senate district officer level -- as various people set up their little fiefdoms and refused to cooperate for any common goal, was a frustration we both shared as well. That may be on the verge of change, as the old guard has passed the torch to two former PPC members, my friends Tom Gederberg and Sarah Gonzales, the newly elected chair and secretary of SD-17. But by the time I saw Bell line up with the other establishment lemmings in support of James Cargas in the CD-07 primary in May, along with a few other of my other so-called progressive pals, I had already logged myself out of the Crips.

Courtney and his wife are both accomplished Indian musicians. One of their music videos won a Worldfest award last year. They teach music to many students and have performed across the world.

Here's a brief video of Courtney introducing himself and a few political priorities.



Between Huffman's relative obscurity as a back-bencher and go-alonger with the lunatic fringe in the Texas Senate, and a competent Libertarian challenger, who knows? With a little Democratic help at the polling place, Courtney has a chance to show respectably in the fall election. And if he does, perhaps Democrats will be encouraged enough to submit their own challenge.

Four years from now.

Meanwhile, there is a fine progressive option in 2012 in David Courtney.

Brainy Endorsements so far include...

Nile Copeland for the First Court of Appeals
Alfred and GC Molison for HD 131 and SBOE, respectively
Henry Cooper for HD 148
Keith Hampton for Presiding Judge, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Barbara Gardner for the Fourteenth Court of Appeals
Don Cook for Congress, 22nd District
Max Martin for Congress, 36th District
Remington Alessi for Harris County Sheriff
Ann Harris Bennett for Harris County Tax Assessor/Collector

Brainy Endorsements: Ann Harris Bennett

In 2010, Harris County voters had the opportunity to elect Ann Harris Bennett to the office of County Clerk. Given the cartoon aspects of the performance of the extreme conservative who let the Red Tea Tide carry him in two years ago, there is now buyer's remorse even on the part of Harris County Republicans, who turned out his clown car sidekick in the county tax assessor's office, Don Sumners.

Bennett will be the Democrats' nominee for tax assessor/collector in 2012, and the other options... well, aren't.

Former Houston city councilman Mike Sullivan represents "proven conservative values", according to what proven conservative dipshits like Paul Bettencourt say.

Former tax assessor Paul Bettencourt said the ousting of incumbents such as Sumners and District Attorney Pat Lykos showed GOP voters want candidates that have “more conservative perceptions of how the office should be run,” adding voters clearly identified “job performance issues.”

There is no such thing as being more conservative than Don Sumners. There isn't one inch of space to his right. You can stop trying to wedge yourself in there (and please stop talking about how being conservative is a good thing, while you're at it).

“I think that I represented conservative values on Houston City Council, I represented conservative values on Humble ISD board of trustees, and my long history in the party and track record have proven attractive to Republican voters,” (Sullivan) said...

Enough. We have all had enough -- too much, actually -- of 'conservative' in Harris county government. It's time for some balance.

It's time for some common sense. Pamela Crawford at Style:

Ms. Bennett, a native Texan, is no stranger to the county system. She served as court coordinator for 14 ½ years in the 55th and 152nd Civil District Courts for both Republican and Democratic judges in court administration. She also was a 12-year legal secretary for plaintiff and insurance defense law firms in Houston working primarily in tort litigation. Her background with the courts and law firms indicates she understands how integrity, transparency and accountability are a crucial part of a daily routine. Her legal experience tells me she understands how to manage technology andr documents. As an attorney, I appreciate that she clearly understands how the legal process works.

Via Stace, Bennett's press release in the wake of Sumners' breakdown in mailing voter registration cards last spring...

“Harris County seems to have been the testing ground for vote suppression tactics used against minorities and that cannot continue. Restoring faith in the integrity of the voter registration process will be a priority of my campaign and my administration when elected...”.

And from Bennett's website:

It’s been almost fifty years since passage of the Voting Rights Act and yet, from voter registration irregularities to illegal redistricting plans, we too often continue to see examples of the need for the legal protections afforded under the Voting Rights Act. While I could not be more thankful for those protections, I intend to end the questionable practices of the past and restore faith among Harris County voters in the voter registration process. The voter registration process should be simple, secure, accessible and most of all, it should never leave citizens questioning its integrity.

There is also a Libertarian in this contest, but he seems to be running an invisible campaign. All I could find was this Meetup profile.  Maybe Democrats should e-mail him or call him -- see the first link in this paragraph -- and ask when he's going to get started campaigning.

Once again, as clear a choice as it comes on your Harris County ballot. Let's get it correct, not right, this time.

Earlier Brainy Endorsements:

Nile Copeland for the First Court of Appeals
Alfred and GC Molison for HD 131 and SBOE, respectively
Henry Cooper for HD 148
Keith Hampton for Presiding Judge, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Barbara Gardner for the Fourteenth Court of Appeals
Don Cook for Congress, 22nd District
Max Martin for Congress, 36th District
Remington Alessi for Harris County Sheriff

Brainy Endorsements: Remington Alessi

Remington Alessi is the Green candidate running for Harris County Sheriff, against incumbent Democrat Adrian Garcia and Republican Louis Guthrie. There is no Libertarian candidate.

Alessi is the Green most likely to strike fear into the hearts of Democrats, as he is running a, shall we understate, unconventional campaign that provides a striking contrast to typical law enforcement candidates like Garcia and Guthrie.

As both a new activist and a cynic, I have little trust for politicians and despise their hypocrisy. Justice is important to me, and I believe that justice goes beyond retribution – justice is fair, understanding, and humane. We need a system that more accurately reflects that reality, and I feel that the Harris County Sheriff's Office is a good place to start. My education and expertise makes me a qualified choice, because where I lack experience as a beat cop arresting people, I am uniquely aware of macroscopic law enforcement issues that my opponents are ill-equipped to address or even recognize. Refocusing the HCSO to better reflect an institution of justice and public service is central to the needs of the people of Houston.

I will let you go read his issues page that includes thought-provoking positions on the influence of the private prison industry on public policy; the squandering of law enforcement resources in prosecuting vice crimes; the actual tax contributions of undocumented workers; bringing law enforcement out of the Dark Ages and the need for better mental health services as a response to crime; and transforming prison-to-work programs.

Two recent news items, this one from Scot Henson at Grits on private prisons, and this one from the Chron on state Sen. John Whitmire's evolving views on incarcerating prostitutes, reinforce Alessi's positions.

Here are a couple of excerpts from the issues section, along with a few videos of Alessi speaking about some topics of the day in various fora.

I propose that the HCSO no longer dedicate law enforcement personnel to enforcing (marijuana) possession laws. We have far too many more pressing problems on our plate to be wasting resources on perpetuating policies that are no more reasonable than those that were responsible for the prohibition of alcohol nearly a century ago. This is doubly so when we consider the glaring problem of budget crises that currently plague all levels of government.

On the topic of vice crimes, prostitution bears mention. Obviously many people have moral issues with prostitution. But then, the fifth commandment instructs believers to honor their father and mother, and we don't lock people up for failing to adhere to that. Going beyond traditional moral issues, we still have to ask ourselves about the practicality of enforcing either of these issues. Judging from the fact that making prostitution illegal has done nothing to stop it, we should ask whether or not it is worth our time when we simultaneously are in a position of limited resources and other issues like human trafficking come into play.

The first video is from a recent Houston City Council meeting where Alessi spoke on the homeless-food sharing ordinance.

Due to the defunding of state and local mental health institutions during the past decade, approximately one quarter of the Harris County Jail's nearly 12,000 inmates require mental health services, and of those, roughly ninety percent have been placed in the Harris County Jail have been placed there before.

This is a glaring problem, and requires that the HCSO meaningfully address this issue by creating more humane conditions for these individuals who have been abandoned by society. The cruel and inhumane treatment of those least among us is, at its heart, a moral issue, but financial issues should be considered as well in the spirit of pragmatism. Valuable resources are dedicated to this policy of criminalizing the mentally ill, and the Harris County Jail's eleven full time psychiatrists are laughably understaffed and unequipped to provide proper care to inmates with mental health needs.

Here Alessi spoke about unions, and strikes, following one of the street actions associated with the recently-concluded Houston janitors' strike (Alessi's remarks begin at about the 1:45 mark).



I've previously mentioned in passing -- in my endorsement post for Henry Cooper against another Democratic incumbent, Jessica Farrar -- the disagreements I have with Sheriff Garcia. His vigorous support of a bad Obama Administration immigrant policy, Secure Communities, is at the head of the list. Describing himself proudly as having evolved into a conservative in terms of its enforcement would, of course, be another.

That last is just more of the bullshit I am sick to death of: your typical Democrat thinking that acting like a Republican is going to get Republicans to vote for him. It's not going to work any better for Garcia than it did for Tony Sanchez in 2002, or Bill White in 2008, or James Cargas in 2012.

Meanwhile, the actual Republican in the contest, Louis Guthrie, is nothing but a joke.

Guthrie, who now works for the Liberty County Sheriff's Office, received four letters of reprimand and two suspensions during his tenure with Harris County. He caused two traffic accidents, loaded his weapon with improper ammunition at an off-duty job and pressed a prisoner about his allegiance to the Nation of Islam, according to sheriff's office records.

He was suspended one day in 2002 for engaging in "horseplay" with two other deputies at a training exercise. He was also suspended 15 days, which was reduced to 12 on appeal, and ordered to anger management counseling after he used excessive force with a man he was escorting from a bar at closing time while on an off-duty job.

Guthrie's termination stemmed from a July 2008 incident at a car wash in Humble, where his wife alleged $17 had been stolen from her car. The May 2009 termination letter states Guthrie, who was off-duty, arrived at the business driving his cruiser and in uniform. He blocked the entrance to the car wash and circled part of the facility in crime scene tape, then detained the employees and took their driver's licenses to check for warrants. Some of these decisions may have been illegal acts of official oppression, the letter states.

Note in this last video that Alessi reports some positive response from Libertarians for his campaign.



Here is Alessi's Facebook page and his Twitter feed. It's pretty obvious to me that outside of blind red-and-blue partisan voters, the choice for Harris County Sheriff could not be more clear.

Prior Brainy Endorsements have included the following:

Nile Copeland for the First Court of Appeals
Alfred and GC Molison for HD 131 and SBOE, respectively
Henry Cooper for HD 148
Keith Hampton for Presiding Judge, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Barbara Gardner for the Fourteenth Court of Appeals
Don Cook for Congress, 22nd District
Max Martin for Congress, 36th District

The Big Wind Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance is ready for the big winds of swirling moist air -- both of them -- coming from the general direction of Tampa as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff published interviews with Congressman Gene Green and Congressional candidate Jim Dougherty.  

BossKitty at TruthHugger was interrupted while researching the abomination of H.R. 1096: Sanctity of Life Act of 2011, Questions and Permutations, to comment on the recent shootings in New York: Do You Feel Better It Wasn’t Terrorism? Then came the sad news that Neil Armstrong escaped the bonds of earth for the last time: He Stopped The World On July 20, 1969.

The GOP's answer for everything is trickle-down. WCNews at Eye on Williamson on the latest on transportation's Forgotten Mission: Texas' trickle-down transportation policy.

The legal action by the Harris County Democratic Party to remove DA nominee Lloyd Oliver from the November ballot places the rest of the party's candidates in an unfortunate and unnecessary quandary, posits PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.

Neil at Texas Liberal discussed litter in Houston bayous. This post also featured the famous crying Indian anti-litter PSA from the 70's.  

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme knows that the Romney/Ryan racist welfare ads and jokes are par for the course for the republicans who built that d*mn fence as a monument to racism and fear.