Houston freeway blogging

In the Burma Shave tradition.



Watch for it again next week on US 59 N, between Greenway Plaza and the downtown exit. A press conference is scheduled for Tuesday, October 30, at 5 p.m. at the Montrose bridge.

Sunday Rape-is-not-Funnies

Not all Republicans favor rapists

But all rapists, just like all racists, vote Republican. That's only the opinion of one rapist, though. Herewith, the darkest humor you -- certainly I -- have read this election cycle.

Hi! I’m a rapist. I’m one of those men who likes to force myself on women without their consent or desire and then batter them sexually. The details of how I do this are not particularly important at the moment — although I love when you try to make distinctions about “forcible rape” or “legitimate rape” because that gives me all sorts of wiggle room — but I will tell you one of the details about why I do it: I like to control women, and also and independently, I like to remind them how little control they have. There’s just something about making the point to a woman that her consent and her control of her own body is not relevant against the need for a man to possess that body and control it that just plain gets me off. A guy’s got needs, you know? And my need is for control. Sweet, sweet control.

So I want to take time out of my schedule to thank you for supporting my right to control a woman’s life, not just when I’m raping her, but for all the rest of her life as well.

You really need to read. the whole. thing.

We are swiftly headed toward a nation that prosecutes women for trying to end a rape pregnancy (or any other one for that matter). We are already one which prevents women -- by law in 31 states -- from denying visitation rights and even custody to the rape baby daddy.

Somebody needs to put The Handmaid's Tale into their Netflix queue.

If this conversation doesn't sway the undecided women who have swung Romney in recent weeks, then something is very wrong in this country. (I think it is swaying them, FWIW.)

Two years ago Republicans ran on jobs and governed on restricting women's reproductive rights. How does anyone think that's going to change in 2012?

Update: You think I'm exaggerating? Really?!

Metro bonds: when no means yes

Boy, I hate to pass along a rape play-on-words today. Consider the following as it is intended, explaining the Harris County referendum on Metro's bond issue, and completely disconnected from that Mourdock stupidity.

When you go to the polls, you’ll vote on a ballot item that allows “the continued dedication of up to 25% of METRO’s sales and use tax revenues for street improvements and related projects” through December 31, 2025.

If you don’t know the facts, you’ll probably vote “for,” since – statistically – you’re with the majority of Houstonians in wanting more and better public transit options (as indicated in Rice University’s 2012 Kinder Houston Area Survey). You’ll walk out of your polling place feeling good about voting for a sustainable Houston.

And, without knowing it, you’ll have just voted to effectively shut down light rail and bus expansion until 2025.

Yeah, I voted 'for' but that's because I wasn't paying attention. Don't make my mistake.

I'm still good with a 'yes' vote on the rest of the propositions.

Republicans are worried about voter suppression.

Yes, you read that right.

Conservative blogs and news media are all buzzing about a team of international election monitors coming to observe the presidential elections in November. The observers are arriving at the invitation of the State Department and the behest of a number of civil rights organizations, including the NAACP, ACLU, and others.

The latter groups’ call for an international team to keep an eye on the U.S. elections focuses particularly on states that have enacted strict voter I.D. laws and other curtailing of voting rights. An NAACP delegation visited the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland in September to bring attention to the issue. The NAACP’s move, and the idea of foreign presence in the U.S. to observe elections, has infuriated many on the right.

Such as Greg Abbott.

(Abbott) sent a sharply worded letter to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, a group affiliated with the U.N. that plans to monitor Texas' elections on Nov. 6.

Abbott's message to the group, which has been dubbed the world's biggest election monitoring organization: Come at your own risk.

"The Texas Election Code governs anyone who participates in Texas elections — including representatives of the OSCE," Abbott wrote. "The OSCE’s representatives are not authorized by Texas law to enter a polling place. It may be a criminal offense for OSCE’s representatives to maintain a presence within 100 feet of a polling place’s entrance. Failure to comply with these requirements could subject the OSCE’s representatives to criminal prosecution for violating state law."

Let's go to Catherine Engelbrecht, of True the Vote (sic) and her interview on Fox News.

Catherine Engelbrecht of True the Vote appeared on Fox News on Monday claiming that the monitors’ presence was actually intended to prevent and discourage U.S. voters from exercising their rights. Fox’s Megyn Kelly readily agreed, stressing the left-leaning nature of the civil rights groups, seemingly unaware of the State Department’s role in inviting the monitors. It’s worth mentioning that True the Vote, itself a Tea Party group voter suppression effort, is currently under investigation for possible criminal conspiracy.

The most effective conservative meme feeds into a handful of paranoid conspiracies at once, and this one fits the bill. (Did you notice how quickly the United Nations connection was seized upon?)

As commenter Laura Miller notes...

The GOP is so vociferously concerned about voter fraud, you'd think they'd welcome outside observers to make sure there are no problems.

What are they so afraid of?

Why, that would be losing a fair election, of course. Or getting caught trying to steal one again, like they did in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004. Or that "American exceptionalism" might not be all it's purported, with all of the voter fraud committed by Republicans that's been coming to light lately.

If you're not doing anything wrong, Republicans, you don't have anything to worry about.

On the other hand...

I certainly hope the election observers will be wearing body armor, because the Texas Taliban are capable of showing up armed and deranged when their fear and xenophobia are stoked like this.

Updates: Neil with more, and the international monitors respond to Abbott's bluster.

Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), responded in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying that Abbott's threat put the state of Texas at odds with an agreement between the body and state authorities.

“The threat of criminal sanctions against OSCE/ODIHR observers is unacceptable,” Lenarčič said. “The United States, like all countries in the OSCE, has an obligation to invite ODIHR observers to observe its elections.”

Lenarčič took issue with insinuations that officials in the group would meddle with elections, reiterating that they were bound by national laws and regulations, as well as their own strict code of conduct.

“Our observers are required to remain strictly impartial and not to intervene in the voting process in any way,” Lenarčič said. “They are in the United States to observe these elections, not to interfere in them.”

Let's separate and add some emphasis to this last sentence.

A release relaying Lenarčič's comments pointed out that the OSCE has observed five previous U.S. elections since 2002, all without incident.