Sunday, November 10, 2019
Saturday, November 09, 2019
The Weekly Twenty Twenty Update
YouGov is polling Texans right now on the Democratic presidential primary and Senate race, so look for some fresh numbers, post-Beto, shortly. The survey includes this question:
Those are the choices, aren't they? The two answers to the question, besides 'do nothing and see what happens' (the GOP answer).
At a moment in history when the science concludes that our Earth is within 12 years of being uninhabitable; when hundreds of people die every day because they cannot afford to go see a doctor or pay for their medicine; when one generation, or class, or creed says to another, "If you will just wait ! ..." when there is no time left; when waiting means dying ... then the philosophical divide -- the political division -- comes into tighter focus.
I've always felt it was about empathy. Conservatives have little to none, centrist liberals have some to varying degrees, and progressives have ... well, too much for our own good at times. This is why Bernie Sanders speaks to me when he says: "Will you fight for someone you do not know?"
Because he always has.
On to the horse race.
"OK Bloomer" was a big hit briefly, for flowers, bread, and old-fashioned underwear. For the billionaire who has reconsidered his withdrawal from the primary? Not so much.
Sneaky Pete also had a bad week.
What he's offering is yet another bastardization of the word 'progressive'.
**APPLAUSE**
Makes me long for video of Amy Klobuchar eating a salad with a comb.
But the best snark came from sad/mad Betocrats under the at-least-initially-serious hashtag #PeteforGovernor.
And *BOOM*
Hard to top all of this with some serious news, but I'll give it a go.
Billionaires Behaving Badly:
It's not Elizabeth Warren that all of these wealthy people, Wall Street, etc. are worried about. She's just a strawman for Bernie. Allow Hillary Clinton to demonstrate.
Which begs the question ...
Not snark. Totally serious.
Couple more things.
Hornberger hails originally from Laredo.
We know about Facebook's refusals to police lying in political advertising on their platform, and via Election Law Blog's Rick Hasen ...
Yes, yes, don't believe everything you read online. And certainly don't retweet or republish it on Facebook if it's a questionable source.
Their heads are quite clearly not in their hands.
Don't we have more important things to worry about, anyway?
This book should be a best-seller.
And hey, we've got ten for the debate in eleven days (but not Castro, unfortunately).
One thing driving the pundits' yaps furiously is where Beto's support may be going. It seems clear it won't be going to Boot Edge Edge.
-- "I would prefer to support a candidate who is willing to take on established interests to fight for big ideas and pass legislation that will bring about larger changes"
-- "I would prefer to support a candidate who is willing to compromise with Republicans to work together and pass legislation that will bring about incremental changes"
Those are the choices, aren't they? The two answers to the question, besides 'do nothing and see what happens' (the GOP answer).
At a moment in history when the science concludes that our Earth is within 12 years of being uninhabitable; when hundreds of people die every day because they cannot afford to go see a doctor or pay for their medicine; when one generation, or class, or creed says to another, "If you will just wait ! ..." when there is no time left; when waiting means dying ... then the philosophical divide -- the political division -- comes into tighter focus.
I've always felt it was about empathy. Conservatives have little to none, centrist liberals have some to varying degrees, and progressives have ... well, too much for our own good at times. This is why Bernie Sanders speaks to me when he says: "Will you fight for someone you do not know?"
Because he always has.
On to the horse race.
Ok, Bloomer pic.twitter.com/qPRiSQFyGI— Caractacus 🌵 (@caractacASS) November 9, 2019
I know this isn’t PC but all I read and see is “Boobs”— Nomiki Konst🌹 (@NomikiKonst) November 9, 2019
"OK Bloomer" was a big hit briefly, for flowers, bread, and old-fashioned underwear. For the billionaire who has reconsidered his withdrawal from the primary? Not so much.
Sneaky Pete also had a bad week.
Biden condescendingly calls him “Mr. President.”— Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) November 9, 2019
Klobuchar goes nuts when his name is mentioned in private conversations.
Castro can’t wait to trash him on the record.
Why @PeteButtigieg so annoys the rest of the 2020 Dems, w/@llerer https://t.co/mU0HVUJ614
Pete Buttigieg: "What I'm offering is the most progressive presidency of our lifetime." pic.twitter.com/5uSyEOGJlo— The Hill (@thehill) November 8, 2019
What he's offering is yet another bastardization of the word 'progressive'.
Julian Castro threw big shade at Pete Buttigieg last night. "I don’t need to go see South Bend. I visited 100 cities as Secretary of HUD and was the mayor of a city 14 times bigger. In fact, we could almost fit South Bend in our Alamodome in San Antonio.”https://t.co/gHGn8BoGFm— Texas Standard (@TexasStandard) November 7, 2019
**APPLAUSE**
i don't care what your politics are, it is illegal to cut a cinnamon roll into pieces with a knife and then eat it like a chicken wing pic.twitter.com/x1GFl1HNz1— Liz Charboneau (@lizchar) November 7, 2019
Makes me long for video of Amy Klobuchar eating a salad with a comb.
But the best snark came from sad/mad Betocrats under the at-least-initially-serious hashtag #PeteforGovernor.
"There is one Hoosier Democrat equipped to accomplish the task of flipping the governorship from red to blue, and that Hoosier Democrat is Mayor Pete Buttigieg."— Ron (@ronfromsandiego) November 8, 2019
Pete - Indiana voters are calling for you! #PeteForGovernorhttps://t.co/YM18M1jI4U
And *BOOM*
I don't know shit about Indiana or its politics, never even been there, but since this is Twitter and we're all experts, Pete should run for governor. He "would totally win". I might even think about "donating and supporting" his run (but won't). #PeteForGovernor— Živilee (@zivinilee) November 7, 2019
#cashroots campaign for sure! Pete is all PACs no POC. Plus the Facebook, and the lobbyists. All #Cashroots #PeteForGovernor we 💖 u Pete. Ignore the haters who say you can't win statewide in your home state #PeteForGovernor— 🕸️🕷️🎃 dimac 🎃🕷️🕸️ (@MrsFinkelstein1) November 9, 2019
Hard to top all of this with some serious news, but I'll give it a go.
Billionaires Behaving Badly:
APNewsBreak: Steyer aide offered money for endorsements https://t.co/SqYs6j9oek— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) November 7, 2019
Philanthropist Bill Gates declined to rule out voting for Trump if Warren runs against him.— Rula Jebreal (@rulajebreal) November 7, 2019
This is tantamount to: Yes, Trump is a criminal white supremacist, but he is good for billionaires’ taxes. https://t.co/IqplS7ZqlG
It's not Elizabeth Warren that all of these wealthy people, Wall Street, etc. are worried about. She's just a strawman for Bernie. Allow Hillary Clinton to demonstrate.
That endorsement really panned out for Warren. https://t.co/TbdtgyuHvf— Brook Hines (@nashville_brook) November 7, 2019
Hillary Clinton opposes a wealth tax. She doesn’t want to “disrupt” the rigged system that allows the wealthiest 3 billionaires in the U.S. to have as much wealth as the bottom half.— 🔥BERNforBernie2020🔥 (@BernForBernie20) November 8, 2019
“They might have to sell some assets.”
Hoarding wealth is more important than equality? 🧐 pic.twitter.com/FMxJpdhYUe
Which begs the question ...
How much is Putin paying Hillary Clinton to divide Democrats and weaken her political rivals on the left to insure that Trump gets a second term? pic.twitter.com/EEgKTdTydH— 🇷🇺A Russian Asset Of Color (@WamsuttaLives) November 7, 2019
Not snark. Totally serious.
Couple more things.
On November 1, Jacob G. Hornberger declared for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination. He is better known than the other declared candidates for that nomination. In 2000 he sought the party’s presidential nomination, losing to Harry Browne. For many decades he has headed the Future of Freedom Foundation.
Hornberger hails originally from Laredo.
We know about Facebook's refusals to police lying in political advertising on their platform, and via Election Law Blog's Rick Hasen ...
Issue One’s latest report, “Digital Disaster: The failures of Facebook, Google, and Twitter’s political ad transparency policies,” reveals how piecemeal, voluntary approaches by the largest social media platforms to stop disinformation campaigns fail to protect our political system from foreign interference.
As the report shows clearly, the companies’ political ad transparency policies are a mess, and they do not measure up to the existing standards governing political ads on broadcast television and radio or the guidelines set by the bipartisan Honest Ads Act. The databases of political ads that they’ve created to help the public monitor digital ad spending in U.S. elections are also deeply flawed.
Yes, yes, don't believe everything you read online. And certainly don't retweet or republish it on Facebook if it's a questionable source.
DNC Leaders Bury Heads In Hands After New Moderate Presidential Recruit Immediately Walks Into Oncoming Traffic https://t.co/yV4Ucnd3HF pic.twitter.com/7dEt1JrYwy— The Onion (@TheOnion) November 7, 2019
Their heads are quite clearly not in their hands.
Don't we have more important things to worry about, anyway?
This book should be a best-seller.
And hey, we've got ten for the debate in eleven days (but not Castro, unfortunately).
The clock is ticking for Democratic presidential contenders hoping to make the fifth debate on November 20 -- just 4 days left to qualify-- and the sixth debate on Dec. 19. And a new survey of the Iowa caucuses by Quinnipiac University has given two candidates the final qualifying poll they need. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard got 3 percent support in the new poll, which qualifies her for the November debate, while Sen. Amy Klobuchar earned 5 percent, putting her on the December stage. By our count, this means 10 candidates have now made the fifth debate and six have qualified for the sixth, so let’s check in to see where things stand for the other candidates.
First up, the November debate. It looks as if Gabbard might be the last candidate to qualify by the Nov. 13 deadline. Of the six other “major” candidates who haven’t yet qualified but are still in the race, not one has a single qualifying poll for the fifth debate. Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro has met the donor threshold, but he’s had no such luck in the polling department, so watch out -- Castro might drop out soon, as he has said it will be “the end of my campaign” if he doesn’t make the stage.
One thing driving the pundits' yaps furiously is where Beto's support may be going. It seems clear it won't be going to Boot Edge Edge.
Friday, November 08, 2019
Houston's runoffs, part 2
Blog posting schedule: today will also include another lengthy 2020 Update, with (perhaps) the third part of Houston's runoffs tomorrow, the Funnies on Sunday, and Monday's regularly slated Wrangle.
Space City could have five Democrats sitting in the At-Large seats around the Bagby horseshoe come January 1, 2020, or five Republicans. Or some combination of the two, if a bunch of bipartisan weirdos split their votes.
The current conservative faction of Mike Knox, Michael Kubosh, and Jack Christie have held a 3-2 edge, reflecting what liberals hope is the evaporating trend of suburbanites voting Republican. (Even Dennis Bonnen said so, after all.) In AL 1, Democratic turnout pushed Cowboy Knox -- he has friends who are black; scroll down -- into a runoff with hard-working millennial Raj Salhotra, who represents in every single fashion the progress Houston needs to take entering the next decade.
The AL 2 runoff is a carbon copy of 2015, with ultra-conservative pastor Willie Davis squaring off again with incumbent CM David Robinson. This one isn't a brainer.
AL 3 features another odious conservative, Michael Kubosh, who has done the best job of scamming African Americans out of their votes of any Republican in the city. It's truly remarkable how much hypocrisy he's been able to get away with. If you want to know when this long con began, start here (hint: red light camera ordinance, feeding the homeless ordinance. Thanks, Annise!). Janaeya Carmouche is just the woman to end this madness.
And At Large 4 offers H-Town voters a similarly stark choice between a regressive, inexperienced, unqualified Republican running against a talented, capable African American woman: Anthony Dolcefino versus Leticia Plummer. Previously blogged, there is just no sense in voting for a young man whose residence is listed as a couch in his dad's office to represent nearly five million of us. His dad is looney toons, and that's who'll be calling the shots here.
Christie will be replaced with either the highly competent establishment Democrat, Sallie Alcorn, or the ridiculous Republican Eric Dick -- laughable not just because of his surname.
Alcorn, to quote Beto O'Rourke, seems to have been born for municipal service. She has served the past decade with 3 CMs -- Pam Holm, Steve Costello, Greg Travis -- and Costello as 'flood czar'. She also worked with Chris Bell when he was the Congress critter for the 25th, from 2003-05. That's one of the largest piles of bipartisan credibility you'll find on your ballot in any year.
You might note that two of those bosses are Republicans, and the other two might as well be. That's H-Town government for ya. While Alcorn may be Charles Kuffner's or John Cobarruvias' idea of the best representative of the people in public service, in my iteration as DSA/Green/Berniecrat/whatever, I endorsed Ashton Woods early on in this race for the change at City Hall I believe is needed. But Alcorn is quite obviously knowledgeable about the inner workings of municipal government and should be a most capable member of Council.
None of the above, as everyone knows, could be said of Dick. Vote for Ms. Alcorn in AL 5.
Republicans will be strongly motivated in turning out the vote for Crazy Pants Richie Rich Buzbee and this slate of freaks above. Kubosh in particular sells himself as a check-and-balance against Mayor Turner's so-called worst instincts. In the first round last week I voted for more progressive candidates, but the choices above would keep the city on the road to progress, and the wrong ones won't. Let's flip these seats and get going on the changes we know need to be made.
Lagging behind with these, so the rest will come after the Weekly D-2020 Update.
=============
Space City could have five Democrats sitting in the At-Large seats around the Bagby horseshoe come January 1, 2020, or five Republicans. Or some combination of the two, if a bunch of bipartisan weirdos split their votes.
Election Day for the Joint Runoff Election is December 14. For more information on applying for a mail ballot visit https://t.co/HxElJ48Rv7 pic.twitter.com/romqgzUhPn— Diane Trautman (@dtrautman) November 8, 2019
The current conservative faction of Mike Knox, Michael Kubosh, and Jack Christie have held a 3-2 edge, reflecting what liberals hope is the evaporating trend of suburbanites voting Republican. (Even Dennis Bonnen said so, after all.) In AL 1, Democratic turnout pushed Cowboy Knox -- he has friends who are black; scroll down -- into a runoff with hard-working millennial Raj Salhotra, who represents in every single fashion the progress Houston needs to take entering the next decade.
The AL 2 runoff is a carbon copy of 2015, with ultra-conservative pastor Willie Davis squaring off again with incumbent CM David Robinson. This one isn't a brainer.
AL 3 features another odious conservative, Michael Kubosh, who has done the best job of scamming African Americans out of their votes of any Republican in the city. It's truly remarkable how much hypocrisy he's been able to get away with. If you want to know when this long con began, start here (hint: red light camera ordinance, feeding the homeless ordinance. Thanks, Annise!). Janaeya Carmouche is just the woman to end this madness.
And At Large 4 offers H-Town voters a similarly stark choice between a regressive, inexperienced, unqualified Republican running against a talented, capable African American woman: Anthony Dolcefino versus Leticia Plummer. Previously blogged, there is just no sense in voting for a young man whose residence is listed as a couch in his dad's office to represent nearly five million of us. His dad is looney toons, and that's who'll be calling the shots here.
Christie will be replaced with either the highly competent establishment Democrat, Sallie Alcorn, or the ridiculous Republican Eric Dick -- laughable not just because of his surname.
Alcorn, to quote Beto O'Rourke, seems to have been born for municipal service. She has served the past decade with 3 CMs -- Pam Holm, Steve Costello, Greg Travis -- and Costello as 'flood czar'. She also worked with Chris Bell when he was the Congress critter for the 25th, from 2003-05. That's one of the largest piles of bipartisan credibility you'll find on your ballot in any year.
You might note that two of those bosses are Republicans, and the other two might as well be. That's H-Town government for ya. While Alcorn may be Charles Kuffner's or John Cobarruvias' idea of the best representative of the people in public service, in my iteration as DSA/Green/Berniecrat/whatever, I endorsed Ashton Woods early on in this race for the change at City Hall I believe is needed. But Alcorn is quite obviously knowledgeable about the inner workings of municipal government and should be a most capable member of Council.
None of the above, as everyone knows, could be said of Dick. Vote for Ms. Alcorn in AL 5.
Republicans will be strongly motivated in turning out the vote for Crazy Pants Richie Rich Buzbee and this slate of freaks above. Kubosh in particular sells himself as a check-and-balance against Mayor Turner's so-called worst instincts. In the first round last week I voted for more progressive candidates, but the choices above would keep the city on the road to progress, and the wrong ones won't. Let's flip these seats and get going on the changes we know need to be made.
Lagging behind with these, so the rest will come after the Weekly D-2020 Update.
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