Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Nevertheless, He Persists


Voters in Florida, Arizona, and Illinois (made a choice yesterday) that goes beyond their preference for Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders. With Americans being urged to stay at home or risk infecting themselves and others with the coronavirus, they also have to decide whether they want to put their health on the line to cast a ballot.

Sarah Watts Wisniewski lives and votes in Illinois. She said that her husband cast his vote this morning, but she may not head out to the polls. “I’m not sure it’s worth the risk, since so many older people go vote, and I don’t want to expose them to anything unintentionally,” she said.

Multiple states have postponed primaries, most notably Ohio, where state officials called off the election last night because of health concerns. Others include Georgia and Louisiana, whose primaries weren’t slated to take place until late March or early April. But officials in the three states that chose to move forward with their elections say they expect everything will run smoothly.

“We’re dealing with it in a thoughtful way, but we’re not going to panic,” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “The fact of the matter is these things can be done in ways where you’re not going to have large crowds, because it’s just one vote.”

"Just one vote".

Not everyone agrees. Hundreds of polling places across the three states are shuttered, as many poll workers did not show up, citing health concerns. Election volunteers are typically older Americans, one of the most susceptible populations right now. Many polling locations were set up in nursing homes and assisted living areas, but those have been shut down, at least in Florida, causing state Democrats to demand a list of closures.

As no such list exists, many counties are trying to keep their constituents informed the best way they can, either by making their own local lists, or having people onsite to help direct people to their new polling locations. ...

Some citizens have self-quarantined, but will still show up to cast their ballots, like Katie Stitzer from Arizona. “We only have 18 confirmed cases statewide, and none in our county,” she said. “I’m not super excited about it since [Elizabeth] Warren is out, but I’m going to vote anyway, with my hand sanitizer.”

The results -- not to mention the outcome -- were predictable.

-- The Coronavirus Outbreak Has Made Voting In Illinois Today A Full Mess

“A functioning democracy should not have this,” one person trying to vote said.


-- Florida:


-- Arizona:


-- Not forgetting Ohio.

Politicians of all stripes expressed frustration Tuesday after Ohio's primary was postponed until June by the state's elected officials amid concerns attendance at polling places would contribute to coronavirus pandemic.

The Ohio Democratic Party sued Tuesday afternoon over Secretary of State Frank LaRose's decision to set a new date, saying that power rests only with the Legislature. Messages were left seeking comment from LaRose, a Republican, and the state attorney general, who represents him.

The state's top health official, Dr. Amy Acton, cited the need to contain the pandemic in calling off the election hours before voters were supposed to cast ballots Tuesday morning.


Democratic state chairs in primaries still on the calendar understood there would be a price to pay that was beyond, you know, people's lives and health.


"Exit polls? We don' need no steenking exit polls!"


Because Landslide Joe was going to win anyway, right?  Might as well keep those MSDNC interns safe in the studio; they're not getting paid much more than an unemployed bartender anyway.

And it's not as if the exit polling has been all that good.


As I understand it, the CIA has overthrown governments in countries whose elections demonstrate lower percentages than these.

So is there a plausible case to be made for this?


Once the news networks reported former Vice President Joe Biden was the winner of all three primaries, Biden appeared via livestream from his home in Wilmington, Delaware. “This is a moment, where we need our leaders to lead.”

“It’s also a moment where the choices and decisions we make as individuals are going to collectively impact on what happens, make a big difference in the severity of this outbreak and the ability of our medical hospital systems to handle it,” Biden added.

What he declared was rather hypocritical. Biden likely secured an insurmountable delegate lead over his opponent, Senator Bernie Sanders. But he also showed zero leadership, put his base of elderly voters, who have overwhelmingly supported him, at risk, and his campaign disregarded CDC guidance to a degree that likely resulted in dozens of people becoming infected with the coronavirus because they believed what they claimed about how “safe” it was to vote. 


Alas, it does not seem that Bernie is going to make that case at this time.

Sanders may have skipped the traditional election night speech but he did hold a live-streamed event on Tuesday evening and rolled out a proposal for counteracting the potential looming recession from the coronavirus: $2,000 monthly cash payments to every household for the duration of the crisis.

The live-stream was, almost unintentionally, an encapsulation of where Sanders is in the race: a candidate pressing more for his ideas than himself -- and wedded deeply to the platform that running for president provides his agenda. Sanders urged that any fiscal countermeasures from Washington to the pandemic would not amount to “another money making opportunity for corporate America and for Wall Street.”

Still, some members of the Sanders team seem to be itching for a prolonged primary fight, even as few know what exactly he and his wife, Jane, plan to do next.

Sanders made one other announcement on Tuesday: that he had processed more than 10 million contributions in his 2020 campaign, adding up to more than $191 million.

That includes $2 million on Sunday, even as the nation was facing a financial standstill from the mass closures of businesses and “stay home” edicts from health officials.

In other words, Sanders is likely to have the money to keep running if he wants to.

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Monday, March 16, 2020

The Weekly Wrangle, Widespread Panic Edition (updates)

The Texas Progressive Alliance isn't praying for divine intervention from the coronapocalypse, and isn't interrupting its practice of social distancing to bring you this week's roundup of the best of the Lone Star left from last week.


Governor Greg Abbott's statewide emergency declaration rollout went less well than expected.


Update from TXElects:

Abbott ordered a July 14 special election to fill the unexpired term of Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin), who is resigning effective April 30. Abbott declined to set the election to coincide with the May 2 uniform election, citing the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Candidates for the special election must file with the Secretary of State between April 29 and May 13. Early voting will begin June 29.

The election date enables any state candidate on the November ballot to run without risking losing their seat. Rep. Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin) and former Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt (D) have announced for the race. Austin council member Greg Casar has formed a campaign committee for the race. Pflugerville council member Rudy Metayer, Austin attorney Adam Loewy and Austin attorney Chito Vela are considering the race.

Matt Goodman at D Mag says, "I don't think we should see other people."

Andy Langer interviewed Austin mayor Steve Adler for Texas Monthly, who explained why he canceled SxSW, a decision that seems a lot easier to understand today.

Some members of our state media -- not all of them corporate and oil-stained -- seem more concerned about the effects of the pandemic on the state's fossil fuel industry than its citizens' public health.  The moment presents an opportunity to change the course of mankind's pending demise from climate change ... presuming enough of us survive the plague, that is.


But there are always pettier political battles to wage.



After Mike Bloomberg's campaign abandoned Texas, some of the (unnamed) staff who got paid big bucks for a much shorter period than they were promised whined to the media about it.

“The entire Houston team was told by a top Bloomberg adviser that Texas is a battleground state,” said one Houston-area field organizer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “We were told Texas is important and that the team would try to transition into helping down-ballot candidates if Bloomberg wasn’t the nominee.”

[...]

Six staffers on the call who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing nondisclosure agreements they had signed with the campaign, said they were told upon their hiring that they’d have jobs through November -- mitigating the risk that typically comes with high-pressure campaign organizing. Now, they said, they were told to expect their final paycheck at the end of the month and that they only had health, vision and dental coverage until March 31. As a consolation prize, all were allowed to keep Bloomberg-provided iPhones and MacBook Air laptops, so long as they agreed to pay taxes on both electronics.

“There are a lot of folks who came down here from New York or Iowa who are now out of jobs,” said one Dallas-area field organizer, who was paid $6,000 per month since his hiring Feb. 17.

“People made decisions based on thinking they had a job until November,” said another former regional director for the campaign. “Someone dropped their insurance to pick up Bloomberg’s insurance, for instance.”

Boo hoo hoo.  Spread some of the Joe Biden Good Guy salve into your wounds.


Stephen Young at the Dallas Observer picks his worst candidates to emerge from the primaries.

In a remarkable stroke of even deeper inanity than most thought possible, Kuff got an early start on sucking up to the powers that be, no matter who, in welcoming Harris County's new lady judge overlords (overladies?).

With his latest installment of completely self-absorbed yet blissfully unself-conscious bragging, SocraticGadfly read the story about the Hobby Lobby-alleged Dead Sea Scrolls proven to be fakes and realized he has a personal academic-world connection to the story.

Dwight Silverman at the Chronic says to clean your damn filthy phone already.  Thanks, Captain Obvious Techburger.  Now go wash your hands, and keep them away from your face.


Despite all these fails, there was some intelligent reporting and blogging last week.  From Maria Mendez and Paul Cobler at the Dallas News:

A Texas civil rights group called the secretary of state, Texas’ top election official, to work with local officials to resolve the voting issues Texans faced on Super Tuesday before the November general election.

Attorneys from the Texas Civil Rights Project sent a letter to Texas Secretary of State Ruth R. Hughs on Thursday demanding the state to work to eliminate long lines caused by shortages of elections workers and problems with machines. Issues were reported in Bexar, Dallas, Harris, Hays, Tarrant and Travis counties.

“We demand that you and other relevant stakeholders take immediate action to invest in voting infrastructure and prevent a similar disaster from unfolding in November,” Mimi Marziani, president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, wrote.

And the reporters got a real doozy of a quote from John Cornyn, who has clearly been drinking too much Corona during his self-isolation.

But Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn warned against federal intervention, saying some “raise a lot of money claiming that minorities’ votes are suppressed.”

He said the Voting Rights Advancement Act, a measure passed by U.S. House of Representatives three months ago to establish a process of federal supervision of voting changes in jurisdictions with a history of voter discrimination, is unnecessary. The bill still has to go through the U.S. Senate.

“We don’t need the federal government to tell us how to run our elections in Texas. We’ve run free and fair elections and there’s no reason to punish Texas or other states that have corrected their problems with regards to access to voting,” he told reporters on Thursday.

Cornyn said he hoped local election officials “learned a few lessons” and advised voters to take advantage of early voting.

In the last decade, federal courts smacked down Texas multiple times for intentionally discriminatory policies that disproportionately affected black and brown voters, like its voter ID law and the way the Legislature drew its congressional and statehouse maps to limit the voting power of minorities.

David Collins updated on the status of the Texas Green Party's 2020 slate, the Harris Greens' conventions, and the surging presidential candidacy of Dario Hunter.  PDiddie at Brains and Eggs blogged that it won't be any easier being Green this year than it was four years ago, thanks to the Jackass Party re-running 2016 all over again.


Some Texans worry about their 401K or the price of oil; many others worry about their jobs, their health, their next meal, whether they will be homeless next month ...


It's all a matter of perspective.

Cherise Rohr-Allegrini at the Rivard Report encourages social distancing, but reminds to check on our neighbors, especially the seniors.

With some environmental news ...


And a long overdue plaudit to one of the hardest-working climate activists I know.


Reform Austin writes about cite-and-release, wondering if it will become the standard for low-level cannabis misdemeanor cases.


Plan a drive through wildflower country soon.


Stop and visit Washington-on-the-Brazos along the way.


And PDiddie thanks Anju Agrawal at Feedspot for inclusion in their "Top 50 Texas Blogs".
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Sunday, March 15, 2020

Sunday Social Distancing Funnies









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Friday, March 13, 2020

Race for the White House Update: It Ain't Any Easier Being Green Than It Was in 2016

Carl Petersen at OpEd News.  (Coulda been me here in Houston.)

My current disillusion with the Democratic party began as the establishment did everything possible to undermine the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign for president. My confidence in the party was further eroded when instead of trying to keep Bernie's supporters in the fold by addressing their concerns, the Democrats told them to get in line and blindly back Clinton. Unsurprisingly, the strategy did not work and enough of an unenthused electorate stayed home on election day to allow Donald Trump to occupy the White House. At this time Berniecrats were forced with a choice - either leave the Democratic party that had abandoned them or stay and fight against the party's slide towards the right.

Petersen goes on to relate his personal experience in east LA: ignoring his inner voice about the Dems, becoming a local Democratic candidate, facing the corruption of and disgust with the establishment Donks, and quitting the party to become a Green.  Read there, pick up back here.

After the (March 2017 school board) election, my integration with the Greens did not go as well as I had hoped. Some long-term members of the party are distrustful of newcomers and are less than welcoming to the Berniecrats who could fuel growth in their movement. Ignoring the fact that the Greens do not have any representation at the federal level, many of these diehards are hostile at any discussion of politics that does not equally condemn the Republican and Democratic parties. Instead of reaching out to Democrats that they share many beliefs with they would rather treat all of them as the enemy.

I can't say I had the same experience with the Harris County Greens, from 2011 through early 2017.  What I can say is that the club -- that's really all the county party has enough members to call itself; and barely that -- is riven with intrafactional strife, with too many silverbacks and soreheads, in spite of George Reiter having gone on to his great reward.  Dishrag bless him; he may have been a whiz in the U of H classroom for all that I know, but his personal skills were severely lacking and his leadership qualities non-existent (if you click on those two links you might conclude that mine is a minority opinion).  He chased more people away from the Green Party than my calculator has spaces for.  And that is very nearly not an exaggeration.

At the very first meeting I attended he bum-rushed me to run for elected office, specifically the 7th Congressional District.  I believe this was in late 2011, close to the filing deadline for 2012.  Maybe that's why we got off on the wrong foot, and stayed off, until the day he passed away last year.  I wanted to write press releases and do social media and advise candidates running for office how to do so more effectively, but Reiter and others did not seem to see the value in that effort, or in my advice.  I made some contributions in those areas, to be sure, but the OGs (which is to say Reiter and a handful of greybeards) just weren't serious about growing the party, or organizing the base they had, or ... much of anything, really.

[One example: George and his wife Deb Shafto would, at the conclusion of the spring semester, return to New York state for the summer.  Even during election cycles.  Even when Shafto was on the statewide ballot.  I found this to be, in a word, ridiculous.  Now if you have the means, and want to take a three-month vacation up north, good on ya.  But do not have the audacity to serve as the chair of a county political party with no functional organization if you do.  That's not just unprofessional; it's childishly irresponsible.]

At the state convention in Austin in 2014, attended by perhaps 60, one fellow stood up and spoke about the party's missing gubernatorial candidate, Brandon Parmer.  "If this guy doesn't surface, how about we just endorse Wendy Davis so we all don't get the blame if she loses a close one?"

Or words to that effect.  Maybe nasty-ass Gadfly has a better recollection; he was there.

Unfortunately Kat Swift katja gruene, who has long run the Texas Greens from Bexar County, is pretty much the same as the late Reiter in organizational and leadership ability, but sadly somewhat worse in people skills.  Since her back injury from an auto accident in 2014, she's gotten more incorrigible, short-tempered, impatient, etc.  Basically another person who thinks that everything will fall apart if she's not running it.  Clueless to the fact that it's already broken, in pieces, at her feet.

In 2016 the GPUS held its national convention here, on the campus of UH.  The ticket of Stein-Baraka carried the day, and nearly tripled its national tally from 2012, from about 0.6% of the popular vote to 1.4% (I'm blogging this without Googling, so feel free to correct my numbers in the comments).  That was, as we all should be able to remember, the year of Russiagate, #DemExit, Bernie Sanders getting the shaft during the primaries, etc.  Good times.

In 2017 the locals elected Bernadine Williams as co-chair of the county party, and almost instantly took a serious dislike to what David Collins has referred to as her 'abrasive management style'.  I've barely been able to watch or hear what's happened over the course of the past couple of years due to declining health, but my take is that the Old Guard has ganged up on the black woman for reasons beyond style.  It's had the impression of making them look like a bunch of hidebound racists, another thing they are seemingly oblivious to.  That's despite having recruited some African American members to their fold.

Let's return to Petersen.

As the California primary approached, I carefully eyed the candidacies of Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, especially as the Greens neglected to put anyone forward that I viewed as capable to assume the presidency. On Super Tuesday I waited in line for almost two hours to change my registration back to Democrat and to vote for Bernie. My intention at the time was to immediately switch back to the Green party, but now I find myself pausing. I still do not trust the Democrats and to this point, Bernie and Warren have been the only candidates to call out the problems with the charter school industry. At the same time, after my election was over, I never really felt that I found a home with the Greens. However, at this time they most closely align with my values. I am sure that I am not the only Berniecrat facing this dilemma as the establishment continues to attempt to push our candidate aside.

The Green Party aligns with my values.  The people in the Green Party need some work.

Despite all that, Collins will be the US Senate candidate for the Greens in November -- and I will vote for him -- unless the lawsuit filed by them (and the Libertarians) fails to eliminate the filing fee requirement for the 2020 general elections.  David blogs about that here, along with the latest on the county party's goings-on, the other Green candidates who will, won't, and might or might not be on the fall ballot, and touches on some of the background I've referenced.  He and the Harris Greens also stan Dario Hunter, who is raising his profile for the presidential nom to a significant degree.  Hunter is starting to look like a stronger choice than Howie Hawkins.  No neo-McCarthyism and not another old white guy, for starters.  I'll sift, sort, and see.
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