Texas, The Epicenter Of The Tea Party

Texas, The Epicenter Of The Tea Party

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Always has been. Or, at least from the day Dick Armey became chair of Citizens For A Sound Economy in 2003. That's Dick Armey, Republican from north Texas. CSE was a pretty nondescript political funding vehicle for the anti-tax movement when founded by the Koch brothers from nearby Kansas in 1984. But Army gave it brainy fire and brimstone, however plain spoken.

Thursday Open Thread [5.29.14]

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Some evil conservatives and crazy Republicans and Libertarians want to reimpose property restrictions on the right to vote, in that you must have to own some kind of property in order to vote. Such a desire is just further evidence that these conservatives, Republicans and Libertarians do not believe in democracy or live by democratic principles. Well, Professor Alexander Keyssar, Stirling Professor of History and Social Policy at Harvard University lays the historic and constitutional smackdown....
Are Progressive Politics Being Redefined?

Are Progressive Politics Being Redefined?

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There's a great article in Vox magazine about Andrew Cuomo -- Governor 1 Percent -- the Governor of New York who is seen in many circles as the future of the Democratic Party. What this article does well (I think) is show the strategy of the so-called moderate Democrats -- fight for socially liberal causes and values, but spend your legislative time and energies catering to the 1%. This glances by the question of whether these Democratic politicians who are proudly Blue for marriage equality, but looking to provide tax cuts and special subsidies to the 1% are actually becoming the face of what passes as progressive in this country.
Wednesday Open Thread [5.28.14]

Wednesday Open Thread [5.28.14]

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Yesterday, I posted the Gallup poll showing that Americans now support marriage equality by 55 to 42%. Digging deeper into that poll, we find a massive generational gap. Basically, the old people are just plain bigoted towards gays. Once they die off, we are all going to wonder why this was ever an issue. We are going to laugh at those opposing marriage equality the same way we mock opponents of interracial marriage. Indeed, 61% of younger Republicans support marriage equality, according to Gallup. So that means that soon, within the next 10 years, the GOP platform and all GOP candidates will be pro-marriage equality as well. If they aren't, not a single Republican anywhere will win an election. Well, maybe in Utah... So, the war is lost for the radical Christianists who seek to turn America into a theocracy. Or is it?
#YesAllWomen

#YesAllWomen

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This is the twitter hashtag that has been trending since Elliott Roger's violence spree and since his misogynistic writings and videos came to light. It is worth spending time reading through them (there are some people -- men -- who refuse to take this seriously and some are angrily trolling the hashtag, but in the main, these tweets documenting the misogyny that women live with Every.Damn.Day are powerful and heartbreaking. Some will make you angry and others will make you sad. It is an amazing ourpouring from women all over the world making sure that everyone knows that misogyny like Rogers' is something women need to constantly be prepared for -- including the violence. There are a few Storifys of these tweets (and if you know of better ones, please post them up):
The 62 Project: #’s 20 and 42

The 62 Project: #’s 20 and 42

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John Kowalko's pluses: A true progressive, unafraid to take unpopular stands, willing to be a public gadfly when needed, almost always a dependable vote for progressive principles, and a willing sponsor for progressive legislation. Bob Venables' pluses: A good Bond Bill chair who understands that capital investment in roads and schools is a good thing, first to really blow the whistle on the cost of prison expansion and minimum mandatory sentences, a genuinely nice person.

Tuesday Open Thread [5.27.14]

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That's a real sign, not a fake one you often see on the Internet. An Anglican priest from Australia put up the sign in response to the conservative government in Australia. In America, support for marriage equality has increased yet again in the Gallup poll to 55%. Meanwhile, we have some new Senate polls that paints an optimistic picture for the Democrats.