It's Election Day In H-town!

One of the questions I got repeatedly asked by the members of the NBJC board and others while I was in DC for Out On The Hill was about Mayor Annise Parker and her chances for re-election to a second term.

Mayor Parker has token opposition this election cycle from four candidates, but she still has to have her supporters get off their behinds and vote because the mayor's detractors and haters will be motivated to do so against her.

Jenifer Rene Pool is in a historic race with nine other candidates for the Position 2 At Large council seat attempting to become the first open transperson in Houston and Texas history to win a city council seat.  

Jenifer will need every vote she can get to put her in the seat outright or as one of the top two people for the runoff election in December.

Councilmember Jolanda Jones has been a standup ally for our community and also needs our help to get her third term on Houston City Council.

Yes, I really want to be sitting in the Wortham Center in January 2012 watching both ladies take the oath of office for city council from Mayor Parker 

And don't forget some of the HISD school board members who voted for trans inclusive language in their employment, anti-bullying and non discrimination policies, trustees Juliet Stipeche, Manuel Rodriguez  and HISD board President Paula Harris were up for reelection in this cycle and need some support, love and votes from our community.  . 


That's a not so gentle reminder for you rainbow community folks in the Houston area and our allies who haven't handled your electoral business to get up in a few hours, go to the polls from 7 AM to 7 PM CST and handle your civic duty before the polls close later today .

366 Days From Election Day 2012

366 days from now (because next year is a leap year) we will be headed to the polls on this date to cast our ballots in an election that will decide if President Obama and his family get four more years living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, who gets control of Congress and various state legislatures and governor's mansions.

We'll get to see the Democratic Convention in Charlotte, NC and the GOP nominee give his (or her) speech in Tampa, FL.  

And oh yeah, just thought I'd point out that control of the Supreme Court will also be up for grabs as well pending who gets elected as president.  Justices Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy ain't getting any younger.

As Rachel Maddow put it in one of the commercials for her show, it is literally coming down to a fundamental choice on what policy directions we will take as a nation. 

Do we want to continue the insanity of 1% of the country continuing to get paid, pay no taxes on that money and game the political system of this nation while the 99% of us not in that economic stratosphere continue to see stagnant wages and continuing unfairness in the system?   

Do we continue with you, me and other working class people paying more taxes than corporations and billionaires?

Do we buy the GOP bull feces that we can't afford to spend on our crumbling infrastructure or sending job overseas and killing Social Security and Medicaid instead of employing Americans at home and taxing the superrich and corporations will 'reduce the deficit'?

What kind of America we and our kids and grandkids will live in,  the type of policies that will come out of our local, state and federal governments, and the future course of American history will be hinging on how many of us got up off our collective azzes and voted that day.

The conservafools like the way things are going now and they don't want the party to end.   If we want to have an America that emphasizes fairness, shared sacrifice and equitable distribution of wealth in this country, then we need to get busy today electing the politicians that will help make it happen.

Occupy Wall Street protests aren't going to be enough.  To make the type of change that you want to happen in the system, you need to Occupy the Voting Booth and continue to do so in election after election at the local, state and federal level until you die.

After November 6, 2012 it'll be our job to keep the pressure on their behinds to ensure they are doing what the people want instead of what the corporations want. 

Let's get busy, people.   Election Day 2012 will be here before we know it.