First Meeting Of The New Harris County Commissioners Court Today

We have been having a wonderful first week of the New Year because we flipped Harris County to dark blue in the 2018 midterms. 

There has practically been an investiture ceremony for our new diverse group of Democratic judges every day at the county courthouse, and I'm speaking at one of them on Thursday for Judge Bill McLeod.

At 10 AM CST this morning we'll get to gleefully watch another historic Harris County political moment as we have our first Harris County Commissioners Court meeting of 2019 with our Democratic majority in place. 

It will also be the first one in which our new County Judge Lina Hidalgo will be presiding over. 

I'm a native Houstonian, but I have never gone downtown to attend a Harris County Commissioner's Court meeting because in large part of it being a Republican controlled body and a waste of my time to do so.

Now with a diverse Democratic majority on it for the first time since I was in high school, this governing body for the third largest county by population in the United States (Harris County has 5 million residents)  has gotten my undivided attention.

Elections matter people, and because of the blue tsunami that swept through Harris County and swept GOP officeholders out with it, it's a brand new day here politically.

We have already seen evidence of that at the county courthouse, where the new judges elected in the Democratic sweep of all 59 judicial benches filed a motion yesterday to withdraw from the appeal of the bail bonds system lawsuit.   The county bail bond system was declared unconstitutional

The suit alleges the county unfairly jails those charged with misdemeanors who cannot afford bail. A federal district judge ordered Harris County to remedy the situation, but the suit has been held up in the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.   All the Republican criminal court judges named in the lawsuit were swept out of office

Partisan political hack Stan Stanart was fired as county clerk by Harris County voters and replaced by Dr. Diane Trautman.   One immediate change was the ability to register to vote online on the county clerk website.   Discussions have started to implement countywide voting centers in which you are able, just as you can during the early voting period, to do so at any location on Election Day. 

One of the items on the agenda for the Harris County commissioner's court meeting is a $15 minimum wage for all county employees.

Looking forward to attending my first ever Commissioner's Court meeting.   

Mississippi 2018 US Senate Debate

If you thought the 2018 midterms were over, not quite.   We still have some races in a few states that went to runoffs, and others they are still counting ballots in close races. 

One of those states in which a runoff is occurring is Mississippi, where Mike Espy is trying to become the first Black senator elected from the Magnolia State since Hiram Revels did so during Reconstruction.

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) was appointed to fill the seat after Thad Cochran resigned for health reasons.  She has lately been making news for all the wrong reasons.

She commented that she would be on the front row of a public hanging lynching, and came out in favor of voter suppression.   An old picture has surfaced with Hyde-Smith in a Confederate cap standing next to a person from an SPLC certified hate group. 

This isn't dog whistle racism.  This is alarm klaxon racism.  That also concerns me as someone who has maternal side family members who live in Mississippi.

The debate between Espy and Confederate Cindy was last night, so if you missed it, here's the video of it.

TransGriot 2018 Election Endorsements : Beto O'Rourke for US Senate!

I'm not a fan of my Canadian senator Rafael Cruz, and was hoping that in this 2018 cycle some big name Texas Democrat would step up to the plate and take a shot at knocking off the very unpopular Cruz.

That person turned out to be Rep Beto O'Rourke.   He is the congressman repping El Paso in far West Texas.

Over the last few months since he has announced his run for the US Senate, has done something no Democrat has done since Lloyd Bentsen in terms of running a competitive US Senate race.

And I and every Texas Democrat love it.

The Republicans have going from pooh-poohing his campaign to spending serious money on eye roll inducing attack ads.   I enjoyed watching Beto eviscerate Cruz in their first debate at SMU.    Looking forward to their next scheduled one at UH

Beto continues to run positive campaign ads and expose as my mother calls him, our Canadian senator, as the shameless one trick right wing political pony he is.   O'Rourke continues to out fundraise Cruz without taking corporate or PAC money.   

And on the issues, Beto has unapologetically called out police violence against Black folks, the unacceptable Trump baby jails, and has a forward looking platform I and many Texans across all 254 of our ginormous state's counties can get behind. 

Oh yeah, unlike Rafael, Beto has visited and talked to Texans in all 254 of Texas' counties.  Cruz hasn't even come close to doing so, much less done events in Black neighborhoods as Beto has repeatedly done.

As a transgender Texan, Beto has made it clear that he stands with us.  Ted  Cruz made it clear in his failed 2016 presidential campaign that he doesn't by attacking transgender people 

Beto has also made it clear that he is not afraid to talk about tough issues.



All Rafael Cruz offers is more partisan attacks and not caring about anyone except wealthy white Texans.

That's why I'm enthusiastically endorsing Beto O'Rourke  for the US Senate, and urge my fellow Texans to vote for him when early voting starts on October 22 or on Election Day this November 6.

For those of you who don't live in the Lone Star State,  you can support him here. 

24 Seats To A Democratic House Majority

As many of you may or not be aware of, 2018 is an election year in which we will determine the makeup of Congress for the next two years.

This midterm election year is even more critical, because it will also determine what happens during the rest of the Trump Misadministration.

For of you hating the direction of Dear Cheeto Leader's mispresidency , the lack of will by the Republican controlled House and Senate to do anything about it while eagerly passing a tax cut for billionaires and corporations, November 6 is your chance to strike back and #FireTheGOP.

While the Democrats thanks to the Sen. Doug Jones (D) win in Alabama only need to flip two more Senate seats to regain control of the Senate,  they also have the problem of having to defend 26 senate seats while the Republicans have to defend just eight in this 2018 cycle. 

And Al Franken's seat that he resigned from wasn't supposed to be up for reelection until 2020.  That extra  Senate seat being  up for grabs in Minnesota only adds to the Democrats challenge in taking the chamber back from the Republicans. 

In the House, the Democrats political challenge is a lot more doable despite GOP gerrymandering and voter suppression laws in many red states.   What they have to do is flip 24 congressional districts in order to make Rep. Nancy Pelosi  the speaker of the House again.

What's the significance of the Democrats getting control of the House?  If that happens, they can block any bad legislation that Trump wishes to pass.   

And for those of you who want Dear Cheeto Leader impeached, the process starts in the House Judiciary Committee. It's much more likely to happen in  a Democratic controlled House chamber  than the Republican controlled one we have now.

In addition, accountability investigations of the Trump administration that aren't happening now will take place with far more frequency under a Democratically controlled House Congress.

nd yes, if by some miracle they get control of the Senate.   The trial and vote to remove Trump from office happens in the US Senate.   Failing that, they will also in a Democratically controlled Senate will also be able to investigate the Trump Misadministrations.

Can they make that happen?   It depends on what you the voters do this November.   

Better Worry About The 2014 Midterm Elections First

One of the things that is irritating me in liberal-progressive world is people who are obsessing about the 2016 presidential elections and whether Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic Party nominee for POTUS. 

Frak the 2016 election right now.   Better focus on the 2014 congressional MIDTERM election first and treat them as if your life depended on them because they do.

What happens in 2014 will play a major role in setting up how the political landscape sets up for 2016.   And word to the wise, remember in 2006 there were people saying that Hillary was cruising to the nomination in 2008.  Gee, wasn't it some skinny guy with a funny name who ended up with the nomination and as POTUS a few months later?  

Frankly, I don't care about Hillary, November 8, 2016 or presidential politics right now.  That's two years into the future.  We have far more important electoral 'bidness' coming up on November 4.     

As a Texan, I'm more concerned about getting Wendy Davis in our governor's mansion, Leticia Van de Putte in the vitally important Lt. Governor's chair and getting my home state out of the clutches of the Tea Klux Klan.

I'm more concerned about electing Democrats to every office we can up and down the ballot in the Lone Star State, in Harris County and the other 253 counties in this state.    

I'm more concerned about defending our Democratic Senate majority and taking the House back from the Republicans.  All we need is a gain of 18 seats and John Boehner and the Teapublicans will really have something to cry about in January 2015. 

In the US senate, Alison Lundergan Grimes has an excellent chance to knock off Mitch McConnell in  Kentucky.  We have a chance to pick up senate seats in Mississippi and Georgia. We have Democratic senators in tough races like Mary Landrieu in Louisiana and Kay Hagan in North Carolina that will need help and votes to hold those seats since the GOP needs to flip only six seats to take control of the Senate.

And if the Republicans gain control of the Senate while maintaining control of the House, you can bet 2015 will be spent wasting time on bogus impeachment proceedings of President Obama instead of passing needed legislation.  
 

We have a chance to add good Democratic governors and kick bad ones out in Florida, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin

So I don't want to hear another syllable uttered about Hillary until November 5, especially since she hasn't even officially declared she's a candidate for the presidency.

First things first.   We have five months left, and we need to be getting people registered to vote so we can bumrush the polls this fall.  We need to be burying the conservalies under an avalanche of facts.  GOTV efforts need to be planned.  We need to be telling anyone who will listen they need to be participating in this critical election and why.   We need the same level of 2012 turnout or better to win, so let's get busy making that a reality. 

First things first.   Focus on the 2014 midterms, then when that is over we turn our attention to 2016 and holding the White House.