Lubbock Left

Woops, almost forgot to post this:

Event Date: Apr 30, 2008
Event Time: 7:00 PM
Venue Name: Godeke Library
Address: 6601 Quaker
City: Lubbock
State: TX
Zip Code: 79413

We will screen the file “No End in Sight” which is about the Iraq war.
As always, refreshments are provided and a discussion will follow the film.

Hope to see you there!

The Texas Progressive Populist Caucus (PPC) will hold its January meeting in Odessa this Saturday. I’m halfway tempted to make the drive and get in on this meeting — the PPC members make Democratic Party politics exciting, that’s for sure. David Van Os — my favorite Texas politician — is one of their most active members.

If you are interested in attending their meeting, here’s what their announcement email has to say about the details:

The Texas Progressive Populist Caucus (PPC) invites you to participate and discuss the Democratic Party’s rightful place in Texas as the organized political voice for justice and fairness for the ordinary Texan. History teaches that when we provide that organized voice in an effective manner, we always represent the majority. We want to know what you think needs to be done to restore the rightful place of the Democratic Party in Texas as that majority voice.

Please feel free to bring others from your county with you. The meeting will be open to all interested Democrats and all in attendance will be encouraged to join in the discussions.

What: PPC Odessa Meeting 2008
When: January 19, 2008, 1pm
Where: Days Inn
3075 E. Hwy. 80
Odessa, Texas 79761
Ph. (432) 335-8000
Meeting Agenda:1:00 Call to order: Charlie Urbina Jones, PPC State Chair
Verify quorum, Fidel Acevedo, Sgt. at Arms/Parliamentarian
Approval of agenda
Approval of minutes from December 2007 SC meeting, Sarah Gonzales, Secretary
Treasurer’s Report, Henry Kight, Treasurer

1:15 Welcome to Odessa – Bob Dean, PPC West Texas Regional Vice Chair (5 minutes)

1:20 PPC mission and goals for Texas Democratic Party State Convention – Charlie Urbina Jones (10 minutes)

1:30 Invitation to join us at the TDP State Convention in Austin, June 6 & 7 – David Van Os (30 minutes)

2:00 Group discussion on Texas Democratic Party and State Convention –
facilitated by Charlie Urbina Jones, David Van Os, and Bob Dean (30 minutes)

2:30 Brief PPC Steering Committee meeting (30 minutes)
A. Appoint Nominating committee to fill open positions at Annual Meeting (5 minutes)
B. Communications Committee report & appoint Chair for this committee (15 minutes)
C. Annual Meeting report – Fidel Acevedo, Sonia Santana, John Behrman (10 minutes)
D. Announcements

3:00 Adjourn

This morning I dropped by the City Secretary’s office to pick up a candidate packet and have a closer look inside. No, this does not mean I am running for any office. I picked up a packet to share with y’all, so that people who are considering a run for office will know a little bit of what to expect.

I believe it is vitally important for voters to have quality candidates to choose from, and in most cases for the upcoming May election, that means NEW candidates.

This is what the candidate packet looks like:

Note that there are several forms paper-clipped to it. These are what a candidate will actually need to file with the City Secretary’s office. There are 5 of them:

Ballot Application
Petition Form
Appointment of Treasurer Form
Code of Fair Campaign Practices Form
Campaign Finance Report

The petition form is an optional way to avoid paying the $100 filing fee. The number of signatures varies depending on the office you are seeking. Courtesy of the City Secretary’s office, the number of signatures of qualified voters residing in the political subdivision are:

Mayor: 103 signatures
Municipal Judge: 103 signatures
City Council District 2: 25 signatures
City Council District 4: 29 signatures
City Council District 6: 25 signatures

Of course, you’ll want to begin with a list of registered voters for the appropriate political subdivision and bring about twice the required number of signatures just in case.

The Candidate Packet itself contains the following 18 tabbed sections:

Election Calendar
City Charter, Article IX (Term, Qualifications, Filing Fee, Petition, Duties)
Application for a Place on the City General Election Ballot
Petition for a Place on the City General Election Ballot
Council Districts Map (also available online )
Policy for Candidate Use of City Hall Facilities
Nepotism
Sign Regulations and Political Advertising
Oath of Office & Statement of Elected/Appointed Officer
Poll Watcher
Early Voting Locations
Election Day Polling Places
Personal Financial Reporting
Appointment of a Campaign Treasurer by a Candidate
2008 Filing Schedule
Candidate/Officeholder Campaign Finance Report
Code of Fair Campaign Practices
Campaign Finance Guide

Post a comment if you have questions about a particular section of the candidate packet, and I will do my best to answer it.

Running for office is not the purview of the privileged — it’s for all of us.

With the 2008 Campaign Kickoff Banquet behind us, the campaign season is revving up. Part of that excitement is the new life breathed into the Texas Tech Democrats, who had a table at the banquet. It was very inspiring to talk to them and feel their energy.

And oh, by the way, they have a facebook group:

www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5577159563

And so do the Tech Law Democrats, who are also an outstanding bunch:

www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5897857639

If you’re a heavy facebooker like me, click on over and join up with those groups. It’s the best way to ensure that you don’t miss out on exciting campus events!

Tonight the Lubbock chapter of the ACLU and Birth Without Boundaries (a non-profit based in PA) are sponsoring a Nurse-In at the Buddy Holly Center as part of the First Friday Art Trail. The nurse-in is, of course, in response to the recent censorship of two paintings by local artist Lahib Jaddo as well as the still too-often-encountered attitude that nursing a baby in public is somehow inappropriate.

The nurse-in will begin at 5:45 this evening.

More coverage from the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal:

http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/010408/ent_231372106.shtml
http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/010308/loc_231125816.shtml
http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/122207/loc_228188684.shtml
http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/122007/loc_227209555.shtml

Well, today the A-J reports that a nurse-in may be in the works:

Drawings by local artist Lahib Jaddo that were banned Dec. 7 from being shown at the city-financed Buddy Holly Center included one of a woman nursing an infant.

That decision has sparked controversy that extends beyond the art world.

Nursing mothers have been treated like second-class citizens in Lubbock restaurants and other public places, according to Vince Gonzales, president of the Lubbock chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

He stated Wednesday that a “nurse-in,” a gathering of nursing mothers at a public place, is being planned for a date in the near future “mostly as a way of supporting Lahib Jaddo and her artwork.

“On the other hand, I think it also is a response to how breast-feeding mothers are treated in Lubbock. They have to put up with thinly veiled comments from people seated at the next table at a restaurant, and rude and inappropriate remarks from people walking by them at the mall.”

Annie Harrison, who served as Jaddo’s model for the banned artwork, said, “To think a bunch of people might get together in Lubbock, Texas, of all places, to breast-feed in public is just a wonderful statement.

“If the City Council thinks a painting of a breast-feeding mom is a problem, then this (a nurse-in) is something they needed to see up close a long time ago.”

(permalink unavailable, so I’m quoting most of the article for now)

Also, Fade had a wonderful post in response to the censorship yesterday:
http://houserisingsons.blogspot.com/2007/12/improper-breast-depictions.html

Lubbock Democracy for America We will screen the new film “Uncounted,” which documents problems with electronic voting machines around the country.

From the Lubbock DFA Event Details page:

Event Date: Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Event Time: 7:00 PM
Venue Name: Mahon Library
Address: 1306 9th St
City: Lubbock
State: TX
Zip Code: 79401
Handicapped Accessible: Y

Having watched the political process for the better part of my adult life…which hasn’t been that long, “I’m not old. I’m 37”, (for all the Monty Python fans out there) I have marveled at what the neo-cons have been able to pull off in the last decade.

The one thing that impresses me the most is how they have convinced people to vote against their best interest when it comes to their daily lives. From health care to the environment to the farm bill, people who should be consistently voting for the Democratic Party have instead rejected their best interest for false hopes.

Most of these hopes are based on one or two issues, primarily abortion. The GOP, in their wisdom, began to control the language of politics to trick the country into believing they could actually do something about these so called “family values”. Did you see the smoke and mirrors there? The party of “small government” is going to take control of “family values” and then regulate them for you! Wow, Copperfield would be proud.

But above it all, the thing that impressed me the most is that the neo-cons were so confident in what they were doing. They had a unified passion.

This is what we must embrace.

All the time I bump into fellow liberals who are uncomfortably happy but anxious when it comes to the upcoming Presidential election. An example of this would be Kurt. Proudly wearing my custom made Gabe “Senor Sack” Rivera Texas Tech jersey at a Longhorn tailgate, I mixed and mingled with the crowd talking about everything from girls in short skirts wearing cowboy boots to politics. Then I met Kurt. Kurt was this big, strong, successful man, proudly wearing his huge palm cowboy hat and a UT orange t-shirt with the slogan “GEORGE W. BUSH. WORST PRESIDENT EVER! “

I told him that I had never seen a shirt like that, especially living in
Lubbock. Our conversation quickly turned to the issues of the day. It was at that point I turned to him and said, “Aren’t you so happy that it’s about to happen! We are going to steam roll through those guys!” He winced. Not sure how to respond he simply whimpered, “I sure hope so….”

I say enough! For too long we have acted like prairie dogs in a
West Texas thunderstorm, afraid to stick our heads out of our holes in fear of being struck dead by a bolt of lightening. We need to have the confidence that will make everyone around us either cringe and hide or shout with pride. We must be the party of the slam dunk, not the air ball. We need to tell everyone around us this is what’s going to happen and this is why and there is no way to avoid it.

In short, here is why it’s going to happen.

1) History

The ominous reality for the GOP is that historically, the tide is about to turn. Only once since 1952 has a party had enough votes to win three consecutive presidential elections—1988 when GHW Bush won Reagan’s “third term”. The other four times when it would have been possible, the people rejected the party in power.

2) Hijinks

Defined as: Playful, often noisy and rowdy activity, usually involving mischievous pranks.

From how the GOP hijacked the good hearted religious people of this country to purposely leading this country into the most costly and avoidable conflict in
Iraq, the GOP has worn out their welcome. We won’t get fooled again…until the next time.

3) Home

The GOP has brought us the highest oil costs, a collapsing housing market, negligence in regards to the environment and the worst military conflict in recent history. Recession is looming and the corporate machine is laughing all the way to
Aruba. It’s time to take our home back.

We are the only party that can realistically lead this country back to the days of respect and honor in the world without the use of threatening words or preemptive attacks.

As my old football coach used to say, “Son, how do you expect to win if you don’t expect to win?”

No need to be anxious…just embrace what we expect!

Helmut

A
Lubbock Liberal

The results of a straw poll of Democratic presidential candidates conducted on the Texas Tech University campus are now available online. Go to lubbockstrawpoll.com to view the results.

I have to say that I’m pleased that Obama was the campus favorite!

(And I’m glad that Stephen Colbert was the favorite write-in candidate, too.)

The above message could be arriving in inboxes across the nation very soon. The National Democracy for America organization is considering whether to make Rick Noriega their first Senate endorsement for 2008.

From the email to DFA members:

Next week could be a big week for the Noriega campaign. Dick Cheney and George Bush are coming to Texas to raise money for Rick’s Republican opponent. With the national support of DFA, Rick could highlight the incredible amount of people power behind him against the back drop of a private $1,000 a plate Bush sponsored fund raiser.

The deadline to express support for the DFA endorsement is November 3rd. If you believe as I do that defeating John Cornyn must be a nationwide priority, then taking a few seconds to add your voice to the call for DFA endorsement is a great way to help.

http://democracyforamerica.com/supportrick