I'm writing this inaugural diary to celebrate my having attended my very first Houston Kossack social event ever. Thanks be to Wink & Justice of Netroots Radio for making me aware of it, and thanks to Chris Love for organizing it.
We had a modest turnout, but had an engaging political discussion that lasted several hours after enjoying delicious Mediterranean food at Fadi's in the Meyerland area. Although Austin is well known outside of Texas, Houston is actually a solid Democratic enclave; we've elected Democratic mayors (albeit in officially non-partisan races) ever since I arrived from South Carolina as a wee lad in the late 1970s.
I live out in Sugar Land, in Tom DeLay's former district, where we briefly elected Democrat Nick Lampson to one term because the Republicans fell into disarray with the collapse of DeLay and ran Shelley Sekula-Gibbs....as a "write-in" candidate. This anomaly was fixed the next election cycle, unfortunately.
We do have one feisty political writer out in these here parts that I deeply admire, namely Susan Bankston, a local DP activist.
her fine work can be appreciated here:
http://juanitajean.com/
Back in the day, I attended my first and the last meeting of the Fort Bend Green Party in 2004. I've since attended some local Fort Bend Democratic Party events, but I'm admittedly not as active as I probably should be. I used to participate in their Facebook group but have since dropped off a bit.
I like them, they're good people, but the 800 LBS gorilla in the room is that they're openly people of faith and tend to assume everyone is...and I decidedly am NOT. I felt like I was a walking stereotype of the "Godless Liberal" that the GOP harps on, and so was unsure if perhaps my presence wasn't doing more harm than good. I remember we had a poster on the Facebook group who was dismayed that the local Democratic Party was so solidly behind the teaching of evolution in schools and that this person would be more actively pro-Democrat if we'd just yield on that point. I nearly blew a gasket in reaction to this. Other people were more accommodating, or at least tried to explain how they could reconcile their personal faith with evolutionary biology and basic science, but I was having none of that. I posted several YouTube videos thoroughly debunking common creationist claims but the poster refused to watch them and said so. I was quietly removed from the group without being told. When I noticed (later) that I wasn't a member anymore, I applied to get back in and was just as quietly admitted back in without further comment or question. It was pretty passive-aggressive and soured my enthusiasm for the group as a whole, so I decided I was probably too much of a loose cannon and not someone able to make enough of a positive contribution to overcome my evidently off-putting stridency in some areas.
I do completely recognize that their are people of goodwill who are also people of faith and someone I can work with....The Professional Left Podcast with Driftglass & Bluegal spring readily to mind. I actually enjoy Bluegal's regular "Bible B*tch" segment on her show, where she highlights issues of social justice when the biblical writers take to task the immoral rich & powerful of their day.
I just feel like some of the interim leadership of the Fort Bend DP wore their religion on their sleeve a bit too much and I found it off-putting. But I recognize that I'm a minority within a minority, so my voice doesn't carry much weight. And I'd rather have a religious Democrat in office than any crazy Republican.
In Fort Bend County, I don't actually vote straight ticket Democrat, and here's why. If I were to vote "Straight Ticket", it would deny me the ability to vote against the Republican in a number of down ballot races. I vote for each race individually. I always vote for the Democrat if there is one, but otherwise I vote for the Green Party or even the Libertarian if there's one opposing a Republican...they may both suck on economic policy but at least the Libertarian ought to have a better grasp on certain Civil Liberties issues than your average Republican. My little defiance may be meaningless but it does make me feel better, voting against Republican candidates at each and every possible opportunity to make my opposition to them that solid.
With Open Carry poised to become State Law in Texas, I just wanted to point out that Open Carry renders parts of the Disorderly Conduct statute in Texas utterly meaningless. Specifically this part:
PENAL CODE
TITLE 9. OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ORDER AND DECENCY
CHAPTER 42. DISORDERLY CONDUCT AND RELATED OFFENSES
Sec. 42.01. DISORDERLY CONDUCT. (a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly:
(8) displays a firearm or other deadly weapon in a public place in a manner calculated to alarm;
...I'm not a lawyer, but frankly I don't see how any public display of a firearm/deadly weapon doesn't cause alarm to anyone but fellow gun nuts.
I did take & pass the LSAT with a fairly decent score, however (I could probably gain admission to 2 of the 3 ABA accredited Law schools in Houston based on my score) and I suppose a good lawyer would argue that their client didn't "calculatedly" try to cause alarm, he's innocent because he's a clueless dumbass who didn't know toting an AK-47 through an urban or suburban area would cause alarm, etc. etc.
It's also true that many police departments have been exceedingly reluctant to enforce this part of the Disorderly Conduct statute when it comes to dealing with white male Open Carry activists, even before the passage of Open Carry legislation for handguns. Reminder: the current bill is about the open carry of HANDGUNS, which has long been outlawed in Texas. Open Carry advocates tote long guns at present because the law is (they claim) ambiguous on the subject. Open carry of Long Guns isn't explicitly forbidden because Texas has a lot of rural areas and walking along a rural Texas road with a deer rifle slung over the shoulder wouldn't alarm anyone. But wearing an AK-47 into a suburban Denny's or Chipotle restaurant however....
Again, I have a hard time seeing how this doesn't trip section 8 of the Disorderly Conduct statute, but I'm not a District Attorney or even a lawyer so don't take my word for it.
I appreciate David Waldman's (Kagro X) regular #Gunfail segments on Daily Kos Radio, and I even forward him material via Twitter from time to time. I've gone back & forth on the gun issues over the years. I'm honestly not all that concerned or bothered by Campus Carry, nor was I necessarily opposed to Concealed Carry back in 1994. But Open Carry is a bridge too far, in my opinion. It makes no tactical sense and is just so wrong-headed and polarizing and reeks of white privilege to boot.
I was very annoyed to hear proposed in the Texas Legislature a bill to enable CHL holders to sue state & local government institutions who would post gun prohibition signs (like the 30.06 sign) to keep them out. Though presumably businesses still can post a 30.06 sign because it pits Property Rights vs. Gun Rights and both are ideals that Republicans hold as sacrosanct. Private Property Rights will probably win that fight. If Open Carry becomes State Law, Texas Kossaks should probably boycott businesses that tolerate/welcome Open Carriers, either of Long Guns or Handguns.
While I nominally support the so-called Castle Doctrine, I've never NEVER been a fan of Stand Your Ground legislation. Removal of the "Duty To Retreat" was a fatal mistake made to self-defense law by Stand Your Ground. It gives (added) protection to hotheads and @ssholes with a chip on their shoulder and becomes, in effect, a license to murder so long as a shooter can claim they feared for their lives in their own minds. Unfortunately in our still very racist society, the mere sight of a black person terrifies some whites. You do the math, and we end up with a significant body count that includes young men like Trayvon Martin or Michael Brown or Tamir Rice.
As much as I think veterans should be better supported and taken care of physically and mentally after their service in war, I'm dismayed how many of them chose to become police officers. Soldiers do not make good police officers. Their missions are completely different and there should be far less "cross-pollination" between these fields than there is currently. We need to turn back the increasing "militarization" of our police forces if we at all can. Too many traumatized soldiers used to "search and destroy" missions become still-traumatized trigger happy police and this needs to stop. They need to be steered into careers that no longer require the use of firearms or physical violence. It's too easy to slip back into a wartime mentality, with disastrous results for all parties. PTSD is no joke and we do veterans no favors when we entice them to become police officers after their wartime service. Only former Military Police/Shore Patrol should be even considered as potential civilian police candidates, and even then should face extra scrutiny. Mainline soldiers should be at least discouraged if not outright prohibited from becoming police later. Civil society's needs ought to trump individual career freedom in these cases.
I was flattered by on of my fellow Kossacks, who, after listening to me talk, suggested I was still young enough to attend Law School and become a lawyer. I don't doubt that I have the smarts to do so...my LSAT results tell me that much. But I'm highly reluctant to incur that much student debt again. I only just finished paying off my student debts from my 2 Master's degrees just a few years ago. And I'm acutely aware that Uncle Sam will garnish Social Security if still haven't paid off your debts by those years and there's no discharging educational debt in common bankruptcy either. I'm also not "entrepreneurial" enough to want to run a successful law practice. I have Asperger's, probably have dyscalculia, and am a slow reader to boot. Lawyering requires so much work, so much reading of cases, etc, that I don't see how any lawyer has free time to read for pleasure or general self-education outside the law, or enjoy TV or anime or anything else. I very much admire what trial lawyers do for the common people and recognize them as the backbone of the Democratic Party, but I don't feel worthy or organizationally skilled enough to join their ranks.
So I continue my work as a humble public servant (Librarian) in a local public library system. I follow Daily Kos Radio every day via podcast and Netroots Radio, as well as The Professional Left with Driftglass & Bluegal, and also Jay Tomlinson's Best of the Left podcast and every now and then check in on Sam Seder's Majority Report podcast, especially his "casual Fridays with Cliff Schecter" segments, which are my favorite.
I hope to attend more Daily Kos events and maybe will get active with the local Fort Bend County Democratic Party again in 2016 in time for Hilary's campaign, even though for the time being I'm supporting Bernie Sanders.
