By God, let there be a taco truck on every corner in Houston. Houstonians love Tex-Mex food. Bring on the chicken and beef fajitas. Everyday. All day and all night long. There can never be enough of Tex-Mex deliciousness in Houston.
Popular taco trucks currently roam Houston, serving up some of the finest Tex-Mex fast cuisine while registering voters at the same time. The picture above is posted from Thursday’s Houston Chronicle.
Crowds of Houstonians, wearing hard hats and business suits, gather daily for lunch at Tacos Tierra Caliente on a corner of West Alabama in Montrose. Alongside the usual cilantro and guacamole, customers can now pick up a voter registration form to go with their order of street tacos.
Houston, in Harris County, is the largest county in the state. The county leans Republican (thanks to the suburbs) but the city of Houston inside 610 is pretty darn blue and gerrymandered, of course. Houston/Harris Co. also has a very high Latino population.
You know, one of the less white groups that the Texas Republican Party works 24/7/365 to keep as far away from the polls as possible.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals recently overturned the state’s harsh Voter Photo ID Law. The law is found to have been intentionally discriminatory.
You see, the GOP has a Latino problem and it knows it. This population is growing by leaps and bounds in Texas.
The TX GOP obviously prefers disenfranchisement over outreach. But then, this is the nasty Party of Trump, after all.
Despite the 5th Circuit’s recent ruling on the TX Jim Crow Voter ID Law, don’t expect for the state’s Republican Party to make voting any easier for those without a photo ID. Nope. It will instead attempt to sow as much confusion about voting locations, times, necessary documentation and dates as possible.
I am talking to you Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart (Tea Party R). Do you really intend to charge voters you don’t like with a crime? What did they do? Indulge in a chicken fajita dinner with refried beans and rice instead of a chicken fried steak dinner with hush puppies and biscuits?
Judge Ramos also said she would also consider whether statements by Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart might be considered voter intimidation. Stanart has stated he will investigate everyone who signs a declaration saying they lack acceptable ID to make certain they are not lying.
I already know what the Harris Co. GOP will do because I’ve witnessed it’s subtle shenanigans. As a volunteer I work the phones at the Harris Co. Democratic Party every week. I always work a shift there on election days.
There will be flaps, mark my words. But we are determined to get our voters to the polls whether or not the County Clerk and Tax Assessor Mike Sullivan (R) like it or not. The Houston Chronicle, by the way, endorsed Sullivan’s opponent Ann Harris Bennett. Sullivan opposes online voter registration in Texas. Of course he does. God forbid should most of us vote.
Of course, the Party’s Presidential nominee, an outspoken bigot, xenophobe and misogynist, (who, mind you, has been endorsed by Governor Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Huckster Patrick, formerly Dan Gelb of Baltimore MD, and Senator Lyin’ Ted Cruz) and one of Trump’s surrogates are driving the taco trucks’ registration efforts.
These rolling food/registration vehicles must give Trump and his Texas supporters, especially Houston’s Stan Stanart and Mike Sullivan, more than a mild case of heartburn.
For it was one of Trump’s spokesman who unleashed the blazing trail of taco trucks, at least in Houston, when the surrogate trashed his own.
Marco Gutierrez, founder of the group Latinos for Trump, appeared on MSNBC earlier this month. In defense of Donald Trump’s immigration policy, Gutierrez said, “My culture is a very dominant culture, and it’s imposing, it’s causing problems. If you don’t do something about it, you’re going to have taco trucks [on] every corner.”
That’s the hope, dude. What’s wrong with taco trucks? Houston loves Tex-Mex.
Maria Samano, the owner of Tacos Tierra Caliente, has run her truck for nearly 17 years.
"Every person has a right to make a living. I don't care about those comments," Samano said of Gutierrez's jabs. "He's entitled to his opinion, but I am happy for my work."
Tila Hidalgo, owner of Tilas Tacos, agreed with Samano that taco trucks are convenient locations for people to register to vote. Hidalgo said she was eager to join the effort to increase Latino voter turnout because of the unique role the trucks play in the community.
Mr. Gutierrez’s remarks certainly lit up the social media. I saw a hilarious meme of a taco truck jumping Trump’s so-called border wall on Facebook.
But Thomas Hull, of design firm Rigsby Hull, decided it deserved a bigger response than just a tweet or meme. He joined forces with Mi Familia Vota, a group that promotes Latino political involvement, and organized a fleet of Houston taco trucks to serve as voter registration booths.
“We’re also handing out information on where to vote, with early votes and on Election Day and the process of voting, ’cause that’s–registering folks to vote–is half the battle. The other half is getting folks to the polls,” Hull says.
I cannot imagine how any Latino could possibly support Trump after his blatantly bigoted remarks about Mexicans during the Presidential primaries. And now that we know about the disparaging and hateful remarks Trump leveled at former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado, ”Miss Housekeeping.” “Little Piggy” only the truly bigoted must be voting for Trump.
Republican women, too, should think twice before staking their futures on a patronizing misogynist.
When Trump did visit, the club's managers went on alert. They scheduled the young, thin, pretty women on staff to work the clubhouse restaurant — because when Trump saw less-attractive women working at his club, according to court records, he wanted them fired.
This could be you. It could be your mother, your sister, your daughter, your niece, your granddaughter, your friend.
Surely Texas Republican women deserve far better than Trump for their Party’s Presidential nominee. Indeed, Laura Bush hinted that the time is ripe for a woman President. She should know. Mrs. G.W. Bush lived in the White House for eight years.
Rumors have it that G.H.W. Bush will vote for Hillary. Country first. Party second. Despite our political differences, we have to give G.H.W. Bush the respect he deserves. Country first. Politics last.
Houstonians, for the locations of the food/registration initiatives please scroll below the delicious orange taco.
This election is so very important that I convinced my husband to serve as an alternate Democratic election judge at one of the county’s polls. A naturalized American citizen, he takes his right to vote very seriously. He will stand up for others who have troubles at his assigned poll.
Meanwhile, my group has organized another voter registration drive on October 9 at the Brompton Clubhouse, 7300 Brompton Court, Houston, 77025 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Refreshments will be served. Don’t expect Tex-Mex. I’m not that good a cook.
The registration campaign will run through Tuesday, October 11. It began Monday at the following locations throughout the Houston area:
El Ultimo Taco Truck
1743 Jacquelyn Drive
La Gloria Tacos
7400 Long Point Drive
La Gloria Tacos
14520 Memorial Drive
Tacos Mayra
10510 Beechnut Street
Tacon Madre
905 Edgebrook Drive
El Taquito Food Truck
8429 Richmond Avenue
Tierra Caliente
1919 West Alabama Street
Tila’s Cantina Taco Truck
2309 University Boulevard
Vote, baby, vote. Vote like you’ve never voted before. The stakes are far too high to forego participation. Make life easy and better for yourself. Vote a straight D ticket. Early voting starts on October 24.
