Bill Burkett is closely connected to David Van Os - a major figure in the Democrat Party of Texas. Van Os is a current statewide office nominee for the Dems. He's also a major Kerry organizer and connected Democrat as you can see above! Bill Burkett's endorsement is featured prominently on his web site and Burkett ran his steering chairman when he ran for Democrat Party Chairman a few years ago!
Also of note: Van Os is connected with Ma Richards. She gave money to his campaign this year and he used to work with her ex husband's law firm.
Just read on another thread that he is connected to the Communist party too.
"Many of us have risked everything on this election," Burkett said in a message posted on Aug. 31. "The disappointment is deep and difficult to manage. But we fight on, in spite of incompetence at the top."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27239-2004Sep16.html
(the following is also on the Austin for Kerry-Edwards site)
Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes Speaks Out
We recently sat down with former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes and discussed his vision for Texas and the country. He shared with us why he supports John Kerry for President, and what he hopes Kerry and the Democratic Party can do for Texas.
NOTICE - Due to OVERWHELMING traffic (where were you guys when we posted this over 2 months ago?) I've moved the Barnes clips to a mirror server provided by the fine folks at Greater Democracy.
You can now view ALL of the clips here. I encourage you to watch them ALL (the National Guard comment comes from “Barnes on Patriotism”)-- Barnes says a lot of great things about issues of far greater importance than the hows and whys of Dubya's guard days.
For the record, the footage for these clips was shot this past May. We conducted a sit-down interview on Tuesday, May 25th, and then, almost as an afterthought, we taped his speech at our MeetUp on Thursday May 27th. The clips were edited together over the following month and posted on the morning of Friday, June 25th. They've been online ever since
Thanks again to Greater Democracy for helping us out. And thank you all for checking out the clips.
About Ben Barnes
To many, former state legislator Ben Barnes is considered a political legend. Indeed his rise to stardom in Texas politics at a young age is the stuff of a great Texas tale.
Barnes was raised on a peanut farm outside De Leon, north of the Texas Hill Country. He played high school football and eventually attended the University of Texas. While going to school, he worked at the state health department and sold vacuum cleaners door-to-door. Working house-to-house greeting Austinites, he learned valuable people skills. His work at the health department planted political seeds in the young farm boy, and he wasted no time harvesting them.
At the young political age of 21, he ran for state representative in De Leon, and despite tough odds, he won. By 1965, he was a rising star in the Texas Democratic party. With the support of Governor John Connally and President Johnson, Barnes became the youngest speaker of the house in Texas history at only 26. At 30, Barnes ran for lieutenant governor carrying every county in Texas. He won more votes than any candidate in Texas history up to that point.
He would later run for governor of Texas and, despite his youth, he was a favorite to win. But a banking scandal rocked Democratic political incumbents throughout Texas, and he lost a tough election despite that fact that he was never personally connected to any wrongdoing. Even after his first real major loss in state politics, Barnes moved on to work in the private sector with Governor Connally. He has been a successful businessman for years and currently runs a consulting and lobbying firm called Entrecorp. In this role, he has become one of the most influential Texans in Washington. Senator Tom Daschle has called Barnes “the fifty-first Democratic senator,” and he is a powerful Democratic fundraiser in Texas.
Throughout his career, Barnes has been known for many things. His political opponents found out early that his mix of charisma, down home sensibilities, and shrewd political instincts were a winning combination in Southern politics. But after all these years of working behind the scenes, former lieutenant governor Ben Barnes is once again making his mark on the Texas political landscape.
As a legislator, he was ahead of his time in many ways. He supported controversial policies which have since become law. In a speech in 2000, he said, “Texas today is drifting toward mediocrity just when it should be striving for greatness. We are neglecting our public infrastructure and shortchanging our future.” Many of the current Republicans making up the majority of our Texas legislature were once Democrats (including our amiable governor), but, throughout his career, Ben Barnes has remained true to his Texas roots and never allowed political tides to set his course. He has been a consistent voice for Texans and defended their values as a Democrat no matter the consequences.
This year he is speaking out early and often about the need for change in Texas and Washington. He recently spoke with members of Austin for Kerry in an interview. He has also joined us at our monthly meet-ups, and he has been an incredible source of inspiration and guidance in the effort to not only get John Kerry elected the next President of the United States, but to put Texas on a different path for the future.
http://www.austin4kerry.org/Barnes/index.htm
Thanks be, Gore invented the internet or we wouldn't have access to such a vast amount of info on these dimwits.
David and Rachel Van Os hosting a TFTC meeting in San Antonio. Obviously, their First Lady hopeful, "Let them go naked" Teraaaaza, hasn't read the TFTC Mission statement - TFTC promotes the right to adequate food, employment, livable wages, safety in the workplace, education, health care, a sustainable environment and basic public services for all people. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.texasfairtrade.org/nidia.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.texasfairtrade.org/&h=199&w=288&sz=16&tbnid=Lg-TlrI84akJ:&tbnh=76&tbnw=109&start=6&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddavid%2Bvan%2Bos%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DG
< /sarcasm.>
David Van Os?
D. V. OS?
Devious?!!
You will know them...
