No particular commment to make...just practicing...I want to be ready when the Albuturkeys come back to Texas.
Hey, Leticia!!! Check your six!!!
Posted on 08/07/2003 5:54:19 AM PDT by hocndoc
Racism in Texas Politics? Exclusive commentary by Beverly Nuckols
Aug 7, 2003
From the Op-Ed pages of the Houston Chronicle on August 6, 2003:
To paraphrase one of the greatest civil rights activists of the 20th century, "We are sick and tired of being sick and tired." Fannie Lou Hamer uttered these infamous words during her crusade in the 1960s and 1970s to encourage political participation and the right to vote by African-Americans, Hispanics and other minorities.
“We and our fellow senators are in Albuquerque, N.M., because the same important issue faces the citizens and state of Texas."
These words were written by three Houston Democrats: State Senators Rodney Ellis, Mario Gallegos and John Whitmire. They are members of a mixed-race, single-party gang of eleven Texas State Senators who fled across the border to Albuquerque, New Mexico in order to shut down the legislative process of Texas by denying the State Senate a quorum. The group, alternately called the “Killer D’s,” “Chicken D’s,”or “AlbuTurkeys”, panicked Monday afternoon, July 28th, and left the Austin Capitol Building to board two private jets provided by wealthy Texas businessmen, David Rogers, whose family owns the First National Bank of Edinburg, and Greg LaMantia, a partner in L&F Distributors for Anheuser-Busch in McAllen. They have set up camp in $150 to $200 per day rooms and suites at the Marriott Pyramid. The Chair of the 2004 Democratic Convention, who just happens to be New Mexico’s Governor Bill Richardson, immediately sent State Troopers to provide round-the-clock protection so that the Senators would be safe to make statements such as this to the media. Virtually every news article printed, and most of the television or radio reports, about the attempted-coup-by-flying-the-coop quote the flock of eleven about the races of the voters in Texas, but never a word is said about the racial diversity of their own group, much less about the divisive nature of their comments.
Senator Leticia Van de Putte, who is the current Senate Democratic Caucus, former Chair of the Texas Senate Hispanic Caucus and the apparent gang leader of the runaways, engaged in similar rhetoric when I met with her at her hotel hideout on Sunday, August 3. (I drove and stayed in a much cheaper room in the same hotel.) Senator Van de Putte admitted that her constituency in the Bexar County area will not be touched by any of the proposed redistricting maps, because the Hispanic population is protected under Civil Rights laws and locked in by court rulings. However, the Senator with the Dutch surname repeatedly talked about her interests as “Hispanic” “Latino” and “minority,” while using the term, "Anglo" to represent those who oppose her and/or any group of people that she believed I would support. The Senator didn’t know that her use of the word “Anglo” would offend me, because of her own bias. She also doesn’t know how proud I am of my Cherokee ancestry, which gave me a great ability to tan instead of sunburn, and which made my eyes as dark as hers. And she evidently prefers to ignore the fact that 44% of Hispanic voters voted for the brown-eyed Republican Governor Rick Perry in 2002.
And then later, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram contains this little tidbit:
Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, recalled that in 1993, Senate Democrats were pushing a resolution to have state judges elected from Texas House districts rather than running in countywide elections. At the time, the House had a solid Democratic majority while Republicans were winning countywide elections in many urban areas.
When the resolution came up for a vote in the Senate, most of the Republicans had left the floor, which left the body short of the 21 members it needed for a quorum.
They didn't leave the state; they just left the Senate," Ellis recalled. "But they did succeed in shutting the place down, even if it was just for a day. I remember somebody asking me if it was like the Killer Bees (the nickname for the Senate Democrats who fled for four days in 1979), and I said it was more like the Killer WASPs.” (emphasis mine)
As a citizen of the State of Texas and an American, I am sick and tired of the racist comments and views of the eleven Democrat rogues who have run away to New Mexico in an act of extortion against the Governor and Lieutenant Governor who are only responding to the will of the voting majority. These cowardly partisans seem determined to divide the State along racial lines and blur their own political agenda. They have waged a campaign in the media to deliberately imply that the State’s redistricting effort is an attempt to take the votes from certain racial groups. In fact, the actions of the Democrats - now and in May when 51 Democrats hired buses to take them to Ardmore, Oklahoma - steal the power of the votes of the majority of Texans: those who voted for the Legislators who did show up for work when they were supposed to.
Beverly B. Nuckols, MD is a pro-life pro-human rights Family Practitioner from New Braunfels, Texas. Beverly can be contacted by writing to feedback@washingtondispatch.com
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Haha. Same here. (Although I wouldn't say proud as much as I'd say grateful.)
God Bless Texas.
;-)
You are right, but challenging them might have to include rudely calling them what they are - race baiters.
People interviewing them have to ask questions like "Why are you trying to raise racial barriers?" and "Why do you use such racially loaded words?" and "Don't you think everyone should be represented, not just Latinos?".
To expose them for what they are, media folks have to have the guts to ask the tough questions. Republicans have to have the glandular fortitude to make loud rude charges, like the 'rats do, and back 'em up.
No particular commment to make...just practicing...I want to be ready when the Albuturkeys come back to Texas.
Hey, Leticia!!! Check your six!!!
Thanks for the post and ping !!
As a citizen of the State of Texas and an American, I am sick and tired of the racist comments and views of the eleven Democrat rogues who have run away to New Mexico in an act of extortion against the Governor and Lieutenant Governor who are only responding to the will of the voting majority. These cowardly partisans seem determined to divide the State along racial lines and blur their own political agenda. They have waged a campaign in the media to deliberately imply that the State’s redistricting effort is an attempt to take the votes from certain racial groups. In fact, the actions of the Democrats - now and in May when 51 Democrats hired buses to take them to Ardmore, Oklahoma - steal the power of the votes of the majority of Texans: those who voted for the Legislators who did show up for work when they were supposed to.Photos taken from the Texas Senators of the 78th Legislature website.
The 11 Obstructors:
Gonzalo Barrientos, Austin/Rodney Ellis, Houston/Mario Gallegos Jr., Houston
Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, McAllen/Eddie Lucio Jr., Brownsville/Frank Madla Jr., San Antonio
Eliot Shapleigh, El Paso/Leticia Van de Putte, San Antonio/Royce West, Dallas
John Whitmire, Houston/Judith Zaffirini, Laredo
The Lone Democrat that is staying:
Kenneth Armbrister, Victoria
The group, alternately called the “Killer D’s,” “Chicken D’s,”or “AlbuTurkeys”, panicked Monday afternoon, July 28th, and left the Austin Capitol Building to board two private jets provided by wealthy Texas businessmen, David Rogers, whose family owns the First National Bank of Edinburg, and Greg LaMantia, a partner in L&F Distributors for Anheuser-Busch in McAllen.Here they are with costumes on:
Surely these ‘RATS are not true Texans??
Senator Leticia Van de Putte, who is the current Senate Democratic Caucus, former Chair of the Texas Senate Hispanic Caucus
Well, there's the proof. There is indeed racism in Texas politics.
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