Posted on 09/11/2003 6:25:03 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Texas senators return
BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer
Before a cheering crowd of family, friends and supporters, the "Texas 11 Minus One" delivered hugs and speeches Wednesday afternoon in Laredo after returning from a defiant six-week holdout in Albuquerque, N.M.
While the Cigarroa High School band played and stylish Ryan Elementary cheerleaders performed, the 10 Democratic state senators received a good dose of Texas heat while they stood on a makeshift stage in an airport hangar before an enormous Texas flag.
Hanging over the air was the possibility of being arrested by Texas Department of Public Safety agents.
City officials confirmed they had received a call to provide backup for DPS for what they believed would be a possible arrest of the senators, but were unable to confirm who placed the call. Top Laredo Police officers were present at the airport hangar throughout the event.
From Austin, a spokesperson for Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst dismissed the tip as "a phony rumor" and said there was no such directive issued from Austin.
"I know for a fact that did not happen. That would be impossible because there is no session. They are not under threat of arrest at this moment and will not be unless the Senate is in session and a call is placed on the senators. Neither of those things have happened," David Beckwith said.
Meanwhile, the senators expressed happiness over returning home to their families, but also expressed anger and disappointment with their colleague, state Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston).
They also hurled angry remarks at the Republican leadership for efforts in pushing a new congressional redistricting map this year.
They accused Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Gov. Rick Perry, Congressman Tom DeLay (R-Sugar Land) and Presidential Advisor Karl Rove of "subverting democracy" and "trying to turn Texas into a banana republic."
As for Whitmire, he secretly returned to Texas last week, allowing the Republicans in Austin to make quorum and call a third special session to take up the redistricting bill. That session starts Monday.
In Laredo, the first to emerge from the chartered plane was state Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo) who was wearing a black western hat and an arm sling after breaking her shoulder bone in two places following a mishap at an ice skating rink.
Greeting her and seven other Democratic senators were two of their colleagues who arrived from New Mexico a day early: Eddie Lucio Jr. of Brownsville and Frank Madla of San Antonio.
On stage, state Rep. Richard Raymond (D-Laredo) welcomed "the 10 Texas heroes who took an extraordinary step in standing for the rights of 22 million Texans."
He then turned the mike over to Zaffirini, stating, "She's as tough as Rick Perry, David Dewhurst and Tom DeLay put together."
"Wooo!" shouted back the traditionally self-restrained and composed Zaffirini.
"It's so good to be home. Viva Laredo! We are not courageous. We are not brave. We are fearless," Zaffirini shouted to a cheering audience. "Y para que sepan Rick Perry y todos los Republicanos - no nos rajamos!"
As for the third special session, Zaffirini said, "John Whitmire will make that quorum alone. If he does, he will be there alone, and we will be there later. Later."
State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio) commented further.
"Should Sen. Whitmire go forward with his plans to make a quorum, we will fight Whitmire and the Republicans all the way," Van de Putte said.
She then introduced, "The Big Hurt," state Sen. Royce West of Dallas.
"Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst broke his word and changed the two-thirds rule. Rules matter. We call on the lieutenant governor to restore the two-thirds rule and drop the illegal sanctions and fines against us," West said.
"We call on the governor to listen to the people of Texas and stop this wasteful and destructive redistricting obsession he has," West added.
State Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos of Austin then delivered a rousing speech in Tex-Mex, saying "Mi raza, Republicans want the rest of Texas to eat from the floor. But those days are over. The people have awakened."
State Sen. Rodney Ellis of Houston said he missed seeing his newborn daughter for five weeks before talking about the national political picture the Republicans want to paint.
"Let's not lose sight of what's at stake here," he said, noting that Republicans have a slim 12-vote margin in the 435-member U.S. House of Representatives.
"It is a zero sum game in Washington. You are either in power or you are out of power," Ellis said, noting that Republicans "would stop at nothing to pick up seven more seats by pushing a new redistricting map for Texas."
"We've got to say Ya basta!" Ellis said.
State Sen. Frank Madla of San Antonio, added, "That's a revolution as serious as one with real bullets. The only difference is that this battle is being fought with pencils and maps."
State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh of El Paso, who traveled with several other senators to visit different groups in Denver, Miami and Washington last week, said people around the country are watching Texas events unfold.
"People are watching democracy being subverted. They are watching the new "Rs" of Republican extremism: Recount, Recall and Redistricting," Shapleigh said.
Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, a state senator from McAllen, said he was "ashamed of Gov. Perry, Lt. Gov. Dewhurst and Speaker of the Texas House Tom Craddick."
"They are going to make the taxpayers of this state pay $20 million for their naked power grab to create a dictatorship in Texas," Hinojosa said.
State Sen. Mario Gallegos Jr. of Houston, a former fire chief, quoted lines from the movies Gladiator and Backdraft.
"Strength and honor," and "If you go, we go," Gallegos said.
The senators, with the exception of the wounded Zaffirini, held hands and lifted them in the air to show their solidarity against the state's Republican leadership.
(Staff writer Tricia Cortez can be reached at 728-2568 or tricia@lmtonline.com.)
09/11/03
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"Agents"? No Texan would call any DPS officer an "agent".
"It is a zero sum game in Washington. You are either in power or you are out of power," Ellis said, noting that Republicans "would stop at nothing to pick up seven more seats by pushing a new redistricting map for Texas."
Apparently, these IDIOTS have forgotten the years that the dems were in majority of both houses of congress. Now, they are in the minority, and are besides themselves.
I heard the ranting on the radio this morning, the band playing, etc., and screamed at the radio. They are miserable failures and so out of touch with reality.
You mean just like democraps?
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