I live in the bluest zipcode of the bluest city in Tejas. Some years it feels like Masada. But in 1992 I had the singular opportunity of voting for a President (Clinton), Governor (Richards), and Congresscritter (Maxey) who were all on the progressive end of the spectrum and who won their races, a first and last for me.
I am still represented in Congress by a good critter, Lloyd Doggett, whom the Rethugs are desperately trying to gerrymander out of existence. I remain bitter over Ann's defeat by Drunken Fratboy (with Alberto's cheats), and although I have twice now voted for Obama, I know he is definitely right of any rational center you can name. He will go on post-Presidency to be a lobbyist, I'm sure, and possibly much of his second term will involve decisions paving his way for that career.
However, I do smell a change in the air. The point of drinking koolaid, after all, is to die by the beverage, and living in airless echo chambers is taking its toll, at the very least on public perception. Zealots always cease to be the Kewl Kids eventually. I hope more and more of us simply ignore them and focus instead on real leaders. Like those at Occupy Sandy, and whoever prays along to the Bhagavad Gita when Tulsi Gabbard is sworn in.
It's been 18 years since Claytie Williams forgot he wasn't surrounded by reliable Texas good ole boys and said "Rape is like weather. As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it." A nearby reporter faithfully repeated the remark, and -- make no mistake about it -- this comment is what lost him the governorship of Texas.
Ann Richards tied this slice of hate (it was definitely not a joke) to Claytie's Big Oil anti-environmentalism, to his OTHER public woman-hating remark about treating Richards like a steer, and to his attempt at smearing her for being a recovering alcoholic. It disgusted enough people that she won by a narrow 49-47%.
Richards went on to completely re-energize the Texas busted economy, re-fund education, reform prisons, and do more good than this state has seen in decades. Claytie remained an anachronism, except, of course, to the misogynist, racist, classist white boys who agreed with everything he said.
Ann lost to Dubya in 1994, despite her wild success as a Governor, because Bush trumped her AA treated alcoholism with his "God saved me, I don't need no fucking 12 Steps" version (much more popular with all the secret drinks in evangelical circles) and because Karl Rove spread the rumor that she was a lesbian. When Bush ran for the Presidency, all the things for which he took credit as Texas's governor were, in fact, programs initiated under Ann Richards. WE knew he was an abject failure, lying about his past. But the rest of the country bought it.
So, all this was 18 years ago. That's not long enough to excuse the decision on the part of whoever it was in John McSame's campaign remuda that having Claytie host a fundraiser would be a smart move. Either they are too young to be put in charge of such things (and the Republicans do rely inordinately on young and stupid white boys for their grunt work) or they are so indoctrinated in the culture of hate speech they thought it would be a funny anecdote now. I mean, look how Hillary was smeared by anti-woman shit, with no backlash or outcry from most of the Democratic party, right?
Well, the McSame folks had to cancel their event once a news reporter made the connection that they apparently could not, but they've made no comment about returning the more than $300,000 Claytie has already raised for them.
You know, bedbugs can live for 18 months without a fresh meal. The subterranean life of Neocons seems to be much longer. The only way to cleanse our habitat of them is to flush them into the open and deny them any nutrition whatsoever. We can begin with Midland, Texas, which remains a hotbed for those would destroy the Constitution for profit, white supremacy, and the right to make rape "inevitable".
Below is Richards' campaign ad from 1990. Rest in peace, Ann. Some of us are carrying on your work.
THINGS I NEED: Emergency gasoline- or propane-powered generator of 2500 watts or better
THINGS I WANT: Books: Roads to Quoz: An American Mosey by William Least Heat Moon; The Round House by Louise Erdrich; Some Assembly Required by Annie and Sam Lamott; Silk Parachute by John McPhee Fruit, cheese, and/or nuts Non-acidic file storage boxes 1 small container treacle Decent working vacuum cleaner (have an electric broom, need heavier duty) Birdseed that attracts cardinals, jays, buntings, juncos, nuthatches and woodpeckers DVD with "An American in Paris" Cat food: W/D feline kibble Strawberry pot Turntable that converts vinyl to MP3s
ITEMS REMOVED FROM LIST:
"Singing In The Rain" and "Wizard of Oz" [gifted to me by Tammi Castillo] A Simple Revolution by Judy Grahn [gifted to me by Kitty Barber]
"Flight Behavior" by Barbara Kingsolver [gifted to me from Pam I.!!] 1 year donation to Heifer International for either chickens or a goat to an African farm woman [gifted to me from Win Farrell and Sheldon Linseth!!] 1 year sub to Netflix [gifted to me from Liza Cowan!!]
African prints [gifted to me by Melinda Costello and Margot Williams!!]
Cat costumes [gifted to me by Ian Williams and Therry Neilsen-Steinhardt!!]
1 year sub to Fold3 [gifted to me by Margot Williams!!]
Click here to give
Go to the above site and click (no cost to you) to help provide free mammograms for women who cannot afford them. At this site are tabs which will also allow you to Click to Give food for the hungry, free child healthcare, books to spread literacy, rainforest habitat protection, and food/care for animal rescue. Easy do-gooding!
BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR GINNY BATES
For background information on the characters and a basic summary of Ginny Bates, read this. For past chapters, go down this column to Labels, find Ginny Bates and follow the numbers in brackets after each label to read the chapter in more or less chronological order.
To see a floorplan of their house, go to the post Setting Up House. For a "genealogy" of the main characters, look at this graphic. To see the map of "their" Seattle, click on this. For a floorplan of their beach house near Galveston, check here. For the floorplan of their second house, after 2013, look here.
Why This Blog?
In the mid 1980's, I began creating a periodic newsletter for a close circle of friends, sharing information and thoughts -- like a holiday letter, only several times a year. I consumed a great deal of press-on typeface, Dover uncopyrighted graphics, and offset printing services. Sometimes I miss those days, the hands-on tangibility of it all. Two of those newsletters became infamous: The one where I was taken in by the "Alien Autopsy" fake documentary on Fox and wrote everybody about how this had to be exposed (listen, it was a difficult year for me) and the one where I sent everybody a color Xerox of the polyp photographed within my uterus.
My friend AJ brought me into the cyberworld, and eventually my newsletters became select group e-mails, named Maggie's Watershed. But now it's time to make use of even more expanded technology (and thanks to Liza Cowan for the nudge). This format will allow you to link easily to sites and sights I'm recommending, and will also give you the chance to comment. Ya'll come back now, heah?
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