Monday, May 12, 2003
The Republicans call them cowards. They view themselves as patriots, preventing the tyranny of the majority. Whatever happens, I think this is a very interesting turn of events. It may be a Pyrric victory but at least some Democrats are making a stand. It is an age old question - Whether to stand on principle and die or compromise to fight another day? American literature generally applauds the noble, if doomed, gesture. I wonder how this will be viewed? 11:38:28 PM
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Some of the most divisive political battles in the US have to do with the mapping of new districts. Now, in Texas, most of the Democrats in the House have left the state, preventing a quorum from being maintained and effectively stopping all legislature actions. The Texas Rangers have been sent out, since House rules allow them to arrest any absent members and bring them back to a House where the doors are closed to prevent anyone from leaving until the current business is settled. But the Democrtas are in Oklahoma, where the Rangers have no jurisdiction. So the Feds are being asked to help. I expect that many political careers will be forever altered by this, resulting in more Democrat losses than gains but it sure is fun to watch.
I had forgotten just how much fun Texas politics could be. This was done once before, on the Senate side, about 20 years ago. I remember how fun and exciting that was. The most fun was a Constitutional Convention in 1974 that was intended to rewrite the horribly arcane constituion of Texas. After spending seven months and over $3 million, they failed to vote for the new document, allowing us to keep using the same old one. Texas politics is much more enjoyable than Washington State. We only have to have a majority of the House for a quorum, not 2/3rds. That makes it much harder for a minority to disrupt the House. In addition, the sergeant at arms can have the absent members arrested only if a majority of those present vote for that. Besides, the Washington State Patrol does not sounds a good as the Texas Rangers. 11:03:32 PM
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Yes, it is a Federal crime to threaten the President with bodily harm but as a parent I would be extremely upset by this. No notification of the parent when the Secret Service interrogates students in private!! As the ACLU said 'If they thought it was serious enough of an incident to call in the Secret Service, it should have been serious enough to get the parents involved.' Open discussion in class can bring up all sorts of language. A good instructor would know how to respond to inappropriate words in a way to educate, not intimidate. I guess that sort of teacher is lacking in Oakland. I hope the boys' parents used some inappropriate words the next time they spoke to the teacher and her principal. 10:39:12 PM
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If WMD existed in large amounts and if Saddam was an ally of terrorists, why has the government been so lackadaisical? If they existed, I would be very worried about where they are now. Perhaps the White House hopes to lure the terrorists into a false sense of security before swooping down. But, considering how long it has taken to get to some of the major areas of nuclear material (i.e. that old nuclear plant) or that the Iraq Survey team has not even gotten to Iraq yet, I wonder how serious the White House was about these materials falling into the wrong hands? 9:37:23 PM
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