Texas Women Check Your ID

I didn’t know Wendy Davis was such a threat until I read this article from the Texas Tribune. Last night, Lawrence O’Donnell had a woman judge on, who said she voted in her own court house but still had to fill out an extra form because her name on her drivers' license didn’t match her voter registration. She as many women do,used her maiden name as her middle name on her driver’s license 42 years ago. the law stipulates if the names are similar but not identical,you sign an affidavit to say your are the same person. When did this issue become a problem?

The law has already made it harder for the poor, the elderly, students, and those who cannot arrange a trip to their nearest DMV to vote;now we added another layer of confusion. What happens when people are confused?
 
The Texas election code requires that the names on a voter ID and in the voter registry to be “substantially similar.” The polling judge will determine if a voter is required to use provisional ballot.I believe the voter has six days to produce the required proof and then the vote  might not be counted.
I can see the confusion already involving recently married or divorced women. What about the newly arrived legal citizens from Mexico who usually take their parent’s name as part of their legal name? Ann Richards’s daughter said that she couldn’t find her marriage license, and she’s been married over thirty years.

Come on Texas GOP, you already have a substantial advantage in registered voters with all the Gerrymandered districts; let up a little and allow the best candidates to win.

I’m worried that we are making it harder to vote and it should be exactly the opposite.

I Can Spot A Smokescreen When I See One

I completely dismissed this LTTE titled “Column shows poor opinion of Hispanics” written by Brenda Cash of Shiner and printed in our local newspaper, the Victoria Advocate, as just another letter whining about someone’s opinion. Last night I actually read the letter.

The author insinuates that the Democrats have contempt and an insulting low opinion of what she calls our Tejano Americans. She used the term Tejano, so we’ll stay with Texans who identify as Mexican-Americans. I won’t elaborate on her accusation because nothing could be further from the truth.

No doubt that heritage runs deep in Texas is but that’s because Victoria is only 232 miles from Mexico, so the ties Mexican-Americans have to their heritage are a lot easier to maintain.

I read Jason Stanford’s article, and he never once equated  American citizens of Hispanic descent to any group that came here illegally. The illegal part does not remove the similarity in language, skin color, food, religious beliefs, heritage and the natural kinship. You can use any label; and you have (Tejano, Mexican-American, and Hispanic) and stereotype their work ethics, political and religious beliefs, but you completely miss the point. It’s all about the harsh rhetoric and tactics people on the right use daily to show their displeasure of those who come across our southern border illegally. Like your neighbors, coworkers, and friends in Shiner, I am not for open borders, but I can tell the difference of requiring birth certificates in a state where voter fraud is not a problem and using it for a political advantage. I took a look at the stats that show 600,000 people would be disenfranchised by the new voter ID laws and most of them would vote for Democrats. The emphasis that it would keep noncitizens from voting is a republican myth. Why would people who live in the shadows want to risk getting caught for a candidate or an issue that they don’t know anything about? You can take it further and you will find that Hispanic citizens don’t vote in great numbers, so Texas is using the voter ID laws like Florida and Virginia does when it purges their voter databases for every election.

Brenda Cash must not have read the exit polls that showed 72% of Hispanics voted for President Obama, so evidently they don’t agree with the Republican platform. Yes, there are the social issues where the Church takes a stance against homosexuality and abortion but there’s no verifiable proof that there is 100% compliance or close to it. I believe it’s human nature to have love for family and community even though conservatives claim it as their value. I don’t know of any mainstream Hispanic politicians who are preaching about lower taxes, regulations, and smaller government. Now that is a libertarian /Republican “I’ve got mine” idiosyncrasy. I did read where healthcare and good-paying jobs were at the top of their list of most Hispanics, as they are for most Americans.

The proof is always in the pudding. It will be interesting to see who will get most of the votes in the Rio Grande Valley. Will it be Greg Abbott or Wendy Davis? My money is on Wendy Davis because I’m not buying what Brenda Cash is trying to sell.

Can Wendy Davis win?

Texas Monthly said that there's better chance that water will run uphill than Wendy Davis beating Gregg Abbott. Dan Rather said that right now he wouldn't bet the trailer on it. Texas is a deep red state and 70% of registered voters are Republicans. An uphill battle for sure but I'm a bit   more optimistic because the first poll after both declared candidacies had Abbott ahead by eight points 29-21. The number that stuck out like a sore thumb was the 50% undecided. 

Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott is as far right as one can get. Dan Rather said Abbott makes Rick Perry look like a liberal and Ted Cruz like a moderate. His campaign has already called Wendy Davis the " gun hating abortion Barbie. " The Greg Abbott campaign has a lot of money, and they will use it to run one of the costliest and nastiest campaigns that Texas has seen in a very long while. Don't feel sorry for Wendy, because her campaign will have enough money to compete, and she's not a human piñata. 

It's going to be a nasty election with the locals endlessly posting the latest negative material they find on the Internet. I was proud that the two representatives for the local Democrats, Laura Kinnison and Jane Bernal chose to give their reasons for voting for Wendy  rather than to go after the opposition with negative remarks. Michael Cloud, chairman of the Victoria County GOP said " Wendy Davis has been recognized by independent sources as one of the most liberal senators in Texas. As opposed to a right wing tea party candidate? The GOP county chairman also said "she may do well to represent a party which seemed increasingly intent on advancing an agenda counter to principles found in our nation's Constitution." Republicans continue to think that they are the gatekeepers of the principles found in our nations constitution. Randy Mahoney asked " is Wendy Davis the best candidate that the Democrats can come up with? Seriously?" Yes and we'll see how well your Tea Party candidate does.

Wendy Davis will nationalize this campaign, and that will offset the millions the Abbott campaign has. Just this week, I've seen several positive stories about Wendy Davis on all the three major networks, CNN and MSNBC. Wendy Davis will continue to champion health care, education and women's rights but she has enough gravitas to ward off the sexists' remarks coming from her opponent. It's just a hunch, but Greg Abbott cannot help himself; he  will eventually pull a Clayton Williams. 

I can't wait for the first debate, where Greg Abbott will have to explain why he refuses the free federal money in the Obamacare Medicaid expansion. I'm going to love to hear his answer for improving our education system without increasing funds to it. Wendy Davis will let him take credit for our good job numbers, even thou it's due to our natural resources,because she will then make the argument that she will put that money to good use rather than give businesses more tax-cuts.

The governor's race will be a test on how far-right  Texas is. Are there enough moderate Republican women and independents to squeak out a victory for Wendy Davis? I say this because her threshold is limited due to gerrymandering, voter suppression laws, and voter apathy.  

A Failure to Communicate

People don’t say, “let’s discuss this issue and see if we can come to some agreement” anymore. It’s even more prevalent when it comes to the social issues like abortion and gay-marriage.

The Texas abortion law, SB5, took center stage this weekend and both sides stuck to their talking points. I don’t talk about abortion issues because of my ignorance of the subject. I did notice that the conservatives wanted to talk about the 20- week abortion cutoff period but not so much about leaving a large state like Texas with only 5 abortion clinics. The pro- choice people took offense to men in government making reproductive health care choices for women. As far as I can tell, Wendy Davis and others took a stand to prevent SB5 and other forced legislation like the one that was signed by Ohio governor John Kasich. The Ohio abortion bill was inserted into a budget bill in order for it to have a greater chance of passing. The bill mandated a trans-abdominal ultra sound for women seeking an abortion. It also would cut off public funding to rape crisis centers that advised women on abortions. Then there is Jim DeMint ,who insisted that some women wanted the state to force them to have an ultrasound by saying“ thousands of women want an informed choice, want the opportunity to get a free ultrasound, which they can get not from Planned Parenthood but from a lot of these pregnancy centers.” And free of charge; how about that? The bottom line; women have been bearing children since the beginning, yet some conservative men still think they know what’s best for them. They insinuate that women and their doctors are so dumb that legislation must be enacted that spells out when they can and cannot do. They rarely talk about the mother or the doctor’s decision or what happens after child birth, when they are cutting off funding for low-cost women’s health clinics, contraception and Plan B. I hope I didn't mess up the message for women but if I did be sure and let me know.

One conservative was complaining because the liberals had the audacity to complain when they won three out of the four Supreme Court decisions last week. I never thought it was a sporting event; I always thought that court rulings were an interpretation of constitutional law.

I saw the perfect example of a failure to communicate in the George Zimmerman trial last week. There we had a veteran trial lawyer in Donald West going against a less sophisticated 19 -year old. It was as they were speaking different languages on different planets. Mr. West was vigorously trying to defend his client and the witness did not want to be there. The defense lawyer seemed surprised that some people in some neighborhoods do not willing co-operate with the police. He was equally surprised that the witness did not equate the word “cracker” with racism or that a teenager would leave out an important detail in her testimony to protect the family of Trayvon Martin.

Just this morning, a poster wrote that LeBron James and the Miami Heat were unpatriotic and disrespectful because they were moving from side- to -side as the National Anthem was being played, as opposed to holding their hand over their heart like the San Antonio Spurs were. Professional athletes hear the national anthem over 100 times during the course of the season but in this case, it just might have been nervous jitters instead of it being disrespectful.

There’s a reason we have we can’t communicate when it comes to national politics. Right now, in the House of Representatives, there are 234 Republicans. Only four Republican representatives are in a district that represents both parties. There’s only a 10% Hispanic population within the district represented by those 230 Republican representatives because of gerrymandering. It will only get worse now that the Supreme Court has struck down the pre-clearance provision. There’s an interesting article in today’s Politico blog stating that the gerrymandered districts will benefit the GOP in the very short term, but it will doom them in the long run with the independents that they need to win a national election.

I see signs where we are getting better at communicating because certain myths are no longer taken for granted. For example: It wasn’t too long ago people were still believing the urban myths about welfare abuse because I see more people are now comparing that abuse and cost to others, such as the farm subsidies. Twitter, Facebook, Google are the equalizers that keep people more informed nowadays. Of course in some cases those sources of information can be manipulated to keep people misinformed.

What’s it Gonna Take Texas Democrats?

I’m tired of watching the Texas Democratic Party get steam rolled, time after time, after time. After 1994, I lost interest in Texas politics because that’s how long it’s been since a Democrat has won a state-wide election. I know it’s an upward climb because the gerrymandered districts look like a snake trail to favor white Republican candidates. I also understand elections matter because the winner gets to draw the congressional districts. Whining is not the answer, so we must follow the examples of the 2012 voters, who fought the voter suppression laws by standing in lines for hours; in defiance.

I don’t think Governor Rick Perry will run for governor this time around, so Senator Wendy Davis would probably run against Atty. General Greg Abbott, who is to the right of the governor we have now. I think she needs to paint Abbott as the right-wing extremist he is, early in the campaign. Ordinarily, Senator Davis would have a funding disadvantage but her recent notoriety gained her a check from Moveon.org for $240,000.Some might say that money from Moveon.Org, and Hollywood liberals will hurt her chances in Texas, but I think she can overcome that, besides, I doubt she would get votes from that crowd anyway. Texas is a red state and not a bastion for independents. The only negative is giving up that important Senate seat.

The new voter ID law will certainly hurt since 600,000 voter eligible people do not have a valid picture ID. Student IDs will not be accepted and over 80% of the 600,000 without pictured IDS are Hispanic. The rest are elderly who normally don’t have a need for a picture ID.

Texas Democrats have a problem with name recognition and a weak bench but after Wendy’s filibuster, which was seen nationally by 200,000 folks, more and more networks are asking Texas Democrats to appear on their shows. Rick Perry doesn’t realize how damaging his condescending words towards Senator Davis were. He’s the 2013 version of Clayton Williams. A Wendy Davis/Julian Castro gives the Democrats a one/two punch as governor and lieutenant governor and name recognition. They won’t take over the House and the Senate anytime soon, but it puts their foot in the front door.

Wendy certainly has a lot of ammunition that she can use because she can point to GOP controlled states where they all have overreached. She can stick with education, health care, and a living wage, as their part of her platform. She can let the Republicans talk all they want to about small businesses because most people are wage earners. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hillary Clinton made Texas one of her frequent stops. Her opponent can demonize Hillary at their own peril. When Clinton ran in the Texas Democratic primary against Barack Obama in 2008 - about 3 million voters showed up – that’s double the number who turned out in the 2012 GOP primary when Mitt Romney was the Republican nominee.

I continue to think local elections don’t have much to do with party affiliation and people at that level  will change parties depending on which way the wind blows.

Nationally, I’m very optimistic because of the make-up of today’s GOP. We have a local longtime Republican who thinks climate change is about fluctuating temperatures. No, we already know that the planet is hot and we are now discussing the rising sea levels and the more destructive storms due to the heat. We have another local poster who thinks Republican men should tell women about their health care choices. I can tell you the result of the first Republican who runs on a platform of supporting an amendment to ban gay- marriage. House Republicans representing very conservative districts will always vote against a comprehensive immigration reform bill, and the federal party will suffer the consequences. The national GOP is just now waking up to the fact that most voters are wage earners not business people. Let them keep supporting coal fired plants,banning the EPA,getting rid of the IRS and more tax cuts for rich people. The Democrats need to continue to support the ACA,background checks,students,the poor and tax reform and they will continue to win national elections. North Carolina under their new Republican governor just eliminated unemployment insurance.

It’s up to us, do we want to continue to be door mats or do we take advantage of the everyday gifts the GOP hands us? It’s in our hands but there are 1.2 million unregistered voters in Texas and at least that many who don’t vote. We have the numbers;it’s getting them to the polls where we have a huge problem.

Preclearance Struck Down

I was disappointed but not surprised that the five conservative Supreme Court judges voted to overturn the coverage formula used by the government to determine which states are required to get federal permission before they make any changes to voting laws is unconstitutional.

President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law 48 years ago but today five men in black robes  ruled that racism is no longer an issue, as far as voting rights. The 1965 Voting Rights Act "established extensive federal oversight of elections administration, providing that states with a history of discriminatory voting practices (so-called "covered jurisdictions") could not implement any change affecting voting without first obtaining the approval of the Department of Justice, a process known as preclearance."

Like I said,I was not surprised at the ruling because Judge Roberts famously said “ The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race, is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Affirmative action has been sent down to lower courts for now,but  it will soon be on the chopping block.

Texas, North Carolina, Virginia and other states with questionable voter suppression laws just got the thumbs up from the Supreme Court. Those states won’t rein in their controversial practices but instead stretch them to move those boundaries even further, daring the Fed to act.

Congress can renew the voting rights act because the court ruled that the current formula that determines which states are covered by Section 5 is unconstitutional, but it didn’t strike down Section 5, (although was hanging on by thin thread )which requires those affected states to have changes to their voting laws cleared by the Justice Department or a federal court in Washington, D.C., before they go into effect.  With today's make up of Congress, I don't think that the appetite to renew the Voter’s Right Act is there. I bet there's  a lot of fist bumping among those on the right.

The court's action might have just provided the fuel that was needed to get Democrats, liberals, progressives and young people to the polls in 2014.  When Florida and Ohio imposed their voter suppression laws in 2012, it backfired because people waited several hours on the day of election to cast their votes. It’s going to be harder but not impossible to overcome.  Remember those districts can be redrawn every ten years unless SCOTUS rules that census data can longer be used after the year 2019.

It's a "breaking news" bonanza for the media, with Snowden being on the run, SCOTUS's rulings,President’s President Obama’s climate-change  speech,  and  a 13-hour  filibuster in the Texas Senate by Senator Wendy Davis to stop the legislator from closing 80% of the abortion clinics in Texas. I thought I was going to sit back and enjoy the George Zimmerman trial but as it is, I was already using PIP,so now I will have to record some of the events to view later.

Finally…I Get It

I finally put the pieces together, and I now think I know why the right thinks the Benghazi incident is a political winner for them. It's not that unusual for the opposition party not trusting the White House but this time, they are trying to lay out a narrative of deception for political gain.

The Republican legislators have sided with the president on foreign policy matters when he stuck to the methods used by the previous administration. President Obama deviated from the Bush doctrine when he decided to enforce the Status of Forces Agreement that was signed by President Bush to exit Iraq. He again angered the right when he decided that the United States was not going to intervene in Libya alone. The president's team initiated the bombing of Libya but then quickly turned over the combat operations to the League of Arab Nations and Europe. We still supported the effort with our sophisticated radar systems and logistics. At the same time, the president was getting credit for killing Al Qaeda leaders and dismantling their operations. The neocon wing of the Republican Party never warmed up to Obama because they thought that he should've done more when the Iranian people started protesting. They won't tell you that the leader of that protest now supports a nuclear Iran.

The president's campaign rhetoric of “Bin Laden is dead and GM is alive" alienated the opposition so much that they were looking for ways to give him little or no credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden. Last month, the attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi left the administration open for legitimate criticism on foreign policy. There's no question that the communication effort by the administration left a lot to be desired. The Republicans are trying to say that the administration did not want to say it was an al Qaeda operation because that would show al Qaeda has resurfaced and not on the run as the administration has said. There's an obscure boundary in saying that elements of Al Qaeda are still out there and saying that, realistically we must accept  that we will never be completely safe. A couple of days ago the FBI caught a terrorist who wanted to blow up the Federal Reserve. The Republicans are even more frustrated because the investigation probably won't come to any conclusion until after the election. That reminds me of the 2004 election, but the shoe was on the other foot.

I can understand why Mitt Romney introduced his 20% cut across the board tax plan in the primaries, but I don't understand why he's sticking with it. The 20% tax cut across the board, like Herman Cain's 9-9-9, is the shiny object voters cling to. Everyone wants a simple tax plan that fits their definition of tax fairness. It's too late for Mitt Romney to abandon his tax plan, so he's hoping that the media and voters don't realize that his plan is mathematically impossible. He wants to run out the clock knowing that his party just wants to win. You will see his campaign change the subject when a question is asked about the details of the plan or his stance on controversial issues.

The polls are all over the map; if you don't like the results of one poll, it's not that hard to find one that's more favorable. This morning Lawrence O'Donnell said the same-old people are being questioned because in the days of caller ID, "who answers unsolicited calls?” Even an avid poll watcher like me is starting to become a skeptic. Joe Scarborough said no one believes the Gallop Poll, which has Mitt Romney ahead by seven points. Former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell agreed and said that some polls had Mitt Romney within the margin of error in Pennsylvania, but the campaign long pulled their ads knowing that Obama will win that state.

It's funny how  how things change. When I first joined the VA forum Bill & Hillary Clinton were the most vilified politicians in American and on our forum. Today,they are the most admired.

The president went on the Daily Show last night emphasizing that we need to send more Democrats to Washington. While it's true, that Texas will give their electoral votes to Mitt Romney, that's not a reason to stay away from the polls. We still have a say in sending Rose Meza Harrison to Washington instead of Tea Party Republican Blake Farenthod. It's the same way for the senate if we really want to stop obstructionism. We have a chance of sending Paul Sadler to represent us as a United States senator instead of another Tea Party Republican like Ted Cruz. This election will be really close, so let's send a message by giving President Obama the victory on electoral votes and the popular vote.

“I’m the president”

It struck me when President Obama said these words" I’m no longer just a candidate. I’m the president “but then after I thought about it, I realized that those words weren't meant for me; they were for those who have marginalized him in the last four years. I remembered all the fuss about him talking to our schoolchildren because some thought he was going to poison their minds. I remember when the president of the United States had to send a staffer to Hawaii to retrieve his birth certificate, so we could move away from the silliness However; I also remember watching Fox and Friends where Glenn Beck called the president a racist. It's funny how we became immune to all the insults but what struck me was giddiness because the president was unable to bring the Olympics to the United States. So is this is what the Republicans were trying to tell us when they said that the Democrats were rooting for failure in Iraq during the Bush years? This is why my Republican friends will never understand how that sign that read “Pray for Obama" was seen as just one more nail in the coffin.

I've seen way too many Obama speeches to the put a grade on last night's speech, so I'll leave it to the critics. I thought the speech was an appeal to the base with a humble plea for us to remain hopeful because, if we don't, someone else will fill in the void. I think Joe's Biden's speech, and the president's speech were well coordinated because the vice president talked of the many important decisions a president has to make. President Obama then summed it up with a quote from Abraham Lincoln when he said “I have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that I had no place else to go.” We don't have a dictatorship, but a president has to sign and make decisions on important pieces of legislation. That's what it's all about; after Congress have their say; we need to have a responsible and competent person to either veto or sign the piece of legislation that will have an impact on our lives. The president picked up where Clinton left off by saying it's still going to be a long hard struggle, but we will travel down that road together. He explained that the hope and change was us and not how his opponents and the media portrayed it. We made the changes by insisting that our representatives pass Obamacare.

I had a good laugh when the president said “
the Republicans and their nominee, Mitt Romney, want to take the nation back to the same old policies they have espoused for years, said Obama, in which tax cuts and regulation reduction are the answer to every ill.

“Have a surplus? Try a tax cut. Deficit too high? Try another,” the president said. “Feel a cold coming on? Take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations, and call us in the morning!”

Didn't America's uncle, Joe Biden, give a heartfelt inspirational speech? I call him Uncle Joe because he reminds me of the family member who will slip up now and then but always has your back.

The Republicans will send out a political wonk to challenge Joe Biden in Paul Ryan. Representative Ryan will be cordial, respectful and knowledgeable, and at times he will look like he's overwhelming the vice president, but I'm not worried at all because Joe Biden has never lost an election, and he's been through this before. Biden will know every piece of legislation that Paul Ryan has voted for, or has opposed, and he will use it as leverage.

Who was that John Kerry, who spoke last night? If he used the fiery rhetoric that he used against Romney for his lack of foreign policy experience against the Swift Voters, he would've been President Kerry. I was surprised that we didn't hear from Sarah Palin last week but even more surprised by the remark she made last night in response to Kerry's speech when he said, "Folks, Sarah Palin said she could see Russia from Alaska. Mitt Romney talks like he’s only seen Russia by watching ‘Rocky IV." Sarah Palin responded by sayin“I think he diminished himself by even mentioning my name. How does he know my name?” the former Alaska governor said Thursday on Fox Business Network. “I mean, aren’t these guys supposed to be these big-wig elites who don’t waste their time on the little people like me?” Was that a reality check?

It was really strange not seeing the GOP trout out the generals and military dignitaries last week at their convention. They doubled down on that mistake when Mitt Romney did not mention Afghanistan or acknowledge the troops in his acceptance speech. The Democrats saw that opening and took full advantage. Conventions are about optics. Then again, the Romney campaign will have a hard time convincing anyone that Obama is weak on terrorism.

I'm glad the conventions are over, but I've learned a lot. I learned that I was wrong when I thought that state politics don't matter. The Democrats believe that Texas will become a swing state by 2016. They were helped out when the Feds ruled against the ruling Republican Party on redistricting and voter ID. As Democrats, we can help tremendously by voting for Rosa- Meza Harrison for U.S. Representative in the 27th Congressional District of Texas, Paul Sadler as our United States senator and Alex Hernandez Jr. for State Representative of District 30. If we don't show an interest, we can't blame the DNC for not supporting candidates in Texas. Unfortunately, our great state will give all its electoral votes to Mitt Romney, but we can make them work for it in 2016.

Will Texas move to the extreme right?

It's time for a “not interested in Texas politics" person like me, to sit up and take notice because it's possible that Texas can get more ultra conservative than it already is. It could take the word "ultra" to another level.

The victory by Ted Cruz Tuesday night set up a political shakeup where a whack job like Debbie Medina could be a legitimate candidate for governor. The Texas house has 40 members who are not coming back, and it is expected they will be replaced with more conservative Republicans if you can imagine that scenario. Rick Perry will not be a favorite because of his flubs in the presidential debates, and Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst is coming off an upset loss. The far right feels emboldened because the establishment has been defeated. I can see where Atty. General Greg Abbott, the main power behind the voter ID law, will have the heads up in the governor's race.

We keep talking about being broke, but Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst spent and raised $19 million and Cruz raised and spent about $8 million. Outside groups spend another five million against the two candidates, but they supported Cruz with $2.8 million compared to $684,871 for Dewhurst according to CRP data.

I have to give the forces behind Ted Cruz, their political props because this time, they picked a Harvard graduate who can go on the talk shows with less bellicose in his rhetoric. I started laughing when I saw one of Ted Cruz campaign ads that shunned David Dewhurst for being a moderate and a compromiser. Really! Is at all you have? It's been said that the only difference between Cruz and Dewhurst are that the former had a longer list of federal agencies to abolish.




Don't be fooled by this sheep in wolf's clothing because senator to be, Ted Cruz, is 100% tea party. The pundits are already trying to tout his appeal to the Hispanic community. Not so fast, as Gail Collins of the New York Times put it in describing the rise of Mayor Julian Castro of San Antonio and his twin brother Joaquin, who is a state legislator and is running for a safe democratic seat in Congress. She jokingly said," we will see your one Cuban -American Harvard law graduate who memorized the constitution when he was in high school (Cruz) and raise you, Mexican American twins who went to Harvard's law and got elected mayor and state representative." She left out the part of Mayor Julian Castro being the keynote speaker at the democratic convention. Wasn't Barack Obama the 2004 keynote speaker? We know how well it went for him. The pundits are wrong thinking that Ted Cruz will bring more Mexican- Americans to the Republican Party. Mexican Americans are not swayed by surnames, but they are by the harsh rhetoric.

I've eaten two Chic-fil-A, sandwiches in my entire life, and I didn't think they were that great, but the recent controversy will not influence me either way. It's much ado about nothing, but I see it's continuing anyway. I do wish people would understand that free speech only applies if the government tries to suppress it. The private sector cans infringe on your supposed free speech rights and there is not a lot you can do about it. Oh well, Mike Hucklebee and Ted Cruz benefited and so did a couple of mayors, so to each, their own.