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The Honeymoon is over: time to get back to work

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Well, they do factor into this post This past Saturday, I attended the last “Democracy Cafe” for the year here in Houston. This was an informal group founded by Yvonne Myles shortly after Trump began his second term. I found out about the group via Indivisible and have attended sessions since March of 2024.  The premise is simple. Break-out groups that discuss two topics. One person stays at a table while the others at the table reconvene elsewhere. This table “host” keeps the group on track, contributes, and takes notes. At the end of the second session, the group reconvenes as a whole and bullet points from each table are shared and discussed. From there, the Democracy Cafe team summarizes the results and shares them with attendees. Over the past two years, I’ve been routinely amazed at the discussions. Typically, I have found myself surrounded by remarkable people from all walks of life, and to a single one of them, far more accomplished and smarter than I. I’ve played table hos...
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A sigh of relief. First response to a message and a headline.

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"You can't disappear democracy" protest art. John Barrettt, 2025.   Yes, I am glad. I am relieved. But I’ve lived too long and seen how, all too easily, havoc can be wreaked further in shorter amounts of time. I received a text message from my sister at 8 a.m. that Texas, at least at the state legislature level, has changed. Before I went to bed last night, I skimmed emails to find that both houses have flipped.  I am relieved. I have also not read any follow-ups, analyses or anything of the Republican responses. Not because I want to “bask in victory” or because I feel like all is well in the world. Quite the opposite, by which I don’t mean I’m going to rain on a parade or not celebrate a heartening development, but because all this means is that for the next two months, I suspect the Regime and the Occupier and their enablers the Oligarchs are going to marshal all they can to retard any progress, further dismantle what they can of the rule of law, and do their level bes...
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The Texas Mid-Terms: The Urgency of it All

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Visit the League of Women Voters Texas here “The history of the country is the story of organized people against organized money.”  - Clayton Tucker, candidate for Texas Agriculture Commissioner Next week, early voting begins in Texas. The stakes are high and I doubt seriously that we’ll see a Blue Wave. We might get a Purple Bruise, though, which I’d be pleased with. At the very least, Talarico may well beat Paxton and Gina Hinojosa is running one point behind Abbott for governor.  All of that said, I am cautiously and not overly-optimistic about the mid-terms here. As Sharon Williams pointed out in an email recently, “Texans are notorious non-voters. In an election as important as the 2024 Presidential Election, turnout here actually fell by almost 6%. And if you think those voters fell out in equal measure between Republicans and Democrats, you would be kidding yourself.  Republicans are much more likely to cast ballots than those on the more progressive end of the spe...
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