A Wandering Eyre

DLK is featured on NPR’s Get My Vote page. Rock on, David!

–Jane, librarians are cool

I must admit I am still a bit fuzzy on how the delegates shake out in terms of caucus and popular votes here in Texas, but I thought it would be fun to share my first caucus experience.

I voted Tuesday, like normal and then returned home to my parents house* to use my Mom’s old computer, with old Windows, and old IE to do some work. Exhausted from those efforts, I took a nap. After a nice dinner with my parents, I headed back to my voting site to caucus at 7pm.

The Democrats were in a tiny room in an apartment complex that catered to older, retired people on scooters. The room was cramped and as more people kept coming in, some of the people attending started getting grumpy. I was just excited. Some less grumpy people around me, who had lived in Texas longer than I have been alive, never remembered having a caucus before this one and were excited with me. We waited, some patiently, some not, for the Caucus Chair to come in and give us instructions.

At this point some of the older ladies, two of which were on scooters, started griping about this taking a long time. We had been waiting about 10-15 minutes at this point and it was about 7:15. Caucusing was set to start no later than 7:30. “I hope we start soon. It is past my bedtime.” If I heard that complaint once, I heard it about 10 times. I wanted to ask her if she was voting for Hillary and then tell her to just go to bed already if she was, but I am nice, remember?

I am in a small caucus district, so I was not expecting many people. When the Caucus Chair came in the overflowing room he was shocked. He said in the last election, 8 Democrats voted in the caucus district. That day, almost 300 Dems had voted, and 57 of us had returned to caucus. We ended up switching rooms with the Republicans, who had a larger room and fewer people.

The process was fairly simple. We lined up and the volunteers checked to make sure we had voted earlier in the day. We then signed a sheet of paper with our name, contact information, and our vote: Hillary or Barack. While the two volunteers counted up the votes, we split off into separate sides of the room and counted ourselves. We were split 50/50 for the candidates, which was confirmed later by the official count.

Since we were evenly split, each group chose 5 delegates and 5 alternates to attend the County caucus this Saturday. From there, delegates will be chosen to go to Austin, and after that, the delegates chosen will go to Denver for the DNC in August.

As I said, how the actual numbers shake out in terms of how Barack and Hillary actually get delegates from this process is confusing, but it was fun and exhilarating to participate. The whole process was over at about 8:20. I hope those cranky old ladies made it home to their beds. I was right. The crankiest of the ladies did vote for Hillary.

–Jane, cranky ladies or no, it was a shiny experience

*Due to some complications while trying to register in my own county, I am still registered to vote at my parent’s address under my maiden name. As a result, I had to trek across town to do my civic duty. Hopefully, I can get this issue resolved soon, before the November elections.

Barack Obama in Houston

Originally uploaded by Wandering Eyre

This is a picture taken by one of our student workers, Ursula, who was able to get a ticket to the rally.

There were 20,000+ people there and I heard it was fabulously amazing. One of my friends described the energy level like a tent revival. I saw one video on You Tube where the person holding the camera was so excited they were shaking.

–Jane, isn’t politics fun?

I should definitely be working on a writing deadline, but I am sidetracked to this space by something I have been meaning to write for quite awhile. I think today is appropriate to post this because Barack Obama is in my city today. If politics makes you grumpy, please skip this post and go elsewhere.

It has been a long time since I blogged about politics. I love juicy politics, I love Presidential Campaign Season, and this season is shaping up to be fabulously entertaining. We even have Chuck Norris in the fray! You have to be amused by that.

Some disclaimers up front: I am a native Texan and a rare Democrat in a very, very red state. I support Obama because I like his policies, ideas, and he is quite nice on the eyes.

The polls show that Clinton and Obama are virtually tied for Texas. We have a lot of delegates to give, 193 in total, which are decided both by a popular vote and a caucus. I know, it is strange, but we essentially vote twice. Some of the national news stories are saying that Democrats here would be happy with either candidate winning. As a native Texan and an unscientific observer, I am writing this to disagree.

All the major newspapers in the major cities have backed Obama, including The Houston Chronicle, The Austin-American Statesman, The Dallas Morning News, and the Ft. Worth Star Telegram. The endorsement I enjoyed the most was from the Burnt Orange Report, an Austin blog that usually talks state and local politics. In my unscientific polling of Democrats I know, Obama is big the winner.

Hillary is problematic for people in my sphere. Granted, the majority of people I know are Republican. I do live in Texas you know. Most of the people I know hate Hillary. They hated Bill and they hate Hillary. When I write hate, I do mean hate. People I know hate her with a visceral feeling I have never understood. I do not know where the feeling originated, but it exists here. It is an unreasonable hatred. I worry that if the Democrats choose her as their candidate, they will spend their time and resources fighting the hate and not talking the issues.

I do not dislike Hillary Clinton. She is a strong person who has done some very good things. I think she would do a good job, but I would rather have Barack Obama in the position.

I believe in Obama’s message of hope. Clinton, seeking to attack his strongest attribute, has been lambasting Obama’s use of words. It is a good strategy on her part. They inspire us to be better and strive for a better country. I am sick of having a president lead us that makes me cringe every time he opens his mouth. I want someone I can proudly proclaim as mine, someone smart and articulate. I am not saying that Clinton is not both of those things, but that hate issue I mentioned before gets in the way of her words.

Barack Obama makes you believe that hope is something we can reach for and hold in our hands. His words inspire me and his policies are sound, so I am hoping for him to some out the victor in my state and across the country.

–Jane, a bleeding heart to the end

In addition to letting their dog poop in your yard and not picking it up, they may also be housing the server that is phishing for you. The U.S., according to Symantec, is the origin of 31% of all malicious attacks and 51% of all phishing servers are on U.S. soil. (Obviously, those of you that have read my previous post realize that I am in the middle of reading my technology feeds.)

Last time a percentage like 51% was bandied about I think I got the raw deal then as well, for about six years now.

–Jane, only two more years to go

Thanks to Michael Stephens for the information. This is a follow-up post for this previous installment.
Another bill was submitted on the same day as the Social Networking Website Prohibition Act. The other bill is amazing in its differences as it actually calls for education of children instead of censorship. The alternative bill was submitted by Sen. Dan Kotowski called the Internet Safety Education Act. Way to go, Illinois. You elected one smart guy. Let’s work on getting more, ok?
–Jane, *sigh*

And the DOPA insanity continues on a state level in Illinois as State Sen. Matt Murphy willfully misunderstands exactly how the Internet works. He has introduced a bill called the Social Networking Website Prohibition Act.

Hey, remember that one time we had something with “prohibition” in the title and it turned out that it was a reactionary, non-enforceable, idiotic law?

How did that work out for you?

*sigh*

–Jane, the Lord preserve her from her lawmakers

I have been catching up on my podcasts the past couple of days on my drive in. I really only listen to two podcasts, The Signal and Firefly Talk. I am a woman of singular taste.

This morning, I listened to a bonus show of Firefly talk during which they replayed Joss’ speech during an Equality Now function. It is only about 8 minutes long and you can listen to it on YouTube (see previous link).

His speech is short and wonderful. He is the original BDH and I am happy to be a fangirl.
–Jane, “equality is not a concept”

As a Democrat, I am tickled pink this morning. My district, formally known as Tom DeLay’s, will now be represented by Democrat Nick Lampson.

Unfortunately, Rick Perry (R) will be our governor again, but I think it is the power of his hair that keeps him going. His hair can withstand hurricane force winds and always look exactly the same. It defines the laws of Science. A colleague and I were discussing the next governor’s race (yes, far down the road) and we think Bill White, current Mayor of Houston could have a shot at de-hairing Perry.

–Jane, winning the hearts and minds

The Governor’s Race in Texas has started gaining a lot of momentum in the news lately. I have gotten back in the habit of reading the Burnt Orange Report, one of my favorite local, political blogs.

An entry on Saturday, recounts a discussion with Kinky Friedman that did not turn out well. Kinky has taken some hits lately in the media and I am sure this does not help. The comments are an excellent example of how the internet turns people into idiots. Sometimes, the internet is the most. hilarious. thing. ever. Where else, can so many people exhibit their idiocy for all to see?

–Jane, case in point