It’s too bad this wasn’t scheduled for when the Ringling Brothers folks were here. We could have had two circuses in town at the same time. At least the protests outside were small and relatively peaceful. And may I just say that I fervently hope this is a faithful transcription and not a copy error:
About two dozen people, some waving American flags and carrying signs that read “stop the invasion protect or borders,” remained outside the courthouse once the hearing began.
I can only presume that means this guy was in attendance.
I suppose this is as good a time as any to note that the anti-immigration petitioners are now conceding that they will not qualify for the ballot this time around.
According to city law, Houston’s charter can only be changed once every two years. This fall, Mayor Bill White is proposing to alter a voter-approved limit on city revenues which was put into the charter in 2004. If the mayor’s item is passed by voters, the immigration petition can’t legally get on the ballot until November 2008.
However, if the mayor’s plan is voted down, or if it doesn’t make it onto the ballot, then an election on the immigration petition could be held as early as May 2007. That assumes the group circulating the petition gets 20,000 valid signatures from city residents approved by City Secretary Anna Russell in time.
[…]
City Council must vote to set all charter issues before they’re put on the ballot. The last council meeting before the deadline is August 23rd. City Attorney Arturo Michel says its possible someone could delay the item at that meeting, rendering it moot.
Organizers with the group ‘Protect Our Citizens’ said this week that they’ve collected thousands of signatures from people who support the proposal. They could not say when the petition might be turned in.
My understanding is that it’s not “possible” someone “could” delay the item at the next Council meeting, it’s guaranteed that someone will do so by putting a tag on it. And the reminder about one charter change per two years is nice to have. I’d be voting for the mayor’s proposed change to Prop 2 from 2004 anyway. Now I’ll feel better about it.
And finally, in the “two things are universal, hydrogen and stupidity” files, the DSCC stepped into a pile of mierda with an offensive ad that paired illegal immigration with terrorism.
The 35-second ad is posted on the Web site of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and attempts to show the failings of Republican leadership on the issue of national and international security. The ad mixes images of bin Laden, the 2004 train bombings in Madrid and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with footage of two people scaling a fence while the screen flash the words “millions more illegal immigrants.”
What began as an attempt to wrestle the traditionally Republican-dominated issue of security away during a hotly contested election year, instead risks driving Hispanic voters away from the Democratic Party, said Houston Councilwoman Carol Alvarado.
“You cannot compare people who come over for economic opportunities to people who are coming over to terrorize our country,” she said. “They should not be in the same message, same video or even in the same conversation.”
Alvarado wrote the committee chair, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., to urge the removal of the ad and warn that the “Democratic Party can only stand to lose by alienating millions of Latino voters.”
Gerry Birnberg, chair of the Harris County Democratic Party, also wrote Schumer and called for an end to donations to the campaign committee. “Give money to the candidates but not the (committee), because they are just wasting it,” he said.
Birnberg and Alvarado said they agreed with the majority of the ad and its overall criticism of Republican leadership.
“The (committee) is correct in criticizing the Republicans,” Birnberg said, “but (they were) over the top and out of line when they suggested that people coming to this country to work are somehow equivalently evil and dangerous as a madman terrorist.”
The ad is here. Birnberg is right: Edit out the bit about illegal immigration and you have a strong, effective message that doesn’t insult a large portion of the Democrats’ base. Whoever thought this up, and whoever approved it, needs to apologize and either fix or kill this. BOR, Stace (multiple posts, just start at the top and scroll down), and Marc Campos have all been on this.