Is Texas democracy worse than Ukraine?
I saw this piece on a blog called Mullings. The author of the blog is Rich Galen, who I believe worked for Kay Bailey Hutchison at one time.
FROM DNIPROPETROVSK, UKRAINE: I’ve been here for two days preparing for, and actually observing, the Ukrainian parliamentary elections. I was part of the International Observer Mission in that effort. During the day before I hopped on an airplane from Kiev to come down here we were briefed by various government and political leaders. One person in our group asked whether international observers could remain in a precinct to watch the counting process. You may have missed this, but the other day the Attorney General of Texas offered the theory that if international observers interfered in the elections in Texas next week they could be arrested. The Ukrainian official answer the question about remaining in the precinct by saying, “Yes. Ukraine is not Texas.”
Glenn Smith says:
One would think Abbott and other Republicans are so proud of their election process that they would invite observers…except, it’s difficult for them to hide their polling place vigilantes, dead-voter lists, and other voter suppression, intimidation schemes.
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Blue Dogs Reply:
October 29th, 2012 at 11:32 am
Abbott is going to be the next Governor of Texas in 2014 succeeding Perry, who will retire.
So folks, better get used to him for awhile.
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Bodhisattva Reply:
October 29th, 2012 at 1:31 pm
Thanks for the heads up, Greg.
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Bill says:
The citizens of Texas should be outraged at Abbott’s grandstanding on this issue. If Texas has nothing to hide and considers itself a paragon of fairness and impartiality, it should welcome international observers so that we can show other countries how elections are done.
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Blue Reply:
October 29th, 2012 at 10:43 am
You are deeply naive.
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Boris says:
Galen is trying to be too cute by half. The AG said if anyone interfered they’d be arrested. Anyone can observe an election. All they have to do is sign in with the election judge. Now if anyone interferers with the voters and the process the judge then has the duty to have them expelled, and arrested if need be.
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Pat Reply:
October 29th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
Boris, go read the fire-back press release from Andrade’s team. They were flabbergasted and a little irate by Abbott’s statement. Galen isn’t being too cute. Abbott was scoring political points.
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austin dissident says:
People who pretend to believe that Ukraine is a free democratic country like the U.S. should have to move into the cell next to Yulia Tymoshenko, the pro-Western former PM. The UN observers generally reflect the kind of “democracy” seen in countries like Ukraine and Putin’s Russia. Texans should feel no obligation to play along with the farce.
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Blue Reply:
October 29th, 2012 at 10:43 am
Exactly.
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Boris Reply:
October 29th, 2012 at 11:09 am
Amen!
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ANON says:
The Ukraine has better leadership.
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Wille says:
I would be all for sending political tools like Rick Perry and Greg Abbott to the Ukraine for leadership lessons.
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austin dissident says:
So they could learn to send folks like you to prison for the impertinence of disagreeing?
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Spiro Eagleton Reply:
October 29th, 2012 at 11:11 am
If this were Ukraine Bill White, Chris Bell, and Tony Sanchez would all be in prison for daring to have run for office.
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Jerry Only Reply:
October 29th, 2012 at 1:59 pm
if perry could have found a way to do that, he would have.
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anon-p says:
As a precinct chair who works closely with our precinct’s election judges, I don’t want any foreigner or citizen loitering inside the polling place unless the election judge allows them to be present. The chance for intimidation and subtle electioneering is just too high, especially in polling places where the quarters are tight.
It’s bad enough when the polling places get congested with long lines and the citizens there to vote lawfully start talking to each other about their election choices, usually breaking state law regarding electioneering without being aware of it. Add to the mix an international participant engaging them in conversation, and it’s anything but a free and fair voting place.
We have state laws, after all. That group is not above them.
This OSCE group and the State department’s request to Abbott seems to imply they need special treatment above state law.
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Anonymous says:
While I do believe we should welcome transparency, I am fairly certain that poll watchers have to be residents of the county, I presume for legal accountability. International observers would be considered poll watchers, and as anon-p stated, there are some legitimate concerns. And really, having been an election judge for many years also, it is all much ado about nothing. I have never witnessed voter impersonation fraud or suppression. In fact, regardless, everyone gets to vote, even if it is challenged. A challenged vote is later sorted out by the elections office. We are not the Ukraine for heavens’sake.
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Anon. Reply:
October 29th, 2012 at 3:29 pm
I don’t remember Greg Abbot or Rick Perry getting so righteously indignant when the King St. teapartiers interfered in Harris and Galveston County elections in 2010–in minority precincts– and slowed down voting. That is why the Justice Dept. sent observers there for the primaries and will send more to Dallas and Harris County during the general election next Tuesday.
Oh, I guess when it is THEIR people interfering with the opposition party, then interference at the polls is O.K.
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WURSPH Reply:
October 29th, 2012 at 11:11 pm
You just have to remember that Hypocrisy is the Official Religion of Texas Politics and Rick is the High Priest…Abbott is his altar boy.
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Blue Dogs Reply:
October 30th, 2012 at 4:31 pm
Abbott is Perry’s altar boy ?
NO he’s not, he wants to be governor badly in 2014 and Perry will step aside after public pressure from fellow TX GOPers.
Alan says:
Paranoia about the meddling of “outsiders” and “foreigners” in domestic affairs is something usually seen in third-world autocracies. The paranoia our state government has about “interference” – not just from the UN’s black helicopters but from people in our own country – suggests we’ve adopted the style of a banana republic.
We already have El Jefe Rick Perry, feared by members of his own party and virtually ensured to remain in office as long as he chooses. We have a commodity-dependent economy whose once thriving local financial sector has been bought out by New York, Spain and Switzerland. We have swaths of uneducated poor sticking ramen noodles in styrofoam cups or making hair curlers for Farouk Shami.
The only thing missing is little children selling chewing gum on street corners. And if Rick Perry has his way and gets block-granted Medicaid so he can run it “more efficiently” (i.e. outsource it to whoever writes him the biggest campaign check and takes him on the nicest “working vacation”), that may be the only way they can save up money to go to the doctor.
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WURSPH says:
But don’t you think we all look a lot better if Rick’s policies resulted in the shoe shine boys on the streets like they used to have in Mexico? I know my shoes could use more frequent shinnings..And, as Newt said, it would teach them about the free enterprise system and the benefits of work.
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Anonymous says:
I’m a Republican but I hope we don’t win the Senate or the Presidency, because Republican candidates have said so many stupid things over the election cycle that I’d fear for my life if any of their policies became implemented.
Look at Indiana. Lugar was taken out primarily because he supported the Law of the Sea Treaty, which the average voter has no grasp of. And instead of Lugar, we get a guy who thinks rape is a blessing from God.
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Not an editor.... Reply:
October 29th, 2012 at 7:11 pm
No disrespect, anonymous at 6:23, but WHY are you a Republican again?
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WURSPH Reply:
October 29th, 2012 at 8:27 pm
Maybe he is a Repulican because he, unlike the last three GOP presidents, believes in fiscal responsiblity…not running up debt and then blamming it on the other guy. Or perhaps, like Republicans used to be, he believes in individual freedom and not having the state tell women that they have to have a device stuck up their vigina because the GOVERMENT TELLS THEM THEY MUST…or maybe, again like traditional Republicans, he believes in equal rights for all…There are many, many reasons why he is a Republican and why some of us used to be…Too bad it is getting harder and harder evey day for “traditional Republicans” to stay one.
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WURSPH Reply:
October 29th, 2012 at 8:36 pm
Or maybe he believed in science and did not accuse scientists of making up facts to qualify for federal grants…or insist that our school children be taught that the world is only 6,000 years old…or that vacinations or bad….or just a few dozen other things that TRADITIONAL Republicans used to believe…
Spiro Eagleton Reply:
October 30th, 2012 at 8:14 am
Richard Nixon made me a Democrat and George McGovern made me a Republican.
P.S. I don’t believe anyone that comes on here and claims to belong, or have belonged, to one party while bashing them. I don’t believe Anonymous or any of those other clowns. I doubt anyone else does either.
Anonymous Reply:
October 29th, 2012 at 9:12 pm
I’m a Republican because I still believe in the ideals of Lincoln, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and countless other Republicans who’s legacies and impact have been tossed aside in the race to the bottom by the politicians who court the John Birchers, the Oathkeepers, the home school crowd, the voucher folks (taking public money and giving to private organizations), the science deniers, the people who don’t believe in public health, etc.
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WURSPH Reply:
October 29th, 2012 at 10:49 pm
I am glad to see a few of you are still hanging on…I gave up all hope with Richard Nixon and the Southern Strategy, etc…..It feels good to be able to say that “Richard Nixon made me a Democrat.”
Anonymous says:
Blue Dogs,
Perry is bringing Nick Ayers on to be his top aide. That means one thing – he is running for Governor again.
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Anonymous Reply:
October 30th, 2012 at 12:19 pm
Good for you Spiro Eagleton. Do you want a cookie?
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Blue Dogs Reply:
October 30th, 2012 at 4:33 pm
Anon, I have yet to see Perry 2014 on his campaign website or facebook page and I don’t see him running-period.
He KNOWS he’s gonna get crushed in a GOP primary for governor if he even tries to seek a 4th term.
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Not an editor.... says:
Just give him a damned crown and be done with it.
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Blue Dogs Reply:
October 30th, 2012 at 4:57 pm
Just ask Dennis Green who said, “The Bears are who we thought they were.”
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JohnBernardBooks says:
One thing puzzels me. All these “fiscal conservatives” who support democrats.
Talk about clueless.
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John Kanelis says:
Galen once worked for Newtie Gingrich.
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paulburka Reply:
October 30th, 2012 at 9:50 am
correct
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
October 30th, 2012 at 12:20 pm
Arianna Huffington also worked for Newtie but that didn’t stop her from being left of ex-Speaker Pelosi.
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John Johnson says:
Abbott is doing all he can to emulate Perry. Taking a radical, controversial position gets you on nationally broadcast shows and makes you infamous.
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Tom says:
Boris says:
Galen is trying to be too cute by half. The AG said if anyone interfered they’d be arrested. Anyone can observe an election. All they have to do is sign in with the election judge.
Here’s what Abbott actually wrote:
“It may be a criminal offense for OSCE’s representatives to maintain a presence within 100 feet of a polling place’s entrance,” he writes. “Failure to comply with these requirements could subject the OSCE’s representatives to criminal prosecution for violating state law.”
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JohnBernardBooks says:
Abbott is merely implementing the JBB rule:
“I won’t be wronged. I won’t be insulted. I won’t be laid a-hand on. I don’t do these things to other people, and I require the same from them.”
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Palmer Reply:
October 30th, 2012 at 4:17 pm
That’s a good rule!
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Blue Dogs says:
Spiro, are you a registered GOPer or Dem ?
I’m a registered Dem who votes for Republicans in statewide offices and presidential elections.
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