Happy Juneteenth!

I've been driving in the parade for a couple years now for the county party and this year I get to take my grandkids with me! If they'd been here a day earlier I would have been able to take them to the African American Museum but I'll try to do that next week. I don't think the museum is open on the weekend, but I'm hoping it will be on Monday. They're going back home on Wednesday

This parade is the most joyful parade I've ever been in--it almost makes me cry to see so many joyful faces and the strength of their community. So glad my grandkids will get to see it and try to understand it.

"What the Democrats ought to do..."

I hear this line all the time. It’s good to know that people have opinions and want to help, but too often I hear this from people who’ve never done anything more than Monday morning quarterbacking in politics. Yesterday I attended a party sponsored coffee at one of our local resident’s homes. A man was there doing the same thing he did at the last such event: Mansplaining to the hard working women that dominate and hold up the local party. (Where are you men?) This man has never been to a single party meeting, nor any other event besides this coffee one other time. The women he was lecturing to, on the other hand, brought this party from a dead shell, with an absent chair and sleeping executive committee to a thriving, growing force in the community. The women he was lecturing are responsible for quadrupling the number of precinct chairs in the county, for tripling voter participation in the midterms, for hosting almost a dozen fundraisers in the last year for candidates and for the local party, and for filling the meetings with so many participants we’ve had to move locations TWICE. They can take credit for coordinating a dozen protests in the community as well as participating in more than a dozen voter drives and public events across the county in the last year alone. Yet this man found it appropriate to mansplain personally to more than one of the mature women volunteers that has been working to hold up this party for decades.

Not only is that kind of behavior arrogant and condescending, it’s detrimental to the morale and the goals these “Helpful Hannahs” claim they support. And it makes them look like assholes. If you truly want to help build this blue wave, show some respect and appreciation for all the hard work people have donated to support democracy. ASK what you can do to help. If a policy or practice doesn’t make sense to you, ASK someone to explain its purpose.

The work that volunteers do isn’t easy and it’s thankless enough without people who’ve never been in the trenches criticizing and critiquing. Further, don’t assume that former practices are the only ones being implemented in the current election cycle. Big changes are happening in Texas, for one thing, and I can bet similar seismic shifts are going on across the nation. Texas has a new state chair and the DNC has a new chair. You may not like everything about these people, but you shouldn’t assume they can’t bring much needed change to the party. If you want to see change, roll up your sleeves, stand beside these volunteers and get to work.

If you live in Texas and you want to help, call your local party office and find out who your precinct chair is. Your precinct is the US representative district in which you live—it’s on your voter’s card. Ask your local office how to get in touch with your precinct chair. Offer your precinct chair help for block walking, post card writing, making calls, holding or helping with events to bring together voters in your precinct. Your precinct chair will have very specific tasks that need to be done and instructions for carrying them out. Become a volunteer voter registrar and attend voter registration drives. ASK what you can do to help the local party and precinct chairs. This is the only way we will build a solid blue wall of change.

I know that a lot of the criticism comes from a sense of powerlessness and frustration. But there is MUCH you can do that is far more effective and empowering for you AND your community if you will offer your help instead of merely your critique.

James Talarico is causing a rift in a Travis County (Austin area) Facebook group...

Don't know if you can access this post on the Austin-American Statesman FB page, but here it is:
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1438082865026063&id=100064730888828&mibextid=wwXIfr&rdid=yUnsraXMpwJQfIWF

Cornyn got his ass handed to him tonight! YES!!!

To me, it didn’t really matter who won that race…we will have to work hard to defeat either of them. But I was glad Cornyn found out boot lickers are kicked to the curb pretty quickly if TSF says so. The truth seems to be that any good Republicans left aren’t voting for Republicans this election cycle because they see what has happened to their party. The remaining ones are MAGA Republicans who will NEVER vote for a Dem, even if it costs them their democracy, their nation. This is why in this very red county, Democratic primary turnout was TRIPLE the last midterm primary.

Vegan potato salad (and pea salad)

We make a similar version of this “dressing” with pea salad. These measurements are estimates and change according to your own tastes.

About 4 medium russet potatoes, boiled, peeled, and cut in 1/2 inch cubes
3-4 tablespoons vegan mayo
4 -5 thinly sliced scallions
2 teaspoons capers
1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
Salt (or seasoning salt) and pepper to taste.


Mix everything except the potatoes together to make a dressing. Add the potatoes and stir to mix gently. Adjust the mayo and seasonings to your taste.

We make this same basic dressing with pea salad—we use petite sweet peas with small shell macaroni instead of potatoes. Even though they use the same seasonings for the dressing, they are very different tasting salads.

Israel kidnaps humanitarian aid flotilla

My sweet Emo passed over the Rainbow Bridge yesterday...

He's been struggling with CHF since last year and more than once in the last few months I thought we had reached the end. But in the last couple of weeks, I knew I wouldn't be able to pull him out of his declining health again. His struggle is over and he is at peace. Mr True Blue and I are both devastated to lose him and relieved that he is out of discomfort and done with the struggle.

Thanks for all the kind words of support so many of you have offered. They mean more than you know.

True Blue Texan

Almost had to go for the Depends ...TSF ROASTED!!!

Headed to the Talarico fundraiser here tonight! Update...

Just returned from the Talarico event--turnout was pretty massive for this red district--we packed that place. About 150 in attendance.

If you think the clips you've seen on the internet of Talarico are great, you've not seen anything. He is truly an inspiring speaker that can speak to ANYONE with morals, ANYONE who lives their faith as a Christian, ANYONE who loves their country. He was able to answer questions from the crowd on all sorts of subjects with clarity, conviction, and intelligence. I have not heard a better speaker since Barack Obama. No exaggeration. I know this is Texas, but this guy is the real deal and a true winner. He is only 36 years old and I see a long political career in front of him. If you can support his campaign, please do so. We catch a lot of flack here in Texas for our sorry ass representation. This is our chance to finally have a voice.

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Hope the attendance is almost to breaking the fire code! I saw a Talarico sign on my street --so excited to see it at a house that was also waving a US Marine Corps flag! Feels like a shift, y'all!

This is how they destroyed Hilary's chances...

...and so many others. I've been saying this for 30 years, since way back when they first started trashing Hilary Clinton. The media never had a damn liberal bias, but their continuous accusations made the media lean further and further to the right. Now it's our turn.

https://www.rawstory.com/raw-investigates/trump-2676631502/?utm_source=front-sidebar-rsplus