The Texas Blue: Articles
TLCV: Want Clean Air, Clean Water? Let’s Clean the House
By Colin Leyden
Mon, 07/23/2007 - 2:00pm
First, thanks to The Texas Blue for the opportunity to introduce TLCV to your readers. Simply put, we’re the non-partisan political action arm of Texas’ environmental movement. We’re a political organization first, an environmental organization second. No other environmental group focuses as much of their financial resources and organizational energy to the nitty-gritty, down-and-dirty process of elections and politics.
A Pragmatist of One
Thu, 07/19/2007 - 4:27pm
Ronald Reagan, after his election in 1980, found that he quickly needed to make peace with us liberal feminists. A ‘newly discovered’ gender gap in elections was demonstrating that women voters had preferred the Democratic incumbent, Jimmy Carter, by an 8% margin.
Nodding both to this fact and to his conservative activist base, Reagan nominated Arizona Court of Appeals Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to the Supreme Court. O’Connor was the first woman to become a Supreme Court Justice.
Texas Watch
Mon, 07/16/2007 - 3:00pm
When Josh Berthume called me recently and asked me to write a column about my organization, Texas Watch, I jumped at the chance. After all, what kind of Executive Director would I be if I wasn’t interested in an opportunity to raise awareness about Texas Watch and the work we do on behalf of Texas families, patients, workers, homeowners, and consumers?
Special Education Students Get Liberty
Thu, 07/12/2007 - 2:24pm
Leveling the disability rights playing field, the Supreme Court’s Winkleman v. Parma ruling waives the requirement for families who are challenging special education decisions to have lawyers.
Stories By Numbers: Candidates and Campaigns
By Bill Kelly
Mon, 07/09/2007 - 3:00pm
Dr. Richard Murray is the foremost political scientist in Houston. Both Republicans and Democrats deeply respect his opinions and analysis. I had 5 classes as an undergraduate with Dr. Murray and heard countless anecdotes about modern electoral politics. However, the thing he would always come back to remains the thing candidates and campaigns should never lose sight of: whoever gets the most votes wins.
Courage and Commitment
Mon, 07/02/2007 - 11:00am
My name is Tonia Sargent, proud United States Marine Corps spouse of MSSGT Kenneth Sargent for 20 years. We met when we were 16 and 17, high school sweethearts. On August 5, 2004, my warrior was injured from a gunshot. It entered under his right eye and exited the left side of his head.
The Disease of War
Thu, 06/28/2007 - 2:00pm
The health of returning veterans has been a prevalent issue ever since societies began to make war on one another. Whether veterans have been wounded in action, adversely affected psychologically and physically from the horrors of war, or affected by other unknown causes, government attempts to do what it can for its war heroes, and the United States is no different. But can the federal government do more?
On Combat Veterans and Blogging
Mon, 06/25/2007 - 10:30am
When I started blogging about politics and the military about nine months ago, it was mostly as a way to organize my thoughts. It gave me a place to rant where I wouldn’t have to upset my family and friends with repetitive, PTSD-induced complaints about how, “…no one around here pays any attention to detail,” and the like.
Over those nine months, I’ve gotten a pretty good feel for blogging, and, as a result, VoteVets.org recently asked me to help them with getting their new blog up and running. We’re still in the middle of putting it together, but the process itself has led me to take a hard look at what it means to be both a combat veteran and a blogger.
A 21st Century Call to Duty
Thu, 06/21/2007 - 3:36pm
Ever since we fought for and won our independence from Great Britain, veterans of the armed forces have played a key role in our country's political process.
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
Mon, 06/18/2007 - 8:46am
I grew up in Waco, Texas and served with the Texas National Guard in the old 49th Armored Division. I liked it so much that I enlisted as an active duty soldier in October 1982 and stayed until my retirement in May 2004. As part of my service, I was a cavalry first sergeant in Iraq and made sure that more than 2,000 soldiers had the basic necessities to perform their mission.