Texas Netroots

At our last general meeting the Caucus was extremely lucky to hear a presentation from Charles Kuffner, the true dean of Texas political blogging. Netroots organizing is revolutionizing progressive, political activism. Its changing the way candidates and groups campaign, fund raise, and research.

For example, I'm excited to report that U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega, a proud caucus candidate, representing South Houston in the Texas house, has raised over $72,000 on the internet since his announcement. The most interesting thing about Noriega's fund raising is that it has been fueled primarily by independent, progressive bloggers, not officially connected to the campaign. This phenomenon has allowed Noriega to accumulate over 800 small donors from all over the state, demonstrating an intense grassroots appeal that will serve him well in the coming primary election.

The Texas netroots has become a undeniably powerful force, so I'd like our Caucus to get better connected to all the excellent voices out there in the blogosphere. The Caucus Blog is a new member of the Texas Progressive Blog Alliance, and starting today, every Monday I'll post a round-up of excellent posts from all the alliance blogs in Texas.

So...It's Monday, and that means it's time for another Texas Progressive
Alliance Blog Round-Up. This week's round up is compiled by Vince from
Capitol Annex. As the TPA
welcomed aboard a few new members this week, you may notice some new names
and blogs.

Muse at Musings liveblogs Lap
Dog Cornyn’s portion of Petraeus’ appearance before the Senate Armed
Services Committee this past week and notes that he slobbers all over
himself praising the surge.

McBlogger at McBlogger goes to the CAMPO meeting on the Phase 2 toll
roads and finds lies,
damn lies and statistics as well as an Austin City Council Member who
seems hell bent on ending his political career. Is resurrection
possible? Sure... if you believe McCracken is the second coming. Spoiler
alert: McBlogger doesn't.

While on vacation, PDiddie at Brains and Eggs discovered
quite a few similarities between the Texas Legislature and the
Nevada State Assembly.

Good news brought by TXsharon at
Bluedaze: Bush
Economy Solves Obesity Problem!

Could Be True at South Texas Chisme notes that
the Republican
tactics of purging voter rolls, creating barriers to voting, and
discouraging new voter registration are moving right along and could get
serious in Bexar County.

After the demolition of yet another historic structure in Houston,
Charles at Off
the Kuff looks at what can be
done to abet preservation efforts going forward.

Adam Silva of Three Wise Men, blogging
for the UNT
Democrats, provides a detailed
analysis of competitive U.S. Senate races for 2008.

City life can be complicated-but it includes an awfully lot of
conveniences that we take utterly for granted-as long as they work. In Houston, We Have a
Problem, on Texas
Kaos, The Houston Organization of Public Employees (HOPE)
invites all of us to get a little taste, so to speak, of what it takes to
keep the fourth largest city in the nation running.

WhosPlayin notes that some Republican Members of Congress
just
don't know when to stop digging a hole in continuing to support a
failed president.

Since 9/11, an increasingly strident message of xenophobia has seeped
into both fringe and mainstream political movements. A new climate of
exclusion has formed as a result of this country's heightened anxiety
against racial, ethnic, and religious minorities. Whether or not intended
as such, new Texas Progressive Alliance member Xicno
Pwr at ¡Para
Justicia y Libertad! tells us we
are in the midst of a growing culture of hate as the number of hate
crimes in this country are on the rise.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on
the unintended consequences of the 2003 GOP redistricting scheme in Are Democrats Statewide
Prospects Improving Because Of GOP Gerrymandering?

Refinish69, another recent addition to the TPA, at
Doing My Part for the
Left examines sex
scandals and hypocrites in the Repugnant Party and Texas Stonewall
Caucus.

Have
Republicans moved in a "ringer" to challenge Chet Edwards in TX-CD
17? Vince addresses that in a post at Capitol Annex.

The Texas
Clover Leaf (a new member of the Alliance) notes that Alan
Keyes has entered the GOP race for President, but asks if he is actually
the Republican's version of Obama.

Texas Toad at North Texas Liberal
tells us about the
controversy surrounding the preservation of trees at the Trinity Trail
in Ft. Worth.

John at Bay Area Houston
tells us that Jared Woodfill, Chairman of he Harris County Republican
Party, must
think Hispanics are stupid with his recent op-ed in the Houston
Chronicle "Hispanics can feel right at home in the Texas GOP".

Jack Cluth at The People's Republic of
Seabrook notes that it would seem that we've learned nothing from the 60s.
Today, in allegedly-enlightened 21st century America, a man or woman
can be fired from their job in 31 states for the simple fact of being a
homosexual. Regardless of how you feel about the "lifestyle", how can anyone who
values liberty and freedom be OK with this...especially with Americans
dying in Iraq to "protect and defend out freedom"?

Jaye at Winding Road in Urban
Area addresses several things, including machine-gun-toting
cops in a 'brain dump,' post, The Stream
of Consciousness Just Overflowed the Toilet. (Please flush!)

Todd Hill (another new addition to the Texas
Progressive Alliance) blogging at Burnt Orange Report
tells us all about a North Texas
Tribute to Speaker Jim Wright.

Matt at Stop Cornyn tells us how John
Cornyn worked to disenfranchise minority voters while he was Attorney
General.

Don't forget to check out other Texas Progressive Alliance blogs, too:
BlueBloggin (new member!), The Agonist, Blue 19th (new member!), In The Pink Texas, Grassroots News U Can Use (new
member!), The Caucus Blog (new
member!), The Texas Blue (new
member!), Casual Soap
Box, Common Sense, Dos Centavos, Easter Lemming Liberal News, Feet To Fire, Marc’s Miscellany, Rhetoric & Rhythm, Three Wise Men, Truth Serum Blog, and Wyld Card.