"An educated electorate is a prerequisite for a democracy."
Mon, March 8, 2021, 3PM (CT). POSSIBLE TOPICS: Voting info; “Vote By Mail” apps; TX DMV announces 4/13 end date for waiver of vehicle title, registration; SNAP May Replace Food Lost During Power Failure; The freeze was hard on the bats; Fired ERCOT leader refuses more than $800,000 severance pay; Harris County, Houston leaders call end of statewide mask mandate a ‘distraction’ from power grid failures; For some Texans who lost loved ones to the coronavirus, lifting the mask mandate is a “slap in the face”; Harris County got rid of cash bail for many people accused of minor crimes. GOP lawmakers want to walk that back; Idaho Just Passed a Law to Compensate the Innocent; Kentucky bill would make it a crime to insult a police officer; Today’s Gridlock Is Like a 19th-Century Nightmare; Switzerland referendum: Voters support ban on face coverings in public; Russian disinformation campaign working to undermine confidence in Covid-19 vaccines used in US; More. Guest: [AUDIO/VIDEO] #KPFTHouston 90.1FM
This program was recorded on SUNDAY, March 7. Due to Covid-19, shows are being prerecorded beginning March 13, 2020 and until further notice. We miss our live call-in participants, and look forward to a time we can once again go live.Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig(@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show airing live every Monday from 3-4 PM (CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My co-host and Editor is Andrew Ferguson.
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For the purposes of this show, I operate on two mottoes:
An educated electorate is a prerequisite for a democracy.
You’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.
“There’s a reason why you separate military and police. One fights the enemy of the State. The other serves and protects the People. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the State tend t become the People.” ~ Commander Adama, “Battlestar Galactica” (“WATER”, Season 1 episode 2, at the 28 minute mark.)
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Next Election: May 01, 2021 – Uniform Election. Early Voting: April 19th – April 27th
If you are denied your right to vote any place at any timeat any polling place for any reason, ask for (or demand) a provisional ballot rather than lose your vote.
Fill out a declaration at the polls describing a reasonable impediment to obtaining it, and show a copy or original of one of the following supporting forms of ID:
A government document that shows your name and an address, including your voter registration certificate
Current utility bill
Bank statement
Government check
Paycheck
A certified domestic (from a U.S. state or territory) birth certificate or (b) a document confirming birth admissible in a court of law which establishes your identity (which may include a foreign birth document)
For information on winter storm assistance, including buying hot food and SNAP benefits replacement, click
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SNAP recipients will get the maximum amount for their household size, if they don’t already, for March. Click HERE to see the maximum monthly SNAP amounts. SNAP recipients will also receive a 15 percent increase to their benefit amount through June. Recipients will receive their benefit increase on their normal payment date.
MEDICAID: Coverage for Medicaid recipients will continue during the public health emergency. Medicaid recipients who no longer meet the criteria for their current type of Medicaid coverage may be moved to another type of Medicaid coverage. Medicaid recipients will be notified if their coverage is changing and if they need to take any action. Click HEREto learn more under Medicaid & CHIP Services.
For information about COVID-19, call 2-1-1 and select Option 6. Find a testing site.
The bat colony under the bridge at Waugh Drive in Buffalo Bayou Park, a beloved staple of the city, was severely impacted by last week’s winter storm.
While the full extent of the damage is still unknown, many of the Mexican free-tailed bats that usually emerge from under the bridge at dusk were killed by unusually frigid temperatures, according to Buffalo Bayou Park officials.
A small number of surviving bats were taken to a rehabilitation facility to be nursed back to good health, said Trudi Smith, director of programming for Buffalo Bayou Partnership. Officials asked park-goers and dog-owners to stay away from the area for safety reasons and to allow time for clean-up on Monday. …
Mexican free-tailed bat Diet [a-z-animals.com] – Moths play the biggest part in the diet of this bat. They also eat dragonflies, beetles, mosquitoes, and ants. These bats eat the insects that are most plentiful in their habitat. One of the most amazing facts about these bats in one colony can eat 250 tons of insects each night. A supply of 250 tons of insects is equal in weight to 2 Blue whales!
Following Gov. Greg Abbott’s March 2 announcement that Texas’ statewide mask mandate and COVID-19-related business restrictions will be lifted as of March 10, Harris County and city of Houston leaders are weighing in, and local health care providers are urging residents to continue to take precautions.
“… [E]very time public health measures have been pulled back, we’ve seen a spike in hospitalizations. If we start the climb now, we’d be starting from the highest starting point ever when it comes to our hospital population, an unacceptable and dangerous proposition. With the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines, we’re inching closer to the finish line of this pandemic — now is not the time to reverse the gains we’ve worked so hard to achieve. At best, today’s decision is wishful thinking. At worst, it is a cynical attempt to distract Texans from the failures of state oversight of our power grid.”
Like Hidalgo, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said he believed the order goes against the current guidance of local health authorities.
… Abbott’s Tuesday declaration that it was time to “open Texas” has been decried by local officials and health experts, who say it’s too soon to become lax with coronavirus restrictions, as just 7% of the state’s residents have been fully inoculated against the virus. President Joe Biden likened the decision to “Neanderthal thinking,” and an official with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it’s not the time to loosen precautions. …
Abbott’s order — which makes Texas the most populous state without a mask mandate — comes as virus variants that are more contagious have emerged in Texas, with Houston becoming the first city nationwide to record cases of every major variant, according to a recent study.
The announcement also comes before a spring break period that could send people traveling across the state, timing that makes Dr. Jamil Madi, in Harlingen, think “we’re shooting ourselves in the foot.” …
Local officials have slammed Abbott’s order, saying it’s premature and sends the wrong signal to residents who take cues from their leaders about how seriously to take the virus. Some have also expressed worry that front-line workers and communities of color could be left vulnerable to infection if others aren’t required to wear masks around them. …
… Texas’ most populous county over the past two years has stopped requiring most people accused of low-level crimes from putting up cash to get out of jail on bond.
Tens of thousands of people accused of misdemeanors not involving some specific circumstances, like domestic abuse or previous bond violations, have been freed without cost while awaiting trial.
Letting them out does not appear to increase the chances they will be arrested for new crimes, according to researchers who have been tracking changes made to the Harris County misdemeanor bail system. In fact, the percentage of defendants arrested for new crimes within a year of their original arrest went down after the county changed its bail practices.
But while the researchers say lower re-arrest rates signify success for the county’s bail reform, Houston Republicans are seeking to walk back the reform efforts at the state level with legislation that would make Texas pretrial release practices more reliant on cash bail.
State Sen. Paul Bettencourtfiled legislation in January that would require defendants to pay cash before being released from jail if they are arrested while out of jail on a no-cost bond, and it would set a minimum $10,000 bond for defendants accused of multiple felonies. On Friday, state Sen. Joan Huffmanfiled a bill to ban no-cost release from jail for a much wider swath of defendants, including those accused of low-level drug possession. The bill was deemed a priority by the lieutenant governor. …
In both Harris and Dallas County, federal courts have previously ruled that the counties’ widespread practice of requiring preset cash bail amounts without taking an individual’s situation into account was unconstitutional. Under a cash bail system, a poor person, accused but not yet found guilty of a crime, can be stuck in jail awaiting trial for months while another defendant facing similar charges walks free within hours if they have access to cash.
Bail experts and other lawmakers argued the new proposals will raise similar constitutional problems. …
Wednesday’s federal report, analyzing Harris County’s pretrial system a year after the court settlement, found that people are spending significantly less time in jail while accused — but legally presumed innocent — of low-level crimes. In the small share of misdemeanor cases where money is required for release, the bail amounts are being set much lower after longer, individual hearings. And racial inequities in bond releases have narrowed. …
State Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat who has long worked on bail reform efforts at the Texas Capitol, said his goal ultimately is to get Texas counties out of costly and losing legal fights in federal court.
“Quite frankly, and all due respect to Huffman’s bill, it leans very heavily in favor of the bail bonds [industry] and it’ll keep us in federal court,” he said.
… [Idaho] Governor Brad Little signed the “Wrongful Conviction Act” into law, providing state compensation for the wrongfully convicted in Idaho. This makes Idaho the 36th state to adopt a wrongful conviction compensation law. …
[Said Christopher Tapp, who spent 20 years wrongfully imprisoned until his exoneration in 2019, ] “This law will give wrongfully convicted people assistance to re-start their lives and to help begin the process of moving on from the nightmare we have endured and continue to experience. I’m grateful knowing that in the future when someone is exonerated this legislation will be in place to help them when they need it the most.” …
The new law, which was sponsored by Senator Doug Ricks and Representative Barbara Ehardt, includes a fixed sum of $62,000 for each year of wrongful imprisonment or $75,000 for each year wrongfully served on death row. The average amount offered nationally through state compensation laws is $68,000 per year of wrongful imprisonment. In addition to Washington D.C., 18 states offer $50,000 or more for each year of wrongful incarceration with many laws providing additional compensation for years served on death row or spent under post-release supervision.
Idaho’s new law also compensates $25,000 per year wrongfully spent time on the sex offender registry or under post-release supervision. All compensation claims will be processed by the courts. …
A bill moving through Kentucky’s Senate would make it a crime to insult or taunt a police officer during a riot. Supporters say the bill targets people who unlawfully “cross the line” but opponents call it a blatant attempt to crush protests and a violation of First Amendment rights.
Senate Bill 211 mandates up to three months’ imprisonment for a person who “accosts, insults, taunts, or challenges a law enforcement officer with offensive or derisive words,” or makes “gestures or other physical contact that would have a direct tendency to provoke a violent response from the perspective of a reasonable and prudent person.” …
The ACLU of Kentucky called the legislation “an extreme bill to stifle dissent” and said it would criminalize free speech.
MIKE:FREE SPEECH: What’s constitutionally guaranteed and what’s culturally expected
1st Amendment: First Amendment | Constitution | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute:Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
NON-government interference – private businesses, publishers. Etc. – is more culturally entrenched but usually not illegal.
If it feels like we’ve lived in this sort of gridlock for a good while, it’s because we have, as Lee Drutman observes at FiveThirtyEight:
[T]he period we find ourselves in now is unique in that the national partisan balance of power is extremelyclose (with control of national government up for grabs in almost every cycle), even as most states and most voters are either solidly Democratic or Republican. What’s more, the national outcome often hinges on just a few swing states and districts. This period is also unique in the extent to which America is divided. Hatred toward the other party drives our politics. This produces a deeply polarizing and highly destructive form of partisan trench warfare that threatens to erode the very legitimacy of American democracy. …
As Cook Political Report’s Amy Walter reminds us, today’s volatility is relatively new:
Democrats controlled the House for 40 straight years from 1954 until 1994. Democratic control of the Senate lasted uninterrupted for 25 years—from 1955 to 1980. From 1952 until 1988, Republicans won 7 of 10 presidential elections. This is the era in which many of my peers (and those who mentored me) were raised …
Today, most of those who work in politics don’t know of a time when control of the House, Senate and/or White House wasn’t up for grabs.
Drutman compares the current era to another period of gridlock and polarization: the late 19th-century Gilded Age. From 1876 until 1896, “at least one institution [House, Senate or the White House] changed partisan hands in eight out of 10 elections.” As is happening now, voter turnout was very high with virtually every election having big consequences for partisans. And political contests were intense and even bitter, particularly in the few swing states (typically New York and Indiana) that determined election outcomes more often than not. That sounds familiar, too. Even one of the Gilded Age’s great anomalies — the nonsequential presidencies of Grover Cleveland — is back in the news lately, as defeated President Donald Trump is talking about a 2024 comeback, with even Republicans who don’t like the idea (such as Mitch McConnell and Brian Kemp) quickly saying they will support him if he is, as seems likely should he actually run, the party nominee.
But there is one aspect of today’s polarized gridlock that is unlike that of the Gilded Age, as Drutman notes: In the late 1800s, “the two parties didn’t actually stand for all that much — a stark contrast from today’s politics, where the major parties have distinct policies on a host of national issues.” …
Today’s polarized gridlock is arguably more like that of the 1850s, in which the fundamental differences over slavery policy and a hundred related issues created close elections but an overall atmosphere of great turbulence, eventually leading, of course, to an insurrection and a bloody military conflict.
The 1850s precedent illustrates one way out of the current quandary: no, not necessarily a civil war, but a realignment of the major parties that shakes up allegiances and perhaps creates a new and more stable majority …
More likely than a realignment is some crucial partisan victory on issues that directly affect the partisan balance, most notably voting rights, where very obviously the two parties (Republicans mostly operating at the state level and Democrats at the national level) are moving in opposite directions in ways that could significantly affect the size and shape of the electorate in the near future. …
America needs a good landslide or two, and if either party (or in theory, a new party) can produce that breakthrough, it could be in power for a good long time.
MIKE: As a partisan, I might debate the benefit of that landslide, depending on how it turns out.
Switzerland has narrowly voted in favour of banning face coverings in public, including the burka or niqab worn by Muslim women.
Official results showed the measure had passed by 51.2% to 48.8% in Sunday’s referendum.
The proposal was put forward by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) which campaigned with slogans such as “Stop extremism”.
A leading Swiss Islamic group said it was “a dark day” for Muslims.
MIKE: The irony here is that most people in the West are wearing face coverings because of Covid. Under this new law, can Islamic women wear face coverings if the coverings look medical, or are those banned, too? And would a medical face covering be considered Islamic?
The campaign comes as the US and other countries race to vaccinate people using three vaccines developed in record time by the drug makers Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson. US officials have been working to increase confidence in the drugs in recent months as studies showed a concerning level of vaccine hesitancy among some people, though that has decreased as the rollout has progressed. …
The Journal reported that, “Russian state media and Russian government Twitter accounts have made overt efforts to raise concerns about the cost and safety of the Pfizer vaccine in what experts outside the US government say is an effort to promote the sale of Russia’s rival Sputnik V vaccine.”
“The emphasis on denigrating Pfizer is likely due to its status as the first vaccine besides Sputnik V to see mass use, resulting in a greater potential threat to Sputnik’s market dominance,” a forthcoming report by the Alliance for Securing Democracy says, according to the Journal. …
Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig 