in texas, “gop” stands for “john birch society”.

the texas gop just held their convention on june 11th and 12th.  according to the houston chronicle, immigration was a top priority.  (~surprise~)

also on the platform?

• Calling for repeal of the Real ID Act, which “creates an unconstitutional and privacy-inhibiting national ID card.

• Banning the use of red light cameras.

• Making American English the official language of Texas and the United States.

really?  american english the “official language”?  hrmmm.  TEXAS GOP LAUNCHES YOUTUBE HISPANIC RECRUITING... in spanish. 

• Creating a felony offense for anyone who performs a marriage ceremony for a same-sex couple.

the same people who say the gov’t has no right to tell a church what it can or can’t do, when it comes to performing gay marriages, want the gov’t to tell churches what they can or can’t do, when it comes to performing gay marriages.  got it.

• Passing legislation requiring a sonogram for each pregnant woman seeking an abortion.

• Opposing legislation allowing stem cell research involving the creation of killing of human embryos for medical research.

again, they want the gov’t to be involved in our medical care, while simultaneously decrying the gov’t's involvement in healthcare.  see below.

• Urging Congress to “repeal and reject the national healthcare takeover, also known as ‘ObamaCare.’ ”

the national healthcare TAKEOVER.  which involves no actual taking over.  and very little “national” anything.

• Calling for the immediate transition to a system of private pensions and gradually phasing out the Social Security tax.

because that was so successful for texas teachers: Texas teachers fund losses will reverberate for years

• Calling for the repeal of the state lottery and opposing any further legalization of any type of gambling.

• Protecting the right to access raw milk directly from the farmer.

the raw milk debate is reminiscent of the anti-vaccination debate, among others.  we apparently forget why we start doing certain things.  pasteurization kills off tuberculosis, typhoid, and salmonella, among other pathogens.  the benefits far outweigh any negatives.  i suppose if people want to expose themselves to bacteria-laden milk, it’s their choice, though.

• Opposing automatic college admissions rules, such as the top 10 percent rule.

(too many of those minorities must be getting into the colleges again.  shhhh….  it has nothing to do with race.  why, some of their bestfriends are undereducated minorities.)

• Calling for the repeal of the No Child Left Behind law and the U.S. Department of Education.

• Removing the tenure system for Texas state colleges and universities.

i’m actually with them on repealing NCLB, but mainly, their purpose is just to attack public education and dismantle it in whatever way they can.

• Opposing all bailouts of businesses.

• Recommending a national sales tax to replace all other federal taxes.

• Calling on the Legislature to repeal the revised franchised tax.

unless said businesses have done something terrible, like…oh, say…bp.  then they want the us gov’t to play nicey-nice and quit being mean to those big businesses.  or like… when the economy tanked and the bush admin and congress were all about bailing out big business.  then, IT’S TOTALLY DIFFERENT.

• Urging the Legislature to require Voter ID.

again, it has nothing to do with race - they just want to make sure that those hispanics that are voting aren’t actually “illegal”, because, really, they think they all are. (just listen to the anti-immigration folks.)

• Urging Congress to evict the United Nations from the United States to rescind U.S. membership.

clearly, a large contingent of east texas rednecksjohn birchers showed up to the texas gop convention.  in fact, the entire platform sounds like something straight out of a john birch society pamphlet, which isn’t surprising considering their co-sponsorship of CPAC this year.  as the texas republicans and their tea party compatriots continue to move further and further to the right, it would be rather nice to see a swell of democrat party investment into the state.  something to counter the loonies.  but based on previous experience, i don’t see that happening any time soon.

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