So I decided to go to the big Harris County Republican Party’s rally in defense of marriage today. It was well attended by local Republican politicians, as expected.
Click on the picture for a larger version, as always. Those in attendance behind the podium were a hodgepodge of SD-7 operatives, a few statewide candidates, a few local candidates/officeholders, one judge, and a few religious “leaders”.
It went about as expected. Sen.Patrick was the first celebrity to advocate for continued discrimination.
At some point Jonathan Saenz of the Texas Values group added his voice to the chorus:
Here is a clip of the next senator from SD-7, Paul Bettencourt, defending discrimination, based on the vote of 1.7 million Texans, roughly 7{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of today’s population:
And lastly, the crazy uncle of the HCRP was once again let out of the basement to defend discrimination:
Out on the sidewalk, there were a few protesters praying:
All in all, it was much ado about nothing.
I was really disappointed to see Harvey Hilderbran, Comptroller candidate, there. I didn’t think he was the type to support discrimination against anyone but in hindsight, he did get the endorsement from Hotze’s slate, so there is that. I expected Todd Staples and Dan Patrick to be there touting their discriminatory credentials, so that wasn’t exactly news worthy.
Incredibly, the incompetent Judge Denise Pratt was on hand to show her support for discrimination. Who cares about dockets and such when you have a chance to rally the troops! She might have taken a clue from her colleagues and gone to work this morning but then, she seems to be a bit clueless about such matters. Maybe the best moment of the rally for me was when State Rep. Allen Fletcher arrived and temporarily blocked my view of Pratt.
You want to know what I didn’t see at the rally? Hate. None, nada, zip, zilch. In fact, the people who are supposed to be the “tolerant” ones are the only ones I’ve seen that are hateful (yes, I’m talking to you Simpson supporter). When I walked into the HCRP offices, I wasn’t shunned, even though everyone there knew that I had written about this event and that I support equal rights for all citizens. In fact, I was welcomed with open arms. The HCRP’s crazy uncle even smiled at me – I winked at him – he blushed. No telling what he’s thinking right now.
You want hate, look at the supporters of Paul Simpson. Sheesh, I’d be about afraid to walk into a rally of those guys. Bitter and sour pretty much describes their attitudes towards me and those that unlike me, support discrimination. BTW, where was Simpson today? He wasn’t there supporting the party platform, nor was he outside praying for change. Leader? Alrighty then.
I get the feeling from his supporters that if he happens to lose tomorrow, he is going to pull another one of his disappearing acts, taking his ball and going home, and prepare to run again in 2016. The worst possible personality for the job of chair of the HCRP is someone that is timid and avoids conflict. And when they lose, they and their supporters head home. Say what you want about the crazy uncle of the HCRP, he sticks around and fights, using his own resources. I saw a comment today that said the party needed to rid itself of Hotze – sure, toss that guy aside, the one that has underwritten the party for years. And lose elections. Sheesh. What happened to inclusion? Oh, that is only if you support inclusion. Or exclusion. Or something like that. My head is spinning.
Like I said earlier, those of us that want to follow the constitution are going to prevail on this issue. It might take awhile and it might be that the Supreme Court has to weigh in on it. But we will win.
So stop being such whiny-hineys. Suck it up and fight back. But get a clue and remember that you are theoretically for inclusion, for growing the party. And that means working with those who only agree with you 80{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of the time, remember?