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Wed Jun 28, 2006 at 08:20 AM CDT
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| I thought that was the only way we'd ever get the local Austin paper to cover my Congressional race - if we could prove that my opponent, the incumbent Republican Congressman, John Carter was an alien. Nope, turns out he's only been marooned on Mars - and that was exposed by a Houston paper first.
So does that make him an illegal alien? ah, sweet irony... But I digress.
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The Austin American-Statesmen took my opponent to task for launching a tirade that stopped the vote on extending the Voting Rights Act.
And why did he do that? "I simply believe you should be able to read, write and speak English to be a voter in the United States,"; said Carter. A literacy test? The Austin-American Statesman declared that "is a curious statement from a member of Congress and former judge, because citizenship is the requisite for voting, not literacy...". Is that a "no-duh" moment, or what?
Carter is 64, surely he must remember how literacy tests, poll taxes and grandfather clauses were used to strip non-whites of their voting rights in Texas. That's why LBJ championed the Voting Rights Act. But no, I forgot - he was marooned on Mars.
And if you need further proof, Carter told the press there is "no longer any racial bias in Texas,"so who needs a Voting Rights Act? As the Houston Chronicle observed, Carter "has either been marooned on Mars most of his life or is frighteningly oblivious to reality...Only a couple of weeks ago, in Carter's own town, just north of Austin, a bailiff was fired for allegedly using the word "wetback," within earshot of students hauled into court for skipping school to attend pro-immigration rallies.
My oldest boy is in Iraq right now serving his country because he devoutly believes in our fundamental freedoms and precious rights, our fundamental right to vote, our fundamental sense of fair play - not literacy tests.
And the truly sad, frightening fact is that while my son fights for his country, the incumbent Congressman fights for literary tests because he really believes that racial bias no longer exists in Texas.
And that's why I'm running. I will champion the Voting Rights Act in Congress. Isn't it time to show your support for an independent and reasoned voice in Congress? |
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