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September 09, 2003

Harris County Dem Chair Attacks Whitmire

By Byron LaMasters

Here is a statement from the Chair of the Harris County Democratic Party regarding John Whitmire.

As the chair of the Harris County Democratic Party, I have tried desperately to unite the party, to accommodate all viewpoints, to include all segments of the party in all of its affairs, and to discourage venomous attacks upon Democrats by fellow Democrats. Last week I sent an e-mail to Democrats cautioning against villifying one another with "vitriolic recriminations" in the wake of the John Whitmire debacle. But after reading Sen. Whitmire's comments at his press conference last week and reading the Sunday Houston Chronicle, I find it impossible to suppress the anger I feel over Sen. John Whitmire's betrayal of the other Texas 11 and the 1.4 million Texans they represent, by taking it upon himself, by himself, single-handedly, to undermine their efforts, and then blaming it on them!

The battle the eleven - now ten - Democratic have so honorably and heroically waged by all means lawful and legitimate (including denying the Republicans a quorum to pass their obscene power grabbing redistricting plan), is, in my view, the single most important civil rights struggle (and maybe the most significant fight, period) any of us here in Texas have faced during the past forty years. The Republican redistricting maps are drawn to assure that issues which matter to Democrats cannot advance in the United States House of Representatives (no matter which party controls the Senate or the White House) for the next ten to twenty years. And that objective is accomplished mainly by eliminating "minority influence districts" throughout Texas - denying people of color electoral power in deciding congressional races. (If you think the federal courts can be relied upon to remedy that injustice, you need to re-read the Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore.)

The Republican plans are designed to see that no minority chairs a House committee (such as John Conyers chairing Judiciary or Charlie Rangel chairing Ways and Means) or subcommittee (such as Shiela Jackson Lee chairing Immigration) for decades. Its passage would almost certainly dash any hope of extending the Voting Rights Act when it comes up for renewal in 2005, or resisting Republican efforts to undermine affirmative action, health care, choice, the environment, jobs, the labor movement - everything Democrats stand for.

But most importantly, this plan is part and parcel of the most dangerous assault on our democratic form of government, perhaps in the history of the country: when Republicans disapprove of the choices voters make, they find some way to use (misuse) the power they do have to set aside the election results and impose their will, regardless of the votes of the electorate. When they didn't like the result of the 1996 presidential election, they sought to overturn the voters' will be removing President Clinton from office through impeachment. When they lost the popular vote in the presidential election of 2000, they sought to overturn the voters' choice by getting their judges to order that votes in Florida not be counted. When the voters chose a governor in California they didn't like, they used their money to orchestrate a "recall" election designed to remove from office the person chosen by the people of California less than one year ago. And when voters in five Republican congressional districts in Texas (designed by the Republican Attorney General, implemented by two Republican federal judges, at the invitation of Governor Perry himself, and approved by the Supreme Court of the United States) chose to be represented by their Democratic incumbents, rather than by the candidates Tom DeLay preferred, Republicans engaged in an unprecedented second redistricting in a decade, obliterating time-honored procedures (the 2/3rds rule) to achieve their anti-democratic result.

There's a clear pattern here! Republicans are taking away the most fundamental aspect of our democracy - respect for the choices of voters, rather than reliance on raw political power, as the driving force of government.

And just when that message was gaining national traction (Moveon.org raised $1 million to spread the word of what was happening here), Sen. Whitmire essentially threw in the towel. But not just his own towel; because of the mathematics of the situation, he effectively threw in ten other towels as well - whether the other senators wanted to give up and give in (they didn't) or not.

I have read Sen. Whitemire's explanations of his return: he was restless and uncomfortable holed up in a hotel in Albuquerque; he was concerned Republicans would retaliate by eliminating the 2/3 rule permanently and for all legislation, not just redistricting (there are a significant number of Republican legislators, cognizant they will not be in the majority forever, who are on record as firmly opposing such a radical change in the way the state senate conducts business); gaining national support for resisting Republican power grabs and shining a national spotlight on this pattern would be "counterproductive" (John, congressional seats are national, and this is all about control of the national legislature and its agenda); sooner or later the Republicans are going to get their way anyway, so we might as well just accept that reality and move the contest to the courts.

To me, those are all unpersuasive and unacceptable justifications for betrayal. And that is what I am left with - a terrible sense of betrayal, outrage, and anger - especially at the suggestion Sen. Whitmire was encouraged to leave by some of his Democratic colleagues. His "surrender" exit strategy makes no sense whatever to me, and the way in which it was accomplished make me wonder how he can hope to work with the other Democratic senators to advance a Democratic agenda in the future. Like thousands of other Democratic activists throughout the state, my faith in the Democratic Party had been restored by the courageous sacrifices of the Texas 11, but that spirit and enthusiasm and optimism have been sorely undercut by this abandonment. (Not totally dashed, but seriously challenged). Sen. Whitmire's action must be unequivocally condemned. I am doing so here.

Over the past few days, I have read a few e-mails and posts which suggest that, in deference to Sen. Whitmire's history as an advocate for Democratic causes (especially in the criminal justice area), we should "cut him some slack on this one." Unfortunately, this is far too crucial - perhaps the single most important issue in a generation - to do so. But the interesting thing is that while I have heard a few (very few) voices suggesting temperance, I have not read a single e-mail or post from a Democrat praising Sen. Whitmire for leaving Albuquerque or thanking him for doing so or claiming it was the right - or even a good - thing to do. That's a telling condemnation!

So I will hold back the vitriol, but I cannot get rid of this intense feeling of disappointment and overwhelming sadness, and, yes, smoldering (barely) anger. And need to do something to express that rage and do something about it.

Please, John, say it ain't so.


Gerry Birnberg
Chair, Harris County Democratic Party
August 20, 2003

Posted by Byron LaMasters at September 9, 2003 06:33 PM | TrackBack


Comments

Whitmire's a wussy. Thanks a load, pal!

Posted by: andrea at September 15, 2003 10:26 PM
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