Members of the online community at TalkingPointsMemo.com are hosting a nationwide houseparty fundraiser for Obama the evening of Saturday, July 19th. The Austin party will take place at Tom & Amanda's house, across from Fiesta Gardens. There will be drinks, snacks, music, raucous political discussion and unscripted revelry.
All Obama supporters are welcome. Suggested minimum donation $25.
(An interesting question. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that one of the grandest grande dames of Texas, Molly Ivins, has yet to be properly honored by the people of Texas and the city of Austin in particular. We have the Barbara Jordan terminal, the Ann Richards bridge and Lady Bird Johnson Lake--but where is the permanent memorial to Molly?
I've been waiting to read somewhere that someone else has taken the initiative but I haven't seen it. So I thought I would come here and ask:
Is there a memorial in Austin--a street, a plaque, a statue, a capitol building--already named after Molly Ivins, or are there already plans in the works to do so?
If not, why the hell not!
Who will help me get this ball rolling?
Once we answer those questions, we can get onto the most important one: What would be a fitting tribute? What can we name after Molly? It should be something worthy of the enormous contribution that she made to Austin, to Texas, to the country, and to the world, but also something that captures her amazing sense of humor: One friend suggested a doggy water fountain on the hike and bike trail with a sculpture/picture of Molly and some choice Molly quotes.
Vote in the poll below or add your suggestions in the comments.
Nancy Reagan and the daughters of Lyndon Johnson have extended a joint invitation to the presumptive Democratic and Republican nominees to host two "town hall meetings" between Obama and McCain this summer. One would be held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi, California and the other would be at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library on the UT campus in Austin.
The McCain camp, which has been pressuring Obama to participate in a whole series of joint town hall meetings with the Republican nominee, has already accepted the invitation. No word, yet, from the Obama campaign.
The two campaigns have been wrangling over the number and type of joint appearances they will agree to before the election. The McCain camp initially proposed ten such meetings to take place before the Democratic and Republican conventions. The Obama campaign has countered with an offer to participate in one joint town hall meeting in July, in addition to three traditional debates and an in-depth foreign policy debate in August. The McCain camp says that is insufficient and are obviously hoping that they can make this a campaign issue, as did Clinton.
The LBJ/Reagan press release states that "A respected, independent polling organization will be brought on to ensure that the audiences will represent a cross-section of the American people." I have written to Anne Wheeler with the LBJ Library asking how the public will submit themselves for consideration. I will update this diary with details if I hear anything.
