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May 17, 2005
Save America Without DeLay Family Funfest
Phillip McNutt reports on Saturday's Save America Without DeLay Family Funfest. Phillip and all of the DFH'ers did a great job! Thanks for all of your hard work!
Sunshine and friendship was the order of the day as over 350 Democratic activists, candidates and interested neighbors joined forces at the Democracy For America Family Fun Festival on Saturday May 14th. "Save America Without DeLay" was the theme and even the “Bugman” would have been hard pressed not to have a good time.
The event, organized by members of the Democracy For Houston’s local chapter, sported representatives from at least 8 counties. We opened with a "Pledge of Allegiance" rendered by six year old Lindsay Peters, a long-time Dean activist. The spirit of that pledge was everywhere to be seen, in the crowds’ good humor and in its active participation in the day’s events, as well as the ringing words of our speakers.
Socializing and networking with friends, neighbors, community activists, organizations and candidates, were the order of the day! Those in attendance were greeted with a pavillion filled with free food and drink including chili cheese dogs, chips and desserts for democracy! The leftover food was donated to the Star of Hope Mission in downtown Houston.
Adults and children alike were able to participate in games throughout the park setting, including "Pin The Tale On The Elephant," a Tom DeLay effigy pinata filled with money, a "Toss The Bums Out" bean bag toss, and a "Sack DeLay" sack race. The more artistically inclined, participated in the song contest, wrote a limerick or crafted a poster using the theme “Save America Without DeLay.”
An example of the Democratic wit and ingenuity is found in our winner from the song contest: “The Capitalist Hillbillies.” Song is performed using the music for the theme song to “The Beverly Hillbillies” television show.
The Capitalist Hillbillies
Let me tell you all a story ‘bout a man named Tom.
A pure profiteer, he would even cheat his mom!And, then one day he was sprayin’ at some bugs –
When out of the cracks came some really big THUGS!
Lobbyists, that is… Republicans! Right-wingers!
Well, the first thing you know, ol’ Tom is in the House –
Not a penny for the poor from that stingy old louse!
He said, “Terry Schiavo is a callin’ out to me…”
“We’ll spin it all on FOX, for the good ol’ G-O-P!”
Lies, that is… Tell’em God’s a Republican!
The Capitalist Hillbillies!
Y’all vote for’em, now… ya hear???
You’ve got to love the sense of humor in this piece, as well as the winning entry for the Limerick contest. Here’s the limerick:
There once was a man named DeLay, Who didn’t let ethics get in his way!
He went to play golf –
And, ticked us all off!
Let’s give him the BOOT today!
Besides the games, there were booths and tables that were manned by 20 plus organizations and candidates representing a broad spectrum of the U.S. House District 22. Bay Area New Democrats, Fort Bend Democrats, GLBT Political Caucus, Progressive Action Alliance, Texas Progressive Populist Caucus, the youth activist group "Help Democrats Get Elected" (HDGE), Texas Democratic Veterans, the Meyerland Democrats, Main Street Moms Operation Blue (MMOB), Democracy For Texas and others went about seriously preparing to contest every election at every level. Quite a few local and statewide candidates had booths as well, including Chris Bell for Governor and Barbara Radnofsky for the U.S. Senate.
Democracy For Houston presented a "Teaching Tent" throughout the event. Steering Committee members of the local group covered such topics as “Framing Your Message”, “Civil Conversation and Becoming An Agent of Change” as well as “Getting to Values”. In addition, the group had a table for voter registration.
The DFH chapter also collected "Books For Soldiers," a community service project sponsored by the DFH reading club. We easily collected 500+ volumes to send to our soldiers.
On the main stage, entertainment was provided by the music of singer/songwriter Saylor White, in between the various drawings and contests. Several of the local Houston City Council candidates were recognized in attendance. The highlight had to be the rousing speeches given by Chris Bell, Ivan Espinosa, Barbara Radnofsky, Richard Morrison and Gordon Quan. Gordon Quan is presently serving his last term as a member of the Houston City Council and is considering a run for the U.S. House of Representatives. Altogether, it was quite an impressive array of Democratic hopefuls.
This was indeed a successful event that brought together folks from a wide spectrum of the Democratic Party. Everyone present shared in the good times and valuable information. What a GREAT way to relax, visit and have good old-fashioned Democratic fun! Hot dogs, good friends and politics were combined in a casual atmosphere. Those that attended had plenty of opportunities to garner new members for their organizations, volunteers for campaigns and new activists for our grassroots efforts to "Take Back Our Country...precinct by precinct, county by county!" The Democratic spirit IS ALIVE and WELL in Texas!
More photos are available at http://www.kodakgallery.com /BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid =660220363205&page=1&sort _order=0
Posted by Lyn Wall at May 17, 2005 06:48 AM | Permalink
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Before the chuckles begin... I have but one thing to say.
Its Good To Be The Majority.
In the post immediately below this one, I remarked that I could find no information on the anti-DeLay... [Read More]
Tracked on May 18, 2005 01:07 PM
Comments
Link to photos doesn't work
Posted by: Susan at May 17, 2005 11:37 AM
The link is corrected. Thanks.
Posted by: Lyn Wall at May 17, 2005 12:57 PM
Why are you teaching your children to resort to violence?
Posted by: Sugar Babe at May 18, 2005 05:05 PM
Everybody go take a look at all the nice things conservative blogger Chris Elam has to say about our Festival.
Be sure and leave a nice comment, too.
Posted by: PDiddie at May 18, 2005 05:16 PM
Thanks for the traffic PDiddie! I thought I had a lot of nice things to say as well. Thanks for pointing out these stories.
Your loving neo-con, fascist, white supremacist, Half-Hispanic friend in Sugar Land.
Chris
Posted by: Chris Elam at May 18, 2005 11:20 PM
You're welcome again, buddy!
You might want to tighten up that Comments section of yours with a little HTML, and if I were you I'd keep the white-supremacist admission under the sheets. After all, you don't look like all that white yourself, besides which declarations of racism might not be good for your Pop's business.
(Oh that's right; y'all prolly don't want any minorities as clients.)
Posted by: PDiddie at May 19, 2005 05:34 AM
=)
I really would urge you to make ONE last visit over and read my reply to your last comment.
Its a doozy...
Otherwise, curiousity and paranoia will set in, until the only relief will come from beating an effigial pinata of me. =)
Posted by: Chris Elam at May 19, 2005 09:49 AM
PDiddie, I wouldn't waste my time replying to the fascist, deluded piece of crap that goes by the name of Chris Elam. I've read his posts on his so called blogsite, and he really bores me with his right wing, conservative bullshit. Chris Elam is part and parcel of what is wrong with this country right now. If he wants to back the Bush administration and support a criminal thug like Tom DeLay, then he's well within his rights to do so, however, you and I and a whole lot of other people know the Bush administration and all the other fascist assholes who support them are going down! It's only a matter of time.
Posted by: Kris Graham at May 19, 2005 10:26 AM
I really would urge you to make ONE last visit over and read my reply to your last comment.
No thanks, pal. I'm a liberal; I keep my word.
Tell ya what though, if we ever meet, you be sure and have a copy of it with you so you can read it to me. (You did quite a bit of reading when you were home-schooled, right?)
Posted by: PDiddie at May 19, 2005 12:21 PM
Home school is stretching it...I don't think he got that far.
Posted by: truthserum at May 19, 2005 10:24 PM
=)
That's what I love about talking with liberals. All you have to do is present them with the truth, or throw their own words back in their face.
Then the name-calling, vitriol, and personal attacks start flowing!
Truth be damned! Let's make fun of anyone who dares point out our falsehoods!
"Fascist!" "Racist!" - so predictable.
I love being in the majority. A big shout out to all you libs who continue to help keep us conservatives in power.
Posted by: Chris Elam at May 19, 2005 11:58 PM
I don't know what "truth" you refer to. All you did was to put your captions on pictures that you took from someone else's website. If you want to talk about specific issues fine. I don't mind talking about that, but just making fun of pictures about an event that in your own words you "heard about from the past weekend" isn't too impressive. Anyone can do that.
True, I wish that the name calling could be avoided and it distracts from the more important issues. However, those "libs" as you refer to us have been called "un-American" by your fellow Republicans because we happen to support the Democratic Party. In fact, someone called and said that the Democratic Party is "like the Nazis" today, and didn't even have the nerve to stay on the phone to talk about why. I'm not sure about you, but I think most people would get pretty upset by being called un-American or a Nazi. By the way what is it to be un-American? I thought this was a nation that accepted and even guaranteed the right of freedom to individuals. I thought the US was supposed to be unique as a "melting pot" society that represented the diverse views of the people as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, not a government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations.
I would very much like to know what a "true American" is, and why as Democrats, we are somehow baser than someone else. I thought churches were supposed to teach acceptance of others, and respect, even if someone's beliefs were different from one's own.
You say that you love being in the majority, but there was a time when Republicans were in the minority, and why couldn't that happen again? Afterall there was a time when market analysts thought the boom days of the 1990s would never end, and yet they have. They would have even without 9-11. Sure 9-11 may have hastened the downturn, but all "good" things come to an end at some time. It's just a matter of when. So don't let that power go to your head. One day you may no longer be in the majority, and may wish you had been more accomodating to the objectives of the minority party, but then again elephants don't forget, or do they?
I spoke with a caller today while I was volunteering at the Demcoratic Headquarters who was fed up with Bush's policies and wanted to learn more about getting involved with the Democratic Party and one of the local Democratic clubs. There are many more who have attended working group sessions to work towards a reinvigoration of the Democratic Party. I caution you that even the Republican Party is not invincible when too many of its supporters decide that they have had enough and look for other alternatives. You can rearrange the rules of the Senate and House all you want, but in the end, your ship is stricken. The pendulum has swung, now it's time for some realignment. Bring on 2006.
I would recommend you look at the recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, which by most accounts is generally considered a conservative news source. It has some food for thought for the Republican Party if it can spare enough time from marching towards the "nu-ku-lar" option or helping to sneak DeLay out back doors of the US Capitol.
Posted by: Marc Olivier at May 20, 2005 12:41 AM
Elam, if the shoe fits, wear it. No one would bat an eye at calling Hitler and Mussolini fascists, but because those two have personified evil for three generations everyone gets upset when the word is used today. Unfortunately for you, your political party (with a lot of help from some Democrats in the Senate and House) has taken this nation down the slippery slope and onto the muddy road of corporate fascism. By getting the military and government of the US in bed with Lockheed Martin, Martin Marietta, Wal-Mart, GE, Time Warner, Halliburton, and dozens of others, the republican party has earned the label. Fascism has an insatiable thirst for empire fueled by the old standby of your political party, GREED. The result for the world's people will be endless wars of "liberation", longer workdays, lower wages, poor health, more discrimination, and less education.
I disagree with your estimation of yourself as the majority. If my memory serves me correctly, the old fascists claimed the same lie. I also disagree with my friend Marc that the ship of state will right itself through the democratic process even while I work hard to make it so, but I do know this: win or lose; there will be a reckoning for the "pack of lies" foisted on humanity by you.
Posted by: Bellwether at May 20, 2005 08:00 AM