grace

… filling in the negative space with positively everything

A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand

Lincoln delivered this famous speech, noted for the phrase “a house divided against itself cannot stand,” when accepting the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate from Illinois in June of 1858. In July of that year he challenged his Democrat opponent, Stephen Douglas to a series of debates over admitting Kansas into the union as a slave state, and, to a large extent, over the future of slavery and of the union itself. Lincoln, of course, represented the anti-slavery position. The skill with which Lincoln debated Douglas helped catapult him to the Republican Party’s nomination for president in 1860, a race which he won.

MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE CONVENTION: If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it. We are now far into the fifty year since a policy was initiated with the avowed object and confident promise of putting and end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease until a crises shall have been reached and passed. “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.”
- at http://www.nationalcenter.org/HouseDivided.html

The Bully Pulpit

According to Wikipedia, a bully pulpit is  “a public office or other position of authority of sufficiently high rank that provides the holder with an opportunity to speak out and be listened to on any matter. The bully pulpit can bring issues to the forefront that were not initially in debate, due to the office’s stature and publicity.”

In the current Houston mayoral race, however, the bullies have taken over the pulpit. And in what’s supposed to be a non-partisan race, they have emerged from the partisan hacks on both sides.

When I first started paying attention to the mayoral race, I thought, “This is great: for the first time in a long time, the three most viable candidates for the position have similar positions on the issues; and, for the most part, those are positions I agree with. We’ll be able to vote for the BEST of three candidates, rather than the lesser of several evils.”

As a staffer for former City Council Member Gordon Quan, I knew a bit about Peter Brown and Annise Parker, and was inclined to support Brown. Then I went to a couple of mayoral forums and saw what the candidates had to say on the issues. That was my introduction to Gene Locke. After seeing and hearing his answers to a variety of tough questions, I thought he was the best candidate to lead Houston. And when his campaign came knocking on my door, I wholeheartedly agreed to support Gene as his social media strategist. Then, as his liaison for Asian/Pacific American outreach. Then, as his liaison for Young Professionals.

Which Houston Mayoral Candidate REALLY Supports Equality?

This issue is really important to me, because I have family and friends in the LGBT community who are still treated as second-class citizens when it comes to equal civil rights.

There is a New York Times article going around on Twitter that Annise Parker may make history as “the first openly gay woman to be elected mayor of a major American metropolis.” In it, however, Parker says “I always told voters the truth…” then goes on to state she has “no current plan to offer [same-sex benefits] for a referendum.”

I’m shocked that Annise Parker, the “openly gay” candidate, does NOT support same-sex benefits. The NYTimes article reports:

In a televised debate on Oct. 25, for instance, she was asked if she would push for a referendum to give benefits to the same-sex partners of city workers. A similar measure was soundly defeated in the past.

Ms. Parker has lived with her partner for 19 years and has two adopted children, so she has a personal stake in the question, but she replied that, while she supported the idea, she had “no current plan to offer that for a referendum.”

“Personally it’s very important,” she said, “but, as mayor of Houston, do I want to engage resources in fighting that battle, or do I want to tackle the budget? Do I want to tackle drainage? Do I want to try to put more police officers on the street? It’s the difference between the personal and what this city needs.”

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