VOTE FOR WENDY DAVIS FOR GOVERNOR OF TEXAS 10OKT14

WENDY DAVIS

MOJO'S reporter on this story is WAY, WAY off base. My posted comment and another from a US Vet who is also a paraplegic, and the video, from +Mother Jones .....

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  Craig • 35 minutes ago

  
  

  Engagement editor, what's that, social scene a la People Magazine? Whatever it is it doesn't qualify Dreyfuss to report on politics. This is a well done attack ad on the widespread attitude of republicans and tea-baggers that all that matters is they get theirs and to hell with everyone else.

  
  

  

  
  
  

  Chris Thomas • 40 minutes ago

  
  

  I'm a wheelchair-bound veteran (who also has PTSD) myself and have been for 8 years, I don't see anything offensive about this ad. It points out his hypocrisy and how he blocks people from being able to do the same thing he was able to do. I would have maybe softened the vocal tone at the beginning of the ad (but that's more of a criticism of the making of the ad itself, I've seen better ads.) But, as far as offensive, it's not offensive at all, and the only people who are offended are the people who want to be offended. I've been an advocate and worked on campaigns ever since I ended up in the chair at the age of 20 and I can tell you the people who have the best attitudes about this are the people who are disabled. The aren't going to get offended at pointing out the guy is in a chair, they're going to get offended at the action.

  
  

  

  
  
  

  pecador Chris Thomas • 34 minutes ago

  
  

  Thank you for your service. I don't know why, but for a long time I had been under the impression that Greg Abbott had also been disabled while serving his country. I am glad that Wendy Davis ran this ad so more people will not mistake Gregg Abbott for heroes like yourself.

  
  
  
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  Tx_Son • 42 minutes ago

  
  

  Greg Abbott is a real piece of work. He has spent his entire career catering to the highest bidder. His opinions and decisions have always been for sale. Texas deserves better but the majority are too stupid to realize it. There is a reason Texas is 49th in the nation in education. The GOP cut over 5.2 billion from Texas public school systems and Greg has defended that in court. Over 600 school districts in the state sued to have those funds returned to the system, but Greg continues to fight against them and their children's future.

If Wendy Davis Thinks She Can Win an Election by Pointing Out Her Opponent's Disability, She's Wrong

—By Ben Dreyfuss

| Fri Oct. 10, 2014 4:39 PM EDT

Wendy Davis just released an ad attacking Greg Abbott, her opponent for governor in Texas, which is, to be blunt, bullshit. It's offensive and nasty and it shouldn't exist. She's basically calling Abbott a cripple.

http://youtu.be/lush7TZB860
There are a lot of good reasons not to like Greg Abbott. The fact that he's in a wheelchair isn't one of them.

Ben Dreyfuss

Engagement Editor

Ben Dreyfuss is the engagement editor at Mother Jones. Follow him on RSS | Twitter

TX-Gov: Abbott (R) Advisor Charles Murray, "No evidence that women are significant thinkers" 9APR14

IT'S during campaigns like Texas republican / tea-bagger greg abbott's that I really miss Molly Ivins'  quick wit and wonderful sense of humor. He is a fool, advised by fools like libertarian charles murray, and is the perfect candidate for the rich and powerful and all the corporate interest financing him because he has no qualms about taking their money for doing what he's told. Texas, are you seriously considering election this immoral, corrupt ass? Really???
poopdogcomedy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQh0bQ8_BR4
http://www.rawstory.com/...

An adviser to Greg Abbott, the Republican candidate for Texas governor, said this week that he had found no “evidence” to prove that any woman had been a “significant original thinker in any of the world’s great philosophical traditions.” In audio obtained by the Burnt Orange Report, American Enterprise Institute scholar Charles Murray can be heard explaining to an audience at the University of Texas that his views on women had not changed since a 2005 paper, in which he asserted that one or “maybe” two women had played significant roles in the field of philosophy.
When a woman at the event on Tuesday asked Murray if he still believed what he wrote, Murray quipped, “Who do you have in mind?”
Murray argued that in “certain traditions” like literature, women had been at the “peak of accomplishment.” But he said that he could only recall one important female philosopher, “and she was not a significant thinker in the estimation of historians of philosophy.”
“So, yeah, I still stick with that,” he insisted. “Until somebody gives me evidence to the contrary, I’ll stick with that statement.” - Raw Story, 4/9/14

Murray really hasn't been good for Abbott's campaign: http://www.burntorangereport.com/...

Abbott hasn't exactly figured out how to deal with his women problems. He has so far avoided talking about the gender pay gap in his Attorney General's office and a video by the Wendy Davis Campaign suggests he abruptly canceled an April 7th press conference to avoid questions about his education plan in which Murray is cited. Abbott used Murray's work to present his plan for Texas to lead the country in education outcomes. Murray describes himself as "a libertarian, and libertarians don't do solutions. We're not good at them." Murray then proceeded to tell this room full of college students that a "mediocre" k- 12 education at "a mediocre school" was "not that bad."
Murray's AEI believes the pay gap is a "myth" and says making it a political issue will discourage the hiring of women. They also say the gap is a results of "many women prefer[ing] to stay home with their children," and that "women often choose fields of study, such as sociology, liberal arts or psychology, that pay less in the labor market." Ultimately they say that, "once education, marital status and occupations are considered, the 'gender wage gap' all but disappears."
Of course the real conversation about equal pay has always been predicated on equal work, which AEI seems to imply women must not be doing.
The main topic of discussion though was Murray's new book "Coming Apart: The State of White America 1960-2010." He said he only used white males between 30-49 as his data set to prove that class and not race was the main factor in America's cultural decline. He believes it started in the 60's of course, right about the time of the Civil Rights movement that was being celebrated just across campus at the LBJ Library.
Murray happened to be speaking on campus during the Civil Rights Summit, which is -- to say the least -- ironic. He has been identified as a "White Nationalist" by the Southern Poverty Law Center for his views on race and gender. He opened by saying that he "had a different view of equality" and that by the definition of some he was indeed a "racist and a sexist," and said probably "any other 'ist'" that is out there. - Burnt Orange Report, 4/9/14

So how has Abbott been dealing with Murray?  Running away from the press: http://www.politicususa.com/...

So the press arrived to an empty room in Dallas yesterday for a scheduled press conference with the Republican gubernatorial candidate, only to discover that Greg Abbott had suddenly canceled it, according to the Davis campaign. The Wendy Davis (D-TX) campaign caught it all on tape:

http://youtu.be/2qNtMo2IjRw

Had Mr. Abbott shown his face, he would have had to answer why he thought a guy who believes “mens brains are larger than women’s” was a good choice as inspiration for an education program.
Abbott would have had to explain why he thinks pre-K should only be for a select few. In case you missed that dog whistle, page 2 of his pre-K plan explains that destiny is predetermined by background (so American!): “Family background has the most decisive effect on student achievement, contributing to a large performance gap between children from economically disadvantaged families and those from middle-class homes.”
Yeah. Southern Poverty Law Center is not impressed, they say that Murray uses “racist pseudoscience and misleading statistics to argue that social inequality is caused by the genetic inferiority of the black and Latino communities, women and the poor.” In case it’s not clear yet where this is going, DOG WHISTLE WELFARE STATE, “Murray advocates the total elimination of the welfare state, affirmative action and the Department of Education, arguing that public policy cannot overcome the innate deficiencies that cause unequal social and educational outcomes.” - Politicus USA, 4/8/14

Yeah, good call there Abbott.  But Abbott is resorting to tying Davis to Obama but Davis isn't going to be running away from him: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/...

“ObamaCare’s Three Musketeers – President Obama, Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi – are convening at a swanky Houston fundraiser tonight; will Sen. Davis be joining her big government allies?” said Abbott campaign spokesman Matt Hirsch. “Last month Sen. Davis said she would welcome President Obama to Texas, so we assume she wouldn’t miss it.” Reid actually isn’t coming, though his name was on the original invite for a joint DSCC/DCCC fund-raiser. Pelosi arrived in Houston with Obama a little while ago.
As for Davis, the Democratic nominee for governor, her campaign tells us she isn’t ducking Obama at all. She’ll be at his speech Thursday at the LBJ library civil rights summit in Austin. - Dallas Morning News, 4/9/14

Davis will be at former President Bill Clinton’s speech and a dinner at the LBJ summit tonight.  Lets help Davis fight back against sexists and racists like Abbott and Murray.  Click here to get involved and donate to Davis' campaign:

http://www.wendydavistexas.com/

Originally posted to pdogcomedy on Wed Apr 09, 2014 at 09:00 PM PDT.

Also republished by The Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party, TexKos-Messing with Texas with Nothing but Love for Texans, and Dallas Kossacks. 

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/10/1290863/-TX-Gov-Abbott-R-Advisor-Charles-Murray-No-evidence-that-women-are-significant-thinkers?detail=email