September 11th: 13 Years Changed

Never had Arkadelphia, Arkansas seen a sky more blue, or a day more beautiful.  Crossing the serene campus of Henderson State University for an early morning music theory class, I nor any of my peers had even a clue of what was to happen that morning.

After class, I visited with friends for just a minute, and then wandered to the student center.  That’s when the first news report caught my eye.  I stared at the monitor confused and fascinated, thinking that this was so surreal it could only be a movie.  I started watching when the first tower collapsed, and was paralyzed in below the screen until seeing the second tower meet the same fate.  Among the group of students around me, you could feel the shock sear through us as we all came to the realization… America was under attack.  Though we were over 1,000 miles from any of the crash sites, I kept thinking about how Arkadelphia and the East Coast started the day with those same crystal clear blue skies.  Only for those in New York, Washington, D.C. and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, their skies suddenly became filled with terror and complete uncertainty.  Here’s NBC news coverage of that day…

On September 11th, 2001, the United States of America changed.  In fact the whole world changed.  Many of us that remember that day will never process “safety” the same way again.  And of course for those of us personally affected with the loss of loved ones, 9-11 can’t even be put accurately into words.

But even if words fail and the pain still endures, September 11th is too important a day to ignore.  Commemorative events are being held across the nation today, including the city of Houston.  On the University of Houston campus stands one such commemoration… a beam from the World Trade Center in New York.  Here’s more on the memorial and today’s events from Mike Emery of UH News

Each day, members of the University of Houston community can reflect on this infamous day and pay tribute to those who lost their lives by visiting the UH World Trade Center Memorial and Reflection Garden – just outside of the south entrance of the New University Center (UC). The permanent memorial – obtained through a student campaign – contains a massive steel beam from the World Trade Center building that was destroyed by terrorists.

Community members will surely visit this campus site during this week’s 13th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people. To further pay tribute to those who lost their lives, as well as their surviving loved ones, the New UC will host several events and activities.

From 8 a.m. – 10 p.m., 9/11 photo exhibition will be on view in the hallway next to the UC Theater. At 4 p.m. in the theater, retired Marines Col. William Wiggins will share his military experiences following 9/11. Following Wiggins’ presentation, the theater will host a screening of the film “United 93,” which depicts the fate of hijacked United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed into a field in Stonycreek, Pennsylvania. All events are free and open to the public.

For many life events, thirteen years can sometimes seem pretty far removed.  September 11th is different… woven into the fabric of the nation.  The ripple effect of that day has resulted in the loss of thousands more lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, and potentially more as we face growing threats from ISIS.  It is certain that we will never forget.  Facing new challenges, let’s that we have not only changed, but also learned.

9-11 UH5

(This permanent World Trade Center Memorial at the University of Houston is free and open to the public)

Texas Doesn’t Want Everyone To Vote

With the approaching apex of election season, debates over voting rights and procedures are certain to become vigorous.  Last week on Houston Matters with Craig Cohen, I even managed to enter the fray with fellow panelists Russ Capper and Lisa Falkenberg over the issue.  Russ stated that he is clearly in favor of Voter ID, while Lisa questioned the necessity of such laws when in person voter fraud doesn’t seem to be a problem.  You can listen to the segment here if you’d like.

The main point that I attempted on the show was this… If Texas really cared about implementing an effective Voter Law, then they would help people to vote instead of hindering them.

On the issue, I agree more with Lisa’s position.  There simply has not been sufficient evidence to prove that Voter impersonation is a problem. The cases of actual in person voter fraud are so miniscule that we’d have better proof to institute a ‘don’t climb on top of a lightning rod during a thunderstorm’ law to prevent people from getting struck by lightning.  This is a problem that simply doesn’t exist.

Be that as it may, I’m not in total opposition to Voter ID laws in concept.  But Texas’ law is specifically designed to disenfranchise certain groups of voters, while not providing sufficient resources to help them vote or obtain the proper ID.  Alice Speri of Vice News has more on what makes Texas law so restrictive…

The voter ID law is not just discriminatory, Martinez Fischer said — it’s also very short-sighted.

[…]

He called Texas’ voter law the “most stringent, harshest voter identification legislation in the country.”

To put that in perspective, Texas’s voter ID law is seen as being more strict than Alabama’s — the state that successfully challenged part of the Voting Rights Act before the Supreme Court.

“Alabama is not exactly a hotbed of liberalism, but even their voter ID law is much, much more lenient and permissive than Texas,” Singh said. “In Alabama, you can use a student ID card, or a government card. In Texas, you can’t use a University of Texas ID. A state employee in Texas is not able to use his state government ID card.”

So a student photo ID, or government employee ID cannot be used to vote, but a concealed carry permit can?  That’s nothing more than a veiled attempt to go after what the Republican Party assumes to be their “base voters” while making sure as many non-Republicans as possible get turned away, or are forced to cast a Provisional Ballot.

The only solution that Texas’ stringent law does provide is a new form of ID that can only be used for voting… the Election Identification Certificate, or EIC.  These special IDs are “free” to those that qualify for them, but the birth certificate that you have to purchase before obtaining the EIC is at a cost.  Another problem with the EIC system?  Most people don’t know where to obtain them, and the Secretary of State isn’t helping to change that.  But at least Democrats have noticed and are trying to broach the issue before election day.  Here’s more from the Texas Tribune

More than a week ago, Texas Senate Democrats put Texas Secretary of State Nandita Berry on notice: They wanted her office to get more mobile units on Texas streets to give voters without an acceptable photo ID a chance to get one before November’s election.

One week later, there’s been no movement to do so, says state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin.

The problem, he says, is that there are not one but two state agencies in charge of putting more mobile units out in the community. The Secretary of State’s office (SOS), which includes voter registration, has to coordinate where the mobile units will go. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) actually owns the mobile units which can issue the new Texas election identification certificates, or EICs.

After trying to get the two entitites to agree on how to do it — and to do it quickly — Watson said late Tuesday that it “appears to me it is a breakdown on both ends.”

Under the state’s voter ID law, residents must present an acceptable form of photo identification for their vote to be counted. Acceptable photo IDs include Texas driver’s licenses or Texas ID cards that have not been expired for more than 60 days at the time of voting, U.S. passports, or military or U.S. citizenship certificates with photos.

Texas Republicans (more like TEApublicans… many don’t deserve to carry the label “Republican” anymore) have led the charge to adopt the nation’s most restrictive Voter ID law.  They do this because they know that having fewer people vote gives them a better chance at maintaining power and codifying their fringe-Right ideology. For those out there that truly consider themselves to be proud ‘Texas Republicans’, the the Voter ID law should give them pause over what their party stands for.

For Texas Democrats, this is all the more reason to prove them wrong in 2014.  If you haven’t volunteered to help get the word out about the changes to voting, please do so.  Try as they may, the Texas GOP cannot hold the state back forever. In 2014, let’s make sure that the TEApublicans get to see what Texas really looks like.