Monthly Archives: February 2014

(Community Matters) in my mind: first person-of-color president, Obamacare*, LGBT equality, real strides in education (thanks Arnie Duncan) & navigating us through the Great Recession (adept handoff from 43 acknowledged).

Politico Playbook:

POLITICO Magazine’s “History Dept.”: “Barack Obama’s Paragraph: 10 leading historians assess Obama’s rank in the pantheon of American presidents“: “Barack Obama knows he’s a man running out of time. Reflecting on his presidential legacy in a long interview with The New Yorker’s David Remnick, Obama said, ‘at the end of the day we’re part of a long-running story. We just try to get our paragraph right.’ For Presidents’ Day, POLITICO Magazine asked a panel of distinguished historians to take up: … How will Obama’s paragraph read? … Here’s what they told us: …

“Douglas Brinkley, Rice University: ‘The very fact that Barack Obama-an African-American-was twice elected to the presidency will always be the lead line in that hard-to-meld, gold-plated paragraph. There is no bigger Obama accomplishment than his encouraging women and minorities that they, too, can win the White House, that the traditionalist glass ceiling can be shattered with grace, dignity and unflappable integrity. He’ll receive high marks in history for appointing two women to the Supreme Court, defending gay rights, saving General Motors and extricating American troops from Iraq. …

“On the most important issue of our time-climate change-he’ll be seen as an educator more than a leader. … Obama-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize-will, ironically enough, be honored for killing Osama bin Laden and overseeing the controversial drone program. … Overall, he’ll be ranked above average, in league with James Monroe, John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton.’

“Margaret MacMillan, Oxford: A man who promised too much … Jeremy D. Mayer, George Mason: The next Taft? … Sean Wilentz, Princeton: Everything depends on his successor: ‘Obama’s reputation, to an unusual and perhaps unprecedented degree, will depend on whom the voters choose as his successor. [*]If a Republican wins the White House in 2016, Obama’s landmark achievement of national health care will almost certainly be destroyed.’ … Robert E. Bonner, Dartmouth: A stabilizing force … Beverly Gage, Yale: A liberal standard-bearer he’s not … Jack Rakove, Stanford: The analyst in chief … James Goldgeier, American University: He ended the wars, but — … James T. Kloppenberg, Harvard: He’s no LBJ … Lizabeth Cohen, Harvard: In a word, Obamacare.” http://goo.gl/mRAkdH

(Community Matters) In BuzzFeed: 36 Hours on the Fake Campaign Trail with Donald Trump. 

notorious Republican operative Roger Stone.

a “Nixon-era trickster” who blackmailed reporters, lied constantly to everybody, and had, among other ploys, engineered an explosive feud in 2000 between Pat Buchanan and Donald Trump as part of a hazy scheme to help the GOP avoid a third-party threat. [the] consulting firm . . . . counts Trump among its clients.

The day after the 2012 election, I spoke with one of Trump’s confidantes about his political appeal to working-class men in flyover country. “If you have no education, and you work with your hands, you like him,” the confidante told me. “It’s like, ‘Wow, if I was rich, that’s how I would live!’ The girls, the cars, the fancy suits. His ostentatiousness is appealing to them.”

(Community Matters) excited to launch Austin’s Youth Entreprenuership Movement at today’s TEDxYouth@Austin – stay tuned as we’re adding two new youth entrepreneurship programs – in addition to Lemonade Day Austin (where 80k Austin kids have already earned $1.5mm).

video here

(Community Matters) It was great, since working from home today (ughh, have been contagious so sticking close) I was able to text Steven where the plane he was to catch in Newark was coming from, when it was in the air, that he’d been upgraded and that they should depart on time. And, now . . . tracking him to arrive Austin one minute early.

(Community Matters) Ken Herman’s column – It’s the last straw for my crumbling belief that people like Jeff Sandefer care more about our state than about their ego. For years, I’ve tried to explain Jeff as well-intentioned even if naively idealistic. But, in the back of my mind, I’ve known he really meant it when he argued that those with the gold should make the rules. This came out loud and clear when we debated ethics at UT in 2002. I listened too long to him explain that he’s a libertarian and won’t give another dime to another politician – as he’s contributed over $1.5 million to candidates since 2001 (Texas Ethics Commission) and I imagine likely a whole lot more through stealth pacs.

A friend sent me Ken Herman’s column Herman: Republicans say Republican leadership has failed this morning, which I had been thinking about over the weekend. And, I read PAC targets Texas House Speaker Joe Straus  and how UT Regent Wallace Hall and Jeff Sandefer have contributed $300,000. That the story was as outrageous to a friend too was the last straw. I have no energy left to rationalize their ego-centric, devastating-to-our-state behaviors.

I don’t like writing about former friends like this. But, since I’ve defended him numerous times based on his misleading information about staying out of politics, I feel compelled.

(Community Matters) The Guardian website about cities is very cool, and they have a blog roll for the best city blogs around the world.

LA      Chicago     DC    New York   Port au Prince   Mexico City   Vancouver

London   Paris  Berlin   Rome  Istanbul   Shanghai  Sydney  Christchurch

Buenos Aires  Sao Paulo

(Community Matters) The Guardian: The secrets of the world’s happiest cities

“For a single person, exchanging a long commute for a short walk to work has the same effect on happiness as finding a new love. . . People who endure more than a 45-minute commute were 40% more likely to divorce.”

(Community Matters) I’m supporting Andy Brown for Travis County Judge – nothing against Commissioner Sarah Eckhardt. Andy’s really an entrepreneur – just happens to focus on political. He’s successfully launched and sustained several initiatives – political, business & community. He builds bridges and coalitions. He’s a good and inspiring manager. And, he’d be new on the commissioners court. We need new leadership at the county, city and state.

I’ve been listening to the friends of both candidates in the race for Travis County Judge. I like both candidates. Both sides have good points. And, I met with Andy this morning right after a long conversation with progressive business entrepreneurs and Robert Gibbs as we talked about what it’ll take to move us forward in a way that honestly promotes progressive values and jobs, solutions to transportation, affordability and quality of life. It codified my thinking about who is the right person for this job.

It’s highly unusual for sitting elected officials to endorse before a primary: Senator Watson, Mayor Leffingwell, County Attorney David Escamilla and Congresman Lloyd Doggett have all endorsed Andy – so do Steven and I.

(Community Matters) Love this commentary about those protesting the Coke commercial.

& well noted that America The Beautiful was written by a gay songwriter, Katharine Lee Bates

(Community Matters) StevenTomlinson.com

I’m loving it. Okay, okay, need to update our ABPorter.org site – completely agree.

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if you check it out, be sure to check out the Executive, Sales and Keynotes sections and toggle your cursor over the underlined words. Major kudos to Cody Haltom at Public School who designed the website.

(Community Matters) Well deserved honor for Phil who served as Secretary of State for Transportation – the naming of a bridge in his honor.

(Community Matters) These are kinda cool. 

my facebook video here