I've never met her, but she seems nice!

This is the type of blogger I can understand. Not just because Michelle is a liberal (and I happen to be, too), but well-worded, strongly-spoken, and well-informed people tend to author good reading.

I appreciate, very much, the citing of references to back up an opinion or factual statements. This is not an issue when reading michelleisliberandwhy. In fact, the last two words of her blog title is: AND WHY. I think it is actually somewhat ironic that her blog incorporates one of the most important aspects in generating credibility. Backing up your position with facts is crucial. So many outspoken and overly critical political talking-heads, Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh to name two, spout off wild, agenda-driven lies without any factual basis just so that their ignorant Republican supporters will begin to believe one way even if these fabrications are entirely proven to be lies later. I'm willing to bet my entire life savings that if Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh were to begin telling their right-wing nutjob followers that President Obama started the Iraq war, that after hearing it enough times Republicans would start to believe them. (I also find it interesting that the cities in the United States that have the highest number of colleges and universities and large portions of their population with Bachelor's degrees or higher tend to be Democratic)

Nonetheless, as a liberal who backs up her facts and writes very readable material, michelleisliberalandwhy is my kind of blog.

Governating.

So, as if anybody had any doubt about it, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is now officially in the gubernatorial race. Not that I don't welcome, with open arms and sacrificial lambs, a gubernatorial candidate that is NOT Rick Perry, but it is somewhat disheartening that the Democrats don't even remotely stand a chance. It is absurd, and a mockery of what representative government should be, that the Democratic candidate couldn't win even if they had 10 times the air time and twice the purse to spend. What concerns me even more, is that the average Texan (a below-national-average wage earner prone to benefit from WIC or TANF) votes for a party in power that doesn't even have their own interest truly on their political agendas. Key issue at hand: the Trans-Texas Corridor.

Now, I can understand a few of the key elements in the platform, and how they somewhat relate to the corridor. Protecting private property, both from taxes and the annexation by exercising eminent domain, is definitely a core issue at the heart of many Americans (not just Texans). But to say that you are doing it ultimately to prevent the construction of the Trans-Texas Corridor is a terrible decision. You're talking about construction jobs on all levels, income to local police departments, taxes on tolls and ticket fares , and all associated fees with creating a superhighway for tankers, shippers, trains, and long distance travelers. Not to mention the relief that urban areas would see from reduced congestion on immediately local and highway routes.

This is all fine and well, and is but one talking point, I know. What really saddens me as an American, is that exercising my right to vote will only afford me the opportunity to vote for the lesser of two evils. Thanks, Texas. You should read What's the Matter With Kansas?