The Filibuster for Independence begins this Friday, March 3 at 6 pm

[PDittie]

Candidates confirmed include Larry Stallings, John Courage, and Charlie Urbina Jones. Other expected candidates include Ben Z Grant and Fred Head.

Hospitality for bloggers and volunteers at the Austin campaign office (see below for details)

In 1836 the founders of Texas declared and won their independence from dictatorship and entered the community of nations. In our day the people of Texas must again win their independence from the modern dictatorship of corruption, cronyism, and corporate government. We have a Constitution to save!

Please join Democratic Attorney General Candidate

DAVID VAN OS

in honoring the

170th Anniversary of the Texas Declaration of Independence

by conducting a

24-hour Filibuster for Independence

at the seat of Texas government on the State Capitol grounds.

Commencing 6:00 pm, Friday March 3
continuing until 6:00 pm, Saturday March 4

The Filibuster for Independence will be conducted on the South Steps or Grounds of the State Capitol Building, 11th Street at Congress Avenue, Austin

The Capitol Building and Grounds belong to the People, and public discourse on issues of public concern is their highest and greatest use.

Other local & statewide candidates have been invited to speak. The public is invited to attend, observe, and listen. Representatives of the press are welcome to attend.

Hospitality Suite:

Austin David Van Os Campaign Headquarters
1101 Music Lane Suite 304 (South Congress @ Academy, behind Doc's Restaurant)

Walkable (under 2 miles), else a Dillo ride (free) or short Bus Route 1 (50¢) away.

Refreshments, shower, "crash pad", use of internet for blogging the event, telephone use for getting friends to come, more.

Help us promote this event.

Or volunteer.

Or just join us during the Filibuster as we make history.

[sonias]

1. Excellent news!

Heck I didn't even know John Courage was joining us. That's why he's going to be my Congressman!

Sonia

[PDittie]

2. Go punch "recommend" on the BOR diary also, if you would, Sonia

Maybe I can get it on the front page...

[sonias]

3. Aye, Aye captain!

Done.

Maybe we should provide the link so other BOR posters can help us out
http://www.burntorangereport.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=288#2239

Come on DU give us a kick on the BOR diary.

Sonia

[Melissa G]

4. Aye Aye Sonia! n/t

[sonias]

9. Thanks Melissa!

Hope you can come out for a bit either Friday or Saturday. Bring the kids.

:hi:

Sonia

[Lithos]

5. Excellent!

Do you need more hits on the recommend for the BOR? Other blogs to push?

L-

[PDittie]

6. Yes! And two more here for the Greatest page!

And a coupla comments over there, and some people to be at the Capitol steps Friday night or Saturday...

[WestHoustonDem]

10. I'll be there Saturday!

But you knew that since I'm bringing Mrs. Dittie. I've also got at least one other passenger, and maybe punkondrugs

[sonias]

11. I love you WHD!

I don't know if I've met punkondrugs, but I love the name.

See you on Saturday!

Sonia

[WestHoustonDem]

12. You haven't met her yet

Here she is at the Campaign Kickoff Rally on Saturday, wearing a blue hat and NSA spy glasses:

[sonias]

14. Cool!

I trust the future of our country to these intelligent young people. If they're paying attention now, they'll be running the country tomorrow.

Sonia

[WestHoustonDem]

13. self delete

[sonias]

15. Yes Lithos, would please recommend the BOR diary

We need to get that on the front page at BOR. Don't know the rules about how many we need there to make the front page there, but we have 4 now. We could probably make it with 10. If you have an account at BOR, there's a side bar on the right with the "Recommend Journal" caption. Then hit the button to recommend the diary. You can see who's recommended it too.

So we know who's been good to us. :-)

Sonia

[NoPasaran]

16. Okay, I've nominated it too at BOR

[sonias]

17. Thank you NoPasaran!

And please do come out to the event if you can this weekend. We even have a DU crew coming out from Houston. Certainly the Austin folks can make it to the capitol or to our hospitality suite. Be there when the media is likely to be there at the start on Friday at 6:00 PM.

Sonia

[Lithos]

28. K, finally created a BOR account and nominated this diary

L-

[katinmn]

7. K&N! Save the Constitution!

[sonias]

8. Thanks katinmn!

You're the best! I know we've been on opposite sides on some of those endorsements, and you still help us out. I appreciate it!

:hug:

Sonia

[katinmn]

22. You're welcome. We're on the same side. Speaking of endorsements,

check this out. :-)
The Purity of Coleen Rowley
http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2006/03/colleen_rowley.html

[sonias]

23. Thats wonderful news katinmn

You know I have a subscription to Mother Jones and I haven't had time to read this. Thanks for the link!

Congratulations to Coleen Rowley!

Sonia

[Czolgosz]

18. K & R. This will be a great event. l mentioned to the Gammage campaign

that I would be glad if they could participate, and they were interested. I also contacted the Bell campaign. Maybe some of you guys in the Bell camp could talk this up with them (when I mentioned it to them, they expressed a disinclination to participate).

[sonias]

19. Czolgosz, he has been invited

Bell has been invited too. They are both welcome to join us. Any one of our candidates wanting some time on the soapbox can contact PDittie or Rachel Van Os about speaking.

Sonia

[Czolgosz]

21. I knew that both Bell and Gammage had been invited, but I got the idea

that it increased the likelihood that the candidates would attend if their own supporters told them how much they would like to see the candidate attend this event or -- if the candidate was unavailable -- to send a high level representative to lend the candidate's support and voice.

I'd like to see as many candidates as possible attend and strong representation from as many of those candidates who cannot attend doe to prior commitments.

[acmejack]

20. This sounds great!

I want to play, but we'll see if the back (ouch) allows us to participate. I can load up on the pain meds, but that seems to let me make even a bigger fool of myself than usual (yes, it IS possible!). So I will volunteer conditionally...

[MagickMuffin]

24. I'll be in town Thursday & Friday

not sure about Saturday. We'll have to wait and see, (livestock concerns goats and cats), but I should be able to spend some time Friday with you guys.
Maybe Thursday evening we could meet up with anyone that might be interested. If not then Friday it is.

I'll bring my vid cam, and digi cam.

[PDittie]

25. The Daily Kos diary is up:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/2/28/14540/9541

Everyone go punch its recommend button also, please. And Post a comment.

Acme and Majik: I'll look forward to meeting y'all. NoPasaran and others: we're coming to the meeting tomorrow night (DFA? Keep Austin Blue?) and we'll pass out a few flyers there. Maybe get on at the end of the program for thirty seconds? Who knows who I should ask?

[WestHoustonDem]

26. Done! n/t

[sonias]

29. Bunched, battered and bruised

I just sent some mail to some of the steering committee members to give them some notice. I'm sure with their agenda it will have to be a short announcement but I'm sure we can get the microphone for a few minutes.

Sonia

[VelmaD]

27. I will be there

and we need to plan a little DU gathering to whet our whistles when it's all over on Saturday.

[sonias]

30. The Democrats are coming! The Democrats are coming!

The revolution starts this Friday March 3rd. (And the media is welcome to televise it, pod cast it, and blog it)

What will you say, when people ask you where you were, when the fighting TX Democrats Filibustered for Independence in 2006? You better be able to say you were there at the start of the revolution.

"I regret that I have but one recommendation to give to the cause."
I shamelessly stole that quote from Czolgosz




We'll have those Fight'em till hell freezes over t-shirts,too.

Sonia

[VelmaD]

31. I want me...

one of them t-shrits. I will be first in line to buy one on Friday. :)

[sonias]

32. 3 hours to launch

:dem:

Sonia

[sonias]

33. Update filed late last night by Rachel Van Os

Note: There is WiFi from the capitol steps!

To all,

This is a quick FYI to let you know that the 1st official "Texas Citizen's Filibuster" is under-way--at the Texas Capitol and David plus a host of friends and candidates have open the doors to a new wave of "taking back our government"---.

David is ON---and the fight for the heart and soul of our government is on!!! We are not going to let anyone get in our way. It is time that we take back our government and give it back to the people. I'm very proud of David for taking on this challenge. I know he will make it all the way through this 24 hour run. Next stop will be any and every Courthouse all across Texas. We are ready to join forces with every statewide, federal and local candidate on the November ballot. Together, we are going to win!

We had a surprise guest who honored us by joining in with us for First Filibuster--- A friend and fellow Democrat by the name of Elliott Naishtat, State Representative (District 49) from Austin. He asked if he could join in and thanked David for taking a stand. He also thanked David for being bold enough to start this Filibuster. He said that it reminded him of the time that he and a few other good Democrats fled the Capitol and headed to Ardmore, Oklahoma to take a stand for what they knew was right to break the Republican stranglehold (quorum).

Another pleasant surprise this evening was former Republican Dale Henry who is now a new Democrat running for the office of Texas Railroad Commissioner. He is
a very good-hearted man who has a lot to offer all in the spirit of democracy. Mr. Henry and his wife Ruth both very pleasant people invited us to join them along the Texas campaign trail and welcomed us into their home. Mr. Henry insists that you call him Dale and he very proudly claimed with great pride that he was "proud to be a Democrat".---

A write-in candidate for Governor has come to join us also. I have not officially met him, I do not know his name yet---more to come...

Winston Cochran, a former candidate for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals showed up from Houston. Winston ran for statewide office back in 1998 when David ran for the very first time. Winston as always, was true to form--he was always a team player and was more than happy to join in the Filibuster. He talked about Abbott being unfair to prisoners who were up for execution by not giving them a fair and equal chance to fight for their innocence. Abbott must be stopped, he has no compassion for the people--it's time for a change.

Larry Stallings--CANDIDATE for State Representative has join in and has vowed to stay with us for the whole 24 hours---WOW!!! He's got MY VOTE!!!! He is very passionate and full of fighting spirit. We are honored to know him and we support him as we do all of our good Democratic friends 100 %. The crowd loved his presentation. Way to go Larry.**

There is more to come---but I must get back to the Capitol grounds. I just came in for a quick Pimento cheese sandwich (homemade by me*) and I've got to get back so that David can have a quick bite. There's plenty of Pimento cheese---come on down!!!

Back to the Filibuster now---.

Please forward this email report to all DEMOCRATIC Yahoo groups and to all your email friends---If you're a BLOGGER...Please BLOG ON.

Convince the media to come out and report the news for the people. Take a stand and fight for what you believe in. Believe in yourself and know that we're going to win.

"After" Party at DOC'S Bar & Grill on the corner of Congress & Academy---Saturday after the Filibuster at 6:01 P.M.---

Hope to see you here in Austin on the steps of the Capitol.

In Unity,
Rachel Barrios-Van Os

I was there until midnight last night. I've been up too late this week with preparations. Anyway it really was a lot of fun last night. Huddled in blankets, eating VelmaD's brownies and listening to David's on fire speech. Larry Stallings read from the Federalist Papers. And that was my Rep. Elliott Naishtat saying that using the tools of Democracy in different ways then the official way is what makes us unique. Just like the used the quorum rule against the republicans during the redistricting fight creatively, David's use of the quorum to educate us was brilliant. And David knows his history. If you're a wonk, this is like a super civics class.

Sonia

[Czolgosz]

34. Is there anywhere we can find a complete list of all candidates who are

supporting this great event?

[sonias]

36. Not that I know of, Czolgosz

Some of them are just showing up spur of the moment. Some have told us they would love to be there but had other commitments.

Kathi Thomas running for Texas Senate in District 25 against Jeff Wentworth was there but couldn't stay long. Both the Bell and Gammage camps sent their regrets as did Barbara Ann Radnofsky. Some of her volunteers were in the audience.

Sonia

[sonias]

35. Some pictures

And to correct my prior post. I meant to say David's use of the filibuster. Must get sleep.

David and Elliott Naishtat

Larry Stallings


Larry was incredible too. Wonderful history about the Federalist Papers. His son Billy made his own public speaking appearance for the first time in his young 17 year old life. Spoke about breaking our dependence on oil and supporting alternative energy. Great young Democrat. We just need another 25 million like him. He'll be attending Harvard and become a super wonk!
:applause:

Sonia

[MagickMuffin]

37. Thanks for the pics

How many do you think attended?

I haven't seen any news coverage, Not at all Surprised.

[sonias]

38. The lazy ass media can kiss my ass

We don't march to the beat of their corporate drum, so they basically ignore us. We don't care, we'll keep marching. I know David did two newspaper interviews, one with the SA Express, we'll see how they report it. We also had a small weekly, The Nokoa, do an interview. I'm sure they will run a front page story on David's filibuster. There was some local radio coverage. Jack Blood was there on Friday night. Some of Alex Jones' crew was there. The Tyranny Response shirts were out. We had people live blogging, and Austin Indy media was there as well. People came and went so I'm just guessing that we had at least 150-200 different people over the weekend. VelmaD and my young activist friend William stayed the full 24 hours. What troopers! Larry Stallings and his family also stayed the full 24 hours - that's commitment from a great candidate. Our Houston DUers WestHoustonDem, PDittie and his wife were also there. PDittie also put in some serious time at the capitol. I hope we didn't kill him. And I hope they all made it safe to Houston. We had people come from Burnet, Tyler, San Antonio, Houston, Midland and parts beyond.

At the end of the filibuster we had at least 40 people applauding the history making. Then we all went to Doc's for an after party. A great time was had by all. We all need to get some rest.

David and Rachel need to take tomorrow off, sleep late, and spend time with their family. He was really sweet at the end of the filibuster talking about what winners his daughters are. They have already discovered in their short little lives, that with really hard work and focus you can reach you goals and be a winner.

So nice meeting you MagicMuffin! You are welcome in our town anytime.

Sonia

[Czolgosz]

39. Thanks. I'm really glad you guys did this. I wish I could have come.

[WolverineDG]

40. Link to SA article

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA030506.03B.Filibuster.2708070.html

Not too shabby! :)

Where do you get the t-shirts? I'm going to NYC to march in the protest in April & need something to wear. :)

dg

[sonias]

41. Thanks for the link dg

We can send you a T-shirt from the office. They're better than the ones from Cafe Press. Much more colorful since they're screen printed and they have the union bug. I'll have to check with Rachel on how much since we have to pay for shipping, but I think it will be in the $15 range.

Here's the mailing address
Van Os for Attorney General of Texas
1101 Music Ln., Suite 304
Austin, TX 78704

I'll pm when I get the cost and you can send me your mailing address. We have women's scoop necks and men sizes
M, L, XL, and 2X. I haven't found any S but they may be in the box.

thanks dg!!

Sonia

[WolverineDG]

42. Don't worry about finding a small

I'm nowhere near that territory (yet). ;)

dg