by Josh Berthume

Drew Ryun surveys the hotel conference room and he can feel the dissatisfaction—anger, even—radiating from the 40 or so newly forged conservative activists seated in front of him.

“You are all here because you are upset about something,” says Ryun, the executive director of American Majority, whose mission is to train a national network of activists committed to limited government. “You want to know what you can do to turn the tide in this country.”

There are a few murmurs and a boisterous, “Yes!”

“We all share common values as conservatives. We all want to hold our elected officials accountable,” he says, pacing at the front of the room. “But here’s a test: Who here can name every member of your school board?”

Silence.

Ryun is practicing the ancient art of political organizing, a tradition once thought lost in the age of television campaigning. But after the Christian Right and the Obama Left reinvented personal politicking for the 21^st century, the old wizardry is making a comeback. After the Tea Parties are over and the Fox News van has skipped town, American Majority is training activists to organize their communities and win elections. When conservatives talk about taking back Congress, and eventually the White House, this is how they plan to do it.

At this Thursday night meeting in Dallas, Ryun uses the audience’s political ignorance as a teachable moment. He has demonstrated that angry chanting at Tea Parties or loud shouting at Town Hall Meetings does not an effective activist make. Like an Army drill sergeant, he’s tearing down these wannabes in order to build them back up as political warriors, with a full complement of weaponry.

“Okay. So what are you so pissed about? The people that make decisions are the ones that actually get elected to office,” Ryun says. “If you don’t know who the people are that are making  the decisions that most directly affect you, what are you so mad at?”

**********

Drew Ryun says he helped his twin brother Ned launch American Majority in January 2008. They are the sons of former Kansas congressman Jim Ryun, who the National Review ranked as the most conservative member of Congress in 2006. Ned, who serves as the president of American Majority, worked as a writer in the Bush administration. Drew previously ran the grassroots operation of the Republican National Committee.

American Majority’s staff includes many former Republican Party operatives and former elected officials. Nevertheless, the group claims to be non-partisan—a requirement to keep their non-profit status. American Majority’s non-partisan status is hard to accept, until Drew and Ned explain how they consider most elected conservatives to either be insufficiently conservative or, worse, falsely conservative.

American Majority intends not only to take back the government, but also to define what it means to be a conservative.

Drew Ryun says Republicans ruined the conservative brand and that’s why Democrats won in 2006 and 2008.

When I look at election losses, I see conservatives saying, ‘What’s the difference? What am I sending these guys to DC for anyways? They’re not doing anything,’” Ryun explains. “Some Republicans in DC will say, ‘Well, where else are conservatives gonna go? They have to vote for us.’ But they don’t. I think a lot of them have been staying home.”

Ryun sites a recent Gallup poll that says 40% of Americans identify themselves as conservative, and 20% consider themselves liberal or progressive. And in those numbers, he sees opportunity.

Thousands of people are attending American Majority training sessions, and so far progressives are failing to take them seriously. Progressives too often chuckle at the crazy signs they see in rally footage, and they label everyone in the opposition as Glenn Beck zealots, Birthers or Secessionists. That could turn out to be a big mistake.

Forget for a moment that the Tea Party message is a muddled mess. Likewise, forget your doubts that these activists are organized enough to do more than show up and get angry. Forget the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy–even if you believe it.

Instead consider these simple facts: American Majority has a field office in Dallas, and since it began operating in late May, the group has held 12 training sessions (half for activist trainings, half for candidates), with six more on the calendar before the end of the year. Ryan says American Majority’s goal for 2010 is to have a thousand new activists trained and engaged as well as 100 candidates running for office in Texas. At this rate they will make that goal and likely exceed it.

When asked to state American Majority’s end goal, Ryun says he will only be satisfied when American Majority candidates take over the city council in Berkeley, California. Sitting in on their training session, it becomes clear that these are not the “Crazy Uncles” you see on TV. Those in attendance are not the folks who think  Barack Obama is an Arab. These are the folks who work the call centers and block-walk. The conservative Ryun twins are savvy operatives, and they have embraced the new version of the old wizardry. They are actively rebuilding the conservative political machine from the ground up.

For more information about American Majority:

Ned Ryun at a Salina, Kansas rally

Rachel Maddow on American Majority

Ned Ryun’s Response to Rachel Maddow  

American Majority on YouTube

American Majority’s Twitter Activism guide  

Much has been made of the rumored cuts of César Chávez and Thurgood Marshall from Texas public school curriculum, but Thursday’s State Board of Education meeting seemed to suggest that these two historical figures would be retained in Texas classrooms. The six SBOE experts, appointed to conduct a regular review of social studies material, presented their revisions on the 222nd anniversary of the Constitution’s ratification. It was fitting that on this day, the conversation strayed away from historical figures to the separation of church and state, or in this case, the so-called experts’ view that the two are inextricably intertwined.

In his review of the Texas Education Knowledge and Skills curriculum, SBOE-appointed expert Reverend Peter Marshall argues that high school classrooms should explain that critical documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are products of Christian values.  Marshall, who operates Marshall Ministries in Massachusetts, stressed his “Bible-based worldview” in which the Constitutional values of universal human equality are derived from God. His philosophy is expanded in his review of the TEKS, emphasizing: “Religion in America produced the first written civil documents of governance.” Marshall is one of two Christian advocates who were appointed as experts by the SBOE to review social studies course content.

The other is David Barton, former vice president of the Texas Republican Party. Barton did not expand on his previous comments that Cesar Chavez “lacks the stature, impact and overall contributions of so many others,” but instead gave an in-depth review of minority historical figures that would be appropriate to review in the TEKS curriculum. Barton appears to have taken a step back from his written review of the TEKS, in which he also suggested the removal of Anne Hutchinson, Carl Sagan, and Colin Powell from the historical figures list. Barton also advocated for the inclusion of religion in the program, counseling that students be taught “inalienable rights as being those rights given by God.”

It’s encouraging to see the First Amendment tested on this Constitution Day. Though our founding documents use the words “creator” and “under God,” it’s not clear we shouldn’t necessarily fasten the Constitution’s attitude of human equality to Christian origins, just as modern society doesn’t follow 18th century morality. Yes, these critical documents influence the way we think about government today, but most people consider their influences as historical information to weigh and consider instead of treating them as roadmaps and relics. For example, our founding fathers wrote in the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”  The author of the First Amendment was almost certainly thinking about their ancestors’ flight from England in which they were dissatisfied with the Church and were not permitted to practice their Puritan faith. Though Puritan states like the Massachusetts Bay Colony were established under this sentiment of “free exercise,” the intention of the First Amendment was obviously not to establish and protect Puritanism. The free exercise of faith ensures that all of America’s modern-day “pilgrims” may live in a country free of imposed religion.

Perhaps the most notable thing about the “Sovereignty or Secession” rally at the state Capitol today was the absence of any remotely mainstream speakers. That little problem in presentation did not escape the event’s organizers from the Texas Nationalist Movement. In fact, several speakers bitterly complained that neither Gov. Rick Perry nor a single one of the 70-plus supporters of Rep. Brandon Creighton’s HCR 50, a resolution asserting Texas’ “sovereignty” from the federal government, made an appearance.

Back in April, Perry flirted with the idea of secession when he told reporters after a Tax Day tea party event: “There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve [the Union]. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that.”

Even for a governor who frequently plays to the more extreme elements in the Texas GOP, it was a gobsmackingly ‘out there’ remark. But it certainly did wonders for the secession crowd—long a totally marginal and ridiculed group with about as much chance of capturing the mainstream imagination as the LaRouche cult.

The turnout for the rally wasn’t huge—200 would be a generous estimate—but it was enough to show how much Perry has helped galvanize and embolden the right wing “hate America” fringe. After all, the governor of the second most populous state in the nation had suggested that secession was a possible solution to federal over-reach. Republican political leaders have helped bring “death panels” and the Obama birth certificate nonsense into acceptable discourse; Perry’s contribution has been bringing secession into the mix.

Daniel Miller (pictured below, at top), the leader of the Texas Nationalist Movement and the only speaker who had the slightest ability to make secession sound like anything other than just complete lunacy, recounted the April 15 tea party rally in Austin and what it meant to the secessionist movement.

“When [Perry] was giving a speech and the crowd began to shout what? – Secede! Secede! Secede! – that’s what they chanted. So they asked him afterward, What do you think? He said, Well we reserve that right; if things get so bad we reserve the right to leave. And I gotta tell you it’s the first solid thing he’s done in his administration that I can agree with in many, many years.”

So the secession leaders were a little peeved that they couldn’t get their good friends in the Texas GOP to show up today. After all, Fox News is paying attention: Miller was a guest on the Glenn Beck Program on June 23, discussing the possibility of Texas seceding.

Though Perry and the “pro-sovereignty” legislators didn’t show for the rally, Miller said, “I want them to hear this loud and clear: It is time for them to take up that banner and it’s time for them to take the lead and if they do not, if they do not pick up that banner and carry it high, then we will.” Upon which Miller dashed out into the crowd, took hold of a “Come and Take It” flag, and continued his exhortations. Along with other speakers, he called for a special session of the Legislature—next week—to take up the sovereignty-or-secession debate in earnest.

The organizers are trying to set up a time to deliver a petition to Perry demanding that Texas officials either “immediately move for the restoration of the complete and unadulterated Sovereignty of Texas, explicitly adhering to the 10th Amendment wording of the U.S. Constitution,” or “move immediately for complete Secession from the United States of America.”

Instead of Perry or Creighton, the protesters had Larry Kilgore, a “Christian activist” and candidate for governor who has endorsed executions for homosexuals; Debra Medina, a Ron Paul Republican and a slightly-less long-shot candidate for governor; and Melissa Pehle-Hill, yet another fringe candidate and a member of a self-appointed “citizens grand jury” investigating Barack Hussein Obama, aka Barry Soetoro.

The audience of about 200 people included tattoed bikers wearing Confederate memorabilia, Alex Jones conspiracy theorists carrying those Obama-as-Joker signs, lots of older guys in Texas flag shirts and blue jeans, Ron Paul activists, and others.

Kilgore, dressed in starched blue jeans and a cowboy hat, drew some murmurs of disapproval when he launched into a rant against the U.S.

“I hate that flag up there,” Kilgore said pointing to the American flag flying over the Capitol. “I hate the United States government. … They’re an evil, corrupt government. They need to go. Sovereignty is not good enough. Secession is what we need!”

“We hate the United States!,” he said later in the speech. (And they say leftists are America-bashers!)

Medina chipped in: “We are aware that stepping off into secession may in fact be a bloody war. We are aware that the tree of freedom is occasionally watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots.”

For his part, Kilgore assured the crowd that violence wouldn’t be necessary to secede. Instead, the U.S. would just split up like the USSR did in 1991.

After the rally, lingering secessionists clashed with pro-health reformers holding another rally at the Capitol. Kilgore was seen yelling at some pro-health care reform advocates to “Go back to the U.S. where you belong.”

Secession, the speakers argued, was more important than ever because of the Obama administration. Health care reform, the auto industry and Wall Street bailouts, cap-and-trade legislation, etc, etc – all this “change” is driving people already predisposed to mistrust a Democratic administration to new heights of apoplectic rage.

“If either one of them passes [cap-and-trade or health care reform], we have no option but to go for secession,” said Hill. “Texas is not comprised of people willing to allow Barack Obama and his czars to tax us into bankruptcy while Michelle Obama and her 26 aides live it up on our dime.”

Like any movement, the secessionists have their own reading of history and the law. There was much talk about the true and correct reading of the Constitution, implied powers, Thomas Jefferson’s writings on tyranny and government. One guy even started reading from Black’s Law Dictionary. But the references to the Confederacy were the most telling.

At one point, Miller drew the crowd’s attention to the statue of Lady Liberty on top of the Capitol.

“When they raised her to the top of this Capitol they wanted to face her south so she would forever have her back turned to that nation to the north that knew not liberty,” he told the almost entirely white crowd.

And they wonder why Perry and friends didn’t show up. Even for our governor, these people are toxic.

• At “Purple Texas,” Observer Editor Bob Moser is reporting on, poking fun at and scrutinizing Texas’ 2010 elections from a progressive-populist point of view.

• Investigative reporter Melissa del Bosque is blogging at “La Linea,” where she’s taking a look at immigration politics and culture along the Texas-Mexico border, dispelling stereotypes and myths along the way.

• Dave Mann, the Observer’s associate editor, casts a critical eye on the conventional wisdom at “The Contrarian.” Dave is ferreting out hidden stories, bogus facts and generally being a lovable curmudgeon.

• Yours Truly is serving up underreported news and analysis about Texas and the environment at “Forrest For The Tree.”

• Also, don’t miss Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Ben Sargent’s “Loon Star State” in which Sargent offers his take on the nuttiest, weirdest, most outrageous happenings and politics in the strangest state in the union. Exclusive in the Observer.

Please bookmark the new blogs. This space will remain inactive for the time-being.

While she did finally commit to the race, Hutchison remained vague as to her plans to vacate her senate seat, only promising to stay on long enough to fight the “massive government takeover of our health-care system.” And she beat that conservative drum steadily throughout her announcement.

After reflecting on her family’s place in Texas history (her great-great-grandfather Charles S. Taylor signed Texas’ Declaration of Independence), she repeated the conservative mantra: “spend less, borrow less and tax less.” This last point segued nicely into her critique of Perry’s “job-killing” new business tax, which she subtly hinted at being the cause Texas’ high job losses this year. She then pointed at the 30,000 new state employees put on the payroll in the last decade as evidence of Perry’s penchant for Big Government. Harsh criticisms of the governor’s failed Trans-Texas Corridor — or “the biggest land grab in the history of Texas” as Hutchison labeled it — and solemn mourning for the Republican Party’s loss of power (read: relevance) soon followed.

Hutchison’s backers ate it up, though Austin clearly is not her bread-and-butter given the scant turnout. Volunteers worked to reshuffle the crowd before the cameras clicked on, in order, they said, to “make it look like there’s a lot of people here.”

What the attendees lacked in number, they made up for in loyalty and enthusiasm. The pantsuits and “Kay” stickers seemed more like battle regalia than business casual — though that might have been because of the shoulder pads.

Serious questions linger about whether Hutchison can go toe-to-toe with Perry. Hutchison’s soundbite-ready condemnations of the governor were delivered with the cadence of a teacher reading to schoolchildren, with nowhere near the charisma we’re used to seeing from Gov. Goodhair. Whatever the results, watching the two trumpet their conservative credentials till they’re blue in the face will make for months of priceless political theater.

On his Watson Wire, the former Austin mayor displayed his political acumen by explaining his decision without really explaining it. “First of all, I really like serving in the Senate and representing the citizens of Travis County,” he wrote. The other consideration, Watson said, was—repeat after me—wanting to spend more time with his family, particularly his younger son, who’s just entering high school.

In reality, of course, Watson would have been leading a semi-functional Democratic state party into battle against the huge money and superior organization that’ll be behind the Republican nominee, whether it’s Gov. Rick Perry or Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Watson, a tall, charismatic fellow who can “talk Texan” with the best of them, wasseen by many as the only Democrat capable of putting up a fight. But Watson, who’s in his early 50s, can afford to wait another cycle for Texas’ blue tide to rise a few more feet.

Watson’s decision leaves former state Rep. and U.S. Ambassador Tom Schieffer and humorist Kinky Friedman as the only Democratic candidates more than a dozen Texas could name. It could make it more likely that Ronnie Earle, the former Travis district attorney whom Watson once worked for, will jump into the race, as he’s been hinting for months.

The least-surprising reaction to Watson’s announcement came from an undoubtedly relieved Schieffer. According to the Houston Chronicle, he “welcomed Watson’s announcement” and said that “men and women of his character and capability are needed in the state Senate.”

In a sign that Democrats and universal health care advocates are perhaps figuring out how to counter right-wing tactics, the event was spirited but civil and the reformers took control of the event. It looked little like the mob scene at the Randall’s last Saturday.

At the invitation of the clinic, both Doggett and Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who has suggested that the Obama plans might lead to a “single-payer, Washington-run system,” made an appearance. Cornyn left after the short press event, driving away in a SUV as protesters in the Doggett camp booed him. Outside the clinic, about 200 people stuck around for the townhall, a mix of local Democrats, progressive activists, “tea bag” types, Ron Paul libertarians, and some fans of Alex Jones, the Austin talk radio host and conspiracy theorist. Fans of reform outnumbered opponents about two-to-one.

“After what happened last Saturday, I figured Lloyd needed some help,” said Kent Johnson, who carried a sign reading “Insurance Costs Doubled Under Bush/The Right Did Nothing.” Of the protesters trying a repeat of the supermarket uprising, he said, “They tried but they were outnumbered.” Doggett supporters fanned out in front of the speaker’s podium, loudly cheering the congressman and others speaking in favor of health care reform. When the antis tried to drown Doggett out with cries of “Socialism!” or “Just Say No!,” self-appointed enforcers would push back with forceful “shushes.” One man carried a sign that simply said: “You Can Disagree Without Being Rude or Disruptive.”

George True, 35, used a bullhorn to tease the tea party people, a tactic he said he learned as an activist in Washington, D.C.

“Everyone’s scared of public speaking so you mock them,” he explained.

After stepping to the podium, Doggett called for a “civil discussion” and that’s mostly what he got.

“If the only thing coming out of this is the fight” - the squabbling and accusations - “that will be a defeat for health care,” Doggett said. “I hope you go away recognizing [a health care reform bill] is in your self-interest.”

The format of the townhall helped to defuse the tension. Each side took turns asking Doggett questions over a loudspeaker. (P.A. systems, as all good activists know, are magical things.)

A Travis County Republican precinct chair asked about the $1.6 trillion price-tag affixed to a version of the legislation by the Congressional Budget Office. Another woman said - like many at these events - that she’s “just scared.”

The health reform advocates focused on bringing the debate back to earth. One man spoke of running through three insurance policies for his sick wife in three years, all the while watching the premiums soar 67 percent. Even the militia types in the back, waving a “Come and Take It” flag, found that hard to jeer.

An older nurse described seeing patients falling through the cracks. “Everyone here needs health care so we can all be healthy,” she said. One man asked the congressman how best to repel the rumors about “ObamaCare,” such as the notion that the government will require euthanasia of senior citizens. “There are many people in this country who have died because they don’t have health insurance,” Doggett said. Of the rumors: “It is absolute nonsense.”

Single-payer advocates—a group that has dogged lawmakers at public events for years but received scant attention from the media—made their mark too. Doggett said he was open to single-payer, but that Obama had taken that option off the table at the onset of the health care debate.

At the end Doggett seemed pleased. “I think we’ve had a reasonable dialogue this morning,” he said. And he walked to his car with only his aides in tow.

On a recent evening I was invited to see Garcia’s group perform in a friend’s apartment. Each person attending was asked to pay $80 pesos (about $6 bucks). There were two actresses: Alicia Martin and Maricela Penalosa who performed an hour-long untitled play.

There were 17 people in the audience and we all crammed into my friend’s apartment to watch the show. The play was very abstract and also visceral and athletic at times. Both of the characters were battling some type of mental anguish and at times it made me feel uncomfortable to be so close. The actresses were so good they embodied their two characters completely. They also did not appear to be nervous at all. (No small feat when you are performing in someone’s living room surrounded by your audience.) At some points the two characters would seem to be addressing us and they would sit amongst the audience. They were firmly locked inside the play though and it was a little like being a fly on the wall in a lunatic asylum. This might sound jarring or awful but it actually was a really good theater experience.

Garcia, the theater group’s director, says they are booked just about every week performing in someone’s home. “Usually someone from the audience will ask us to come to their home and perform,” she says. “And it spreads by word of mouth.” There are also several other theater groups in Mexico City performing on a weekly basis including a group called Teatro Instantaneo where the actors write the play as they go along with the help of the audience.

It’s heartening to see that theater groups in Mexico City are thriving instead of letting the economic crisis close them down.

The Sierra Club commended 43 congressional members today for sending a letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. The members ask DHS to work with other agencies to lessen the impacts of the wall, fund efforts to buy comparable land for wildlife and provide environmental training for their employees.

In the letter, the congressional members wrote the following to Napolitano:
“As you are aware, hundreds of miles of new border fences and patrol roads have been constructed by DHS along the US/Mexico border in the past several years. This massive federal project has had deleterious consequences upon natural and cultural public resources, and has caused hardship for private land owners, whose lands have been condemned and livelihoods have been disrupted.”

Already $50 million has been allocated to borderlands mitigation, the congressional members note, but far more funding will be necessary to address the extent of the damage done, they wrote.

Besides the damage done there is also the cost of upkeep. We are now the owners of a 670-foot long steel wall which costs anywhere from $2 million to $11 million a mile. Besides the environmental degradation and the destruction of wildlife we will also being paying to keep it upright. The Congressional Research Service estimated it might cost up to $16,000 a mile just to  keep the wall intact.

A sign created by Mexico’s Secretary of Health on how to avoid the spread of influenza.

Just four months ago the streets of Mexico City were nearly desolate — no small feat in a city of 23 million. Schools, restaurants and other public areas were shuttered. The country was in a near panic over the spread of swine flu  (H1N1). It’s incredible what a difference four months can make. Upon arrival at the Mexico City airport I was asked to fill out a form detailing whether I had a fever or cough. Luckily, I had neither and turned my form into an extremely bored looking airport employee upon entering customs.

The only trace of the pandemic at the airport were signs created by the government advising people to wash their hands and not greet others with a kiss on the cheek as is custom in Mexico.  As I headed toward Mexico City’s massive and impressive zocalo– a huge plaza at the center of the city — I would see an occasional person wearing a disposable surgical mask. Millions of these masks  were given out during the height of the H1N1 scare. Inexplicably, I saw one man wearing the mask around his neck as if it were some kind of magic good-health talisman.

As I headed into Sanborns — a huge department store, I saw a European family wearing the disposable surgical masks and snapping photos. It was unsettling to see them walking around in masks, but after weeks of alarming news stories about the flu in Mexico it was understandable.    Of course,  in public health school I learned that these masks do little to prevent the influenza virus from infecting you — the virus is small enough to pass through the porous holes in the mask.  (I think the Mexican government was smart in passing out the masks, however, in order to quell some of the panic around the H1N1 virus.)

While the flu has disappeared from the minds of most Mexicans, there are still cases being confirmed by the government’s Secretary of Health. In the agency’s most current update — July 17th — there were 98 new cases — down from the peak of 391 in early May. To date there have been 14,861 cases confirmed and 138 deaths.  The United States has the highest number of confirmed flu cases at 40,617 and 263 deaths (24 of the deaths occurred in Texas.)

While public health officials monitor the H1N1 situation, Mexicans have more pressing concerns on their minds including escalating narco violence and the resurgence of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) which ruled the country for 70 years. In the recent mid-term elections in early July, the PRI won a majority in Congress. Many Mexicans I’ve spoken with are despondent about the PRI’s resurgence. They blame the PRI for many of the country’s current economic and social problems.

A sign of this discord is growing in Tepoztlan, just south of Mexico City, where my husband’s family lives. In early July a candidate for the PRI, Gabino Rios Cedillo, won the mayor’s race after 9 years of the more liberal PRD serving in the mayor’s office. In Tepoztlan, political activists are working to join all of the losing parties together to overthrow the PRI candidate. Last Sunday cars with loud speakers circulated in the city enjoining residents to prevent Rios from taking office. There have been all kinds of accusations surrounding his win — including that he paid for the votes. Residents are hoping the political fracas doesn’t develop into something more bloody.

There is definitely an uneasy feeling these days in Mexico — no one can predict what will happen and there are so many challenges facing the country. Mexicans have lost what little hope they gained in their political system in 2000 when the PRI was toppled.