Me and ChangeAustin react to election

You have to face it. There is a System. The System always is. You can't fight City Hall. Like the song says, "That's Just the Way It Is." But you can fight to change City Hall. Some time ago, before most of us were around, the "System" was Segregation. Some folks fought the power and changed it. Once upon a Time, the granola-eating Liberals took over City Hall under the banner of Saving our Springs and stopping Austin from becoming LA. And Lo and Behold, they made the changes to stop some development, slow down road-building (hmmm, didn't stop the growth), and buy preserve land. Over time, Lock-step Environmentalism became The System. Just as the Academic Left is The System on Campus. Since power corrupts, the System is inevitably corrupt, and moreso in the hands of people who exercise Government Powers Robustly.

And so when the corrupt Domain giveaway went down, a group led by a concerned property owner Brian Rodgers called Change Austin sallied forth to fight the corruption and Fight The System. Bravo to them for trying to fight the good fight against a corrupt and wasteful deal. But The Empire Fought Back. The score, after the Prop 2 battle last November and the attempt to change the System in the city council elections: TheSystem 2, ChangeAgents 0.

The fact is that the lack of single-member districts combined with low voter turnout and an election machine whereby lockstep liberals are putting a monolithic liberal Council in place means no real open-ness to Change. Austin city council democracy is enfeebled, damaged by anti-1st amendment contribution limits and a lack of accountability. SOS now stands for "Same Old Stupidity" of GreenDoggles.

Yes, I just invented that word. GreenDoggles are the Boondoggles for the Environmental movement. "Green Jobs" - it really means "GreenDoggle Jobs", since those jobs are taxpayer subsidized. GreenDoggles won - we voted for the guy who gave us the stupidity of paying for a $2 billion plant to burn wood chips that is dirtier than a coal plant, produces less energy than a fossil fuel plant costing a fraction of this, and is based on a false premise of what is good for the environment. This is like promoting an arsonist to fire chief.

ChangeAustin sees the silver lining in the defeat, ie, they forced Lee the frontrunner to hypocritically deflect the issue of his outrageous waste of money:

Thank you Carole for running. Had you not, Lee and Brewster would not have been forced to explain their votes on the outrageous no bid $2.3 billion biomass deal, show serious support for local businesses or acknowledge the need for a more open City Hall.

but City Hall will be more open now? Doubtful. Meanwhile, politics makes for strange bedfellows, whereby libertarians, moderates, Republicans, independent progressives and RonPaul Republicans are on the outside of TheSystem looking in. And where most of the people who are in that category in one fashion or another are on the outside looking in:

Thank you to all our friends who worked on this campaign. A very special thanks are due to Chuck Young (who came to us from the Ron Paul movement), longtime Libertarian Wes Benedict, Democratic activist Kathleen Green, Republican activist Dan McDonald, our data base guru Chris Hauboltd and the many Carole supporters from across Austin’s political spectrum.

And then this gem:

Contrary to what you’re reading in the Chronicle, three of the founders of ChangeAustin.org (Brian Rodgers, Linda Curtis and Albert Marino) are not Libertarians. We are all longtime independent minded progressives. Brian and Linda supported President Obama, much to the consternation of our libertarian friends.

Dear Brian and Linda: Best wishes on the impending opening of your eyes. If you need help understanding, see the previous account of the reformed Liberal.