By Ashley Bean Thornton All the races in the May 4 Join General Election in McLennan County are non-partisan.  Ahhhh!  How relaxing!  It’s so nice to take a break from partisan shenanigans and just try to consider folks on their merits and ideas. Early voting info May 4 Voting Places (Only 30 this time, so…

By Ashley Bean Thornton I am going to brag on myself a little bit, but I have a more noble purpose in mind.  So, please bear with me. You know what I am really good at?  Standardized tests. Standardized tests have been very, very good to me.  I “earned” more than a semester of college…

By Ashley Bean Thornton So…I watched the State of the Union the other night, and predictably for those who know me, I thought Mr. Biden did a great job! The next day I got my weekly email from my current Representative in the U.S. House, Mr. Pete Sessions.  It started this way… “Last night, President…

By Ashley Bean Thornton There’s a guy I see about once a week at Whataburger.  I’m guessing he’s about my age, a white guy.  Friendly, but not aggressively so.  Just a nice guy. I don’t know what he does for a living now; I think he used to be some kind of minister.  Anyway, this…

By Ashley Bean Thornton I am very worried about the current state of politics and the direction our state and country seem to be taking. I disagree with so many of the actions of the Republican Party right now. I worry that we are edging toward a dangerous religious nationalism. I am frustrated that we…

By Ashley Bean Thornton Holy Cow!  This Texas school voucher business is getting to be quite the political spectacle! Here is the show so far as I understand it: Governor Greg Abbott is bound and determined to pass some kind of School Voucher/Educational Savings Account (ESA) bill. The Texas Senate passed one in the regular…

By Ashley Bean Thornton I am new at Politics…still building my political stamina.  It can feel overwhelming.  Every now and then I have to remember what is driving me to get involved and stay involved. I would like to say that it is some goal I want us to accomplish together –  some improved and…

I couldn’t figure out how to format this as a blog post — so I just made a page.  Here’s the link: Rush vs. ABT – Dead Armadillo Politics (deaddillo.com). Happy reading! — ABT

By Ashley Bean Thornton We are almost exactly a year out from the 2024 Presidential elections, and I predict this will be a year of political nastiness. Sometimes I get frustrated to the point of despair with the ugliness of our political discourse. When that happens it helps me to step back and think for…

Early voting starts tomorrow!  I plan to stop off at the Waco Multi-Purpose Center in East Waco on my way to AfterSchool tomorrow and exercise my rights! We are all getting a chance to vote on 14 amendments to the Texas Constitution, and some of us will have the chance to vote on school board…