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Mayor John Whitmire says the big delays at Bush and Hobby Airport are because of “…TSA employees not coming to work.” He said this at the Wednesday, 11/5, session of Houston City Council. 

The full quote is “First of all let me just thank the airport system for dealing with unbearable conditions due to TSA employees not coming to work.” It is at the one hour 26 minute point of yesterday's (11/6) Council session. Above you see Mayor Whitmire in his comments yesterday. 

There are reasons TSA staff are missing work. 

From NPR station WHYY In Philadelphia: 

​"Morale is low right now for Philadelphia International Airport worker...said Joe Shuker, Region 7 vice president for AFGE Council 100, the union representing Philly’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers.  How low? “On a scale of 1 to 10, we’re a negative-2 right now,” he said. The last paycheck that airport workers received reflected the start of the shutdown and was several hundred dollars short, Shuker said..... The lack of pay is going to stress out TSA workers who are already working high-stakes jobs. “You got us down here checking for bombs,” he said....They’re going to be distracted at some point,” he said. “They’re going to be worried about how they’re going to feed their kid, and how they’re getting to work tomorrow.”  He said some workers may not be able to cover childcare costs without subsequent paychecks. Additionally, he said he has spoken to employees who are struggling to cover the price of gas or tolls to travel to work. "

​Surely there was a union representative or advocate Mayor Whitmire could have brought to Council for public testimony about why TSA is not at work. That would have helped the public understand what the workers are enduring. 

The government shutdown due to the white supremacist, authoritarians running the country also has a lot to do with TSA employees not coming to work. 

According the Mayor Whitmire, everyone is to blame other than Donald Trump and the far-right for the federal government attacks on Houston and cities across the country. 

​Here is what Mayor Whitmire said in a recent interview with the New York Times:

“Most major cities are in turmoil,” Mr. Whitmire said. “We’re not.”.......With rhetoric escalating over immigration raids and National Guard troop deployments, Mayor Whitmire is betting that the best way to govern a large American city right now is to keep your head down.....Mr. Whitmire, in a series of interviews with The New York Times, faulted other Democratic mayors such as Brandon Johnson in Chicago and Karen Bass in Los Angeles for loud public challenges to the president over immigration enforcement and other issues that have only deepened divisions."

There is no major city in "turmoil."  To the extent there is trouble, it is because ICE is terrorizing people and federal troops are being sent where not needed. Is Mayor Whitmire telling us he'll say nothing if low-flying federal helicopters are used to raid Houston apartment buildings like we saw in Chicago?

Our abusers are the problem. Not us. Not TSA employees. Not the immigrants ICE is brutalizing. The problem is the people in power. Not the people out of power and out of a paycheck. 

When habeas corpus is suspended or Harris County elections are interfered with by the state and federal government in 2026, Mayor Whitmire will know just who to blame. 

He'll blame us. 

​I'm on the Egberto Willies Politics Done Right Show every Thursday from 6 AM to 7 AM for the Houston Democracy Project segment. You can hear the show on the radio, stream it on KPFT or watch later on Egberto's YouTube channel.​​​​​

​Tomorrow, 11/4, is Week 456 of the John Cornyn Houston Office Protest. The Protest is echoing Tuesday, 11:30-1, 5300 Memorial Dr. Don't park in any private lot to avoid being towed. You can park along the side streets near the Black Walnut on Memorial. We have extra signs or bring your own. Any amount of time you join us is the correct amount of time to be with us. We are friendly.

It's essential that people see others like themselves willing to stand openly and confidently for democracy and freedom no matter the aggression and lawlessness of the right. Join us and help set the example. 

I've become a big believer in showing up as often as I can and saying much the same thing over and over. It's try to be smart and I think it takes some brains to do that. 

Here is what I said when I spoke at the Downtown Houston No Kings protest on October 18: 

My name is Neil Aquino. I’m the founder of the Houston Democracy Project. 

This event today was organized by people just like you and I. Rank & file volunteers who stepped up. The resources to stage this protest are for the most part directly from our local community. 

The next action is when you organize it. The First Amendment is your permit. The only credential you need is your presence. 

This protest is Downtown. But it’s at not the center. Across the Houston-region today, there are No Kings demonstrations in La Porte, Navasota, Katy, Richmond, Clear Lake, Conroe, Cypress, Pasadena, Pearland, The Woodlands, Coldspring & Bryan/College Station. 

No community is on the periphery. No person is on the periphery. We are all in this fight.  

We are at Houston City Hall. There is a mayor, a city controller and 16 council members. The Mayor is John Whitmire. The Controller is Chris Hollins. The Mayor Pro Tem is Martha Castex-Tatum. There are 10 Democrats and 6 Republicans on Council. 

Local government and local officials matter. Just last week, people in Conroe, in deeply conservative Montgomery County, went to city hall and successfully opposed an ordinance proposed by the police chief that would have restricted protest. 

Every elected official takes an oath to the Constitution. They must meet that oath. When ICE rounds up people without cause, elected officials must remember the oath they took. Call, e-mail and speak to Houston City Council. You can speak at Council most Tuesdays at 2 PM. Learn the details of the process and demand local accountability.  

Our opponents seek to criminalize political opposition and restrict free speech. They didn’t scare us off today. We are confronting authoritarians and white supremacists. It will not be inherently safe. The thing is of course, that a future under authoritarian, white supremacist government that can’t be removed, will also not be safe and it will be terrible. 

We have rights. We have First Amendment rights, and as we’ve been told over and over all our lives, we have Second Amendment rights. We have the right to show up, to speak up and to self-defense. 

We are the ones who will show up when habeas corpus is suspended, when Greg Abbott does not permit Harris County to have free and fair elections in 2026, when low flying helicopters terrorize Houston communities as we’ve seen in Chicago. 

The next action is when you organize it. The First Amendment is your permit. The only credential you need is your presence. No community is on the periphery. No person is on the periphery. We are all in this fight.  

I'm on the Egberto Willies Politics Done Right Show every Thursday from 6 AM to 7 AM for the Houston Democracy Project segment. You can hear the show on the radio, stream it on KPFT or watch later on Egberto's YouTube channel.​​​​​
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Above you see a note a woman drove up and handed to one of our crew at last week’s John Cornyn Houston Office Protest. 

The John Cornyn Houston Office Protest is each Tuesday, 11:30-1, 5300 Memorial Dr. Next week will be Week 456. 

Here is my response to this note: 

1. Thank you for taking the time and effort to offer unsolicited acknowledgment that we are seen and heard.Good to know. How about next week you bring us lunch? 

2. We find authoritarians and white supremacists running the country to be stressful. This stress is constant rather than the 90 minutes a week we are protesting. If you are content with the insurrection attempt of January 6th, 2021, I'm certain you can take 90 minutes of lawful First Amendment activity each Tuesday. 

3. We are wary of anyone telling us that they don’t like how we protest. It is unlikely you are here to offer helpful suggestions. 

4. My father found serving as a medic in the Korean War to be stressful. He was glad though to have a hand in bringing some democracy to South Korea, and to have served in the first racially integrated combat units. 

Because of people like you, Trump pines for the approval of the North Korean dictator, hassles high-ranking Black officers and demoralizes Black enlisted men and women. My father and many like him paid a substantial price for the things you are now helping undo. 

5. We would not be here causing you upset if you had made better and more kind decisions at the ballot box. 

6. Instead of handing us a note opposing us, you should instead support us and join us. Why do you insist on compounding your error at the ballot box with this bad note? Please employ your efforts more productively.  

And as always to everyone reading this: The next action is when you organize it. The First Amendment is your permit. The only credential you need is your presence. Voting is not going to be enough. 
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I'm on the Egberto Willies Politics Done Right Show every Thursday from 6 AM to 7 AM for the Houston Democracy Project segment. You can hear the show on the radio, stream it on KPFT or watch later on Egberto's YouTube channel.