Betty's 'Icky Poo' Boo-Boo

Betty Brown

ON THE LEGE

• Budget Uses Stimulus to Hide Flaws

  Why solve today what you can suffer in 2011?

  BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

• Fighting the Green Fight

  A roundup of this session's environmental legislation

  BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

• Betty's 'Icky Poo' Boo-Boo

  Betty Brown's ignorance catches media attention far and wide

  BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

• What's in the Capitol Bins?

  Legislators are recycling more than ever

  BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

• LegeLines

  What kept your lawmakers busy this week

  BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

Austin politicos, take note: Until you're creating fodder for PerezHilton.com and London's Daily Telegraph, you really haven't made it. Local Democratic activist Ramey Ko achieved that mixed honor after testifying April 7 on behalf of the Organization of Chinese Americans to the House Elections Committee on Senate Bill 362, the voter ID bill. He was discussing the additional burdens of naturalized citizens whose birth names are translated differently on different documents, when Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell, thrust him into the spotlight. "Do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?" she asked. The story, much to Ko's surprise, was quickly picked up by national and international news outlets, including Perez Hilton's Internet gossip site (where Brown's comments were filed under "Icky Icky Poo"). Ko said that while he does not think Brown is racist, the most telling moment was when she referred to "you and your citizens," he said. "There's a lot of entrenched ideas out there about who is American and who isn't." Brown has since apologized for her comments.