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Musk and the Blowhard … what gives?

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Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy make quite a duo as they take up their undefined — or ill-defined — posts in the new presidential administration that is taking shape.

Musk is the richest man in the world. Ramaswamy is a loudmouth who ran for the Republican presidential nomination against the guy who won it all in 2024. They now form what is called the Department of Governmental Efficiency.

They want to slash trillions of dollars from the federal budget. They want to eliminate entire Cabinet offices. They have Donald Trump’s ear.

Several huge problems stand in their way. One is the Constitution. The nation’s governing document states clearly that Congress is in charge of budgeting. It’s been said over many years that “the president proposes, but the Congress disposes” of all budget items. That won’t change, no matter who is president.

Another obstacle that Musk and the Blowhard need to confront are the huge egos of the 535 men and women who serve in the legislative branch of our government. They all represent states and congressional districts with specific needs and they depend on their senators and House members to deliver the goods to the folks back home. They aren’t going to shed their constitutional authority just because a couple of know-it-alls order them to do it.

I keep hearing all this grand talk about what Musk and Ramaswamy will do cut government waste. Neither of these clowns — not even the guy with the bottomless pockets — can cut a damn thing without congressional approval.

Oh, and then we have the president. This fellow is the most mercurial, unpredictable, maddening individual ever to occupy this office. He often acts on the last thing someone tells him before decision time arrives.

The rich guy and the loudmouth must prepare themselves for the possibility that every grand idea they propose could get shot down in flames by the numbskull who sees himself as monarch rather than servant.

State news

Dade Phelan becomes a casualty

Dade Phelan became speaker of the Texas House of Representatives at what could be argued as the worst time possible … if you’re a moderate Republican.

Phelan this past weekend backed out of his bid for a third term as speaker, apparently counting the votes among his GOP caucus and realizing he was toast.

It’s a shame for Texas Republicans, for the state in general and for the cause of good government.

Phelan a Republican from Beaumont, fought the MAGA cultists who now are claiming a victory in the fight to continue Texas’s headlong lurch to the right. I don’t know who will succeed Phelan as speaker; I should really care about it … but I don’t.

I do know that whoever it is will continue the MAGA agenda aimed at discriminating against gay and transgender Texans. The next speaker no doubt will continue to push for strengthening Texas’s already harsh ban on abortions. And, yes, there will be border security issues to discuss and to enact.

Phelan’s worst sin appears to be his insistence that the “will of the House” work its way toward impeaching Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The MAGA goons called that a betrayal of their agenda. Not that it mattered, as Paxton was cleared of alleged misconduct by a Texas Senate that wanted to keep the fire-breather in office.

I am sorry to see Dade Phelan surrender to the MAGA crowd. He served with honor as speaker. I cannot really blame him, though, for turning his back on a battle he couldn’t possibly win in this polarized and divisive climate.

environmental news

Loving the recycling life

I want to offer a big-league shout out to communities — such as Princeton, Texas — that embrace the idea of recycling items that otherwise would end up in a landfill.

When my bride and I moved to Princeton in early 2019, we came here purely to be nearer to our granddaughter and her parents. We were unaware when we bought our house that recycling would become such an important part of our daily lives.

We came here from a community in the Texas Panhandle that tried to promote recycling but then gave up on it. Why? Because, I was told, residents of Amarillo just weren’t into it, They were tossing food waste and other non-recyclable trash into the recycling bins.

We have curbside recycling in Princeton. I am proud to declare that our recycling bin contains more items to be repurposed than our trash bin. The disposal company picks up recyclables every other week; the trash heads for the dump each week.

I have spoken a few times over the years with a fellow who handles municipal waste matters for the company that serves Princeton. He has told me he believes recycling throughout the network of communities served has reduced landfill deposits by more than 30%. That tells me the residents of North Texas have embraced the idea of filling up their recycling bins with material that can be repurposed. It saves our Planet Earth’s valuable space. It conserves fossil fuels. It protects the only planet we can call home.

I am pleased and proud to be part of a community that embraces the idea of recycling. My neighbors and I want our planet to survive.

Sports news

Allen makes it to baseball’s HoF

Wherever he is, a former colleague of mine, the late Kenton Brooks, no doubt is smiling today as the word came out that a former baseball bad boy Dick Allen has been inducted into MLB’s Hall of Fame.

You see, Brooks — with whom I worked while at the Beaumont Enterprise — was an avid, fervent, dedicated fan of Dick Allen. He never could accept that Allen had been snubbed for induction into the Hall of Fame.  Brooks succumbed to the COVID virus a couple of years ago.

Allen came to the Bigs as Richie Allen. He began his big-league career in Philadelphia, where he led the Phillies in many hitting categories. He was known as a powerful slugger who swung a heavier-than-normal bat.

The guy could hit, not just home runs but for an average that routinely topped .300 for a season. He moved around a lot during his years in the Bigs. He played for the LA Dodgers, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Chicago White Sox, the Oakland A’s.

He led the American league in home runs twice, in 1972 and in 1974; he also was named the AL’s most valuable player in 1972.

Allen was a tempestuous fellow, getting into a locker room brawl one year with a teammate. I don’t recall the circumstances, or who started it. My hunch is that Allen finished the fight. He battled with managers, team owners and teammates fairly routinely.

As I look back on his career, I am going to side with my old pal Kenton in applauding the old-timer’s committee for bringing a certifiable force of nature into the Hall of Fame.

International news

Good riddance, Mr. Despot

It’s not too often we can cheer news from the Mideast but today is one of those rare days.

Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad’s government has been toppled and the dictator has received asylum in Russia. Armed rebels managed to run this madman out of the country.

I consider this reason to cheer the news. Assad is a bad guy. One of the worst guys on Earth. He has been indicted as a war criminal because of the immense pain he inflicted on his people. The man needs to be delivered to the justice system.

I won’t hold my breath waiting for that to happen, given that he is living now in Russia, home to another war criminal, thug/goon/killer Vladimir Putin.

Indeed, the fighting in Syria likely won’t end soon. Without Assad, the pro-government forces have no one for whom to fight … and die!

So, we have reason to cheer some news out of a region that has ripped to pieces by the ravages of war.

political news

Trump can govern without a majority

I am going to do something on this blog I once deemed impossible: give Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt as he prepares to take office as president of the United States.

Trump will be able to govern without winning an absolute majority of the ballots cast in the 2024 presidential election. His ability to govern doesn’t depend only on his winning percentage, though. It will depend on whether he is able to dispense with the rubbish that flows frequently from his mouth.

Eight times dating back to 1948, presidents have won election without earning a majority of the ballots cast. Trump has done so twice; so did Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996; Richard Nixon squeaked into office in 1968; John Kennedy did so in 1960; Harry Truman, who everyone in the country thought would lose the 1948 contest, managed to win election.

The most controversial election, of course, occurred in 2000 when George W. Bush waited for a U.S. Supreme Court decision on the recounting of ballots in Florida. The court ruled 5-4 to stop the recount … with Bush holding a 500-vote lead in Florida. He won the state and then the presidency.

Trump and his MAGA team, however, are overstating the “mandate” they say he won. He doesn’t have a mandate. He will need to tread carefully as he assembles his executive team and as he prepares to enact policies he has pledged to do.

The question we all must ask is this: Is Trump capable of adjusting his “I am your retribution” posture to being the leader of a team upon which he will need to enact a legislative agenda? I am a strong critic of this individual, so I am inclined to believe he cannot pivot from being a top-tier asshole to becoming a statesman.

However, there always is a glimmer of hope that he can figure it out.

I intend to hope for the best.

Sports news

Game takes on mercenary look

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Those of you who follow High Plains Blogger might know already that I oppose paying college students for playing high-dollar sports such as football and basketball.

I mean, these young people already are getting a free college education because the school where they are enrolled provides them with “full-ride scholarships.” I believe those scholarships are payment enough for these students.

I watched the football game Saturday between the Oregon Ducks and the Penn State Nittany Lions and was struck as I watched every snap of the game how much the announcers referred to players who had entered that “transfer portal” to enable them to play another year or two of football. So many of the higher-profile players have no particular allegiance to the school but are playing for them because the school threw enough money at them to lure them onto their campus.

It’s all about the money … you know?

Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel enrolled initially at Central Florida, then transferred to Oklahoma, then transferred again to Oregon. Am I the only sports fan who doesn’t feel as though the game has taken on a mercenary quality.

I still love college football. I prefer it over the pros, a game that is played by multi-millionaires with oversized egos to match their oversized wallets.

However, the college game is beginning to look more like the professional version and it’s a trend I find distressing.

environmental news

Rain forecasted differently

When you come of age in an environment known for its incessant rainfall, you kinda/sorta learn to chuckle at various perspectives related to weather forecasting.

I just came home from a trip back to where Mom and Dad welcomed me to this world: Portland … the one in Oregon. It rains a lot there. I have joked over the years that the relentless light drizzle has to soak everything for three or four days before you even notice it.

Then my family and I moved to Texas in 1984, where it also can rain a lot. The volume of rain here is vastly different than what usually soaks the Pacific Northwest. Here it often comes all at once in huge quantities; there, it’s a little at a time.

Here is what made me chuckle. The weather forecaster for KATU Channel 2 lamented that the city had gone “nine whole days without rain.” Wow, man. Stop the presses. She was hoping for more. Today, the forecasted weather system delivered the goods in fine fashion. I managed to fly out of Portland on time.

But wait! Our plane got diverted and delayed about a half hour because of rain at D/FW airport. We landed. I got my truck out of parking and then drove through a downpour to my home in Collin County.

I don’t believe any of the weathermen and women here were disappointed at the rainfall. Why? Because nine-day dry spells are more like the norm than the exception around here.

They got the rain they expected to get in Portland. Let’s hope it stays wet there … per normal.

crime news

Patel to weaponize FBI

Let me see if I have this straight: Donald J. Trump has accused the Biden administration of “weaponizing” the Justice Department to go after Trumpkins and other MAGA goons, yet the new president has selected a guy, Kash Patel, to run the FBI with the expressed purpose of finding political foes and prosecuting them for unknown reasons.

Talk about weaponization!

Patel, of course, has no business running the nation’s top police force. He is a Trump loyalist and so far has spoken the words the boss wants to hear. I use the term “boss” with caution, because in reality you and I are the bosses. Patel doesn’t see it that way. He sees the president as the boss, is answerable only to him and therefore must be held accountable only by the nimrod sitting behind the Resolute Desk.

Not true, not by a long shot.

Patel is likely to get picked apart by Senate Judiciary Committee members, maybe even some of his fellow Republicans.

I’m tellin’ ya, Donald Trump’s next term as president is going to be one for the books … likely the comic books.

crime news

Portland, still alive and vital

PORTLAND — I am happy and proud to report that my hometown’s demise as an urban center full of joy and laughter has been greatly exaggerated.

I took a spin through the city’s downtown district and noticed a couple of things I didn’t quite expect to see. One was that the widespread damage caused by the “Black Lives Matter” riots of 2020 doesn’t exist. The other is a noticeable disappearance of homeless havens scattered throughout the city of my birth.

The MAGA goon squad wanted to infuse the nation with the idea that this urban paradise had gone straight to hell with riots in reaction to George Floyd’s murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. I didn’t see any evidence today of Hell on Earth making an appearance in one of the country’s most beautiful cities.

Also missing were the clusters of tents occupied by homeless families along Interstate 5 that I saw the previous time I visited Portland, which was not long after the Minneapolis cop choked the life out of George Floyd. I don’t know what specific action Portland took, but whatever it was it seems to have had a positive impact on the city.

Portland appears to have survived the worst of the reactions that ignited in cities across the land. I drove quickly past Powell’s used book store — the renowned readers paradise along West Burnside; the place was buzzing. I saw plenty of activity along Broadway. Downtown Portland, in a word, was a happening place.

This makes me feel good about the city where I came of age.

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