local news

Thanks again, TxDOT, for keeping the trees

thumbnail_wp_20160928_015

ROBERTS COUNTY, Texas — You don’t see many of these around this part of Texas.

They’re trees, man.

But in this rural county, and over yonder just east of here in Hemphill County, they have a relative abundance of them along U.S. 60 and U.S. 83, which intersect in Canadian.

Think of what might have happened to a lot of these beauties.

The Texas Department of Transportation came up with a cockamamie idea some years back to cull a good number of trees from U.S. 60. They posed a “hazard” to motorists in some locations, TxDOT suggested.

TxDOT then put the word out to the public that it was considering getting rid of several thousand trees.

What do you suppose was the reaction in the affected area? Give up? Of course you know! It was an expression of outrage. Residents didn’t want TxDOT messing with them trees, you know. I was writing editorials for the Amarillo Globe-News at the time and the newspaper expressed its extreme displeasure with what TxDOT had in mind.

To its great credit, this state agency listened to the calls. It revised its tree-culling plan, which resulted in a serious reduction in the number of trees it would remove.

The photo attached to this blog was snapped this afternoon right next to the Miami Cemetery in Roberts County. Very soon, the leaves will turn colors.

Motorists who drive along U.S. 60 between Pampa and Canadian will be able to treat themselves to some fall foliage splendor that is about as pretty as it gets.

Thanks, TxDOT, for keeping the roadside eye candy for us to ogle.

national news, political news

When in doubt, go with your gut

vote1

A young friend of mine is going to vote this year for the first time in her life.

She is 23 years of age. She is torn over this election. Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump? After visiting with her for a few minutes Tuesday, I concluded she is likely to vote for Trump.

But she said something I want to share here.

My friend said she is reluctant to vote for anyone without knowing all there is to know about the candidates, their views on public policy, their philosophy or their world view.

“I just don’t know what to do,” she said.

Her biggest concern about Clinton? Benghazi. My friend believes Clinton was responsible for the deaths that occurred there during that fire fight on Sept. 11, 2012. We tussled a bit over what Hillary knew in the moment, what she should have known and what she could have done to prevent it.

I told her later I’ve been voting for president since 1972. I cast my first vote that year with great pride and anticipation. That vote — the first one — still means more to me than all the other ballots I’ve cast.

“I voted for the guy who lost … big time,” I told her, “but it meant a great deal to me.”

When in doubt, I ended up telling my friend, “go with your gut.”

It doesn’t really matter that voters get their arms around every detail of every issue. All that matters, in my view, is that they feel comfortable in their own gut and heart with the choice they make.

national news, political news

How do you define a presidential ‘look’?

Donald-Trump-Bad-Hair-Photo-1

NBC News’s Lester Holt sought an answer Monday night to something that Donald J. Trump had said about Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Trump had declared that Clinton doesn’t have “the look” to be president, Holt said. What did he mean?

The Republican nominee then said he meant to say “stamina.” Democratic nominee Clinton, of course, beat his brains out with her response about her stamina near the end of the 90-minute joint appearance at Hofstra University.

Back to the “look” issue.

I have to ask: What does a president look like?

I believe I know what the “look” issue is meant to convey. It’s all about Clinton’s gender. To suggest it means anything other than a sexist attack on a candidate is to commit yet another lie.

Stamina? Let’s not go there, either.

If presidents these days are supposed to have some kind of mysterious “look,” then Trump needs to define it for us.

Well, Donald? Do you have the “look”?

national news, political news

‘Hillary is an accomplished debater’

donald-trump-flickr-cc

This will surprise no one, but I’ll mention it anyway.

The Texas Panhandle — the unofficial Ground Zero of the state’s Republican Party — is full of voters who are going to cast their ballots for Donald J. Trump for president of the United States in just 41 days.

I know a few of them. They’re friends of mine.

One of them sought to spin their guy’s miserable debate performance last night this way: “Hillary Clinton clearly is an accomplished debater. Trump? Well, he’s not.”

So, there you have it. Clinton’s debating skills won the day over Trump.

I told my friend that the issue wasn’t just debate experience. It was, indeed, that knowledge and preparation are essential for anyone who seeks to become commander in chief, head of state and president of the greatest country on Earth.

Trump was profoundly unprepared to deal with Clinton’s knowledge. That he spun off into those ridiculous riffs about President Obama’s place of birth and his attack on a former Miss Universe only proved beyond a doubt that this guy does not have the focus, discipline and — intellectual stamina — to compete head-to-head with the former secretary of state.

The most graphic irony of the 90-minute encounter last night to my eyes and ears clearly was that the candidate whose “stamina” has been questioned by Trump and the Republicans was the one who maintained her cool and composure.

Donald Trump was the one who ran out of gas in the final 15 minutes. His incoherence was quite startling.

Did this debate change any minds among voters? Oh, probably not. As my wife noted, Trump has been saying these outrageous things all along, but those GOP primary voters keep hanging with the Republican nominee.

Trump is now blaming the microphone and the “unfair” questions posed by moderator Lester Holt of NBC News for his utterly miserable performance in front of tens of millions of Americans.

Oh, boy.

local news, political news

City takes correct course with propositions

13861145

I understand fully Americans’ disgust with the presidential election process.

It’s too long. It’s too costly. It’s too negative.

Contrast that, though, with how local governments do the job of engaging in the political process.

In Amarillo, the City Council and the senior municipal staff have done it the right way in the run-up to the Nov. 8 general election.

City Hall has placed seven propositions on the municipal ballot. They all total about $340 million. They cover a multitude of projects that the city has deemed necessary. State law, though, prohibits city officials from campaign actively for these projects. They include such things as street repair, Civic Center improvements, athletic complex improvements, parks, public safety and fleet vehicles.

Here they are: http://amarillo.gov/pdf/CIP_list_for_ballot_resolution.pdf

I’ve commented on several of the propositions and will offer more comment on others in the days ahead.

My point today, though, is to offer a good word to the city for the way it chose to present these items.

Voters have the option of approving all, some or none of the measures. To that end, I congratulate City Hall for breaking these projects down in definable elements, giving voters the chance to decide which of these projects is important.

The city would issue certificates of obligation to pay for them. The level of increased property taxes would depend on how many of the ballot measures get voters’ endorsement in November.

This is good government at work. As I’ve noted many times in the past, it is at this level — the local level — where government has the most tangible impact on the lives of those who pay for it.

The city, to its credit, is acting as though it recognizes that reality.

national news, political news

Trump’s unfitness on full display … in front of us all

clinton-and-trump

I watched Hillary Rodham Clinton and Donald J. Trump duke it out last night … and then went to bed.

I slept well and awoke this morning fairly refreshed for the new day — and comfortable in the belief that Trump never will be elected president of the United States of America.

You know about my bias. The Republican candidate for president — in my view — is the most singularly unqualified person ever nominated to seek the highest office in America.

By golly, he demonstrated his unfitness in front of tens of millions of Americans.

Here is Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart’s review of what we saw. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/09/27/donald-trump-bombs-on-the-ultimate-reality-tv-show/?utm_term=.0423edc88f7f

Capehart and I are on the same ideological page. I just want to share it with you because he summarizes cleanly and with crisp precision the amazing spectacle that Trump provided.

His lack of preparation for this joint appearance was, in its way, breathtaking in the extreme.

We had heard how he had taken “unconventional” measures to prep for this event. There were no mock debates. He apparently didn’t read any briefing books or policy papers. No one coached him on how to behave when Clinton was answering the questions posed by moderator Lester Holt.

He calls himself a “great negotiator” who will fix flawed trade deals and will persuade our allies to pay their fair share for their own defense?

Give … me … a … break!

The occasionally raucous affair last night served as a precursor for the two additional presidential encounters awaiting Clinton and Trump.

Will the GOP nominee be any better prepared for Nos. 2 and 3? Well, he had a lot of time to get ready for the first one.

He didn’t bother, which tells me all I need to know about whether he’s ready for the most important job on Earth.

national news, political news

Yes, Hillary hits it out of the park

clinton-trump-debate

I have no idea what the public opinion polls are going to do in the wake of what has just ended at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.

But what I saw — and I’ll admit my bias up front — is a serious manhandling of Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump by his Democratic opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Trump lost control of himself. He became, quite literally, incoherent as he talked about whether he supported or opposed the Iraq War, or about nuclear policy, or why he continued to promote the birther argument that Barack Obama isn’t a U.S. citizen.

Clinton? She was in control the entire way.

My favorite answer came to Trump’s assertion — which evaded the question from moderator Lester Holt — that Clinton lacked the “stamina” to be president. Her response was to suggest that if Trump can travel to 112 countries and subject himself to 11 hours of congressional testimony — as she had done — then he could talk about stamina.

This first encounter was testy in the extreme. My guess is that the next two of them are going to become progressively more so.

Bring out the brass knuckles.

Sports news, State news

Sparkling football stadiums: an acquired taste

us_news_schoolstadiums_1_la

I will admit that this required a bit of understanding on my part.

High school football stadiums in Texas occasionally rival college sports venues.

As the story in this link suggests, bigger is better in Texas.

http://amarillo.com/news/2016-09-25/eyes-texas-are-upon-top-tier-high-school-football-stadiums

Allen High School boasts an 18,000-seat stadium. It cost $60 million to build.

You think that’s the top end? Guess again. McKinney High School, just a bit north of Allen, is going to break ground on a $70 million football venue.

One of my sons lives in Allen with his wife, two sons and a their daughter. I’ll declare, therefore, that I have a keener-than-usual interest in this phenomenon.

My life experience includes growing up in a suburban Portland, Ore., community where football used to be pretty big, too. But not that big. Our high school football venue consisted of a covered grandstand that held maybe 2,000 fans.

We moved to Texas in 1984, where we learned just how big high school football really can get.

As for these gleaming venues, I’ll finish with this observation.

They aren’t conceived and built in a vacuum. Taxpaying residents of the communities involved vote to build them. I presume everyone’s eyes are wide open. The Allen HS bond election passed with a significant majority.

I accept their decision … although I’m still trying to understand it.

national news, political news, Sports news

Arnie’s death somehow overshadows that other event

arnold-palmer

I’m feeling strange this afternoon.

My intention had been to focus on tonight’s presidential joint appearance between Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Donald J. Trump.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking. I’m a political geek/nerd/junkie. I love this stuff. I cannot help myself.

My plan was to get myself psyched up — so to speak — for the 90-minute made-for-TV special. No commercials, too! How about that?

Then the sad news broke yesterday. Arnold Palmer died at 87 in a Pittsburgh hospital.

Arnie was gone! He was one of my all-time favorite pro athletes. I agonized with him when he lost big golf tournaments. I cheered when he won them. I loved watching him smash a golf ball with that self-taught, non-textbook style of his.

I had the pleasure of meeting him once, in 1981, at a golf tournament in Orlando, Fla. He was past his golfing prime by then. That didn’t matter to those of us gathered around the practice tee to shake his hand and get his autograph, both of which he delivered with a smile and some brief small talk.

I keep reading the tributes from his peers, his golfing descendants, the reporters who covered him.

They sadden me. In this vague, unexplainable way I always thought Arnold Palmer was indestructible.

Well, he wasn’t.

So I’m going to watch this Clinton-Trump verbal slugfest tonight. However, I’m expecting to struggle to stay focused on what these two politicians say to — and about — each other.

Commentary on politics, current events and life experience