local news

Puppy Tales, Part 27

puppy

I’ve declared already my belief that we need to dump the term “pet owner” in favor of “pet parent.”

Toby the Puppy isn’t just our dog. He’s our baby. He’s our “good boy.”

He also isn’t just a possession. He’s a member of the family.

You have known this already, through the posts I’ve put out detailing our life with Toby, whom we acquired two years ago this month.

He joined our family in a most unexpected fashion. But it was no time at all before he captured our hearts. In fact, it well might have been love at first sight — for him as well as for us.

My wife and I have been married for 45 years. For most of that time we’ve had cats in our family. I can count precisely two dogs joining our family during that time. We had one in Portland for a brief period; after we moved to Beaumont, another pooch showed up one very hot, humid day in our garage. We had neither of those two dogs for very long.

All the while, we remained a cat family.

Toby joined us while we still had two kitties. They were getting older. Socks died suddenly in November 2014; we lost Mittens just this past February.

Neither of them were possessions, either. They were our babies every bit as much as Toby has been.

When we traveled two Germany and The Netherlands earlier this month, we took Toby to a pet spa, where he was treated well, spoiled and pampered.

We missed him terribly while we were away.

One does not miss something you “own.” Did I miss our car, or our pickup or our recreational vehicle? Did I miss the house we’ve called home in Amarillo for nearly 20 years? Not for one second.

Toby the Puppy? We missed him.

That convinced me beyond all reasonable doubt that one is not a pet owner. One is a pet parent — especially when the pet is as lovable as those who have come into our lives over the years.

media news, national news, political news

Newspapers forced to explain reasons for endorsement

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I am getting a sense that newspapers across the country are doing what the Cincinnati Enquirer has just done.

It made an endorsement in the race for the presidency and then the paper’s vice president for audience/engagement, Peter Bhatia, explained why the paper made the endorsement in the first place.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/columnists/2016/09/23/why-were-endorsing-president/90832776/

The Enquirer broke with a century-old tradition and endorsed Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton over Republican Donald J. Trump. I’ll let the editorial stand on its own. It’s a pretty compelling statement.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/editorials/2016/09/23/enquirer-endorses-hillary-clinton-donald-trump/90728344/

Bhatia’s rationale of “Why do we do it?” glosses over what I believe is a fundamental truth about contemporary society. Although it is true, as he noted, that people get their news and opinion from a huge — and growing — field of sources, they still have this “thing” about newspaper editorial pages.

Readers might not follow a newspaper’s editorial philosophy or march off in lockstep with what it says. Still, I have this view that readers still expect their newspaper to take a stand … if only to give them grounds to criticize it.

I did this kind of work for more than three decades. I found it invigorating to discuss with my colleagues, with readers and with candidates about whether the newspaper should endorse their candidacy.

And sure, I took my share of broadsides from readers who disagreed with whatever position we took on an election.

I will continue to believe that for as long as there are newspapers being tossed on people’s front porches — or their lawns or under their cars — that readers will want to see what that paper thinks about political campaigns and candidates.

The bigger question, though, might be: How much longer will those newspapers be delivered and will those who produce the “digital product” that replaces them be willing to step up and continue to make these statements?

International news, legal news, national news

Go for the override, Congress, of 9/11 lawsuit veto

obama-veto

It’s rare, indeed, these days to see liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans agree on much of anything.

However, we have bipartisan agreement on a veto by President Obama on a bill that would have allowed victims of the 9/11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia.

The president said “no” to the bill. Congress is vowing to override the veto.

I believe members of Congress are right about this one.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/lawmakers-vow-to-override-obamas-veto-of-sept-11-bill/ar-BBwzrJK?li=BBnb7Kz

According to the Associated Press: “This is a disappointing decision that will be swiftly and soundly overturned in Congress,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who sponsored the bill. “If the Saudis did nothing wrong, they should not fear this legislation. If they were culpable in 9/11, they should be held accountable.”

There’s your comment from a liberal Democrat. Then there’s this, from a leading Republican, again from the AP: Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, another of the bill’s sponsor, criticized Obama for failing to listen to the families of the victims and said he looked forward to the opportunity for Congress to override the veto.

Proponents of the bill say it is tailored narrowly and that it allows plaintiffs to sue only on matters relating to acts of terror. The president said it might cause other governments to take action against U.S. personnel stationed abroad and warned of consequences if the Saudis are actually sued.

I like Schumer’s rationale for overriding the veto.

The Saudis have said they had nothing to do with the terrorists — many of whom were Saudi citizens — who flew those jetliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Fine … let them deny it.

As Schumer has said, if they are not complicit, then they shouldn’t worry.

The 9/11 attacks will cause pain and misery for as long as Americans are alive who remember that day. Many thousands of them suffered incalculable loss at the hands of deranged terrorist monsters.

If another government — a supposed ally of the United States — at the very least looked the other way, then it should have to pay for the unspeakable grief it allowed to occur.

national news, political news

CNN crosses ethical line

corey

Right-wing critics of the so-called “liberal mainstream media” like to pound on CNN for its alleged bias against conservative politicians.

That’s their opinion, I suppose.

Then we have this bit of news: Former Donald J. Trump Republican campaign manager Corey Lewandowski — who is being paid by CNN to provide political commentary — also is being paid by Trump’s presidential campaign. Lewandowski is set to receive another half-million bucks by the end of the year.

Trump fired Lewandowski and then offered a handsome severance package on his way out.

This is so very wrong on so many levels.

There is supposed to be a line that separates media organizations from partisan political activity. Many cable and broadcast news networks have hired former political hands to provide commentary. They come from both political parties and they represent all manner of philosophy, principle and partisan bias.

The Lewandowski matter, though, is markedly different.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/corey-lewandowski-set-to-collect-nearly-dollar500000-from-trump-campaign/ar-BBwyRL0?li=BBnb7Kz

CNN often is criticized by right-wing pols and operatives. They refer to the network derisively as the “Clinton News Network.” Lewandowski’s compensation from an active Republican presidential candidate would seem to silence that criticism. It’s not likely.

Meanwhile, Lewandowski is going to offer his political analysis on the air while being paid by one of the candidates about who he is commenting.

Talk about not passing the “smell test.” This dubious coziness stinks to high heaven.

national news, political news

Kasich: the last principled GOP ex-candidate standing

kasich

John Kasich and Ted Cruz took Donald J. Trump’s march to the Republican presidential nomination down to the wire.

They finally conceded this summer that the real estate mogul/reality TV celebrity would be their party’s nominee.

Sen. Cruz, R-Texas, attended the GOP convention in Cleveland and received a torrent of boos from delegates for encouraging them to “vote your conscience.” He declined at that moment to endorse Trump.

Kasich, who governs Ohio, didn’t attend the convention in his home state. He still hasn’t endorsed Trump.

Whereas Cruz’s initial refusal was based on Trump’s repeated insults against Heidi Cruz, the candidate’s wife, and his father, Rafael, Kasich has kept his distance because Trump — in Kasich’s view — simply doesn’t represent the tradition of a once-great political party.

Cruz swilled the Kool-Aid and today announced he would vote for Trump in November. Kasich hasn’t said anything of the kind.

I had hoped Sen. Cruz would remain on the sidelines. Now it’s up to Kasich to demonstrate that at least one Republican leader has the stones to stand on principle.

Gov. Kasich remains my favorite Republican presidential candidate. Indeed, had he been the nominee instead of Trump, there stood an excellent chance that I would have voted Republican for president this year — for the first time since I began voting in 1972.

I’m still wrestling with what I’m going to do this year.

Kasich should have been the nominee, given his record of success as a leader in Congress and his cooperation with President Bill Clinton in achieving a balanced federal budget.

Sadly, none of that seemed to matter to the red-meat carnivores who comprise the base of the Republican Party.

My hope remains that Gov. Kasich will remain at arm’s length from this year’s GOP nominee.

I’ve noted all along that Kasich was the rare grown-up in this year’s GOP presidential campaign. He hasn’t let me down yet.

national news, political news

Cruz does it … he endorses Trump!

cruz-and-trump

Politics can be a fickle endeavor. Your enemy becomes your friend at times for the most dubious of reasons.

History is full of such examples: John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson battled for the Democratic nomination in 1960; JFK then picked LBJ as his vice president. George H.W. Bush accused Ronald Reagan was espousing “voodoo economics” in 1980; then the Gipper picked Poppy to be his No. 2. Barack Obama told Hillary Clinton she was “likable enough” during a 2008 Democratic primary debate; then Obama tapped Clinton to serve as secretary of state.

Now we have Ted Cruz, the Republican senator from Texas — the guy who called Donald J. Trump a “pathological liar,” a “serial philanderer,” and an “amoral bully” — endorsing the GOP presidential nominee.

The Cruz Missile is going to vote for Trump in November, he said. Why the change of heart? It looks for all the world like an anti-Hillary endorsement.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/trump-rival-cruz-to-throw-support-to-gop-nominee-228584

Frankly, I thought Cruz might withhold his endorsement throughout the campaign, given the hideous things Trump said about the senator, his wife Heidi and his father. It got intensely personal for Cruz and I believed he was right at the GOP convention to urge the delegates to “vote your conscience.”

Well, it didn’t happen.

The fickle nature of politics has shown once again how foes can set aside hurtful comments to achieve a common end.

Will it help or hurt? Many of Cruz’s most ardent conservative supporters believe Trump is an imposter to their principles.

What the heck. Politics in this raw form can be downright ugly.

local news

Response times in APD chief’s sights

drain

Amarillo Police Chief Ed Drain is a commanding individual.

As someone told me the other day, you know when Chief Drain walks into a room.

Thus, it is with that context established that Drain is setting out to fix what he believes is a potentially serious problem with the department. Response times need to be reduced, he says, and he plans to implement strategies to accomplish that goal.

Did I mention that he’s a commanding individual?

A study the city commissioned found that response times for APD were roughly double the length of time for other comparably sized departments.

That cannot continue.

Drain, who recently took over as the permanent chief after being appointed to the interim post by interim City Manager Terry Childers, wants to implement other improvements to the department. They involve possibly using more civilian personnel and tweaking the emergency call center operation, which already has undergone some significant overhaul over the past few months.

I’ve already commented favorably on Drain’s decision to re-deploy bicycle patrols in higher-crime neighborhoods, emphasizing community policing techniques that had been abandoned under the tenure of former Chief Robert Taylor, who recently retired.

http://amarillo.com/news/latest-news/2016-09-22/apd-chief-sets-sights-lowering-police-response-times

Yes, the response times need improvement, as the study indicates. Someone in need — or in potential danger — must be able to rely on quick response when the call goes out.

Chief Drain strikes me as someone whose very presence can bring along those under his command to implement the changes he believes he needs to make.

By all means, let’s shorten those response times.

Sports news

Don’t judge him by social media posts? C’mon, man!

steve-clevenger-cubs-1068x731

Almost no one outside of Seattle, Wash., likely had heard of Steve Clevenger until this week.

Then he decided to spew some racially insensitive-sounding messages on social media. He blasted the Black Lives Matter Movement, implying that President Obama is somehow linked to it, labeling a shooting victim as a “thug.” He said the protesters should be “locked up like animals.”

That, ladies and gents, is how you become a household name these days in America.

He wanted to make a statement about the Charlotte, N.C., protests.

It didn’t go well.

But here’s the best part. The Seattle Mariners’ part-time baseball player apologized to “those I offended” and then urged his critics to “not judge” him on his social media posts.

As someone who before this week had never before even knew this guy existed, how else am I supposed to “judge” an individual?

These ridiculous social media posts are all we have, young man!

http://www.si.com/mlb/2016/09/22/steve-clevenger-mariners-racially-insensitive-twitter-posts

Now he’s known across the nation for something other than his athletic ability.

national news, political news

‘Birther’ label still sticking to Trump

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Donald J. Trump made a tepid declaration the other day that Barack H. Obama actually was born in the United States of America.

That ended the Republican presidential nominee’s idiotic assertion over the course of the past five years that the president is constitutionally ineligible to serve, right?

Not even close.

As A.B. Stoddard writes for Real Clear Politics, “Once a birther, always a birther.”

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/09/23/once_a_birther_always_a_birther_131876.html

Indeed, the nature of Trump’s alleged disavowal of what he has stated for all those years only has fueled speculation that he still stands behind the lie he has been telling about the 44th president.

As Stoddard writes: Dodging the question of what led him to announce last week that President Obama was indeed born in the United States, Trump told an Ohio radio station on Wednesday: “Well, I just wanted to get on with you, you know, we want to get on with the campaign. And a lot of people were asking me questions. And you know, we want to talk about jobs, we want to talk about the military. We want to talk about ISIS, and how to get rid of ISIS.”

So, there you have it. Trump just wants to change the subject. He wants to get people talking about things other than the lie.

I’ve tried to set the record straight in this forum, declaring that Obama’s place of birth isn’t even relevant, given that his late mother was a U.S. citizen, a fact that granted U.S. citizenship to Baby Barack at the moment he came into the world.

Thad didn’t stop Trump and other birthers.

So, now he says he has “ended” the birther debate simply by saying in a single sentence that President Obama was “born in the United States, period.”

No. It hasn’t ended the debate at all.

national news

Protesters ‘hate white people’?

160921_atm_charlotte_protests_16x9_992

Robert Pettinger must have the most astonishing mind-reading skills imaginable.

The Republican congressman from North Carolina has asserted — rather stupidly, I suggest — that Charlotte residents who are protesting against the police “hate white people.”

Hmmm. Is that so?

I won’t go too far with this idiotic statement. Pettinger is commenting on those who are protesting an incident in Charlotte that resulted in the shooting death of an African-American man.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/297372-gop-rep-charlotte-protesters-hate-white-people

Of course, Pettinger said later he regrets making the statement. He said he was responding to what he thought he had heard from protesters.

This kind of utter thoughtlessness, though, cannot be allowed to stand.

The congressman’s initial statement also included a negative opinion of welfare and of those who receive government benefits. “I mean, yes, it is a welfare state. We have spent trillions on welfare — we have put people in bondage, so that they can’t be all that they’re capable of being,” he said.

Goodness. May we begin to engage our brains before we let loose with our mouths?

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