local news, political news

Keeping my powder dry

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Given that this blog is mine — and mine alone — I am able to make decisions on when to post items.

That said, I am going to wait a while tonight for the election returns to come in before posting a comment on their results. I could wait, I suppose, till tomorrow morning. I want to be fresh with my comment, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. We’ve got a white-hot US Senate race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton. A Talarico victory would make huge history in Texas, as Lloyd Bentsen in 1988 was the last Democrat to win a US Senate race in Texas.

Bear with me. I’m gonna wait this one out. Oh, and I’ll also have plenty to say if the Ds take control of both congressional chambers.

I am keeping my powder dry.

military news

Now he weighs in on ending the Vietnam War

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Our draft dodger in chief now says he could have won the Vietnam War in a week. How? I guess by saturating North Vietnam with Agent Orange, the agent known to have killed thousands of people exposed to it.

Whenever this moron speaks openly about Vietnam, and the war that took 58,000 American lives, it’s good to recall the measures he took to avoid suiting up for duty in that conflict.

He got some foot doctor to diagnose him with bone spurs in his feet. Question: Have you ever seen Donald gimping around on a cane, or a walker, or crutches, or any device to help him lessen the pain from the alleged spurs? Neither have I.

This idiot has no business even mentioning the Vietnam War out loud, within earshot of anyone who can hear him.

He also has said the Iran war would be over by now. It isn’t. The Iranians, who allegedly lost their “battlefield readiness” in the initial round of missile attacks and aerial bombardment, remain a threat to the U.S. forces.

So … Donald, here’s one final demand from an American patriot who did serve in Vietnam: Shut the f*** up!

national news, political news

Lessons to learn from midterm election

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That ol’ finish line is approaching rapidly as the 2026 midterm election campaign draws to a raucous close.

The polling places will open Tuesday morning and Americans who haven’t yet voted will line up to cast their ballots. Let’s hope it goes smoothly. But … I have a question to pose to many of my fellow Americans, the millions of y’all who thought you making a constructive statement of protest when you elected Donald Trump to the nation’s highest office.

Will you learn to think more critically when a politician offers you a nip of snake oil? That’s what Trump offered us in 2016 and in 2024. Many of us took the bait. It got us a whole lot of chaos, confusion, controversy and even a bit of political cannabalism.

We’ve got a chance Tuesday to make some amends to the mistake many of us made. The entire U.S. House is up for grabs. Word now is that there’s an excellent chance it will flip from Republican to Democratic control. The Senate presents a steeper hill. One-third of the Senate is on the ballot. Many pundits and prognosticators say Democrats have a good — and growing — chance of claiming the majority.

Whatever the outcome Tuesday, I sincerely and fervently want the new men and women in charge of Congress to rediscover the art of governing. It’s not enough to throw the rascals out who’ve controlled Congress and created a wasteland of broken promises. We have to return to the “regular order.”

If we don’t learn the lesson, then we’re worse off than any of us ever imagined.

crime news, legal news, national news, political news

Allow this change of mind on impeachment

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Allow me for a moment to express a change of heart and mind on an issue that has kept me stirred up lately.

It deals with impeachment of Donald J. Trump. I have spoken out on this blog of my desire to see Trump impeached a third time by a House of Reps dominated by Democrats.

I have changed my mind. Yep. Even bloggers are entitled to change their minds when circumstances allow it.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she opposes impeaching the POTUS. So does former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Same with Kamala Harris. I admire all three of these individuals. Their reason is the same. Impeachment would be a lost cause if the Senate doesn’t flip sufficiently enough to Democratic hands to ensure a conviction. While it appears possible the Senate could flip from R to D when the votes are counted Tuesday night, it appears unlikely the Democrats will possess a significant enough of a majority to override Republican cowardice during a Senate trial.

We’ve been down this rocky road twice already during Trump’s first White House term. The first impeachment was too heavily weighted toward a partisan decision. The second impeachment brought more Republican House members aboard. Both trials, though, failed to achieve the two-thirds majority needed for conviction, although the second trial came a good bit closer.

Former Vice President Harris said Congress has some Trumpian mistakes to correct. She wants Congress to concentrate on legislation. I have to agree with her on that matter. There must be a way to return health insurance to those who need it. There also must be a method to pressuring an end to the Iran war. Congress does have legislative weapons at its disposal to deploy against this rogue administration led by a convicted felon with no understanding of the rule of law.

I don’t intend to back off from calls to get rid of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, FBI Director Kash Patel and I’ll throw in Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. All of them have behaved horribly in the public eye and deserve the boot.

As for the POTUS, he’ll have to cope with a newly emboldened Congress and a federal court system that seems so far to be upholding it constitutional duty of serving as a check against rampant power grabs by the dipshit in chief.

local news, media news

Political wish comes true!

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For more than 20 years my wife and lived in a community that was dominated politically by one party.

I refer to Randall County, Texas, where Democratic candidates for local office had become almost an extinct species. All the incumbents ran unopposed every two years. Including — more or less — our member of Congress. I didn’t object too mightily then, as I thought our county government and our legislative offices were occupied by fine individuals. I became friends with two Republican lawmakers, Four Price and John Smithee, both of Amarillo. Price represented the county north of us but we attended the same church.

I did lament the lack of political competition in Randall County. I used my blog and the newspaper where I worked at the time to vent my frustration.

Well, I’m here to tell you that dreams do come true. We ended up moving to Collin County, just north of Dallas, in 2018. Our granddaughter had come into this world, so we needed to be closer to her. We got a bonus for our bargain, in that we moved into a highly competitive region of the state. Dallas County has become a Democratic bastion of sorts. The result has been lots of competitive races featuring serious candidates from both major political parties. The same can be said of Collin County.

Voters like me now have choices to make. Who is the more serious candidate? Who adheres more to my thinking? I had to put my noggin to work before I cast my vote when early voting became available. It’s all a good thing.

Now I get to wait till the end of ballot-counting next week. I hope it turns out the way I want it.

political news

Are they ‘yellow dog Republicans’?

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My sweet, sainted grandmother didn’t know the term “yellow dog Democrat,” but until the end of her life on the Fourth of July, 1978, she damn sure was one.

I recall her now as I watch the race for the US Senate head down the stretch in Texas. Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton are effectively tied. Talarico holds a slight lead over Paxton, but his lead is within the margin error built into the survey. What is keeping this race close? I figure it has to be Republicans who are loyal to the party … never mind the obvious flaws of the candidate.

So, is there a term for those GOP loyalists like the one that hangs around the necks of Democrats who’d rather vote for a “yellow dog than cast a ballot for a Republican?” I haven’t heard the term if it exists. I won’t be critical of GOP loyalists, given that Texas Democrats have been as blindly loyal to candidates from their party.

I am kinda thinking my Yiayia would find an appropriate name to hang on them.

national news

Consequential? Ya think … ?

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You can take this item straight to the bank, deposit it into a high-yield account and than count your money as it flows in.

It will be when they write the political obituary on Donald Trump’s time in the White House that he will be determined to be one of the more “consequential” POTUSes in U.S. history.

Don’t start looking for heavy objects to toss at what you have just read. The term of art doesn’t necessarily mean good things. Consequential can cover a multitude of achievements, good and bad.

Trump vowed to be man of consequence when he took office in January 2017. He delivered the goods then, He has delivered them again in his second go-round in the Oval Office. What’s he done?

He has pissed off every ally we’ve had in the world. He has vowed to take over Greenland. He wants Canada to become the 51st state in our Union. He went to war with Iran without seeking a congressional OK. He tore down the East Wing of the White House, vowing to build the biggest ballroom in human history. He has cozied up to the world’s most hateful dictators. He has vowed to wipe Iran off the map.

He’s already been impeached twice by the House of Reps.

That’s just for starters. I do consider all of it taken together the actions of a consequential POTUS.

This level of consequence and the chaos it produces are not what I want in a POTUS. I want normal behvior. I wouldn’t for a moment mind being bored. We had a touch of presidential boredom during Joe Biden’s term in the White House. That’s because President Biden knew nuance of the office he held. He left the country in good shape when he stepped away.

Historians will have a field day writing the history of Trump’s tenure. I hope to live long enough to see how it all turns out.

State news, Uncategorized

Political never-never land awaits

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All-righty, ladies and gents, boys and girls, haves and have mores, we’re entering the political never-never land we’ve all waited to see.

For the record, I am now officially unclear on who is going to come out atop the smoldering heap that will be left of the campaign field vying for success in the 2026 midterm election.

That all said, I am going to keep my trap shut on who I believe will win the key races we’re all watching like hawks here in Texas. I guess I’ll side with my journalist friend who said he’s covered too many Texas elections to “take the bait” and pick a favorite in the US Senate race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton. I get it. He doesn’t want to burn himself by getting it wrong.

Man, we have a lot of competitive races here. I suppose that speaks to the relative strength in this cycle of the Democratic Party, given that the GOP has owned every elected office statewide since The Flood. Maybe that’s about to change and Texas once again can become a competitive two-party state. I hope that’s the case.

I have enjoyed watching this drama play out. Check that: I have enjoyed most of the drama play out. Not all of it. Too much of it has resulted in name-calling.

It’s almost over. Thank goodness. My email inbox has been full of come-ons, pleas for money. TV airtime has been polluted with ads that have been long on epithets and woefully short on policy discussion.

The end is near.

local news

One week to go … are we there yet?

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We are one week way from Election Day 2026. I don’t know about you but I am ready for it be over. As in finished, done, stick a fork in it.

It’s been a bruising, insult-filled marathon that began so damn long ago. We just have a single week to endure the TV ads, the text messages, the phone calls that are annoying the daylights out of me.

But do you know what would annoy me beyond all measure? I don’t know how I would respond to the knowledge that corruption wins out over reform. Here in Texas, we are considering a contest for the U.S. Senate featuring a GOP contender who was impeached by his own party, indicted by a grand jury in his home county. I recently asked a friend of mine who is a practicing journalist in Texas to handicap the James Talarino-Ken Paxton race. He wouldn’t offer an opinion, except to tell me he’s covered Texas politics long enough to avoid “taking the bait.” He calls this race a toss-up. OK. Whatever.

It will end in just a few days. Media have seen a huge boost in ad revenue. I hope they invest their largesse wisely.

Me? I’m so glad that the end is at hand.

State news

This ‘norm’ is likely toast

Election seasons have several customs that many of us look forward to watching. One of them is the concession speech by those who lose close fights.

One such speech has gone viral in this election season. It was delivered by the late John McCain after the Arizona senator lost the presidency in 2008 to Barack Obama. His concession was full of humility, grace, kudos to the winner and to the cause of electing the nation’s first Black president.

You won’t see much of that in this year’s midterm election. I fear the end of this long fight in Texas, for instance, will end in recrimination and accusation. Let’s look briefly at the race for U.S. senator. If Democratic candidate James Talarico wins, do you expect his Republican foe, Ken Paxton, to deliver a McCain-esque speech conceding the contest? Hah! Same for Talarico if Paxton somehow manages to score the victory.

Both men have skewered each other’s character. This has been a gutter-level campaign. I had high hopes that Talarico could keep it on higher ground. He didn’t. Talarico went straight into the sewer with Paxton … not that Paxton didn’t present plenty of targets with his corruption.

There has been plenty of anger to go around in Texas during this campaign season.

It all ends in one week. I will hope for some semblance of grace. I don’t expect to find it.

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