local news

Community ralllies to save a huge event

A marvelous event has just taken place in a community that sits about seven miles east of my house in Princeton along U.S. Highway 380.

Citizens rose rallied to bring back a long-standing event that has become an attraction of sorts in North Texas. Old Time Saturday had been put on the far back shelf in Farmersville when organizers decided they could no longer do all the work needed to keep it going.

The Farmersville community said, in unison, “Not so fast.” So, the Chamber of Commerce, the school district, the Farmersville Rotary Club, the City of Farmersville, Farmersville Centennial, Farmersville Parks and Rec., and the Farmersville Community Corp., cobbled together a partnership to revive Old Time Saturday.

So, an event thought to be possibly a thing of the past has become very much an event for the present — and hopefully for the future. Old Time Saturday will occur on Oct. 3. Visitors will be able to shop, consume lots of good food, watch a parade through downtown Farmersville, enjoy entertainment and all told just a hell of a good time.

I’ve covered a number of these community events during my many years in local journalism. This is a rare event to see a community rally the way Farmersville has done to preserve a long-standing event that pumps a lot of money into the region. Old Time Saturday will get a chance to pour even more funds into Farmersville.

Too often I have watched communities throw up their hands when organizers grow weary and then announce the event for which they toiled was going away. The Farmersville Centennial group had taken the lead on organizing Old Time Saturday for many years. I found out that many of the volunteers upon whom Farmersville Centennial depended on for help had other things to do. Planning and execution of the event fell on just a handful of folks. They, too, grew tired.

The collection of agencies, though, demonstrates to me that Farmersville, a rapidly growing community in eastern Collin County, wasn’t going to let an event that draws thousands of visitors to Farmersville every year was not going to throw dirt on the event and bury it forever.

Old Time Saturday is back. Farmersville has done itself proud.

political news, State news

How will Donald react to the drubbing?

Hey, it’s time to ask what I believe is a pertinent question regarding the midterm congressional election that is now just around the corner.

How is Donald Trump going to react if his Republican Party suffers the drubbing it is expected to receive from voters across the land who are tired of going to war, weary of the inflation caused by tariffs and sickened by the POTUS’s power grab?

My hunch? He will hate it all with a purple passion and will seek to find conspiracies around every corner and in every nook and cranny of the electoral system.

We now can presume that Trump cannot stomach the thought that he is a loser. Except that he is. He keeps challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden. He’s lost more than 60 court challenges. Loser!

What will happen if Republicans lose in states where they haven’t lost since The Flood? Will the party accept the results of free, fair and legal results if Democrats end up with more votes than the GOP? Bwahahahahaha!

Republicans will be fueled by the POTUS’s anger. They’ll gobble up the lie about elections being stolen.

I’m trying to fathom what might occur in Texas, where Democrat James Talarico holds an estimated 5-point lead over Republican Ken Paxton. Suppose Talarico’s lead is real and suppose as well that it translates into a victory in November. Trump will become apoplectic! He’ll go crazier than he already has become … especially if it’s a narrow Talarico win.

I am going to hope for the best. Which is that Trump realizes finally — finally! — that his battle to cling to power is lost forever. And that he’ll accept the thrashing he is expected to get and settle into the lame-duck status that is his alone.

You can stop laughing now.

religious news

Sharia Law targeted by Congress

Did you know — and this tidbit caught me by surprise when I heard it today — that there’s a committee in Congress dedicated to ensuring that Sharia Law has no place in American society?

What is Sharia Law? It’s a religious tenet practiced by Muslims around the world.

As I understand it, Sharia Law carries a good bit of weight among devout Muslims. If you violate any of its rules, you can be punished … severely! I understand that Sharia Law allows “honor killings,” which would enable someone to kill a member of his or her family if that person dishonors the family name.

Allow me now to back up just a bit. Let’s visit for a moment the religious freedom clause of the Constitution’s First Amendment. It says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof … “

I now shall sigh just a bit and ask out loud whether any effort to ban Sharia Law runs counter to the Constitution’s guarantee of the freedom to worship how one pleases. It seems like it does.

Moreover, the Constitution also prohibits clearly the practicing of religion in our public schools. Correct? Again, I believe that’s the case.

I have to wonder, then, what in the world is so vital that we have a House committee working on ways to prevent Muslims in this country from believing in Sharia Law. We have criminal laws that punish people for killing other people. If one commits an “honor killing,” then one can be arrested, tried and if convicted can be put to death. It would appear clear to me that losing one’s life at the hands of the state could deter them from committing such a crime as an “honor killing” of a loved one.

I’ve been quick to defend the Constitution. I believe it is strong enough to withstand damn near any assault on its authority. A president cannot suspend constitutional restrictions on his power just because he desires it. Nor can individuals take another human being’s life without facing the wrath of the state.

Which makes me wonder: What the hell is a congressional committee going to do to circumvent the Constitution?

local news, State news

Talarico’s time has come?

James Talarico has gotten the attention of a lot of politicos far outside Texas’s vast borders … and with good reason.

The young man stands a decent chance of wresting the Republicans’ vise grip on statewide office in Texas. It’s not necessarily that Talarico is an immensely strong candidate. His strength lies in the weakness of his GOP rival, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Paxton is being called the “most corrupt politician in the country.” He might be all of that.

He was indicted in his first year (2015) as AG by a Collin County grand jury for securities fraud allegations. What has gotten little play in the national media is that Collin County is Paxton’s home county. He represented the county — where I now live, by the way — when he served in the Legislature. For a hometown grand jury to decide the charges brought against Paxton merit a trial, well, that’s a big …. deal. You know what I mean?

Then he got impeached by the Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives. The GOP-laden Senate didn’t convict Paxton. Why? Beats the stuffing out of me.

He’s been accused of taking bribes, of doing favors for political contributors — and of cheating on his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, who’s divorcing her hubby on “Biblical grounds.”

I’d be willing to write Paxton off. Except for one thing. He is a Republican and GOP voters in this state have shown a remarkable loyalty to their party over the actual qualifications of candidates who run under that party flag.

medical news

Fauci is a champ … not a chump

It is my sincere hope that most of us understand the huge chasm that exists between making a misstatement and telling a lie.

Speaking incorrectly about an issue is a mistatement. People in high places do it all the time. They should be given a pass — just once — if they state something incorrectly. A lie is different. Lying about something is a deliberate act, with the liar knowing that he or she says is false, but they say it anyway.

So it is with the struggle Anthony Fauci is facing these days. Republicans are so damn quick to toss he “liar” canard at Dr. Fauci that they forget that the liar in chief, Donald Trump, cannot tell the truth if his life depended on it.

Fauci, one of the world’s foremost infectious disease doctors, sought to tell his GOP Senate questioners that he’s never told a deliberate untruth. He says he hasn’t lied to Congress.

I happen to believe him.

A man of Dr. Fauci’s standing and stature isn’t awarded medals, citations, and declarations if he does shoddy work. Fauci has been far from shoddy in his efforts to protect Americans from the danger of COVID-19.

It is entirely possible that Fauci misspoke during the disease’s run through the populace. If he did, well, he’s a human being. A fallible human being. He also took an oath when he tossed the stethoscope around his neck to “do no harm” and to work to the limits of his ability to keep human being safe.

I believe Anthony Fauci fits the description as a medical champ. His foes on Capitol Hill are nothing but chumps.

local news

Princeton takes key step toward maturity

Princeton has made a significant turn to becoming a grownup city in North Texas, and its new city charter, formed in a November 2022 election, illustrates a key point I want to make with this brief blog post.

It is becoming a hybrid community of sorts, with part of its expanded City Council representing the entire city with the rest of the council representing those who live within certain voting precincts.

The charter states: Seats 1, 2, and 3 shall be elected by the qualified voters of the City at large. Seats 4, 5, 6, and 7 shall be elected by the qualified voters residing in assigned single-member districts, which shall be implemented for the election of Council Members for those seats held in 2030, but shall be elected by the qualified voters of the City at-large until districts have been implemented.

With that pronouncement, Princeton joins other growing communities in recognizing the desire — and the need — recognize the issues raised by certain neighborhoods.

To be sure, there’s a bit of risk involved with this kind of governing framework. One of them involves the potential for turf battles. City council members might argue that their community’s project is more needed than those sought for another project on the other side of the city. This is where at-large members can step in and cool whatever rancor might develop.

The mayor, of course, will be elected at-large, so we could get a feel for the kind of leadership Eugene Escobar Jr., is able to muster as he leads an expanded governing council. The charter expands the council from five members to seven.

All in all, though, I am delighted to see the city take this important step. My wife and I came to Princeton after living 23 years in Amarillo, a city of 200,000 residents. Amarillo is governed by five council members who all represent the city at-large. We argued at the newspaper where I worked that the a-large system worked for Amarillo. I didn’t agree with that editorial policy, so I spoke out against it when I left the paper in August 2012.

Princeton is taking an important step toward a modern recognition of the huge diversity that exists among its population, which now is estimated to be well north of 40,000 residents.

Welcome to the new world, Princeton City Hall. I wish you all the success you can muster.

Donald Trump, national news

Trump angry at GOP rebellion? Awww, too bad

Word out of DC is that the hothead in chief, Donald Trump, is angry over Republican resistance to his choice to be the next attorney general.

Gosh, what could be getting under their skin? It could be that Todd Blanche can’t stop acting like Trump’s personal lawyer, which he was for several years. It might be Blanche’s resistance to submit in writing a pledge to protect the reputations of the victims of the late Jeffrey Epstein, who brutalized these women. Maybe it’s a collection of “all of the above” factors that make Blanche totally unfit to be the nation’s top law enforcement officer.

At least two GOP senators, lame ducks John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, say they might vote “no” on Blanche’s AG nomination. Cornyn lost his GOP runoff race and Tillis chose not to seek re-election. They’re both free of Trump’s threats. We also have Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who’s been a thorn in Trump’s s ample backside for years.

I am pleased to see the GOP Senate caucus grow a set of — oh, you know — and start to resist Trump on matters that count. Selecting an AG is a big deal. Blanche shouldn’t get the nod to lead the Department of Justice. Hope is beginning to stir.

medical news

Fauci is a hero, not a zero

How in the name of all that is sane does a man go from receiving a Presidential Medal of Freedom to being treated as a run-of-the-mill hoodlum during a Senate committee hearing?

It’s not the individual, but rather it’s the change in the political climate that produces senators who have no sense of honor, decency or decorum.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the man who likely saved the lives of millions of Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic, was raked over the coals by senators intent on slapping handcuffs on him and tossing him into the slammer. Why? Because the dipshit in chief, Donald Trump, wants them to do it.

Fauci once was honored by another Republican president, George H.W. Bush, with a Medal of Freedom. President Bush cited Fauci’s work as the world’s premier epidemiologist and his work to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. It was that record that Donald Trump brought him on board to lead the right against COVID, except then Fauci began contradicting the statements made by the current POTUS.

So, Trump turned him into a pariah. Now we have Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who this week sought to vilify Dr. Fauci for alleged misstatements he made. He called Fauci a liar. Dr. Fauci pushed back, citing his constitutional right to invoke the Fifth Amendment to avoid saying something that his accusers could use against him. He said Paul doesn’t know what he’s talking about and declared that “if anyone is lying, senator, it is you!”

I am going to stand with Dr. Anthony Fauci in this dispute. The man’s expertise is beyond dispute. It cannot possibly be challenged, especially by two-bit tinhorns masquerading as know-it-alls.

national news, political news

Trump earns title of ‘loser’

One of Donald J. Trump’s favorite epithets appears to be “loser,” which he bestows on anyone he deems to be, um, well … not worthy of any description other than that one.

I want to hang the label round the flabby neck of the current POTUS, for he has assumed the title of loser in chief.

He keeps harping on an election he lost to Joe Biden. He has filed 60-some lawsuits and lost every one of them in various courts of law. Trump continues to tease us with the half-baked notion of running for a “fourth term” in the White House. Why four? He won the first race in 2016, claims to have won the second one in 2020, captured the presidency in 2024 and suggests the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution doesn’t apply to him … so he might run again. The amendment says he’s only able to win twice. He did so. At the end of the current term, he’s out. For keeps. Forever!

He backs candidates who win their Republican primaries. So, he can claim victories there. The test of success has come in general elections when his MAGA morons face real opposition. Then they lose. I am suggesting strongly they’ll keep losing throughout the 2026 midterm election season.

What does make the 47th POTUS? It makes him a loser. Pure and simple.

His legislative agenda — such as it is — is dead. He’s heading for certain impeachment once Democrats reclaim control of the House of Reps. Then it will fall on the Senate to determine if he stays in office. If the GOP keeps control of the Senate, he might hold on until the end of his term. If not, well, then the fun really begins.

The loser in chief’s legacy will be cast in stone.

national news

Trump surrounds himself with dimwits

It is as clear as the length of the day that Donald Trump’s premier broken campaign promise is the one that he pledged to surround himself with only the “best people,” the brightest minds and bona fide experts in every field known to humankind.

It also is clear as the deep blue sky that Trump has delivered us an executive team full of dimwits, nimrods, dipshits and kooks. I won’t name them all, as they likely would take too much time to finish these thoughts.

However, I want to explore briefly why Trump has scraped so low to fill his government executive team. It’s because the boss himself — that would be the POTUS — fits into all the pejorative descriptions I laid out in the previous paragraph. The last thing Donald Trump wants to do is have his team show him up by actually have an understanding of government, the Constitution and the limits the framers placed on the president.

In a strange, perverse sort of way I kind of get it if that is Trump’s desire. He doesn’t want to be shown up by underlings. We saw glimpses of that during his first term. He had a retired Marine Corps general, Jim Mattis, as secretary of defense. Mattis got the boot because he knew better than to just be a yes man to the president. The same can be said of John Kelly, another USMC general who took a spin at White House chief of staff. Mark Esper, another Defense boss, also got the boot in the. rear. I would even count Rex Tillerson, the first secretary of state to serve the Trump team.

The second term administration is filled with lackeys, yes men and women and assorted individuals who have no business serving in the highest levels of government.

We are getting the kind of government we should expect from a POTUS who brings to the highest office in the land zero background in public service.

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