Category Archives: State news

national news, political news, State news

Who’s rigging elections now?

Donald J. Trump spent a great deal of emotional capital — as well as other people’s valuable time — ranting and railing against what he alleged was a “rigged” election for president of the United States.

He even provoked an armed assault on our government the day Congress was to ratify the 2020 Electoral College result that elected Joe Biden president in 2020. Trump never provided a shred of proof of any rigging or corruption, but he damn sure had the MAGA crowd believing the mule dookey he was peddling.

Here are now, in 2025, and we have an actual tangible, provable case of election manipulation — or rigging if you will — of a 2026 congressional election. It is being orchestrated by Trump. He bullied the Texas Legislature into redrawing five congressional districts that were tilting toward the Democrats to places that now reportedly lean Republican. Trump wants to strengthen the GOP’s slim congressional majority and he talked Texas Republicans to sign on as election-fixing co-conspirators.

Where I come from, I believe they call that “rigging an election.” Texas GOP lawmakers bought the crap Trump offered and engineered the redrawing of the lines over the stiff opposition of Texas Democratic legislators who bolted the state for two weeks to avoid a quorum required for the Legislature to do any business.

The reaction in California was swift. Gov. Gavin Newsom persuaded that state’s legislative assembly to put a measure on the November ballot that would legalize an effort to flip several GOP-leaning congressional districts to Democratic-leaning ones. As much as I endorse the principle behind the effort, and the reason for it, I fear that we might be losing “free and fair elections” to the whims of politicians who are, in Newsom’s words, “fighting fire with fire.”

They do it differently in California than we do it here. In Texas, we entrust our Legislature to redraw the lines. In California, they appoint an independent commission to do it. Still, the Golden State remedy has the scent of revenge … and I don’t like the way it smells.

Back to my original point. Donald Trump’s allegation of a “rigged election” in 2020 rings hollower than ever when we witness the real thing taking place in Texas and elsewhere.

local news, State news

Collegiality? It’s toast!

It is virtually impossible to visualize this, given the intense partisan toxicity that exists in government at many levels, but there once was a time when Texas’s diverse congressional delegation was held up as the gold standard for bipartisan collegiality.

That was a long time ago. Congressional Quarterly, the Bible for many reporters who cover Congress for their media organizations, once reported on how the Texas delegation set the standard for getting along despite deep philosophical differences among its members.

Jim Wright of Weatherford, near Fort Worth, was speaker of the U.S. House. Every week, CQ reported, the entire delegation would meet for breakfast. Their agenda was to go over the issues important to the entire state. Republicans and Democrats broke bread together. They sought common ground in the search for legislative solutions. Farm policy, transportation, crime and punishment … it was all on the table. The state had elected its share of radicals from both parties. The fellow who represented me in the House, Democrat Jack Brooks of Beaumont, was as mean as they came, as he detested Republicans. GOP Rep. Dick Armey, who hailed from the Dallas area, was equally disposed to detest Democrats.

Yet they joined in the weekly breakfasts. And for a brief period each week, partisans on both sides laid down their long knives and searched for ways to get things done for the state they all said they loved.

CQ, interestingly, held up California as the opposite of the collegial atmosphere that permeated through the Texas delegation. California lawmakers couldn’t agree on the color of the sky or the wetness of the water, CQ reported. I guess they were the trendsetters who paved the way toward the political climate we have today.

I am not going to suggest an immediate return to those halcyon days of fellowship. I do want to remind readers of this blog that it could become the norm once again … even in this time of intense anger, rancor and revenge.

 

political news, State news

Democrats are working for their bosses

You want to know what is playing out in Austin in this congressional redistricting standoff provoked by Donald Trump’s insistence that Republicans redraw the lines to seek the election of at least five more Texas Republicans to Congress?

Democrats have bolted from the Legislature, leaving the body without a quorum to do business. GOP leaders accuse them of being derelict in their duty. They are wrong! Democrats are working for the voters who sent them to office in the first place by seeking to protect their voices in the legislative chamber.

Texas Democrats are demonstrating that they work for the people who elect them, not for the leadership of the other party that happens to control the flow of legislation.

This kiind of rebellion shows itself on occasion. I remember when it did in the 1990s. Republicans had taken over control of the U.S. House in the 1994 Contract with America election. House Speaker Newt Gingrich pushed forward legislation called Freedom to Farm. One of the key opponents of that bill was a congressman from West Texas, Republican Larry Combest. He said the bill ran counter to the interests of the farmers and ranchers he represented. Combest told Gingrich that he worked for them, not for the GOP leadership.

I praised Combest for his guts from my post as editorial page editor of the Amarillo Globe-News.

Combest’s courageous stubbornness cost him a key House ag committee chairmanship for a while. He stuck to his principles.

That is not dissimilar to what is occurring now with Democrats scattered hither and yon away from Austin. The special session will expire in a few days. GOP Gov. Greg Abbott says he’ll call another one — and wll keep calling them until the Legislature does Donald Trump’s bidding.

That kind of fealty to a charlatan sickens me to my core. Yet for Abbott and GOP Attoney General Ken Paxton to accuse Democrats of dereliction of duty makes me just as sick. Abbott and Paxton and the GOP majority don’t work for Donald Trump. They work for Texans who deserve a Legislature that knows how to govern.

State news

Stand your ground, Texas Democrats

The Great Texas Redistricting Standoff appears to be holding firm, but for how long remains an open question.

This Texas voter — and admitted fan of what Texas’s legislative Democrats are seeking to do — wants it to continue for as long as it takes.

Democratic House members are seeking to deny the legislative leadership the quorum they need to conduct the business of the Legislature. The key item under the gun is the Republican effort to redraw at least five congressional seats — at a time not prescribed in the US Constitution — to make them more GOP friendly. House Democrats have skedaddled to places out of state to prevent that from occurring.

The House Republican caucus’s effort is so wrong on so many levels.

Republicans are acting at the insistence of Donald Trump, the RINO in chief who wants to protect the thin Republican majority in the House. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking to issue “civil arrest” warrants to bring Democrats back to Austin; why in the world would he act against lawmakers who are breaking no law? Paxton also is seeking to expel at least a dozen House Democrats from the Legislature … huh? GOP Gov. Greg Abbott wants to investigate the source of funding for Democrats who are getting help from political allies aiding them in their fight against this intrastate tyranny.

Donald Trump is seeking to rig the 2026 midterm election with this ham-fisted ploy to get the Texas Legislature to do his bidding. To think that this is the same dipshit who accused Democrats of rigging the 2020 presidential election that Trump lost without ever offering a shred, a scintilla, a tiny nugget of proof to back up what he alleged occurred.

No one can predict how long Democrats will hold out. The special session ends on Aug. 19. There might be another one called. What then? This endeavor is beyond bizarre … but for my money, it should continue until Texas Republicans realize that they are surrendering their hard-earned control of power in Texas to a maniac.

local news, State news

Princeton still needs an ID

Princeton is a growing North Texas city that needs to establish a community event that delivers an identity to a rapidly developing community.

City Manager Mike Mashburn estimates Princeton’s population at 43,000 residents. It’s a far cry, therefore, from the tiny burg that straddles U.S. Highway 380.

Why bring this issue up again? I received my copy of Texas Highways annual Texas State Travel Guide. I have been reading Texas Highways magazine for many years. It is a premier travel magazine that highlights communities throughout our vast state, telling visitors of places and people of interest.

This year’s Travel Guide, just like all the rest I have seen over many decades, contains not a single mention of Princeton. The 2025 edition of the Travel Guide doesn’t list Princeton in the section dedicated to communities throughout North and Northeast Texas.

Farmersville, a much smaller community eight miles east of Princeton, is listed among potential destinations in Texas. Farmersville commemorates World War II hero Audie Murphy every year; the Rike Memorial Library contains an Audie Murphy exhibit; Chaparral Trail gets a mention; so does Freedom Park in the city’s downtown plaza.

Princeton, which is roughly 10 times the size of Farmersville, gets no mention at all.

I know that these identity issues take time to develop. Princeton clearly is a city in transition as it seeks to manage the explosive growth that at times seens to overwhelm local officials.

I have lived in Princeton for six years. I enjoy my life here. However, there seems to be little community enthusiasm for events that benefit the entire city … and make Princeton a place to visit and to enjoy the benefits of life in the growing community.

If Texas Highways magazine cannot mention this rapidly growing city, then the folks at City Hall need to redouble their efforts to stage an event that brings people here … if only for a day!

I want my city to get a mention in the state’s premier travel magazine. I guess I will have to wait until next year.

State news

Ex-governors relegated to obscurity

Texans elected two men to be their governor and they served, in retrospect, with considerable presence and gravitas.

George W. Bush and Rick Perry served back to back in the early 2000s. Bush got elected president in 2000 as Texas governor, then resigned to enter the White House. Perry, the lieutenant governor, succeeded Bush and served longer than any man in state history.

Let me be clear about one thing. I didn’t vote for either man. Looking back, though, I find them both to be men of considerable stature. What earned them this belated praise from little ol’ me? They both are right on immigration. They both have argued for reforming the nation’s immigration system. They have favored treating foreign-born Texas residents who entered the country as children as Texans. Perry and Bush both argued to allow those residents to enter Texas public universities as in-state students, thus, reducing their costs.

Both men espoused views on immigration that reflected their experiences governing a big, important border state. Perry ran for president in 2016 and was pilloried by the MAGA morons for actually speaking out in favor of the DACA program: Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals. This is an executive order from President Obama that granted amnesty from deportation for those who came here as children of undocumented immigrants, were raised in the United States and became de facto Americans who got educated, landed good jobs and paid taxes.

Perry did become energy secretary in Trump’s first go-round in the White House … and has said or done virtually nothing of significance ever since!

No one should doubt these men’s Republican credentials. Now, they’re considered RINOs — Republicans in name only — for reasons that baffle me.

political news, State news

House shines with glimmer of hope

There’s the slightest glimmer of hope coming from the Texas State Capitol Building after the House of Representatives selected a new speaker of the lower legislative chamber.

Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, will take the gavel and lead the House for the next legislative session that began this week.

Why the hope? Well, Burrows is an ally of Rep, Dade Phelan of Beaumont, who angered the MAGA crowd with his handling of (a) the impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and (b) key legislative initiatives favored by Gov. Greg Abbott.

That suggests to me that Burrows might be more, um, moderate than the right-wingers of his Republican Party would prefer. Burrows, for example, is not slamming the door on selecting legislative Democrats to chair House committees. He said in December he prefers for the entire House to decide on those chairmanships, not just the speaker. Hmm, that sounds a tiny bit promising.

Burrows does favor Abbott’s school voucher notion, so he won’t scuttle that initiative.

Back to the chairmanship matter. It’s important to realize that the Legislature does contain members of both major parties. And that they represent Texans of all political stripes, principles and beliefs. I am one Texan who does not want to see the Legislature do the bidding of those who favor issues to which I am fundamentally opposed.

Besides, any legislator who can incur the wrath of super right-wing lobbyist Michael Quinn Sullivan — which Burrows has done — is OK in my book.,

local news, political news, State news

Abortion to ‘challenge’ Texas Legislature?

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The headline atop the front page of the Dallas Morning News screamed out that the new Texas Legislature faces many “challenges” as it prepares to get to work on our behalf for the next five months.

One of them surely is going to be abortion and whether legislators are intent on banning all abortive procedures, all of ’em, making women, spouses and docs criminals.

Newly sworn in Rep. Brent Money, R-Greenville, says categorically that Texas must ban all abortion, citing what he said is “God’s creation” being sacred to merit legislation by mere mortal human beings. He appeared this morning on WFAA-TV’s “Inside Politics” program.

I will disagree with the gentleman. He doesn’t seem to take into account what happens to a child who is born with debilitating deformities. Who cannot care for herself or himself. Whose birth puts Mama’s health — and life — in jeopardy.

I offer those caveats as a pro-life Texas resident myself. I consider myself pro-life, however, I do not believe in legislating from afar whether a woman can take command of her own body or whether she must surrender her reproductive rights because some lawmaker in Austin forces her to do so.

Rep. Money is taking the seat once held by another right-wing extremist, Bryan Slaton, who was drummed out of the House because he got a female legislative staffer drunk as a skunk before having sex with her.

I am going out on a limb here, but I do not believe most Texans adhere to Money’s view that we need to ban all abortion, period.

There in could lie Texas lawmakers’ huge “challenge” as they prepare to convene their next session this week.

May the force of common sense and compassion be with all of them.

State news

Texas politics: work in progress

I get asked fairly frequently how I like living in Texas, given that I am not a native Texan, but one who has lived here for most of my life.

The question usually is steeped in politics, in that the state has gone through a dramatic transformation over the past 40 or so years from being strongly Democratic to even stronger Republican.

My answer seeks to split the difference. “My wife and I carved out a wonderful life in Texas when we moved here in 1984,” I usually say. “Our sons came of age here, I had a wonderful career in journalism, and we got to travel,” I often add.

Oh, but what about the wacky political climate? the questioner might ask. “It hasn’t affected me directly,” I would say.

The state of politics in Texas at this moment clearly isn’t what I would prefer. The Republican stranglehold on every elected statewide office is a grim reminder — to me, at least — that progressive politics is being pushed aside.

I get asked about the state’s grotesque anti-abortion law. No one in my immediate family at this moment is a candidate for that kind of decision. I would dread having to deal with such a family crisis were one to arise, but at this time the issue remains a purely political matter.

I am a sort of spectator these days as the state grapples with how to strengthen the GOP vise-grip on public policy. I am able to comment on these matters using this blog. I grow frustrated at times believing that no one in power takes my critiques seriously. I’ll keep using this forum of mine to pound away when the needs arise.

Therefore, I continue to enjoy my life in Texas. We moved here nearly 41 years ago. I am about to turn 75. That makes me a Texan, even though I cannot plaster a “Native Texan” bumper sticker on my pickup.

But … I do own a truck. That has to count for something.

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.