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Texas Senate to lose a giant

Texas Tech University’s huge gain is the Texas Senate’s equally huge loss.

Republican Bob Duncan is leaving the Senate soon to become chancellor of the Tech System. He won’t disappear from the State Capitol, as my pal Enrique Rangel writes for the Amarillo Globe-News. He’ll be visiting the Capitol looking for funds to keep the myriad academic programs and extracurricular activities going at Texas Tech, which is what a university system chancellor is supposed to do.

But a legislative body that benefited greatly from Duncan’s expertise and decided lack of showmanship will be a lesser place once he takes up his new job in Lubbock.

Erica Greider, writing for Texas Monthly, took note of Duncan’s reputation recently. Here’s what she wrote:

Duncan has been a genuinely superlative senator. When we were working on last year’s Best List, we crunched the numbers, and found that he was the most honored legislator in the history of the project—it was his fifth time being named a “Best Legislator,” and he also had an honorable mention and a rookie of the year notice. Beyond that, Duncan is the kind of legislator who illustrates the reason that we spend so much time researching the Best List. He’s not particularly high profile, and he’s not at all a showman. If you had watched every minute of proceedings on the Senate floor last year, you probably wouldn’t even have noticed him. And yet if you started talking to legislators, staffers, lobbyists, and advocates, you would hear Duncan cited consistently, warmly, and across party lines as one of the most thoughtful, trustworthy, and effective people in the building. As a senator, he’s tackled serious but unglamorous issues, such as the solvency of state pension funds; he’s also provided critical, behind-the-scenes assists to colleagues of both parties. An example would be last year’s equal pay bill. His departure from the Senate will be a loss for that chamber, because he’s been a real credit to it — because of the laws he helped pass, and because of the example he set.

What’s next for Senate District 28? Voters will take part in a special election that Gov. Rick Perry will call. They’ll elect a Republican from the district, which is a given in one of the most GOP-centric Senate districts in Texas.

With Duncan’s departure, though, the Senate is losing one more voice of reason. I have no clue who’ll take his place. Rangel has suggested that state Rep. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, is a likely candidate to succeed Duncan. I don’t know much about Perry, other than he appears to be among the cadre of conservatives who seem intent on getting things done their way … or else.

I just hope the Texas Senate doesn’t gain a show horse who’s replacing a serious work horse.

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Miserable campaign about to end

I have to agree with those who have described the Texas Republican runoff campaign as one of the most miserable in recent memory.

Heck, it might be the worst in anyone’s memory.

The lieutenant governor’s GOP runoff between incumbent David Dewhurst and state Sen. Dan Patrick has devolved into a mud fest “featuring” the release of Patrick’s medical records in an attempt to imply that the Patrick might suffer from latent emotional scars from a previous bout with depression.

The attorney general’s runoff between Dan Branch and Ken Paxton has become a contest over which guy is more crooked than the other one.

The Railroad Commission race between Ryan Sitton and Wayne Christian has brought forth allegations that one of the candidates, Christian, is a closet greenie who’s unfriendly to the state’s oil and gas industry.

http://www.texastribune.org/2014/05/25/texas-conservative-candidates-ride-out-hard-hits/

The Republican Party is at war with itself. It’s the Establishment vs. the Tea Party. The Establishment has been winning statewide battles around the country. I’m not sure the civil war is playing out quite that way in Texas, where the establishment wing of the GOP has become just as conservative as the tea party wing. Watching these people trying to outflank each other on the right is akin to watching someone walking a tightrope over a bottomless abyss.

It hasn’t been much fun to watch.

I’m ready for it all to end, which it will when the ballots are counted Tuesday night.

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Silver lining in VA scandal?

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You know, there might be a glimmer peeking through the dark cloud covering the Department of Veterans Affairs.

It well might be that the still-growing scandal over veterans’ health care can remind Americans of why on Monday we celebrate Memorial Day and Veterans Day, which we’ll commemorate this coming November.

It is to honor the heroes who have died in battle and to put the needs of ailing veterans at the top of our national priority list.

The editorial link from my hometown newspaper, The Oregonian, spells it out quite nicely.

http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/05/put_veterans_first_this_memori.html

Memorial Day has become a time for backyard barbecues, trips to the park with the kids, watching sports on TV or heading to the stadium to see it in person. That’s all fine.

It’s also a time for reflection. Shouldn’t we take time to reflect on those who aren’t here to enjoy these activities because they, well, died in defense of our country?

As for the VA scandal, the revelations that have come to light should enlighten us about the struggles many of our veterans encounter as they seek medical care.

The president of the United States has made a solemn vow to get to the root of what happened at the Phoenix VA hospital where an estimated 40 vets died awaiting health care. Let’s hope he finds those answers and then acts decisively and promptly to correct what has gone so horribly wrong for far too long.

What can the rest of us do? Just keep our veterans — particularly those who are ailing and who depend on the VA to care for them — in our thoughts and prayers.

And be sure to offer a word of thanks.

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Obama got Syria 'right'

Once in a blue moon, politicians get praise from the most unlikely of sources.

Such as when an Israeli prime minister known for his hawkish views relating to anything involving highly hostile neighbors heaps praise on you for not using military force in a crisis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — the hawk’s hawk — said President Obama was right to back away from his “red line” threat to use force against Syria when it became known that the Syrian government had used poison gas on its citizens.

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-05-22/netanyahu-says-obama-got-syria-right

In an expansive interview with Bloomberg News, Netanyahu said President Obama offered “the one ray of light in a very dark region” when he backed off the threat of force. What happened next, of course, was when the Russians brokered a deal to get the Syrians to turn over their stockpile of chemical weapons.

“We are concerned that they may not have declared all of their capacity. But what has been removed has been removed. We’re talking about 90 percent. We appreciate the effort that has been made and the results that have been achieved,” Netanyahu told Bloomberg’s Jeffrey Goldberg.

Goldberg makes it clear in the interview that Netanyahu and Obama haven’t yet healed the deep rifts between the men, who he writes have a “famously contentious relationship.”

It’s intriguing, though, to hear Netanyahu offer words of encouragement for the use of diplomacy over military action, which is the course sought by Obama in trying to find a path to peace in the Middle East.

Indeed, when someone with Netanyahu’s experience battling next-door enemies who swear to eradicate his country speaks of the virtues of diplomacy, there ought to be lessons learned by other critics who have far less skin in this game. I refer, of course, to Obama’s critics at home who continue to harp on the need to employ “the military option” to solve foreign crises.

The Israeli leader has many issues yet to settle with the United States. For example, Netanyahu wants to continue building Israeli settlements on land taken during the 1967 Six-Day War, something the United States opposes.

However, the cause for diplomacy has chalked up an important ally who has an up-close stake in finding peace in one of the world’s most violent regions.

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Honor our fallen warriors … always

I will do something Monday I haven’t always done to commemorate a certain national holiday.

Memorial Day is upon us. It’s a time when Americans honor the memories of those who’ve fallen in battle. We go to cemeteries to lay flowers on veterans’ graves, even for those who came home, got on with their lives and then died of what we call “natural causes.”

I probably won’t do that.

No, instead I’ll visit the Texas Panhandle War Memorial. I might not attend whatever public ceremony that’s planned. I feel compelled instead to go just to look at the names on the stone tablets that encircle the memorial.

Every single name identifies a hero going back to the Spanish-American War 1898. They all called the Texas Panhandle home before they donned their uniform and answered the nation’s call to arms.

Allow me this brief point of personal privilege.

I had a small hand in developing the memorial, for which I am immensely proud. Pete Garcia, a friend here in Amarillo, used to run the Vets Center. He was tasked with coming up with putting together narratives that summarized each of the conflicts memorialized at the Panhandle War Memorial, next to the Randall County Courthouse Annex at I-27 and South Georgia Street. Pete asked me to take part. So I did, writing several of the narratives along with two other gentlemen.

I regret that I haven’t visited the war memorial as often as I should have since its dedication.

Tomorrow is a new day and I think it’s a good time to turn over a new leaf. I would encourage everyone to do so as well.

Look at the names on those tablets. You’ll see stars next to a small number of names. They identify Medal of Honor recipients. Our nation has honored their heroism officially by bestowing our highest military honor.

The other names at the memorial? Think of the families who grieved when they learned of their loved ones’ deaths. Think of how they coped with such grievous heartache. And think of the valor that each warrior possessed as they fought for our nation.

Every single name represents a hero. Each of them deserves our eternal gratitude.

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Drought far from broken

Just so that we’re clear: The drought that has gripped the Texas Panhandle for, oh, the past four years is far from being broken.

Despite the rain we’ve enjoyed the past couple of days and the anticipated rain that’s expected to fall during the next couple of days, the drought remains quite intact.

Last time I looked, Amarillo’s year-to-date precipitation level — even with the amounts we’ve had since the middle of the week — is but a fraction of where it’s supposed to be.

Yes, our playas are full of water. Many of the streams that had gone dry have water running through them. The grass is greener. The air is fresher. We’re all walking with a bit more of a spring in our step.

The drought? It ain’t going anywhere until we get a lot more rainfall.

I hasten to add that a year ago we had a spate of rain that gave us hope. Then it stopped raining. Do you recall what happened then? The ground turned dry, just like it had been before the rain came. It didn’t take long for the conditions to return to what we had known; that’s what the summer heat around here can do.

Long-range forecasts aren’t too promising. They project more dry weather and warmer-than-normal temperatures. Some experts do suggest a possible change in Pacific Ocean currents and a possible return of El Nino, the warming of the ocean water that produces more cloud cover that moves inland and brings moisture. Whether it materializes remains anyone’s guess.

We’re all grateful beyond measure for what we’ve gotten — and what we’re expected to get. Perhaps all those prayers have brought it. Who can dispute the power of prayer?

Maybe a good bit more prayer can bring an end to the drought.

It can’t hurt.

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Sen. Obama MIA at vets panel meetings

Hell has frozen over.

I am about to agree with something Karl Rove has said, which is that President Obama needs to take care when referencing his work as a U.S. senator on behalf of veterans.

Barack Obama served for three years on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. He was critical of the Bush administration’s treatment of veterans. However, according to Rove — aka “Bush’s brain” — Sen. Obama often was a no-show at committee meetings when veterans health care issues came up.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/karl-rove-senator-obama-veterans-affairs-107033.html?hp=r7

Other senators have noted the same thing about Sen. Obama, who reportedly had his eye on a bigger prize almost the moment he won the Senate seat in a landslide over transplanted Republican ultraconservative candidate Alan Keyes.

Veterans health care is in the news, of course. A scandal has erupted over the deaths of about 40 veterans who waited far too long for health care at the Phoenix, Ariz., VA hospital. There’s also the issue of cooked-up records showing patients were getting care in a timely manner. Vets Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki is on the griddle over it, but so far President Obama is standing behind the embattled Cabinet member.

Back to Rove’s point.

The president is right to make veterans health care a major issue. He is right to be angry; a lot of us out here are angry — and scared — as well. The president is correct to demand answers and corrective measures. Heads ought to roll once the evidence is in and Shinseki should resign if it turns out he was negligent.

President Obama, though, is learning a terrible lesson in how politicians cannot shake their own personal history when issues come in direct conflict with their record.

Rove misfired badly in suggesting Hillary Rodham Clinton may have suffered a “brain injury” when she fell in 2012. He has found the mark, though, in questioning much of the president’s demonstrated commitment to veterans health care issues, given his spotty attendance at Senate hearings.

There. That is likely to be last time I’ll say something supportive about Karl Rove for a long while.

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Can His Holiness work a miracle in Holy Land?

Pope Francis’s tour of Israel and Jordan is getting some hearts fluttering.

It’s not just that the head of the Catholic Church is making his first trip to the Holy Land. It is that this man who’s been dubbed a “rock star” on the world stage might be able to move Israelis and Arabs closer to a peace deal.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/great-expectations-can-pope-francis-bring-peace-middle-east-n112921

The Holy Father will deliver a Mass in Bethlehem on the West Bank. Just a hunch, but he’ll pack the place with worshipers. His predecessor, Benedict XVI, delivered a Mass in Nazareth in 2009. I had the pleasure of touring the amphitheater built for that event. He drew an overflow crowd in a city that is now 80 percent Muslim. Yes, they came from all over Israel to hear it, but I think you get my point, which is that the pope represents something quite special to folks of all faiths.

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have broken down. PA President Mahmoud Abbas struck a deal that gave Hamas — a notorious terrorist organization — a role in governing the Palestinian Authority, which Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu said correctly was a non-starter for Israel.

Hope is emerging that Francis might be able in private talks to persuade the two sides to resume talks. Indeed, there must be a path to peace and it well might take someone with Francis’s global stature to help the two sides find their way toward that path.

He’ll be there only for a brief time but, hey, miracles can occur in an instant.

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West questions Duckworth's 'loyalty'

Allen West served a single term in the U.S. House of Representatives before losing his bid for re-election in 2012.

Yet, the Republican keeps making waves. I wish he’d keep his trap shut.

West has implied that a decorated — and seriously wounded — Iraq War veteran might be more loyal to the “Democrat Party” than she is to her country by agreeing to serve on a House select committee charged with examining the Benghazi controversy.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/22/allen-west-tammy-duckworth_n_5375138.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013

He’s talking about Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., who lost both of her legs while flying a helicopter for the Army during the Iraq War. Her ship was hit in 2004 by a rocket-propelled grenade. Duckworth received the Purple Heart as a result of her injuries.

“I just don’t know where her loyalties lie,” West said in a radio interview. “You know, for her to be a veteran, a wounded warrior for the United States Army, she should know this is not the right thing,” he said. “And hopefully … she’ll remember the oath of office she took as an Army officer and not the allegiance I guess she believes she has to the liberal progressives of the Democrat Party.”

Good grief.

Congressional Democrats have said the select committee hearings on Benghazi are a sham. Duckworth is one of five Democrats named to the panel. Her office pledges that she’ll take her responsibilities on the committee seriously, which all 12 committee members from both parties have vowed to do.

Allen West’s comments about Duckworth’s “loyalties” should be scorned and condemned.

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Why don't storm drains work?

This one creates a serious head-scratcher for me.

It’s been raining in Amarillo the past couple of days, with more steady rainfall expected through the weekend. The rain hasn’t exactly been in torrents, although it has rained harder in some locations than in others. Don’t get me wrong: I am among the many thousands of Texas Panhandle residents happy to see the moisture finally arrive.

However, what’s the story with the storm drains backing up?

I heard a city engineer say something today about “silt build-up” restricting the flow of rainwater into the storm drains. City officials were cautioning motorists to stay away from underpasses along Interstate 40 because of high water.

Good grief. We haven’t had any substantial rainfall since, oh, perhaps The Flood. At least it seems to have been that long. Where did the build-up of crud come from? Doesn’t the city monitor these drains to ensure that when the rain does arrive, that they’ll move the water efficiently to prevent large volumes of standing water that strands motorists — and puts them in jeopardy?

I saw social media pictures today of vehicles stalled out because of standing water. We have the usual suspect sites with which we have to contend. Fortunately, my wife and I have been able to avoid the trouble areas.

But they’re the same places that create havoc every time.

What in the world is up with that?

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