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Let’s debate, GOP contenders

Tom Pauken is pushing Greg Abbott hard for a debate — or a series of debates — leading up to next spring’s Texas Republican gubernatorial primary.

Abbott ought to take up the challenge.

http://blog.chron.com/texaspolitics/2013/07/pauken-presses-for-debate-with-abbott/

The Texas attorney general has been deemed the prohibitive favorite to win the GOP nomination next spring and with that, the election in the fall against whomever the Democratic Party nominates.

Pauken, a Dallas lawyer and the former chairman of the state Republican Party, is having none of it.

He calls Abbott the “$25 million man,” alluding to the massive war chest the AG has accumulated. Pauken said he believes Abbott thinks of himself as having some kind of “divine right of succession” to the governorship being vacated at the end of next year by Rick Perry.

Actually, Pauken is right to press for debates. I like the idea of two serious candidates for governor arguing in public over policy differences. They can be entertaining to be sure. More than that, they can be educational and informative.

Some critics lampooned the 2012 GOP presidential primary for having too many debates. I wasn’t among them. My only concern about that series of joint appearances became the carnival atmosphere that accompanied so many of them. The candidates would prance out onto debate stages to roaring crowds, waving at audience members like game-show contestants. It detracted from the serious nature of what was at stake.

Abbott and Pauken seem like studious men to me. They both know the issues. They both have positions — I reckon — on all of them.

So let’s hear them articulate their view of where Texas ought to go in the post-Rick Perry era.

 

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Bad idea to boycott Florida

A California assemblyman has proposed a patently bad idea in response to a controversial trial verdict.

Democrat Chris Holden wants Californians to “boycott Florida” because a Sanford jury acquitted George Zimmerman in the case involving the February 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-florida-boycott-california-legislature-trayv-20130721,0,1560540.story

Can there be a more bizarre reaction to something so fundamental as a jury doing its job?

Holden says Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law deserves to be targeted by a boycott. That’s an interesting point, given – as the Los Angeles Times editorial board has noted – Zimmerman didn’t invoke the law in his defense.

I’m one of those who believes the jury might have gotten it wrong in acquitting Zimmerman. But to launch a boycott pitting states against each other in what the LA Times calls “an economic war between the states” is an overreaction in the extreme.

I also am one of those who tends to respect a jury’s decision – no matter if I think it’s the wrong one – and seeks reasonable remedies. Punishing business owners by invoking a blanket boycott – regardless of a business owner’s personal views on the “Stand Your Ground” law – is profoundly unreasonable.

Let’s keep debating the issues surrounding the Zimmerman trial, but let’s do so without hysterics.

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George P. gets a challenge from left and right

Well now, it looks as though George P. Bush — grandson of a former president and nephew of another one — isn’t going to be a free ride into the Texas land commissioner’s office after all.

He’s drawn two challengers. One of them is David Watts, from East Texas, a conservative Republican who’ll run against “P” in next spring’s primary. The other likely is going to be former El Paso Mayor John Cook, who’ll run as a Democrat.

“P” — which what many of us will call him, given that Uncle George W. is known around the world as “W” — comes into this race with lots of money. Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager/chief cook and bottle washer/de facto head coach Jerry Jones reportedly kicked in 25 grand to “P”s campaign.

I guess the young man has raised several million already for this race, which will be his introduction to electoral politics. He moved to Texas a few years ago to start a law practice and, I reckon, look over the landscape for a suitable place to start his public service career.

It’s been thought “P” would be able to trade on the Bush name, as it is remains golden in Texas while it has gone toxic in much of the rest of the country. His father, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, likely would do well in Texas if he chooses to seek the presidency in 2016.

I’m glad, though, to see George P. having to face these challenges early in his political life. They will strengthen him if he wins.

If he loses, well, they still might give him the strength that quite often comes with humility.

 

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Stand Your Ground equals 2nd Amendment?

To borrow the often-quoted phrase from the late Ronald Reagan: There you go again, Sen. Cruz.

Ted Cruz, the junior Republican senator from Texas, said this weekend that President Obama’s call for review of states’ “Stand Your Ground” laws represents yet another assault on the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, the one guaranteeing people’s right to “keep and bear arms.”

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/07/19/cruz-says-obama-going-after-guns-with-stand-your-ground-remark/

That’s not how I see it.

I believe Barack Obama is concerned that these laws, such as the one that became part of the discussion in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, need to be studied to ensure that they don’t result in the kind of tragedy that has torn at the nation’s soul. Zimmerman, of course, was acquitted of any criminal act after a lengthy trial in Florida. And the debate is continuing.

Cruz, though, along with many others on the right, have taken the argument a bit beyond what I consider to be reasonable. I haven’t heard anyone suggest we should disarm Americans; nor have I heard anyone say we need to water down the Constitution to prevent people from protecting themselves against threats.

I listened to the president’s remarks and I took away a reasonable plea to look carefully at state laws designed ostensibly to give citizens adequate protection against those who would do them harm.

Sometimes, however, even the best intentions can produce unnecessary tragedy.

 

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Still pulling for Tiger

Tiger Woods is two shots out of the lead at the British Open.

Admission time: I’m pulling for Tiger to win this event Sunday. It would be his 15th major championship, three shy of the great Jack Nicklaus’s record. I’m not yet sure I want him to beat Jack’s record. I’m still wrestling with it.

It might be different had Woods not acted like a dirt bag about four years ago when it was revealed he was a serial philanderer who couldn’t remain faithful to his gorgeous wife.

Still, I’ve struggled as he’s struggled to regain his top form. He finally got it back this year, returning to No. 1 in the world golf rankings. But he hasn’t won a major championship since 2008.

He’s in position now to win his 15th if he can make up those two strokes and get past the leader, Lee Westwood, who himself is no slouch on the links. Westwood will have the benefit of playing before a home crowd of fellow Brits. Will the pressure spur him on or will it make him choke?

As for Tiger, he at one time seemed immune to those kind of atmospherics. He just dialed in his game, turned it on and off he went.

But that was then. This is now.

Would I want to hang with Tiger? Not for a minute. He’s not my kind of guy. He is, however, fun to watch hit a golf ball. I’ll be pulling for him Sunday … along with many millions of others who would admit that they, too, watch golf often only when Tiger is on his way to pick up the winner’s trophy.

 

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Critical talks to begin

Secretary of State John Kerry is on the verge of achieving something of vital importance to the United States.

It is getting Israel and the Palestinian Authority talking again, looking for a permanent peace agreement between them.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/20/world/meast/mideast-palestinians-israel/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Israel already is making the first “goodwill gesture,” in releasing some Palestinian political prisoners. I’m hopeful now the Palestinians will return the gesture, or something akin to it to demonstrate that they, too, are interested in forging a lasting peace.

I’ve had the honor of visiting Israel, spending five weeks there in May and June 2009. I’ve seen how close the Israelis live to those who have made it their mission to eradicate Israel. The threat of violence — even war — is with them constantly. They persevere and go on with their lives in such a way that one doesn’t detect Israelis’ outward fear of extermination.

The two sides need to talk and talk some more.

The agreement to begin those negotiations makes me hope — to borrow a phrase from an earlier negotiation involving the United States and North Vietnam — that “peace is at hand.”

Stay with it, Mr. Secretary.

 

 

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Hastert Rule has to go

The San Antonio Express-News has editorialized wisely in calling for the end to the Hastert Rule.

The link to the editorial is here:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/article/Hastert-rule-undercuts-democracy-4660269.php

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner is going to invoke the rule before allowing the House to vote on immigration reform. The rule — named after former Speaker Dennis Hastert — requires a majority of Republican House members to favor a bill before it goes to a vote. Never mind that the bill already has a majority of support among the entire body, which includes Democrats. Most GOP members have to agreed to it, according to Boehner.

Suspend the rule, Mr. Speaker, and let the House vote on whether to reform the nation’s broken-down immigration system.

Look at it this way, Mr. Speaker: Your GOP colleagues in the Texas Senate suspended its own two-thirds rule to vote on a bill restricting abortion in Texas. If they can bend the rules here in the Lone Star State, you can do it on Capitol Hill.

 

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President needed to say it

I heard President Obama’s remarks today about race relations in the wake of the George Zimmerman acquittal in Florida.

The president was on point.

http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2013/07/president-obama-speaks-about-race-but-is-anyone-really-listening.html/

This is the kind of talk — you can’t call it a “speech” because he delivered it without notes — is what you get when an important person has no more political campaigns to wage. He’s done. Three-plus more years and he’s gone, heading back to Chicago to write his memoir, give a lot of speeches and start working on his presidential library.

The president’s tone was stunning in its personal nature. He made no judgment on the rightness of the verdict that acquitted Zimmerman of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. He has left that for the judicial system to sort out. He didn’t weigh in on whether the Justice Department should file civil rights charges against Zimmerman.

No. Instead he spoke of the deep feelings he harbors about how people treat African-Americans. The president spoke of knowing — as an African-American — how it feels to hear car doors lock when a black man walks across the street, or when he enters an elevator and a woman clutches her purse a little more tightly.

Yes, we need to have some serious talk among ourselves about race in this country.

Who better to lead that discussion than the president of the United States of America?

 

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What about Panhandle, Mr. Attorney General?

Greg Abbott’s been campaigning actively for Texas governor for about three days and already he’s killin’ me.

The state attorney general went to El Paso the other day to proclaim that as governor, he won’t neglect that region of the state.

http://www.texastribune.org/2013/07/18/abbott-promises-remember-el-paso-fight-security/

Well, why should he? El Paso is a substantial city of about 700,000 residents. It sits at the far western tip of the state. It’s populated by a lot of Democrats. Did I mention that Abbott is running as a Republican for governor? My guess is that won’t win a majority of the votes cast within the city, or perhaps even with the boundaries of El Paso County.

It sure is nice of him, though, to tell ’em way out yonder he won’t forget about them.

You know, though, some of in this region of the state think sometimes that Austin takes us for granted. The folks who run the state from Austin forget about the Panhandle.

I remember when a one-time freshman lawmaker — Republican David Swinford — only half-jokingly suggested that the Panhandle break itself off from the rest of the state. I asked Swinford about that once many years after he took office as a state representative in 1991 and he admitted to thinking that was a good idea. His beef? He said the state didn’t always consider the Panhandle’s needs when making policy or enacting laws.

Abbott, or whoever wins the GOP nomination for governor in 2014, is likely to do very well in this part of the state.

So my advice to the eventual gubernatorial nominee is this: Don’t take the Texas Panhandle for granted as you campaign for the governor’s office — or if you actually win the general election contest a year from this November.

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Rolling Stone explanation goes beyond lame

So, here’s Rolling Stone magazine’s rationale for putting the photograph of a suspected terrorist on the cover its latest issue.

Dzokhar Tsarnaev is roughly the same age as the magazine’s major audience, the argument goes. Therefore, it is instructive for Rolling Stone’s readers to understand why one of their peers allegedly detonated two bombs at the Boston Marathon on April 15, killing three individuals and injuring dozens more.

Do you believe that? Neither do I.

You see, from I understand about the article, it doesn’t reveal anything that hasn’t already been reported about Tsarnaev and his late older brother, who was killed during the pursuit after the bombing.

No, it appears now more than ever that Rolling Stone’s editors were interested chiefly in selling magazines, no matter what.

I’ll stand once again behind those who have criticized the magazine editors for making an atrocious judgment call. They have glorified a suspected terrorist beyond any reason.

 

 

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