Monthly Archives: November 2013

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Tell whole truth about weight loss, Gov. Christie

Congratulations belong to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who cruised to re-election Tuesday.

As The Business Insider website reports, the governor has just “basically” launched his 2016 campaign for president of the United States.

http://www.businessinsider.com/chris-christie-2016-campaign-begins-election-results-new-jersey-2013-11

Which brings me to the point here: He has lost a good bit of weight and says he is about halfway to his weight-loss goal. My question is this: Why not tell us the complete reason for losing the weight, governor?

Christie underwent weight-loss surgery several months ago. He proclaimed then it was to ensure he sticks around for his family. He doesn’t want to die early because of conditions associated with being significantly overweight. I accept that stated reason. But my sense is that he has more “political” reasons stashed away that he’s not telling us.

Allow me this bit of candor. I believe he is losing the weight because he wants to present a more physically appealing image to Americans across the land if he chooses to run for president in 2016.

What’s more, I see nothing wrong with him saying so. What can be so damning for a politician who prides himself on blunt talk and being frank with constituents to actually tell us the whole truth about such matters? Didn’t he once tell a New Jersey woman he didn’t care what she thought when she criticized him for sending his children to private school? Voters forgot about that snarky remark, as seen by the resounding victory this self-proclaimed “conservative Republican” scored in a heavily Democratic state.

Perhaps the governor could tell us what many of us know already: The Media Age requires national politicians to present pleasant images to voters. Such wasn’t the case prior to TV. Imagine someone who looked like, say, Abraham Lincoln being elected today. How about William Howard Taft, the heaviest president in history at 320 pounds?

If the New Jersey governor is entertaining thoughts of a presidential campaign in 2016, he has taken the first step — admittedly a cosmetic one — on that long road.

What’s wrong with acknowledging it?

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ARC sinks under voter displeasure

I awoke this morning to some distressing news.

Amarillo voters rejected a worthy bond issue that would have enhanced greatly the quality of life in their fair city.

The Amarillo Recreational Complex failed by a 54-46 percent margin. It would have cost around $31 million to build this complex, which would have comprised a comprehensive array of amenities for citizens young and old to enjoy. It would have included outdoor ball fields, indoor swimming, basketball, tennis and swimming centers … heck, I can’t even think of all the things it would have entailed.

A citizens committee had been beating the bushes raising money to offset the public tax burden, hoping to raise about $6 million from private donations. Spokesmen for the committee had made the case — or so I thought — that the ARC would be a good investment for residents to make.

What’s more, it’s not as if the city has been spending money like mad on parks. The last municipal parks bond issue was approved in 1972. That’s 41 years ago, for crying out loud.

Silly me. I didn’t realize small-mindedness still had such a grip on Amarillo voters.

Speaking of voters, I hasten to note that of the nearly 100,000 residents who were eligible to vote, only about 15 percent of them actually cast ballots … which means that a tiny majority of the voting public decided this important ballot measure.

I am a sad man this morning.

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Political hero has left us

Politics occasionally produces heroes.

One of them has just died and I wanted to call attention to this man’s heroic deed.

His name was Jimmie Cokinos. He served as mayor of Beaumont, Texas in the late 1950s and later was elected as the first Republican to serve on the Jefferson County Commissioners Court.

I knew Cokinos pretty well owing to my time as editorial page editor of the Beaumont Enterprise. He and I became good friends. He came from a large and boisterous family of brothers, which also comprised Pete, Andrew and Mike.

http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Beaumont-political-legend-Jimmie-Cokinos-dies-4956508.php

But I grew to respect Jimmie as well for what I learned about what he did while serving as Beaumont mayor.

Lamar State College sought to integrate its student enrollment in 1956. The White Citizens Council — a racist group active in the region — got wind of it. It started a demonstration to protest the enrolling of black students at Lamar. Cokinos, without approval of any of his city council colleague, acted as mayor and ordered the chief of police to break up the demonstration — which was threatening to turn into a riot.

The police chief did as he was told. The demonstration was quelled. The White Citizens Council responded by trying to firebomb Cokinos’s house; the effort failed. The racists then bombed the church Cokinios attended and a synagogue.

Cokinos stood firm.

It’s good to understand the racial divisions that exited in Beaumont at the time. They were quite noticeable when I arrived there in the spring of 1984. The city was divided deeply along racial lines, given that Beaumont’s culture is quite akin to the Deep South’s prevailing attitudes about black-white relations.

Jimmie Cokinos resisted a very strong tide in 1956. He didn’t have to do what he did. He acted heroically and his actions spoke volumes about the character of a man whose spirit and soul was far greater than his diminutive stature.

Rest in peace, Mr. Mayor.

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Candidate is gay; and it matters … why?

U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud has just announced he’s gay.

He’s also running for governor of Maine. His announcement came with this statement: Why does it matter?

Good question.

http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/04/21305448-maine-gov-candidate-yes-im-gay-but-why-should-it-matter?lite&ocid=msnhp&pos=1

A person’s sexuality is the most intensely personal aspect of one’s life. I guess it matters to some folks in Maine that the Democratic congressman is gay only because he bothered to announce it to the world. I guess there had been rumors swirling around the state about his sexual orientation. Michaud thought he’d clear them up, and clear the air, by coming out as he did.

The overarching question, though, for the Maine gubernatorial campaign and for voters is whether a candidate’s sexuality should matter on anything. Does it inform his views on most public policy, such as taxation, road construction, public education, the environment, protecting his state’s coastline … whatever.

These all are issues that governors and candidates for governor must face as they take their case before the voters. I’m unaware of the most personal aspect of a candidate’s life affects how he or she will act on any of them.

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Impeach Perry? You must be joking

Texas Monthly blogger and columnist Paul Burka poses an interesting — but still ludicrous — question about Gov. Rick Perry.

Has the governor become too entangled in the University of Texas-Austin power struggle to have committed an impeachable offense?

http://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/perry-and-impeachment

What an amazing thing to wonder about the state of politics in this, of all the 50 states.

Burka’s blog post listed a couple of areas where Perry may have crossed the line into meddling in UT-Austin administrative affairs. Perry, let us remember, is a diehard Texas A&M Aggie — not that it should have anything to do with how he runs his office. However, in this world where conspiracy theories abound in all sorts of places, I suppose one could make the leap that Aggie Perry is trying to muck up the works at the hated UT.

The reality, though, is that Rick Perry never would be impeached in this state, which loves Republicans. Perry is one of them. Both houses of the Texas Legislature, which is where impeachment would originate, comprises supermajorities of Republican members.

What’s more, Perry is nearing the end of his tenure as governor. He’s not running for re-election to his umpteenth term next year. Instead, he’s bowing to likely prepare for yet another — and probably futile — bid for the presidency of the United States.

Impeachment in the cards? Hardly.

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Gov. Christie faces key election challenge

Republicans love Chris Christie, by and large.

The New Jersey governor is expected to cruise Tuesday to an easy victory in a state that’s twice voted overwhelmingly for Democratic President Barack Obama. He’s done a good job running the state. Christie has been outspoken at times, to the point of being perhaps overly blunt with constituents. But that seems to be part of his tough-guy charm.

http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/04/21278657-centrist-or-a-conservative-christie-faces-fork-in-the-road-for-2016?lite&ocid=msnhp&pos=1

He’s also been willing — unlike many of his GOP colleagues in Congress and in statehouses around the country, such as the one in Texas — to work with the president when the need arises. Hurricane Sandy, which ravaged New Jersey on the eve of the 2012 presidential election, offers a case in point. Christie’s glowing comments about the federal response to the storm relief angered many on the right.

So now the New Jersey governor is considering whether to run for president in 2016. His good pal, Obama, won’t be on the Democratic ticket, given that he’s term-limited out by the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment. The field, therefore, is wide open.

Does the governor tack to the right or stay on course down the center?

He ought to follow the late Richard Nixon’s advice, which is good for candidates of either party: Run to the fringe of your party in the primary and then steer toward the center during the general election.

I’m supposing that Christie knows about President Nixon’s advice and he’ll follow it. His particular concern at this moment in time, though, will be whether the tea party fringe followers of his party will forgive him if he moves toward the center and plays up his across-the-aisle working relationships.

Heck, they might not be able to forgive him for saying all those kind things about Barack Obama a year ago.

Oh, the joys of running for office in this highly polarized climate.

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Happy 25th birthday, Panhandle PBS

I went to a birthday party this evening with my wife.

It didn’t honor a person. It honored instead a Texas Panhandle institution. The honoree tonight was Panhandle PBS, known formerly as KACV-TV. Panhandle PBS has turned 25 years young.

Here’s hoping for many more such celebrations.

Time for some full disclosure: I write a blog for PanhandlePBS.org, which is the website created for the public TV station. It’s called “A Public View with John Kanelis,” and I’ve been writing it since shortly after my 36-year career in daily print journalism came to a screeching halt in August 2012.

I am happy to affiliated with Panhandle PBS. I am even happier that public TV found its way to the Texas Panhandle in 1988. It took a good while since public TV arrived in the United States way back in 1953, when the University of Houston’s KUHT-TV went on the air. I used to watch KUHT programming when my family and I moved to Beaumont in the spring of 1984.

Public television is a valuable asset to any community. It brings intelligence, sane discussion, distinguished comedy (often of the British variety), heartwarming stories, in-depth reporting and first-rate educational programming.

Panhandle PBS broadcasts out of the Gilvin Broadcast Center at Amarillo College. It is run by a delightful and competent staff of seasoned and still-to-be-seasoned studio hands and technicians. The woman in charge is general manager Linda Pitner, who just stepped off the Amarillo school district board and is one of the smartest people I know … and I’m not just saying that because she’s my boss.

Public television occasionally gets whipped and lashed by some who think it’s too darn liberal. I beg to differ with that description. I prefer to call the Public Broadcasting Service reasonable and analytical. It might be too liberal in some folks’ eyes only because they see the world through their own bias prism.

I find public TV to be informative and worth every penny that it receives from private donors and, yes, from taxpayers such as me.

They threw a heck of bash tonight in north Amarillo. I hope to be around for the next big bash.

Happy birthday, Panhandle PBS.

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Cruz Sr. needs history lesson

I’ve never for a moment doubted the intelligence of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

However, I am having doubts about his father, Rafael Cruz, who serves as a sort of ad hoc senior adviser to the fiery freshman lawmaker.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/31/ted-cruzs-father-in-2012-send-obama-back-to-kenya/?hpt=hp_t5

Comments from the senior Cruz are stoking serious concern about the nature of political debate and whether young Ted is being guided correctly by the man who brought him into this world.

America is a “Christian nation,” according to Rafael Cruz. Wrong. It’s a secular nation founded by individuals who were guided by Christian principles. Mr. Cruz needs to note that the founders were quite clear that Congress must not make laws that establish a state religion. It’s in the First Amendment.

Rafael Cruz also believes President Obama should be “sent back to Kenya.” Well, young Barack went to Kenya — one time. He’s spent the vast bulk of his time in the nation of his birth, the United States of America.

These old myths dealing with the president’s place of birth keep cropping up, like pesky weeds you just cannot eradicate.

Ted Cruz — born in Canada to a Cuban father and an American mother — ought to be smart enough to counsel dear old dad about the need to speak the truth about political opponents.

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Santorum says Cruz harming the GOP

Rick Santorum knows an extremist when he sees one.

The one-time Republican senator from Pennsylvania and former GOP presidential candidate once blamed contraception as a source of what ails America today. So it is with that intimate knowledge of wacky political rhetoric that he has declared that Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has harmed the Republican Party’s brand with rank-and-file American voters.

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/texas-on-the-potomac/2013/10/rick-santorum-on-ted-cruz-in-the-end-he-did-more-harm/

Santorum says Cruz is “a face” of the party, not “the face” of it. Cruz’s effort to use defunding the Affordable Care Act as a weapon to shut down the government wasn’t helpful to the cause, which Santorum says is just. He, too, wants to get rid of the ACA. Santorum didn’t think much of Cruz’s fake filibuster, nor does he seem to like the fact that Cruz is everywhere all at once declaring his intention to “do whatever it takes” to get rid of the ACA.

One problem with Santorum’s critique of his fellow Republican, Cruz, is that Cruz doesn’t care that he harms the party. He has done himself more good than harm, if you are to believe some of the polls and the political chatter back home in Texas.

That’s what matters to the freshman senator, who in just nine months has elevated his profile to a level far more visible than many of the more senior members of the body in which he serves.

He’s acting like he wants to run for president in 2016. For that matter, so is Santorum.

Come to think of it, that might explain why one potential GOP conservative candidate for president is criticizing the antics of another one.

Whatever. Santorum makes sense when sizing up the contributions of Ted Cruz to his party’s cause.

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Ducks facing dreaded SI jinx

I’m sweating bullets.

My University of Oregon Ducks are rated as the second-best college football team in the country, right behind Alabama’s Crimson Tide. So what happened to the Ducks this week? Their Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback, Marcus Mariota, ends up on the cover of the nation’s premier sports magazine.

Why the heavy perspiration? It’s that dreaded Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx. Players and teams fairly routinely end up on the cover — only to tank it the next time they compete.

The Ducks are facing next Thursday what looks like their most difficult opponent. They travel to Palo Alto, Calif., to take on the Stanford Cardinal, the No. 5-ranked team in the country and a team that a year ago went to the Ducks’ crib in Eugene and smashed its way to a 17-14 upset victory.

I say “smashed” because that’s the kind of football the Cardinal plays. Stanford is big, tough and it just loves to keep the football out of the other team’s hands, which for Oregon is terrible. The Ducks faced Ohio State in the Rose Bowl a couple of seasons ago and the Buckeyes beat the Ducks 26-17 by doing what Stanford is so good at doing.

I’m not going to be a Gloomy Gus here and predict the Ducks will lose next Thursday. They have been virtually unstoppable all season long. Their go-go offense has run up a lot of points on some good teams.

It’s that SI jinx, though, that has me worried. Will it bite the Ducks in their tails?

The story is quite flattering. It says the Ducks have reinvented the West Coast Offense. Mariota is considered a leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy. The Ducks just might be heading for the national championship game.

Quick, let’s hide all copies of the SI issue from the Ducks. Don’t let ’em read it.