Monthly Archives: May 2016

political news, State news

This politician shouldn’t be elected to SBOE

bruner

Texans decided to take a gamble when they decided some years ago to amend the stateĀ  constitution allowing politicians to run for seats on the State Board of Education.

I use the term “politician” in its strictest sense; the term describes anyone who seeks votes to an elected position.

Thus, the gamble occurs when politicians of varying stripes seek these offices.

I bring you one Mary Lou Bruner, a politician who’s running for a seat on the Texas State Board of Education.

She is among the strangest individuals imaginable seeking a highly critical state job, which is to help set public education policy for the state’s 5 million or so public school students.

Bruner’s statements are wacky … in the extreme.

Here’s the punch line: She is in position to win a Republican Party runoff next week and, with that victory, is a virtual cinch to be elected to the 15-member board.

http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/mary-lou-bruner/

District 9 comprises a section of East Texas. Yes, it’s a long way from the Texas Panhandle, which is represented on the SBOE board by Amarillo lawyer and former clergyman Marty Rowley.

Bruner’s runoff opponent is Lufkin chiropractor Keven Ellis. According to Texas Monthly, early voting trends seem to suggest Bruner’s in the driver’s seat.

Why is she so unsuitable? Check out the link I’ve attached to this blog and you get the idea.

She has said some stunningly ignorant things. And yet this individual is a retired kindergarten teacher.

Bruner has said President Obama spent part of his younger days as a male prostitute; she said Islam is not a religion; she said dinosaurs went extinct because they were babies and couldn’t fend for themselves after the ark landed on Mount Ararat; she said House Speaker Paul Ryan “looks like a terrorist” after he grew a beard.

The record is full of loony statements.

To think, therefore, that this individual stands an excellent chance at this moment of helping set public education policy in Texas.

I cannot vote against her in this upcoming runoff. However, I can put this short message out there and hope that it gets to enough individuals over in the Piney Woods to deny this individual the chance to affect the education of future Texas leaders.

Check out the link. It’ll make you cringe.

 

business news, national news, political news

Trump’s wealth becomes issue of interest

donald

Does it really matter how muchĀ wealth Donald J. Trump has acquired?

Should voters really care? Should we concern ourselves with all of this?

Under normal circumstances, probably not. But here’s the thing: The presumptive Republican Party presidential nominee has been making his wealth an issue all along the primary campaign trail.

He brags about his “world-class business.” He boasts about how he built his company from scratch … although that’s not true. He shows off his opulent mansions.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/how-much-is-trump-worth-223329

We’re hearing now that Trump’s net worth is around $10 billion. No one has ever believed he has that kind of dough laying around. Trump filed a 104-page financial disclosure form — and he even bragged about that, calling it the largest such disclosure form in history.

As Politico reports: “Many of his assets and liabilities are simply too large ā€” reaching far above the top disclosure threshold on the filing ā€” for their value to be captured in the report. Trump, for instance, reported at least $315 million in liabilities on the form, many of which are loans and mortgages on his properties. The forms cover Trumpā€™s last 17 months of financial activity.”

Where is all this going? I am not entirely clear, but ultimately it’s going to end up with discussion and debate about Trump’s tax returns, which he still has yet to release.

You see, this is what happens when the candidate makes a big deal of his material holdings. It mushrooms into realms that under normal circumstances wouldn’t necessarily be of voters’ concerns.

Voters knew that the Kennedy family was wealthy. The Kennedy men who ran for the nation’s highest public office — John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Ted Kennedy — didn’t make it an issue. Nelson Rockefeller’s family had acquired immense wealth as well. Rocky didn’t dwell on it, either.

Trump, though, makes his wealth an issue all … the … time.

I’m more interested in debating Trump’s views on the whole array of issues that should be front and center.

 

local news, Sports news

‘Catalysts’ doing their job for Amarillo

ballpark

They are called “catalyst projects” for a reason.

You build certain structures, provide certain amenities in the downtown district, then other positive events would follow. That’s the plan, right?

OK, then. So now we hear that Amarillo’s catalyst projects — namely the construction of the downtown convention hotel and a parking garage — seem to have enticed the owners of a minor-league baseball franchise into talking actively with the city about moving here.

Oh, yes. We also have that ballpark that’s on the drawing board.

Amarillo’s Local Government Corporation has confirmed that it is negotiating with the San Antonio Missions to move that franchise from South Texas to right here, in ol’ Amarillo.

It’s far from a done deal.

http://www.newschannel10.com/story/32009762/amarillo-negotiating-with-san-antonio-missions

The San Antonio Missions have made their intentions clear down yonder. The Class Double-A Missions are hoping to clear out for San Antonio to welcome a Class Triple-A club. The Missions — which are affiliated with the San Diego Padres of the National League — say they want to relocate to Amarillo.

The LGC has laid down its marker: It wants the Missions to come here.

“Amarillo is in a position in terms of having our project already under way, of having the MPEV or the baseball stadium already in progress,” said John Lutz, a member of the LGC. “The way that I think it’s working with the hotel and the parking garage, retail, obviously the Xcel building, have really built a strong package that IĀ think was very, very attractive [to the Missions].”

Isn’t that the definition of “catalyst”?

Work on the MPEV hasn’t yet begun. The LGC has been tasked with coming up with designs and financing feasibility plans. The City Council has given the LGC a deadline to finish the job and so far the LGC has been faithful to the task it has been given.

If the rest of it comes together, we’ll get the MPEV/ballpark, we’ll get a serious minor-league baseball franchise here, the convention hotel will be open for business, the parking garage will be storing vehicles and doing business in the retail shops planned for the structure.

I am among those who is hopeful that a letter of intent from the San Antonio Missions will be in hand … maybe soon.

That, too, is a catalyst of its own.

 

political news, State news

More evidence of Texas Democrats’ demolition

17swartzWeb-master675

Mimi Swartz’s essay in the New York Times lends support to something I wrote just the other day.https://highplainsblogger.com/2016/05/texas-democrats-already-are-demolished/

It involves the pitiful state of the Texas Democratic Party.

My friend Tom Mechler was just re-elected chairman of the state Republican Party and then called for the demolition of the state’s Democrats. My response was that the Democratic Party already has been “demolished” in Texas.

https://highplainsblogger.com/2016/05/texas-democrats-already-are-demolished/

Now comes Swartz, writing for the NY Times saying that Texas is so reliably Republican that we won’t be “relevant” in the upcoming presidential election.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/17/opinion/texas-red-but-not-relevant.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0

She mentioned how it used to be in Washington, with Texans of both parties commanding actual respect among their congressional colleagues. Lyndon Johnson and Sam Rayburn? How about Dick Armey? Swartz said, correctly, that they “got things done.”

I’m glad she didn’t mentioned the looniest of the looney birds now representing Texas in Congress — Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, the conveyer of lies about President Obama’s birth and assorted other nutty pronouncements.

My favorite paragraph in her essay talks about what has become of the state’s former pull in D.C.:

“That kind of gravitas has quit the scene. Texas boasts legions of engineers, architects, doctors, lawyers, artists and energy executives who enjoy global reputations, but back home pridefully ignorant pygmies run the political show. One example: When our senior senator, John Cornyn, was running for re-election in 2014, the Houston Chronicleā€™s editorial board asked him for his view of a huge coastal storm-surge-protection project in the Houston-Galveston area known as the Ike Dike. His answer: ‘I donā€™t even know what that is.’ā€

That’s pretty bad, yes?

What’s worse is that the Texas Democratic Party remains clueless on how to reshape the state’s political landscape.

 

political news, State news

Cruz’s omission spoke volumes at GOP gathering

tedcruz_0

Texas Republicans gathering at their state convention in Dallas over the weekend waited to hear from one of their golden boys.

He went to the podium and delivered a typically fiery speech about how the Texas GOP should stand firm behind its “conservative principles.”

The message came from U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who until just about three weeks ago, had contended that he would be the party’s presidential nominee.

He won’t make it.

That prize is now left for Donald J. Trump to grasp.

http://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/ted-cruz-chooses/

So, the question becomes: Will the vanquished junior senator from Texas endorse the presumptive GOP nominee for president?

Excuse me while I laugh … out loud.

As Erica Grieder writes for Texas Monthly, it ain’t gonna happen.

Cruz’s speech to the convention delegates contained a lot of references to those conservative principles. He didn’t mention Trump’s name a single, solitary time.

No mention of the nominee, the guy who’s going to hoist the party banner and traipse across the land proclaiming himself to be the party messenger.

Are you as not surprised as I am that Cruz wouldn’t mention Trump?

I ran into Randall County Judge Ernie Houdashell just before he shoved off for the GOP convention. He and I exchanged a few friendly words in the supermarket parking lot. He mentioned Cruz’s name in passing. The judge — as reliable and devoted a Republican as you’ll ever see — made no mention of Trump.

I’ll have to ask Houdashell the next time I see him to ask him straight away: Are you going to “support” the party nominee? I’ll try to avoid asking whether he’d vote for Trump this fall, given that he’s entitled to cast whatever vote he wants in private.

Sure, Trump is gathering his share of public endorsements in Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott is on board, as is former Gov. Rick Perry.

I haven’t heard much from Sen. John Cornyn or from former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison on whether they’re going to back Trump.

Cruz, of course, has been gored terribly by his party’s nominee. Trump’s “Lyin’ Ted” label surely hurt the senator, as did Trump’s hideous reference to Heidi Cruz, the wife of his former GOP presidential foe.

So, he didn’t mention Trump’s name at the GOP convention podium. Cruz’s silence spoke volumes.

As Grieder writes in her blog about Cruz: “He recognized Trumpā€™s political appeal earlier on, in other words, and responded with an eye toward his strategic goals rather than his values or principles. He deserves criticism for that. But so too do many of his critics in the Republican Party ā€” all too many of whom are now, after nine more months of this lurid spectacle, making an even more cynical bargain, and one that Cruz, clearly enough, is unwilling to accept. Itā€™s like he said. You learn a lot about a candidate over the course of a campaign.”

 

International news

Benghazi probe gets punctured

8 Comments

Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, center, is escorted to a secure floor on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, to be questioned in a closed-door hearing of the House Benghazi Committee. The panel, chaired by Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., is investigating the 2012 attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, where a violent mob killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Benghazi has become a sort of buzz word in Washington.

It’s come to mean far more than it should mean, which ought only to identify the place where four brave Americans died in a spasm of confusion and anger in a firefight on Sept. 11, 2012 at the U.S. consulate in that Libyan city.

The term also has come to symbolize the ongoing effort to derail the presidential ambitions of the individual who was secretary of state at the time of the tragedy.

Hillary Rodham Clinton has testified before a House select committee. So have others with direct knowledge of what happened. And yet, the probe goes on and on and on …

Now we hear from a former congressional lawyer who said, by golly, that all the parties concerned did what was humanly possible to save the lives of the four Americans who died.

End of argument? One might hope so.

But … no-o-o-o!

The lawyer, Dana Chipman, who worked for the Benghazi select panel, said there was no more that could have been done. The terrorists who attacked the consulate overwhelmed the facility in a surprise attack.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trey-gowdy-dana-chipman-benghazi-committee_us_5738db52e4b08f96c18373e2

That won’t stop Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C.,Ā from continuing his pursuit of something — anything! — he can find that will undermine the presumed Democratic Party presidential nominee’s political quest.

According to the Huffington Post: ā€œI think you ordered exactly the right forces to move out and to head toward a position where they could reinforce what was occurring in Benghazi or in Tripoli or elsewhere in the region,ā€ Chipman told (Defense Secretary Leon) Panetta in the committeeā€™s January interview with the former defense secretary, according to transcribed excerpts. ā€œAnd, sir, I donā€™t disagree with the actions you took, the recommendations you made, and the decisions you directed.ā€

So, there you have it. End of story? It should be. It probably won’t end anytime soon. Maybe it’ll never end.

 

national news

POTUS honors authentic heroes

officer

Presidents get to do remarkable things while they serve as the leader of the Free World.

One of their ceremonial tasks is to pin medals around the necks of heroes. Military personnel receive these honors. So do firefighters and police officers.

President Obama got to perform one of those duties Monday when he bestowed Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor awards to 13 officers, who performed remarkable acts of courage — such as pulling someone from a burning vehicle, stopping a mass shooting in Garland, Texas, and rescuing a little girl from captivity. One of the officers honored paid for his heroism with his life.

I merely intend here to join those who honor these individuals for the extraordinary bravery they perform each day they go to work.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/05/16/obama-honors-11-police-offices-with-medal-of-valor/

The president summed up nicely the kind of courage he honored: “Itā€™s been said that perfect valor is doing without witnesses what you would do if the whole world were watching,” Obama said. “The men and women who run toward danger remind us with your courage and humility what the highest form of citizenship looks like.”

So, they do this in service to their communities.

None of us does this enough. I certainly don’t.

It’s always good to thank public safety officers for their service to the community — for their service to each of us individually. On the occasions that I do offer the thanks, I’m always gratified by the sincerity of their response. To a person, the individuals I’ve thanked have responded with outwardly genuine appreciation for the expression.

We’ve all known that there’s nothing at all “routine” for these public safety officers who report to work each day. Every call for assistance, every emergency presents potential danger for the responder … and for the family members who pray every day that they’ll return home.

Thank you all for your service.

environmental news

They’re labeled ‘wildlife’ for a good reason

baby-bison-with-mother

This is one of those stories that simply sends me into orbit.

Some visitors were driving through Yellowstone National Park. They see a newborn bison calf. They pick it up and put it into their SUV, believing it was “freezing.” They take the creature to a park office, where I presume the National Park Service rangers were none too happy to receive this arrival.

The rangers sought to return the animal to the wild, return it to the herd from which the visitors “rescued” it.

Mama bison wouldn’t care for her baby, which at that point was doomed.

Faced with the prospect of allowing the young bison to starve to death, theĀ rangersĀ decided to euthanize the tiny critter.

You know, of course, why this story is so outrageous.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/yellowstone-tourists-put-bison-calf-in-car-spurring-warning/ar-BBt7pJ9?li=BBnbfcL

The National Park Service spends a lot of time and energy — not to mention public money — educating the public about the hazards of messing with these creatures. TouristsĀ must notĀ feed them, pet them, love on them … pick them up and put them in their vehicles.

As for the bison in particular, they are powerful and often cantankerous beasts that can inflict serious bodily harm.

TheĀ visitors wereĀ fined $110 for touching the baby bison. A part of me wishes the penalty was a lot stiffer. I also hope the rangers gave these visitors a serious tongue-lashing for what they did.

OK, you are welcome to accuse me of restating the obvious — but these animals are labeled “wildlife” for a very good reason.

 

business news, local news

Downtown’s new look is taking shape

amarillo hotel

I don’t drive that often these days into downtown Amarillo.

So, when I get there I continue to be amazed at the changes that are underway.

I’ve heard about the construction of the Embassy Suites convention hotel and about the rising Xcel Energy business center a couple of blocks south of the new hotel.

However, I have to tell you that seeing the face of downtown Amarillo changing in real time is quite the sight. I went downtown this morning to interview someone for a story I’m writing for NewsChannel 10.com.

Between the hotel and the Xcel site there is a large hole in the ground. Crews have excavated the site where the next major structure is set to rise up: the parking garage.

I understand the city has booked a major convention next year after the Embassy Suites opens for business. There appears to be more on the way to the city.

Oh, yes. There’s also that ballpark that’s yet to be built.

I get that construction of these structures doesn’t guarantee anything by itself. However, let us consider the last time we’ve seen such a flurry of major construction activity occurring in our central business district all at once.

I don’t have quite the “institutional memory” that a lot of native Amarillo residents have, but 21 years living here is pretty sufficient. I’ve seen my share of change throughout the city in my time in Amarillo.

The sight of those structures rising up downtown gives me hope that even better days lie ahead.

 

local news

Puppy Tales, Part 19

puppy

Toby the Puppy is playing us like a fiddle.

Here’s the latest tune: He’s going voluntarily into his kennel. He’s making us think he’s actually OK with spending time in there.

I’m not taking the bait.

Why not? Because he has this particular expression he gives us when he knows it’s time to go inside the kennel. It involves the time his mother and I have to leave the house and we cannot take him with us.

Dog owners know the look. I think it’s a sort of universal canine countenance.

He starts by lowering his ears. Then he licks his chops ever so subtly. He then gets a sort of sad look in his eyes, as if he’s saying, “Please, Dad, don’t put me in there. I know you’ll be back, but pl-e-e-e-e-a-se don’t put me inside that thing over there in the corner of the room.”

Well, the past few days has brought this new phenomenon.

He goes into the kennel all by himself.

My wife had left the house to run an errand the other day. I had to leave for an appointment. I looked for the puppy. I couldn’t find him. I had a mild panic attack, thinking for an instant he might have gotten outside the gate. Finally, I peeked into his kennel. There he was.

I closed the door on him, peered inside and got “the look.”

I won’t be fooled by this pooch, who I insist is just about as smart as Lassie or Rin Tin Tin.

He’s already learning how to spell certain words. We speak to him in complete sentences and he understands every word.

Now he’s seeking to fool us into thinking the kennel is really and truly an all-right-place to be.

I know better.

It’s that look that gets me every time.