Monthly Archives: January 2019

local news, State news

Sen. Seliger deserves better than what he got

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I cannot put aside the shafting that Texas state Sen. Kel Seliger got from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. And as a result, Patrick also gave the shaft to hundreds of thousands of West Texans who deserve to be represented by their veteran lawmaker.

And for what reason? Because the Republican senator isn’t loyal enough to the ideological agenda proposed and pushed by the Republican lieutenant governor! From my vantage point, I believe Seliger answers first to the West Texans who have elected him to the Texas Senate, not the guy who runs the state’s upper legislative chamber.

Patrick removed Seliger, of Amarillo, as chairman of the Senate Higher Ed Committee; he pulled him off the Senate Education Committee and the Finance Committee. He installed him as chair of the Agriculture Committee, then pulled him out of the chairmanship after Seliger made what Patrick thought was an “lewd” comment about a key Patrick aide.

Seliger believes Patrick is angry over the senator’s resistance toward some of the rigid ideological views that Patrick expresses on occasion. He favors public schools and opposes Patrick’s push for vouchers to lure students away from public education.

So now the residents of Texas Senate District 31 have a senator in office with vastly reduced political clout. Shameful, I tell you!

This tempest reminds me a little of an earlier fight between two congressional Republicans, one of whom represented West Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich was a champion of something called Freedom to Farm. He had led the GOP takeover of Congress in 1994 and pushed the Freedom to Farm bill in the House. It would have dramatically overhauled federal farm policy, which didn’t set well with then-U.S. Rep. Larry Combest, who represented West Texas from Lubbock to Amarillo. Combest resisted Freedom to Farm and voted against it.

Gingrich thought he would punish Combest by denying him a House Agricultural Committee chairmanship. Combest stood firm, telling Gingrich in no uncertain terms that he didn’t work for the speaker, but worked for the farmers and ranchers who elected him to the House. He was their man, not Gingrich’s errand boy.

Combest wouldn’t be bullied by Gingrich in the 1990s. Seliger won’t be bullied by Patrick now.

I see a certain similarity between these two pairings. I pulled for Combest in his fight with the House speaker and I am pulling for Seliger in this feud with the Texas lieutenant governor.

Both men stood and are standing with the men and women who elect them, not the bully who seeks to call the shots in the legislative chamber.

national news

Trump accepts deal he once tossed aside

So, let’s see what the heck happened today.

Donald Trump said he was happy to announce a deal to end the partial government shutdown. The government will reopen fully for the next three weeks.

The deal doesn’t contain a nickel for The Wall, the element he told us incessantly was essential for any path to reopen the parts of the federal government that had been shuttered.

He rejected earlier Democratic congressional efforts to broker the deal that didn’t include money for The Wall.

Then today he said he would do precisely what he refused to do. He refused to accept the Democrats’ demands. He closed part of the government down, boasting that he would be “proud” to take responsibility for shuttering the government.

Conservative talkers such as Ann Coulter (pictured), political pundits and lawmakers are now saying that Trump “caved.” My goodness! I thought the president was the toughest man in the room, the guy no one messed with, the man who could cut the greatest deals in human history.

I believe we are being “led” by a wimp.

national news

‘Biggest witch hunt in history?’ Not even close

Donald J. Trump, as is his habit, fired off a tweet today after the indictment of confidant Roger Stone that provided another example of egregious exaggeration.

Special counsel Robert Mueller has indicted Stone on charges of lying about “the Russia thing.” Trump unloaded with a Twitter message that bellowed “NO COLLUSION!” and said Mueller is embarking on the “biggest witch hunt” in U.S. history.

Oops! No, Mr. President. It’s not a witch hunt. Even if it was a witch hunt, it would be far from the “biggest” in American history.

You see, there was a time before the nation was actually founded when they went after women in Salem, Mass., looking for actual witches. They killed these women, Mr. President. In case anyone has forgotten, no one has died in the Mueller probe into whether the president’s campaign conspired with Russians who attacked our electoral system.

So, Mr. President . . . knock off the hyperbole!

International news, national news

Dealmaker in chief backs down

So, the government is going to reopen for at least the next three weeks, right?

Donald “Master Dealmaker in Chief” Trump backed down from Democrats’ demands. We’re getting our entire federal government back in action — with no money for The Wall.

I don’t know whether to laugh or scream in disgust.

There’s nothing for the president to cheer. For that matter, I wouldn’t bet that Democrats are jumping for joy, either.

Why? They need to get to work. They have three weeks to hammer out a long term budget deal that includes some form of border security. Democrats aren’t likely to cave on The Wall. As for the president, no one seems able to predict what he’ll do.

Trump had held out for $5.7 billion for construction of The Wall along our southern border. If he doesn’t get cash for the structure by Feb. 15, he is pondering whether to declare a national emergency along the border and then ordering the military to build The Wall with money he would pilfer from other governmental accounts.

Let me think about this. It will prompt an immediate legal challenge by those who will contend that the president is acting unlawfully.

Was this a win for the president? Not even close! Have the Democrats led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer won anything? Nope.

Let’s . . . get . . . busy.

local news, State news

Where is the Texas Senate’s wise man?

I don’t know where he is at this very moment, but I cannot stop thinking about Bill Ratliff as I read about the tension building between two key players in the Texas Senate.

Ratliff served as lieutenant governor in the early 2000s. He was elevated to that post by his fellow state senators after Lt. Gov. Rick Perry moved into the governor’s office after the 2000 election of George W. Bush as president of the United States.

Ratliff, a Republican from Mount Pleasant in East Texas, was generally a revered political figure in the Texas Capitol. He enjoyed tremendous bipartisan support. Why is that? Because he didn’t govern with a heavy hand.

Ratliff must be grinding his teeth as he follows this stuff.

Oh, man. The mood in Austin is a whole lot different these days. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick not only has pi**** off his Democratic colleagues, he’s managing to antagonize his fellow Republicans. One of them is a fellow I’ve known quite well for more than two decades, Sen. Kel Seliger of Amarillo.

Patrick is telling the rest of the GOP Senate caucus the following messages: Do it my way . . . or else! The “or else” in Seliger’s case arrived when Patrick took away the chairmanship of the Higher Education Committee and removed Seliger from the Education and Finance committees. Patrick then threw Seliger a bone when he named him chair of the newly formed Agriculture Committee, a post that Seliger reportedly didn’t thrill him.

A Patrick aide said that if Seliger believed the Ag post was “beneath him” he could ask to be withdrawn and Patrick could appoint someone else. Seliger then told a Lubbock radio host — in so many words — that the aide could kiss his “rear end.”

Patrick then responded to that by yanking Seliger out of the Agriculture panel’s chairmanship post.

Imagine any of this occurring with Bill Ratliff as the Man of the Senate. I cannot wrap my head around that.

To be clear, I do not know Ratliff. I only know of him. Just as I don’t know Patrick, either, but I certainly know of this guy.

Patrick is playing hardball. He is using his considerable power to punish one of the Senate’s more senior members because the two of them don’t view the world through the same ideological prism.

Here is how the Texas Tribune sees this saga.

The Texas Senate used to have a tradition of bipartisanship. The lieutenant governor used to govern with an eye toward enlisting support from the minority party’s senators. To think that a lieutenant governor — whether Democrat or Republican — would punish a member of his own caucus has been a heretofore unthinkable occurrence.

I wish we could find another Bill Ratliff out there somewhere. They didn’t call him “Obi-Wan Kenobie,” the wise man from “Star Wars,” for nothing.

national news

Time to brag about another record

Time for a bit of braggin’, if you don’t mind.

High Plains Blogger has just recorded a record month of page views and unique visitors — and we still have another week to go!

This blog was able to set a record for “hits” in 2018 on the strength of an extraordinary month. In February, the blog smashed through the ceiling by recording its greatest — by far! — single day of page views and visitors.

We started 2019 with another smashing month. January will give way to February in week, but already High Plains Blogger has registered its best-ever monthly performance.

What drove this latest record? Unquestionably it was the resignation of Kori Clements from her post as head girls volleyball coach at Amarillo High School in Texas. I commented on it over the course of about four days. Traffic zoomed!

I guess that speaks to the depth of feeling that the Amarillo athletic community feels about itself and about the principals who give it a special standing.

On the strength of this tremendous month of traffic, I am now on track to set another record by year’s end. Sure, I’ve got to keep the momentum going.

I’ll do my best. Hey, we still have a federal government that will give High Plains Blogger plenty of grist to throw out there for discussion.

local news

Rep. Price gets handed a very large gavel

It’s clear that Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick didn’t give state Sen. Kel Seliger any love when he handed out committee assignments for the 2019 Texas Senate.

He yanked the Amarillo Republican out of the chairmanship of the Senate Higher Education Committee, pulled him off the Senate Education Committee and off the Finance Committee. Patrick “awarded” Seliger the Agriculture Committee chairmanship then snatched that one away when Seliger made an impolite comment about a key Patrick adviser.

Now, what about the Texas House of Representatives? Well, Speaker Dennis Bonnen has handed out a gigantic gavel to state Rep. Four Price, another Amarillo Republican.

Price will chair the House Calendars Committee. It’s a big deal, man! Here’s why: The Calendars Committee determines the legislative flow; the chairman is able to stop legislation from being considered by the full House. OK, so it’s more of a procedural panel than a policy-making one. But . . . it carries huge responsibility in determining how the House does its business.

I used to know a previous Calendars chairman quite well. State Rep. Mark Stiles was a Beaumont Democrat who chaired that panel in the 1980s. Stiles, who no longer serves in the Legislature, was quite proud of the influence he had in controlling legislative traffic. Stiles also was quite fond of reminding anyone who would listen that he was good friends with the House speaker, the lieutenant governor, the governor. You name it, anyone with real power in Austin was a BFF of the legislator who nicknamed himself “Bubba.”

I mention this because I don’t expect Rep. Four Price to carry on in that fashion. He’s a more, um, humble individual who seems — as I have known him — to take his public service far more seriously than he takes himself.

local news

Happy Trails, Part 138: Now it’s ‘home orientation’?

My wife and I are in the processing of purchasing the fifth home we have shared over more than 47 years of marriage.

The previous four home purchases — two in Oregon and two in Texas — have all gone about the same way: We select a house, we settle on a price, we obtain the financing, then we close the deal. “Closing” on the sale involved signing a lot of papers, then the title company person hands us the keys to the house — and maybe a garage-door opener — and says, in effect, “Have a nice life.”

Boom! Done! Off we went.

Now, though, it’s different. We got word today of a closing date. But before that happens, we get to take part in what the builder calls a “home orientation” session. The message we received tells us that the session “is designed to teach you about how your home works.”

How it works? Yep. We’re buying one of those “smart homes.”

I’ve mentioned already that it is a modest home in Princeton, Texas, in northeast Collin County. It is part of a brand new subdivision.

Unlike the four previous homes we purchased, this one comes with some razzle dazzle, a few bells and whistles. If we want to make it smarter than I am — which isn’t hard to do — we can subscribe to a service that provides an “Alexa” device that does things on voice command: dim the lights, turn on the TV, lower the shades; I’m wondering if there’s an “app” that tucks me in at night.

Don’t misunderstand me. I am not going to resist this “home orientation” lesson. I welcome it. I’ll need it. It just kind of blows my mind, given that I am 69 years of age and while I am getting a bit more tech savvy as time marches on, I am far from the “geek” that my sons would prefer me to be.

The “home orientation” awaits in just a few days.

Bring it!

education news, local news, Sports news

Prediction: AISD’s coaching pain will linger

We’ve returned home after a wonderful but brief return to the Texas Panhandle.

I am left with this lingering feeling about what I have witnessed regarding the stunning resignation of a high school volleyball coach: The Amarillo Independent School District’s athletic community is going to be in pain for perhaps beyond the foreseeable future.

Kori Clements quit after a single season as head coach of the Amarillo High girls volleyball team. It is a vaunted sports program. Clements is one of its star products, graduating from AHS in 2006. She played under a coaching legend, Jan Barker, and returned to succeed her mentor when Barker retired.

It didn’t go well, according to the letter that Clements submitted announcing her resignation. She said she is leaving because of pressure exerted by a parent of one of her athletes. The parent allegedly said her daughter deserved more playing time and Clements implied in her resignation letter that the parent made it impossible for her continue as coach. I heard some testimony this week about the parent allegedly calling on the coach unannounced at her home to, um, discuss this playing time matter.

What’s worse is the chatter about the parent, who apparently is a member of the AISD board of trustees. Her name is Renee McCown. Where I come from, the school system is witnessing a serious abuse of power by an elected official over a school district faculty member.

It is an unconscionable circumstance. The athletic community is hurting. Several AISD constituents displayed their pain earlier this week at a school board meeting. I listened to them express their angst — even anger and disgust — at the lack of support given to the coach who, if you heard the testimony from some of the athletes who played for her, is a beloved figure.

The pain won’t dissipate soon. It might have been exacerbated when the school board accepted Clements’ resignation with no comment. There was no public expression of support for her, or public expression of regret over the circumstance she said precipitated her resignation.

I feel sad at this moment for my former Texas Panhandle neighbors. I’ll keep watching this matter continue to evolve from some distance. I just know that the wounds are deep and painful.

media news

Time of My Life, Part 13: The sign is gone!

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AMARILLO, Texas — I wish I had taken a picture of this building Tuesday when I drove past it en route to a meeting with a friend.

For some reason, I didn’t think to snap it with my smarty-pants cell phone. This building is where I used to work for nearly 18 years. I had a blast here for most of that time.

The sign you see on the front of this iconic structure is gone. It’s been peeled off by the newspaper’s owners, GateHouse Media, which purchased the newspaper from Morris Communications in October 2017. GateHouse has vacated the building and relocated its gutted news/editorial and advertising staff to a bank tower a few blocks away.

I won’t talk about that.

I came to work at this building in January 1995. An opportunity presented itself with an opening that occurred on the editorial page staff. I interviewed with the publisher in late 1994. He called me a few days after the interview and offered me the job.

I arrived a few weeks later and thought I had died and gone to heaven. I inherited a fine staff of two editorial writers, an administrative assistant and a part-time editorial cartoonist.

We published two newspapers back then: the morning Amarillo Daily News and the afternoon Amarillo Globe-Times. I also inherited a legacy of journalistic excellence, as the Globe-Times was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service in 1961. The late legendary editor Tommy Thompson had uncovered corruption at county government and revealed it to the community. The Pulitzer board thought enough of that work to bestow print journalism’s highest honor.

We published separate editorials those days in each newspaper. We ran separate syndicated columns. Letters to the editor were submitted exclusively to either the morning or the afternoon papers.

We had a talented staff of writers and thinkers then. Our administrative assistant was a premier gatekeeper and a marvelous editor of the letters we received from readers. She had this inherent ability to make the correspondents’ words sing — without changing their intent. 

Those were the days. I got asked on my most recent visit to the Texas Panhandle if I “missed working” at the newspaper. My response was candid: I would miss it only if that work had remained as it was when I first got here. It didn’t.

Oh, but what a ride it was!