Monthly Archives: January 2020

national news

On second thought, Mr. Vice President …

I’ve already trashed the idea of Joe Biden considering — prematurely, I must stipulate — whether he would select a Republican to run with him on a 2020 presidential ticket to defeat Donald Trump.

It’s far too early. Biden appears to be pandering to GOP voters … you get my drift.

On reflection, though, I think it’s OK to play this out briefly.

Suppose Biden emerges as the prohibitive favorite to be the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee. Suppose, too, that he is serious about looking for a Republican to run with him. A name does pop into my head: former Ohio Gov. John Kasich. 

  • Kasich ran in 2016 against a large field of Republican presidential contenders. He was among the last of them to fold under the Trump juggernaut. Kasich emerged as my favorite GOP candidate.
  • The man’s got serious policy chops. He ran the House Budget Committee in the late 1990s. He worked with President Bill Clinton to balance the federal budget.
  • He also comes from Ohio, a state that becomes a battleground for Trump and Biden.
  • Kasich also has endorsed the idea of impeaching Trump, which the House has done; Trump is awaiting a trial in the Senate.

Those all are positives. But … and you know what comes next; it’s never a positive statement.

Kasich is a white male. So is Biden. The conventional wisdom has been all along that Democrats aren’t going to nominate a ticket with two white guys running against Trump and (presumably) Vice President Mike Pence. The 2020 Democratic ticket more than likely is going to include a white male along with a male or female “of color.”

I’m just offering some food for thought here. We’re still a long, long way from pondering the party affiliation of anyone being considered by whomever the Democrats nominate as their presidential candidate.

national news

Stop pandering to GOP, Mr. Former VP

Joe Biden now says he might consider asking a Republican to join him on a ticket to run against Donald J. Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

Hold the phone! C’mon! The presumed Democratic primary frontrunner need not go there, at least not yet.

First of all, he doesn’t have the nomination locked up. On the contrary, many of us out here who might be inclined to support the former vice president are still anguishing over his continual verbal missteps, gaffes and need for “clarification.”

Second of all, who among the nation’s leading Republicans would he consider at this moment? None of them is speaking up against Trump. They’re exhibiting supreme political cowardice by enabling the president to continue to embarrass the nation and the office he occupies. Trump takes their silence as a tacit endorsement of his conduct, which has gotten him impeached by the House for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Biden’s suggestion that he’d consider a GOP running mate came in response to a question in New Hampshire. It sounds to me like so much pandering to a potential Republican voting bloc that might be inclined to vote for a Democrat over a GOP president they consider to be an embarrassment.

Many of us are still waiting for a prominent Republican politician to offer a full-throated condemnation of Donald Trump. If one shows the guts to do such a thing, then we ought to talk about adding that individual to a Democratic ticket.

Sports news

Rose Bowl win is particularly gratifying

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The Oregon Ducks won the Rose Bowl tonight. It was a thriller against Wisconsin. The Pac 12 representative beat the Big 10 rep in a game decided by a single point.

I am an Oregon native who did not attend the University of Oregon, but who has rooted for the Ducks since the beginning of time.

There is one aspect of this victory I find particularly poignant. It involves the quarterback for the Ducks, a young man named Justin Herbert.

College football programs spend a lot of effort and money recruiting athletes from all over the country. Oregon is no different. Check out the roster and you see student-athletes from every state.

Herbert grew up in Eugene, where the university is located. He talked often about watching the Ducks play football at Autzen Stadium. His dream was to play for the Ducks.

I mention that because it carries a significant meaning for me that a homegrown young man would choose to stay home to play college football while, I should add, completing his studies and earning his degree. As I understand it, Justin Herbert is an academic all-American in addition to being a stellar athlete.

I am not trying to lionize this young man; he’s going to make a lot of money playing pro football. I only want to point out the joy I had tonight in watching a fellow native Oregonian lead his hometown team to an impressive college football victory over an excellent opponent.

As they say in Eugene … “go Ducks!”

local news

Learning more about recycling’s value

I have been working on a story for KETR.org, the website for KETR-FM’s public radio station at Texas A&M University-Commerce.

I will not scoop myself on the story I’ve just completed, but I do want to say I have learned a good bit about the value of recycling.

My wife and I live in Princeton, a Collin County community that has curbside recycling. The city signed a contract early in 2019 with Community Waste Disposal, which picks up trash each week and also collects recyclable material every other week.

My story for KETR.org will discuss the virtues of recycling in the communities that allow residents to take part. My wife and I have embraced the recycling idea fully, with both arms, with utmost enthusiasm.

We’ve lived in communities that allowed us to send recyclable materials, in Beaumont and in Oregon, to places where they are re-used with considerably less consumption of finite energy sources. We have known all along about the value that recycling brings, the way it helps preserve natural resources. Yes, it helps save the planet … the only planet we know of that is suitable for human habitation.

I am looking forward to seeing my next KETR.org story published. I hope it resonates with those who see it. The radio station reaches into many Northeast Texas communities that do not allow residents to take part in curbside recycling.

My hope is that my story will generate enough interest in those communities to spur them into joining the recycling club.

Recycling easily becomes a way of life. Trust me on that. It has for my wife and me.

legal news, local news, State news

Texas AG needs to go on trial

Is this the year that Texas’s indicted attorney general stands trial on charges of committing securities fraud? Finally? Will we get a resolution?

Republican Ken Paxton and his legal team are trying to get the case moved back to Collin County, which is Paxton’s home county; he represented North Texas in the Legislature before being elected as attorney general. Prosecutors are concerned that a Collin County jury won’t be impartial enough to render a reasonable verdict.

But wait! A Collin County grand jury was able to indict Paxton on felony charges. Thus, I don’t have a particular problem with the case coming back here.

At issue is an indictment that alleges Paxton didn’t disclose his connection with an investment firm. The indictment came down in 2015, the year after Paxton was elected attorney general. He has since won re-election to the AG’s office.

What boggles my mind is the number of delays that have occurred since the initial indictment … nearly five years ago! They have involved venue change requests, damage done by Hurricane Harvey (given that the case has moved to Houston).

Texas needs an attorney general who either is cleared of the allegations that are hanging over his head or one who would replace an AG who’s been convicted of a felony crime.

As the Beaumont Enterprise said in an editorial, enough already, with the incessant delays.

How about a trial this year?

national news

Chief justice delivers message worth heeding

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is a champion of an independent federal judiciary and seeks to instill a civics awareness in the nation he serves.

So it is that the chief justice has delivered in his annual state of the judiciary message a stern warning that needs to be taken to heart.

Roberts said the nation must be more aware of government, of civics and should beware of “fake news,” especially those who deliver it under the guise of “information.”

The chief justice is about to assume a most remarkably high profile post as the presiding judge in the impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump. On the eve of that historic event, he is seeking to deliver the nation from the dangers of false narratives, bogus news reporting and the “fake news” that the president himself is so adept at delivering.

As Politico reported: “In our age, when social media can instantly spread rumor and false information on a grand scale, the public’s need to understand our government and the protection it provides is ever more vital,” Roberts said in his annual New Year’s Eve message summing up the work of the federal judiciary.

Some critics have taken Roberts’ message as a direct criticism of Trump. Hmm. I won’t march precisely down that path. However, I do believe that the president has fed our social media fascination with much of the fiery rhetoric he spouts.

Trump has, for instance, insisted that the federal judiciary is politically biased when it doesn’t rule the way he prefers. Roberts did issue a stern rebuke of that notion a year ago when he declared: “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.” 

The chief justice is seeking to restore dignity to the discussion of the federal courts. I wish him well. If only the public that feeds at the trough of innuendo and insult will listen.

national news

Southern White House? Hold on a second, Mr. POTUS

Donald J. Trump has been getting beaten up on social media over his use of the term “Southern White House” to describe Mar-a-Lago, the glitzy resort he owns on the south Florida coast.

He made that reference during a Christmas phone conversation he was having with troops overseas. The Twitter network went nuts.

Why? Because Mar-a-Lago is a for-profit business associated with the resort to which it is attached and which the president still owns. Even though he turned day-to-day operations over to sons Don Jr. and Eric, Donald Trump hasn’t divested himself of his financial interest in Mar-a-Lago.

To be sure, other presidents have used their private residences as “getaway” White House quarters. President Kennedy had Hyannis Port, Mass.; President Johnson had his ranch in Stonewall, Texas; President Nixon had his place in San Clemente, Calif.; President Ford had a home in Palm Springs, Calif.; President Carter had his home in Plains, Ga.; President Reagan had his ranch near Santa Barbara, Calif.; President Bush 41 had his place at Kennebunkport, Maine; President Bush 43 had his ranch near Crawford, Texas.

Presidents Clinton and Obama didn’t have actual residences where they could go, so they would vacation wherever they felt like it.

All of the off-site “White House” residences I mentioned did not serve as business endeavors for the presidents. Therein lies the reason that Mar-a-Lago shouldn’t be referred to as the “Southern White House.”

None of that will stop Donald Trump from speaking carelessly. It’s what this guy does.

local news

Puppy Tales, Part 81: Hey, he’s got his foibles, too

I am obligated to report that despite what you might have inferred, Toby the Puppy does not leap tall buildings in a single bound, or is faster than a speeding bullet. He is not a version of Super Dog.

He has his foibles. One of them is fireworks. He hates ’em. They make him super jumpy. We saw evidence of it this past Fourth of July attending a fireworks show at Lake Bob Sandlin in East Texas. The rockets’ red glare — accompanied by plenty of noise — frightened our brave watchdog.

Overnight as the world welcomed in 2020, fireworks were going off all over our Collin County neighborhood. Toby the Puppy heard ’em. He didn’t like it one little bit.

We tried to turn in at our regular time, a little after 10 p.m. Our granddaughter, Emma, had conked out earlier. Was the puppy ready to snuggle with us at the normal time? Hah!

Even after the fireworks began to subside, he was having none of it. Up and down all night. He didn’t want to go outside to, um, take care of his business. Oh, no!

Dogs, of course, can hear things we mere humans cannot hear. So I’m guessing this morning he was hearing noises that were beyond our earshot.

I remain immensely proud of our Toby the Puppy. However, he has his limitations … just like the rest of us.

national news

Why not witnesses now, Mr. Leader?

(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Mitch McConnell’s duplicity, double-dealing, hypocrisy make me want to pull my out by its roots.

The Senate majority leader says the Senate that will put Donald Trump on trial for obstruction of Congress and abuse of power doesn’t need to hear witnesses. Democrats don’t need to call witnesses to testify before the body of 100 senators.

He wants the trial to come to a quick and predictable end. He wants the president to be acquitted of impeachment charges filed by the House of Representatives. No need to hear any more evidence, or hear from those who might have something new to add.

The double speak, duplicity and hypocrisy? In 1999, when the Senate put President Clinton on trial for obstruction of justice McConnell insisted on hearing from witnesses. Why, he was all over that one! The Senate needs to hear more evidence, said McConnell.

Hey, I don’t want a lengthy trial, either. However, the trial need not drag on too long if we can hear from a half-dozen or so key witnesses who have first-hand knowledge of Donald Trump asking Ukrainians for political help in exchange for military hardware.

It might not happen, if the majority leader has his newfound way.

Such hypocrisy.

local news

Longtime friend has earned this high honor

A woman with whom I worked for several years in the Texas Panhandle is about to get a whole lot of pats on the back and expressions of gratitude for the work she has done on behalf of her hometown.

Beth Duke, the executive director of Amarillo’s Center City, has earned all of it.

The Amarillo Globe-News has named Duke its Woman of the Year for 2019. It’s an annual honor the paper has bestowed on overachieving Panhandle women since the mid-1970s. The Man of the Year for 2019 is Paul Engler, the noted cattle mogul and philanthropist. I don’t know Engler well and I am not really qualified to say too much about his honor, other than offer a word of congratulations.

Duke, though, is another matter. I know her well. We were colleagues at the Globe-News. She retired from the paper some years back and went to work at Center City. It was the perfect fit for Duke and for Center City.

Duke was born in Amarillo. She went off to college at Baylor University, then returned to work for her hometown newspaper. If anyone has any more intimate knowledge of Amarillo than Beth Duke, then that person is the best-kept secret in the city’s long and storied history.

Duke brought that knowledge to her post at Center City. It is no coincidence that the city’s downtown revival has occurred during Duke’s time as Center City executive director. No one is a stronger advocate for Amarillo, for its downtown district than Beth Duke.

I am immensely proud of Duke for earning this honor. Her work to revive and rejuvenate the city’s downtown district is dear to my own heart. It is true that others also have played a huge role in the city’s downtown revival. I also am certain that Beth Duke is acutely aware of others’ contributions.

However, as the head of Center City, Beth Duke serves as the spokesman and a leading advocate for the region of the city that has sprung forth on its way toward a bright future.

Well chosen, Globe-News. Well-earned, Beth Duke.