Monthly Archives: February 2018

local news

Happy Trails, Part 72

I have enjoyed sharing this retirement journey I have embarked on with my wife and our 3-year-old puppy, Toby.

However, I get this feeling I need to clear the air on something. I have encountered about a half-dozen friends and acquaintances during the past week or so who have said the same thing: Hey, I thought you moved.

Whoa, kids! Not so fast. Don’t give me the bum’s rush.

Why do they think such a thing? Two or three of these folks have said they “read your blog.” Again, whoa, man!

I have tried to be clear about a couple of points. One of them is that my wife and I intend to move to North Texas. The other of them is that we haven’t actually done so just yet.

We have “moved” into our recreational vehicle. We have vacated the southwest Amarillo house we occupied for 21 years. It is empty of furniture. It does have a fresh coat of paint on the interior walls. It is on the market. We have a real estate company trying like the dickens to sell it for us.

But the cool part of this retirement gig is that we aren’t impatient about moving. Anxious? Yes. We have a huge reservoir of patience that is serving us well as we await to receive an offer on our house that we can accept.

We’re enjoying our new life. It does present some challenges for us. Our house, while it isn’t huge, is spacious. We did enjoy being able to spread ourselves out. We don’t have that luxury now in our 28-foot fifth wheel.

But … it is comfortable enough.

I keep telling those I see as I make my way around Amarillo this simple line: We’re a lot closer to moving than we were a week ago … but we don’t yet have a date.

In the meantime, we are waiting to see where this retirement journey is going to take us — precisely. We’ll know in due course.

local news, political news

‘I am not a politician’: Sure thing, pal

I always snicker under my breath, sometimes out loud, when I hear politicians say, “I am not a politician.”

A Texas Panhandle candidate for the Texas Legislature has made such a declaration. He is Richard Beyea, a Republican running for the Texas House District 88 seat now held by fellow Republican Ken King of Canadian.

Why the snicker?

Here’s the thing. Every dictionary definition of the word “politician” I have seen defines the word as someone who seeks political office or is “active” in politics. Thus, Beyea — who I do not know — becomes what he says he isn’t. He’s a politician.

His website touts his business experience and how he has been a conservative “my entire life.”

Let me offer this bit of perspective: John Smithee is a lawyer who also serves in the Texas House; so is Rep. Four Price; Kel Seliger ran a steel company before he ran for the Texas Senate. Pete Laney was a cotton farmer before he ran for the Texas House.

Donald Trump was a hotel magnate before he ran for president; Barack Obama was a law professor before he ran for his first political office; George W. Bush was a big-league baseball team owner before he ran for Texas governor.

On and on it goes. Damn near every single politician who entered politics for the first time can make precisely the claim that Richard Beyea is making.

Maybe this so-called “non-politician” ought to re-calibrate his message. He’s a politician now, by golly.

national news

Is the FBI about to lose another leader?

Christopher Wray is at odds with the man who nominated him to become head of the FBI.

He doesn’t want the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to release a Republican memo that calls the FBI’s conduct into question.

Trump appears ready to disregard the plea of the FBI director. The result might be that Wray quits. He might walk away. He might just then be available to tell the world precisely why he doesn’t want the GOP-authored memo to become public.

Trump already has disparaged the FBI’s performance. He has canned one FBI director already. He fired James Comey because of “this Russia thing,” which then produced the hiring of Robert Mueller as special counsel to look into Trump’s alleged connections to Russian hackers who meddled in our 2016 election.

Wray is now caught in the middle of a political tempest. His agency’s credibility has been questioned by this memo that critics contend is incomplete and that it “cherry picks” circumstances aimed at questioning the conduct of FBI agents active in the early investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russian hackers.

Christopher Wray’s possible resignation could be so very instructive in the continuing chaos that surrounds the Trump administration.

Some of us out here beyond the D.C. Beltway are questioning how the president can continue to engender confidence among the men and women who work within the FBI if he causes the departure of two directors in less than a single year.

The drama builds.

local news

The world shared Amarillo’s grief

When tragedy strikes communities, the world often rallies to those communities’ sides.

It happened 15 years ago to Amarillo, Texas. We awoke one Saturday morning to some horrifying news high above us.

The space shuttle Columbia had disintegrated as it entered the atmosphere en route to a landing in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The commander of that seven-member crew happened to be a young Amarillo native, Air Force Col. Rick D. Husband, who died along with his six crew mates.

It had been a flawless mission. Sixteen days in Earth orbit and Husband and his crew were supposed to come home to a heroes’ welcome.

I received a phone call that morning from a colleague. “Did you hear what happened to the shuttle?” he asked. He told me about the Columbia’s destruction on re-entry. I hurried down to the Amarillo Globe-News office, tore up the next morning’s editorial page and wrote a “hot” editorial for the next day’s edition.

The editorial took note of Husband’s favorite passage from Scripture, Proverbs 3: 5-6, which instructs us to put our full “trust in the Lord.”

Amarillo and the rest of the Panhandle sank into a special sort of grief. One of our own had given his life in pursuit of space exploration. In truth, Rick Husband really never left Amarillo. Yes, he went away to college and a career as a test pilot in the Air Force. He joined the astronaut corps in the 1990s and flew aboard an earlier shuttle mission before getting his Columbia command.

Husband always found time to come home. He was a frequent visitor to his hometown. His mother still lived here while he was pursuing his dream of space flight.

I actually got to meet him twice at First Presbyterian Church, where his wife, Evelyn, attended as a girl. During our second meeting, I embarrassed myself by telling Husband I’d give anything to be able to fly with him into space. He gave me a bemused look, as if to say, “Sure thing, buddy.”

But our hearts broke that day as the news gripped us, just as it gripped the rest of the world. Prayers poured in from around the globe to the communities of all the astronauts who lost their lives on that horrible day.

Amarillo no doubt felt the world’s love as we grieved over our terrible loss.

The memory of getting that horrifying news saddens me to this day.

business news, entertainment news, local news, Sports news

MPEV ground broken; city bolts toward brighter future

A crowd of about 200 or 300 folks came today to a vacant lot across from Amarillo City Hall. There was some back-slapping, congratulatory wishes and plenty of smiles to be seen.

And for a very good reason.

They broke ground today on a $45 million entertainment venue — aka The Ballpark — that is likely to help lead downtown Amarillo toward a future that few of us thought was possible.

I do believe the future is a bright one.

The multipurpose event venue has been called a “catalyst” that would spark downtown Amarillo’s revival and rebirth. They lit that catalyst this afternoon. May the spark now light an economic fire.

City officials welcomed executives from the Elmore Group, owners of the new AA minor-league baseball team that will play ball at the MPEV when it’s done, no later than April 2019. Elmore execs declared their intention to make Amarillo the nation’s top minor-league baseball city.

Given the hope and optimism I witnessed today under a bright winter sun, I have a hunch many of those in attendance today believe that high-minded goal is well within reach. I hope it comes true.

I am acutely aware that a big crowd at a ceremonial groundbreaking doesn’t guarantee success. Construction has to proceed quickly. It should be done at or under budget.

The MPEV will need to open with lots of people sitting in its seats to watch the baseball team that is moving here from San Antonio. Many high-profile supporters of the MPEV — and I can cite retired Amarillo College President Paul Matney as one of them — have contended that Amarillo is a “good baseball town.” We will determine the legitimacy of that claim in due course.

The catalyst also is slated to bring more business into the downtown district. It will help fill a shiny new hotel and a parking garage across the street from the Civic Center. It also might become a good promotional tool for the city to lure more convention business, which will bring presumably deep-pocketed visitors to Amarillo.

That’s all in the immediate future for a city that has embarked on a serious makeover of its central business district.

Today, they broke ground on the next big step on the city’s journey toward a brighter future.

Now … let’s get busy.

national news

Yet another, um, ‘exaggeration’ from Trump

Is it an exaggeration or is it an outright lie?

Donald John Trump has declared, apparently without any proof, that his State of the Union speech was watched by the largest TV audience in the history of the broadcast medium.

The president’s declaration has been challenged, of course, by those who reminded him that other recent presidents spoke to larger audiences than he did. Some have reminded the president than an earlier speech he delivered, in 2017, to a joint congressional sessions was larger than the audience he drew for this week’s State of the Union.

It’s shades of the argument over the size of the Trump inaugural crowd all over again.

I guess we can expect this kind of foolishness from the president. The issue boils down to whether we believe it is (a) a mere exaggeration, (b) a misspoken statement or (c) an outright lie.

I am inclined to believe the third option. Why? Because the president knows — or he should know — the truth, but refuses deliberately to speak it.

Uncategorized

Church-state argument will never end … never!

When will we ever stop debating the issue of teaching religiously based doctrine in our public classrooms?

I know the answer to that one. Never! It’s going to go on for as long as human beings interact with each other.

I wrote a blog item four years ago, about the time the statewide election campaign was ramping up. Here’s what it said:

https://highplainsblogger.com/2014/02/church-and-state-do-need-separation/

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is seeking re-election this year. He’s already demonstrated his desire to discriminate against transgendered people by insisting on a “Bathroom Bill” that requires people to use public restrooms that comport with the gender assigned to them on their birth certificate. He says “big-city liberals” favor “open borders” that allow criminals to flood into the state and the nation.

Four years ago he pitched the notion of requiring public school teachers to instruct their students on the biblical theory of “creationism.” I might be willing to bet real American money that he brings it up again this year.

I feel the need to stipulate once again that although the U.S. Constitution does not contain the words “church and state separation,” it is clearly implied in the First Amendment. The Amarillo Globe-News editorial page continues to insist that the absence of such a reference makes it OK to teach religious doctrine in public schools.

Read my lips: The founding fathers created a secular government. The First Amendment is as crystal clear as it can be: Congress shall make no law establishing a state religion. Right there is your church-state separation clause.

We are one month into a new election year. The discussion no doubt will rage once again about creationism and whether it belongs in a public school classroom.

It does not!

Sports news, State news

Sexual abuse story now heads for Texas

Larry Nassar, the serial sexual assailant, has settled into his new “home,” which happens to be a Michigan prison, where he will spend the rest of his miserable life.

The story of this monster is still unfolding, in Texas.

Nassar — a former physician — was sentenced to 175 years in prison after he was convicted of sexual assault of young women and girls while they were under his medical care at Michigan State University. His victims were young gymnasts, some of whom were Olympic champions.

The Texas connection? Several of the women contend that they were abused while they trained under the eyes of Bela and Martha Karolyi at their famed “ranch” near Houston.

Gov. Greg Abbott has deployed the Texas Rangers — the elite investigative arm of the Department of Public Safety — to look into the allegations of abuse that have been leveled against the Karolyis.

The Texas Tribune reports: “The public statements made by athletes who previously trained at the Karolyi Ranch are gut-wrenching,” Abbott said in a statement Tuesday. “Those athletes, as well as all Texans, deserve to know that no stone is left unturned to ensure that the allegations are thoroughly vetted and the perpetrators and enablers of any such misconduct are brought to justice. The people of Texas demand, and the victims deserve, nothing less.”

Indeed.

I have supreme confidence that the Texas Rangers will get to the truth, whatever it is and whomever it involves.

Nassar’s conviction and sentence already have brought down members of the U.S. gymnastics association, as well as the Michigan State president and athletic director.

I am not going to bet against the Rangers finding more culprits lurking right here, in Texas.

national news, political news

FBI set to clash with POTUS over memo

This is a new one.

The director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, is now clashing openly with the man who nominated him, the president of the United States.

At issue is the release of a Republican-authored memorandum that alleges FBI misdeeds relating to a dossier that suggests improper relations between Donald J. Trump and the Russian government.

GOP House committee members want the memo released, suggesting it contains “evidence” of a “secret society” within the FBI. Wray disputes the idea. He is standing foursquare in defense of the agency he has led for just a few months. He’s also taking on the president himself, urging him against releasing the memo.

Trump has let it be known he is inclined to release the memo, which could undermine the FBI with critics of the document say doesn’t tell anywhere near the whole story of what the FBI knew and when it knew it. White House chief of staff John Kelly has said the memo will be made public “pretty quick.”

We might be witnessing something virtually unprecedented. Trump might fire the second FBI director in less than a year, unless Wray quits beforehand. And standing with Wray is the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, who appointed special counsel Robert Mueller — another former FBI director — as special counsel to examine the “Russia thing.”

From my vantage point, I believe we are witnessing a big-time train wreck that is going to produce more than its share of collateral damage.

One of the casualties — if Trump releases the memo to the public — might be Rosenstein. Wray might hit the road. Oh, and what about Mueller, the man who was universally praised when Rosenstein selected him to lead the Russia investigation after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself?

I keep circling back to the president’s assertion that there’s no evidence of “collusion” between his campaign and the Russians who hacked into our electoral system in 2016.

If that is the case, then let Mueller’s investigation proceed. If there’s nothing there, then let the special counsel make that determination. The more protests that come from Republicans — and from the president — the more I am inclined to suspect there’s a fire burning under all that smoke.

As for Wray, he told senators he would be unafraid to challenge the president if the need arose.

The need has arisen.

media news

Off like a rocket in new year

I read once that bloggers usually don’t go wrong if they blog about their, uh, blogs.

That’s what I am about to do.

The first month of the new year is about to go into the books and I am happy — and proud — to say that I am on pace for a record year for page views and unique visitors.

High Plains Blogger set the record in 2017 for both categories. The new year is off to a rip-roarin’ start.

I am grateful beyond measure for that.

How do I plan to keep the momentum moving forward? I’ll do more of the same thing I did in 2017.

I’ll acknowledge the obvious. I had help from the man who took office as president of the United States one year and 11 days ago. Donald John Trump Sr. has kept me in the chips with grist about which I could comment.

So, with that I extend a word of thanks to the president. Thank you, Mr. President, for the service you’ve provided to High Plains Blogger.

There have been other factors, too. Amarillo business and civic leaders have helped move this city forward. I’ve enjoyed following the events relating to downtown revival and have been an avid supporter of the efforts to breathe new life into what had been a moribund city center.

So, we’ll proceed apace with commentary on politics, policy and life experience. Let’s keep enjoying the ride together.