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Texas ballot just got hilarious

Texans will have no shortage of entertainment next year as the midterm election gets into full swing.

The latest bit of entertainment news to hit the Lone Star State is the pending announcement that Kinky Friedman will run next as a Democrat for state agriculture commissioner.

http://www.texastribune.org/2013/10/12/kinky-friedman-ag-commissioner-democrat/

Is he a successful farmer and rancher? No. Does he have extensive agriculture business experience? Um, no. Does he sell livestock at auctions? Again, nope.

Friedman is a humorist, author, sometimes politician and philosopher. He’s run for Texas governor, as an independent and once sought the agriculture commissioner’s office as a Democrat just four years ago.

I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing him, back in 2006 when he ran for governor. He was so entertaining and engaging and, frankly, forthright with most of his answers that my boss suggested he might actually consider recommending him for the governor’s office. Kinky didn’t get our newspaper’s endorsement.

He says he’s running this time as a Democrat because of state Sen. Wendy Davis’s gubernatorial campaign. Friedman thinks Davis is going to breathe excitement in the party this coming election year and he wants to be a part of it.

It remains to be seen, of course, whether he’ll be able to articulate a serious and sensible agriculture policy for the state.

I will bet real money, however, that Kinky Friedman’s campaign promises will not be carbon copies of what we’ve heard from Todd Staples, Susan Combs or Rick Perry. I’m thinking he’ll sound more like the last true-blue character we’ve elected as agriculture commissioner, Jim Hightower.

Bring it, Kinky.

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Another travel challenge looms

This is another in an occasional series of blog posts commenting on impending retirement.

My wife and I seem to thrive on travel challenges. We’ve cleared two of them so far with our new fifth wheel: our break-in trip across town to a fully equipped RV park and then a three-night stand at another RV park in Albuquerque, N.M.

Now comes another test, which is even more challenging yet.

We’re taking our RV to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It’s farther than Albuquerque — by about 110 miles.

What’s more, it involves negotiating more treacherous traffic conditions. We’ve only mapped out our route vaguely at this point, but we figure it’s going to take us down the Central Expressway, aka U.S. Highway 75. We’ll need to figure out a way to plan it so we arrive when there’s relatively little traffic.

I think we can do that.

We’re going to scout out an RV park. We’ll be able to do all the things we’ve done already on our first two outings. In fact, we’re getting pretty good at setting up and taking down our site.

We high-five each other pretty regularly when we’re able, for instance, to hitch our beastly 3/4-ton pickup to the fifth wheel. The plumbing? No sweat. Getting our RV level? Piece of cake.

It’s the traffic that might give us a bit of heartburn. Yes, we negotiated the Interstate 40/25 interchange in Albuquerque — aka the Big I — with little trouble. The Central Expressway, not to mention Interstate 35E, are another matter.

But …

Here’s the really good news.

Awaiting us at the other end of this next journey will be our little angel, Emma Nicole, who just turned 7 months old, and of course her family — Dad (our son), Mom and her two big brothers.

Ain’t life grand?

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Debt deal delays another crisis

As much as I hate the cliché “kick the can down the road,” I am beginning to hear the tinny sound of that can as it’s being given the boot.

President Obama and congressional Republicans may be on the verge of ending the current debt ceiling crisis with a six-week deal that buys them time to, what?, negotiate further on these fiscal matters.

I’m not yet sure what’s going to emerge from all this talking that’s occurring in D.C., but I fear that it’s going to merely delay the onset of the next fiscal crisis.

It’ll occur in about, oh, six weeks when the debt ceiling limit arrives yet again.

These yahoos know what’s at stake. They understand the consequences of failing to meet our nation’s financial obligations. Why are they even negotiating over this?

Congress’s approval rating is less than 10 percent; an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll puts it at 5 percent. Barack Obama’s poll numbers are much better, but they aren’t great; the Associated Press puts him at 37 percent.

There can be no doubt, none at all, about why our “leaders'” standing is in the tank.

It’s that damn can they keep kicking down the road.

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Immigration becoming signature Texas issue?

I am beginning to sense a centerpiece issue emerging in the race for Texas lieutenant governor.

The issue is immigration and it may reveal which of the four major Republican candidates for the state’s No. 2 elected office will become the most effective demagogue on it.

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/texas-politics/2013/10/todd-staples-next-immigration-headache/

Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples is one of the Big Four. He served in the state Senate, representing an East Texas district. He has become entangled in a vote he reportedly cast in 2001 to allow immigrants to use foreign passports and birth certificates as valid identification to obtain a Texas driver’s license.

Staples says he doesn’t remember casting such a vote. Really, commissioner? If you did, then it’s on the record in some form.

He now says such allowances are a “grave mistake” and he opposes them.

The other three GOP big dogs — state Sen. Dan Patrick, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst — also are running as quickly as they can from another issue: allowing those who came into Texas as children of those who entered the state illegally in-state tuition rates to attend public colleges and universities.

Patrick ripped that can of worms wide open when he said he is the “only candidate” to oppose such a thing. The other three pounced on him for that declaration; Patterson called him a “liar.” Dewhurst said he’s never supported in-state tuition for undocumented residents.

I happen to think these men are acting like disgusting demagogues on this issue. I believe granting such a waiver is humane and compassionate. So does Gov. Rick Perry, whose support for the waiver got him in trouble as he campaigned briefly for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.

Immigration reform well might determine just how strong the tea party influence is within the Texas Republican Party. Dewhurst learned the hard way when he ran for the U.S. Senate in 2012 when he got “Cruzed” by the guy who beat him in the primary, Sen. Ted Cruz. Dewhurst, who I once thought was a serious and studious politician, is now turning hard right on immigration to avoid getting outflanked yet again.

Perhaps another signature issue will emerge. For now, I’m thinking it’s going to be immigration.

It’s going to get ugly.

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Didn’t see the murder right in front of them?

This story renders me speechless.

A man was killed this past month aboard a San Francisco commuter train in front of several bystanders. They weren’t “witnesses” because they didn’t actually see the crime being committed, in some cases just a couple of feet in front of them.

Why is that? They all were consumed by their texting devices to the point that they didn’t see the killer pull out a gun, wave it around and shoot the victim in the back.

http://us.cnn.com/2013/10/10/tech/san-francisco-shooter-phone/?iref=obinsite

San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon told CNN.com, “We’re seeing people that are so disconnected to their surroundings. This is not unique. People are being robbed, people are being hurt, people are being run over by cars because they’re so disconnected because of these phones.”

Justin Valdez is dead. A suspect has been arrested and has pleaded not guilty.

Another key element of this story, though, is the distraction element. It kind of gets to a point I made in an earlier blog post about how telecommunications technology has changed society — and not for the better — by eliminating person-to-person contact in public places.

According to police, several passengers on the train were within a foot or two of the man with the gun. They didn’t see him or the weapon, which he reportedly brandished for several moments before pulling the trigger.

CNN reported further: “‘Just for our own safety, wouldn’t you want to know if somebody standing next to you is pulling a gun out? I think I would,’ Gascon said.

“The security footage of the incident is chilling. The man, donning a baseball hat and smile, lifts a .45-caliber handgun in plain view, three or four times. He waves the weapon as if choosing who he wants to kill. At one point, he even wipes his nose with the gun. But nobody seemed to notice until the blast goes off.”

I am trying to fathom this story as I write these words. This one is going to take some time to process fully. All that’s left to say right now is that this form of 21st-century technology became the death of one young man.

It sickens me.

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A certain irony in this Peace Prize

Congratulations certainly are due the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the winner of the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.

OPCW won the award for its work in trying to rid Syria of the huge stockpile of chemicals, some of which it used Aug. 21 on its citizens.

The world should applaud the Nobel committee — although I personally was pulling for Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who was shot by Taliban terrorists simply because she was attending school; Malala has taken her cause worldwide in promoting education and persuading the civilized world of the evil being perpetrated by the Taliban against women and girls.

But back to the OPCW.

There’s a certain irony in this organization getting the Nobel Peace Prize.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/11/world/europe/nobel-opcw-dangers/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2

The Nobel Prize is named after Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor. What do you suppose is his most famous invention? Nitroglycerin, which he combined with other chemicals to make an explosive more powerful than dynamite.

Nobel in effect is one of the fathers of weapons of mass destruction. Now the Peace Prize that carries his name is going to an organization dedicated to the eradication of a particularly heinous brand of WMD.

Of course, Nobel’s personal history matters not one bit and takes nothing at all from the honor that has gone to OPCW.

May the group take the $1.2 million it will receive and put it to good work to finish the job it has started.

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Paychecks still roll in for lawmakers

I am holding out hope that the government shutdown is close to being ended and that the bickering parties will strike a deal to raise the nation’s debt limit.

Before all that happens, I want to vent one more time against those lawmakers — and even the president and vice president — who continue to draw their pay while taking measures that send other federal employees home without pay.

Some of our members of Congress have done the right thing. U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., for example has donated his salary to food distribution organizations in his home state. He declared that Americans shouldn’t go hungry while a portion of their government has been shuttered.

There have been others of both parties and I salute them all for doing what I believe is the noble thing.

My own congressman, Republican Mac Thornberry of Clarendon? He’s still getting paid. Hmmm. I am guessing a man of his means isn’t exactly living off his $174,000 annual salary.

I am acutely aware that House members, senators and executive branch leaders surrendering their salaries for a brief period of time won’t balance the budget, it won’t bring us closer to good fiscal health and it won’t settle this dispute between the parties.

However, I’ve long respected those who lead by example. We elect these people to lead, to make tough decisions on our behalf and to demonstrate that they are men and women of their word.

One way to demonstrate their commitment is to share in the pain their decisions are having on others.

Giving up a few weeks’ pay is one of those ways.

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This guy embodies civic-mindedness

Mount Pleasant, S.C., resident Chris Cox is the living, breathing symbol of selfless service to others.

The government shutdown has resulted in the furloughing of “non-essential” government employees, such as the maintenance crews that keep our national treasures dolled up for us tourists.

Enter Chris Cox.

Chris Cox, Superstar

He’s been mowing the lawn in front of the Lincoln Memorial for the past several days while our so-called “leaders” are arguing over whether to reopen the government and extend the debt ceiling to enable the nation to keep paying its bills.

Failure to do either of these things will create significant havoc in people’s lives. Economists say defaulting on our national debt obligations could be near-cataclysmic.

To be sure, Cox isn’t your run-of-the-mill do-gooder. He’s a bit rough around the edges. He reportedly has a colorful past. He might not be able to keep cutting the grass while the feds keep much of the government on the shelf.

You have to admire someone who wants to this kind of a statement. Many of the rest of us just sit around and gripe about Congress, the president and others at or near the top of the federal government chain of command.

This fellow took matters into his own hands.

There’s just something uplifting about this story.

Get yourself cleaned up, Mr. Cox, and run for public office.

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Godspeed, Scott Carpenter

And then there was one.

Of the seven men chosen initially to explore space on behalf of the United States, only John Glenn remains with us. Scott Carpenter, the second American astronaut to orbit Earth, died today at age 88.

Now only Glenn is left. The former U.S. senator from Ohio, in 1998, became the oldest man to fly in space when he took part in a mission aboard the shuttle Discovery.

Carpenter had just one flight into space. It was on May 24, 1962 aboard Aurora 7, the tiny Mercury capsule that made three orbits around the planet. Carpenter’s capsule splashed down off the Puerto Rico coast, but missed the mark by a couple hundred miles. The world waited as Navy ships searched the ocean before finding Carpenter safe and sound after his harrowing mission.

Those were the days, of course, before we took space flight for granted. That was before it all became “routine,” as if soaring off a launch pad atop a flaming rocket, accelerating to 17,000 mph ever was like walking your dog through the neighborhood.

My mother and I would get up early in those days to await those launches. We’d wait literally for hours on end in some cases. In the case of Glenn’s flight, we waited several days as one glitch after another resulted in the flight being “scrubbed” for the day.

Carpenter, and the six men chosen with him, embodied the can-do spirit of the time. We were involved in a space race with the Soviet Union, which had launched the first satellite in 1957 and put the first man into space in 1961. We were still playing catch-up when Carpenter took off. But we got to the moon first and, well, the rest is history.

Speaking of “can-do spirit,” recall that Donald “Deke” Slayton was one of the Mercury Seven, but he was grounded because of a heart murmur. He remained on active flight status until 1975 when he finally got the “go” sign from NASA and he took part in the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission that hooked up with the Soviet spaceship 200 or so miles above the earth’s surface.

Scott Carpenter and his fellow space travelers helped bring a generation of young Americans — such as me — along for a glorious ride into the unknown.

John Glenn is the last of that illustrious corps of explorers.

Just as Carpenter famously said “Godspeed, John Glenn” as his colleague took off in February 1962, let us now wish Godspeed to Scott Carpenter on his own final journey.

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Worse than ‘dog poop’? Really, Rep. Grayson?

So … just how frustrated are members of Congress getting these days?

U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., took the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday and said congressional Republicans’ standing in the polls ranks them below “dog poop and toenail fungus.”

Oh, please.

An Arizona state legislator recently compared President Barack Obama directly to Adolf Hitler, which ought to qualify as the supreme insult to civilized human beings everywhere. She has refused to take back her nasty reference.

Grayson’s outburst on the House floor isn’t new for the Florida blowhard. He served a single term in the House before losing his seat in 2010. He was elected once more in 2012 and has picked up where he left off, blustering with hyperbolic references to his political foes.

Grayson fits into that category of national politician who is in love with the sound of his voice and just cannot get to a TV camera quickly enough.

The government shutdown is dragging on. Polling data suggest Congress’s public standing indeed has reached record-low levels. While Grayson and other gasbags are making headlines with idiotic references to their political foes, there appears to be some movement to ending this shutdown and lifting the federal budget debt ceiling — which is the really big deal in all of this bluster.

These times require serious men and women to speak seriously to us about how they intend to govern. Alan Grayson does not fit that category of public official.

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