It’s a bit mind-blowing to think that Gov. Rick Perry might not debate his opponent for the governor’s office, Bill White, during this campaign.

So … just how intense are feelings these days along the Gulf Coast?

Consider this sequence of events:

BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg, a native of Sweden, declared that he feels badly for the “small people” affected by the catastrophic oil spill. The reaction was immediate — and very angry.

My question is this: How come? Svanberg’s native language clearly isn’t English and he likely isn’t well-schooled in American idiom. He well could have meant to say “the little guy,” which in this country means something far different than “small people.”

Gulf Coast residents who are devastated by the spill’s effects all but called Svanberg out back to duke it out. One guy went on TV to declare that “small people kicked (the British) butts” during the War of 1812.

Oh my. Everyone understands the anguish. But let’s take a deep breath here.

The BP chairman’s statement clearly got lost in the translation, so to speak.

The late — and insanely rich socialite — Leona Helmsley, who once said that only “little people pay taxes,” knew better than to say something so crass. English, after all, was her first language.

I’m not so sure that Carl-Henric Svanberg is guilty of such arrogance.

We pay the president 400 grand a year, let him and his family live in a nice house for four — or maybe eight — years, give him access to the best possible public transportation and supply him with a staff that opens doors, answers his phone and serves him meals.

And it’s still not enough to compensate him for the job we ask him to do.

President Obama went on TV last night and, to my ears, said a whole lot of the right things, in the right tone and with the right inflection in his voice. But today he’s getting hammered by those in the opposing party.

The guy can’t buy a break.

He vowed to make BP pay for the cost of cleaning up the hideous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico; he has ordered the establishment of an escrow account, to be administered by a third party (BP agreed today to place $20 billion into the account); he has pledged to devote every asset at his command to fight the spill; he made a pitch for alternative energy research and development to wean us of our addiction to oil; he has sought the deployment of National Guard and reserve troops to aid in the cleanup; he has vowed to make the Gulf Coast whole; he has told families and business owners that he will be by their side “for as long as it takes” to repair the damage done by the oil spill; he invoked his faith in God to see us through this crisis and urged all Americans to rely on their own faith and to pray for those who fighting so hard to fix what is wrong.

But he’s getting hammered by those, such as Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, for “holding the Gulf hostage” to cap and trade legislation. The first words in Texas Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s response were “It is deeply frustrating that neither BP nor federal regulators had the plans in place to prevent and respond quickly to this tragedy.” Well, no kidding, senator. Weren’t you on duty as well as the president? Where is the shared responsibility here? We do have “co-equal branches of government,” correct?

I give the president credit for speaking out and for giving assurances to those who are suffering the most that he intends to throw the full weight of the government behind this effort.

Yes, this is a crisis of monumental proportions. It’s only the latest in a string of crises that the administration has dealt with since taking office.

A friend at church told me the other day that although he isn’t “much of a fan of Obama,” he’s “beginning to feel sorry for him.”

These are times, no doubt, when even the stoutest of men and women must wonder: Why did I ever seek this job in the first place?

I’m thinking President Obama is asking himself that very question.

I’m a bit bummed out today after learning that the University of Texas has decided against joining the Pac 10.

The Big 12 has been given new life. This morning it remains unclear what Texas Tech is going to do, although it now seems a good bet that Tech regents will vote to stay in the Big 12 along with Texas … and Oklahoma … and Oklahoma State. I don’t know yet what the Aggies will do. The Southeastern Conference courted Texas A&M quite vigorously, but was told that the Aggies are staying put.

Why am I bummed? Well, I’m a Pac 10 guy, having grown up in Oregon and watching the Ducks and Oregon State play football since I was a kid. I hate Southern Cal intensely, mostly because the Trojans beat up on the Ducks and Beavers with regularity for too many years. Now, though, the tide has turned and both Oregon teams have exacted a good bit of revenge.

I would have enjoyed seeing a super-duper Pac 10, with eastern and western divisions. The idea was to have the traditional Pac 10 schools comprise the western half, with Arizona and Arizona State joining the eastern division along with Colorado, UT, A&M, Tech, OU and Okla State.

But alas, it’s not to be. UT has played the system well, getting a huge boost in TV revenue, and permission to form its own TV sports network, something the Pac 10 apparently was unwilling to allow.

It’s not as though UT is hurting for money. The school routinely vies with A&M and Harvard as the most richly endowed school — in the world! But it’s clearly true that you cannot have too much money when there’s more out there.

Many fans of the Big 12 are happy at today’s news. This Pac 10 fan isn’t so cheery.

Oh well. What could have been …

Alvin Greene will not be elected to the U.S. Senate from South Carolina. Why? Because the political world has wised up to this guy. He is utterly, completely clueless about governing.

I had an awakening the other day.

It came in the form of a phone call from a local nut job, who called to gripe about “waste” in city government. He was yapping about perceived waste in several Amarillo municipal departments. I didn’t pay much attention to him because, well, I am aware of some “issues” that have plagued him over many years.

But then he said the following: If the city is so concerned about traffic safety that it installs red-light cameras at several intersections, why doesn’t it ban cell-phone use while driving?

That, dear friends, is when the awakening occurred. The light bulb flickered on as I realized that even nut jobs make sense every so often.

I told him I agree with the city’s view on red-light cams. I, too, think they improve motor vehicle safety. The caller disagreed with my view on that one.

But I also agree with his assessment that Amarillo City Hall ought to make up its mind on whether it’s going to intrude on motorists’ lives. It says it won’t enact an ordinance banning cell phone use while driving — unlike many other cities in the country, and even some in Texas. Yet it stands firm in its belief that red-light cameras should take pictures of cars running red lights at intersections, enabling the city to cite the registered owners of the car for a traffic violation.

The city is right on the cameras, and wrong on its reluctance to impose rules against cell phone use while driving.

Thanks for the pearl of wisdom, Mr. Caller.

http://www.amarillo.com/stories/061010/new_motorcycle.shtml

Helmets save lives. They reduce the rate of traumatic head injury. They can reduce the number of people disabled fully — and permanently. And yet the state of Texas doesn’t require all motorcyclists to wear them.

Astounding.

Texas used to have such a law. Then the Legislature repealed it some years back, knuckling under the ethos that Texans are so independent that we don’t need the state to dictate how to protect ourselves … from ourselves.

I remember one guy who scolded me for pitching a fit over the Legislature’s repeal of the helmet law. I was living in Jefferson County at the time. This guy lived in neighboring Orange County. His argument was he had the right as an American and a Texan to “feel the wind in my hair” while riding his motorcycle. Those darn helmets restricted that feeling of freedom, he said. He also argued that helmets actually posed a greater danger than riding without them. Why? They restricted his field of vision and his neck-and-shoulder mobility.

I don’t know whatever happened to that fellow. I trust he’s still with us, riding his motorcycle without a helmet.

But the link to the story at the top of this post noted that an 18-year-old Amarillo man, Aaron Carter, is alive today precisely because of the helmet he was wearing. “It had to be the full-face helmet,” said Amarillo Police Sgt. Steve Davis in marveling how the young man survived the crash.

State law does require minors to wear them. Motorcyclists without helmets must have accident insurance.

For my money, that’s not enough protection.

The picture you see here is of the future mayor of Portland, Ore., my hometown.

Watching local politics in the Panhandle has left me with this nagging feeling: Voters here don’t seem to like politicking that even approaches negativity.

It’s gotten so nice that there seems little separation among candidates. There is a bit of a reluctance, it seems, for candidates to spell out differences — which by definition cast the other guy in a less than positive light.

The recent campaign for Randall County Precinct 2 commissioner offers a bit of a case study.

The winner of the April Republican runoff, Mark Benton, took office today. County Judge Ernie Houdashell appointed him to fill the vacancy created by former Commissioner Gene Parker’s retirement. Benton had won the runoff over Doug Hershey, who actually had finished first in the March 2 primary; but since Hershey didn’t reach the 50-percent-plus-one-vote margin needed for outright victory, the top two candidates had to go one more round in the runoff.

During the campaign, Hershey sought to cast himself as the candidate who would vote on all issues before the commission, unlike Benton. Why the contrast? Benton works for Western Builders, a general contractor company that often bids on local government construction projects. Benton pledged to have no input in discussions involving his company, or vote on any matter involving Western Builders. Hershey sought to make something of that pledge, declaring he would be able to vote on all matters, given that he didn’t face any potential conflict of interest.

Benton won the runoff handily.

I don’t know if Hershey’s campaign tactic played a role in his losing the runoff. All I do know is that I’ve witnessed voters reject any hint of negativity on occasion. Anette Carlisle tried to go negative in her legislative race in 2006 against state Rep. David Swinford; she fell short. So did Jesse Quackenbush in his earlier challenge against Swinford. An upstart challenger to Congressman Bill Sarpalius, however, did succeed — in 1994 — with his negative attacks against the incumbent’s voting record; Mac Thornberry has been serving in the U.S. House ever since.

Can it be that we’re just too nice around here?

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of a new air carrier coming back to Amarillo.

Delta Airlines, which used to fly from AMA to Dallas-Fort Worth airport, is about to start service between the Panhandle and Memphis (the one in Tennessee). The airline will commence with three flights daily between here and there, connecting travelers to points in the Midwest and the East. Delta also has non-stop service from Memphis to Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Why is this so important? Well, it stamps Amarillo as a place with still-tremendous growth potential. The airport reconstruction project is well underway. City Hall, which runs the airport, hopes to open a shiny new terminal in the summer of 2011 before knocking down the old one — which, to my eyes, doesn’t look all that bad.

Amarillo’s air service compares quite favorably with Lubbock, the other West Texas commercial/cultural/financial center. Delta’s return cements our city’s standing as a good place to do business.

I’ve always told folks that we’re just one stop away from any destination in the world. Delta’s return now gives Amarillo another one-stop getaway to Western Europe.

I’m betting we’re going to hear more good air travel news in the months ahead. Given all the grumbling about air travel these days, that should be welcome news indeed.