Monthly Archives: December 2023

local news

Merry Christmas … whoever you are

Occasionally, you meet someone on a very casual basis and you recall them, even if it isn’t necessarily with fondness.

So it was for me today as I ventured into our local Wal-Mart store in Princeton, Texas.

I burrowed through the crowd to pick up a couple of items I would need to take tomorrow morning to see my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter. All the manned checkout stations had lengthy lines of customers; and all the stations had staffers working them.

So … I lined up at the end of the long line waiting to check my own groceries. I had only about four items. Hey, no sweat. The guy in front of me was bitching up a storm about the length of the line.

“It’s weird to take 15 minutes to find your stuff and then take two hours just to check out,” he grumbled. “I should have gone over to Farmersville, to Brookshire’s,” he said. I told him all the manned check-out stands here were up and running. He didn’t believe me. I also reminded him that Brookshire’s likely was a madhouse, too.

Good-humor guy that I am, I kept laughing, partly to keep my own frustrations subdued, but also at this dude’s constant carping. I tried to remind him that if he had done this shopping a day or two earlier he wouldn’t have faced this madness. He was too busy griping to hear what I said.

The lengthy line was moving rapidly toward the front. He yammered and blathered every step of the way.

Then … presto! Before he and I could catch our breath, he proceeded to an empty self check-out machine. Then he was gone.The time it took for him to leave the store from the time I sidled in behind him? Oh … maybe 10 minutes.

The time in line flew by mainly because I was so enthralled by this guy’s frustration, I paid no attention to the massive crowd inside the store.

Then I was gone, heading for my house around the corner and down the street.

So, to this Grinchy-like dude, I want to offer him — wherever he is — a Merry Christmas.

And to you as well.

local news, State news

Politics of revenge: unbecoming and ugly

Two of Texas’s top politicians are seeking to exact revenge against members of their own political party and frankly, it is unbecoming of both of them to seek to get back at their fellow Republicans.

Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton have launched their revenge strategies seeking to defeat pols who voted against school vouchers and voted in favor of an impeachment initiative.

Abbott wants so badly to rob the public education till to benefit private schools that he’s targeting GOP lawmakers in the House who opposed the notion; most of the Republicans opposing the notion represent rural school districts where public schools are the centerpiece, the lifeblood of their communities

Paxton avoided being kicked out of office after the House impeached him on allegations that he’s a vengeful crook who did sweet deals to benefit a leading political ally. The Senate tossed the articles of impeachment aside.

These two MAGA Republicans are singing off the hymnal offered by Donald Trump, who has vowed to be “your retribution” in 2024.

It’s disgusting, man.

Abbott’s striking is more repugnant to me, given that he is attacking lawmakers who are listening to their constituents and following their wishes rather than heeding the demands of the governor. I am not excusing Paxton for an instant, though. I long have believed that Paxton is a disgrace to the legal profession and to the AG’s office.

But … here we are, on the eve of an election year. Two statewide politicians are vowing to engage in local elections and try to persuade legislators’ constituents that these Republicans should be defeated. Why? Because they aren’t doing governor’s and the AG’s bidding.

Disgraceful.

local news

A different new year awaits

Normally, I am inclined to approach the end of a year with a shrug and an “I’ll take whatever comes next” attitude.

2023 has been, and please excuse the understatement, a radically different span of time for my family and me. We lost the rock of our family at the first of the year when cancer struck my dear bride, Kathy Anne. She passed away Feb. 3 and for the time in my entire life I was left to fend for myself. Yes, I have my sons, my daughter-in-law and my granddaughter nearby. I cherish them beyond all measure. However, I am on my own in many ways large and small.

I told someone close to me recently that I lived with my parents until my late teens; then I was inducted into the Army; I served two years under Uncle Sam’s watchful eye; I returned to Mom and Dad’s home; then I met a gorgeous girl in college; we got married shortly thereafter; we were husband and wife for 51 blissful years.

Then she was gone. Just like that. Do you get what I mean by “alone”?

I don’t usually make new year’s resolutions. This year is different. My new year’s resolution — and I am going to declare it here — will be to continue my search for happiness. I will make another declaration. It is that my path is considerably brighter today than it was for most of 2023. I don’t yet know where it will end for me.

I have been able during the months since I lost Kathy Anne to travel through much of the country. I embarked on trips to, as I noted, to “clear my head and mend my heart.” I am happy to report that my noggin is pretty clear as I write these words and my heart is enduring far fewer spasms of grief. I need to state, though, that Kathy Anne’s illness and passing wasn’t the end of my sorrow. On Dec. 1 I lost Toby the Puppy, my companion and best buddy, as he no longer could battle the cancer that ravaged his body.

I am gathering up all the paper calendars I have collected in my house in Princeton and on Dec. 31 I intend — per a suggestion from a friend — to conduct a 2023 calendar-burning event in my back yard. I might even yelp for joy as I watch the flames engulf the numbers “2023.”

When the flames subside and the embers cool in the fire pit, I will commence my journey forward. Kathy Anne insisted many years ago that I seek happiness were she to leave this Earth first. Therefore, I am following her directive.

Forward is the only path for me.

Here is to a much happier year ahead.

crime news

Why seek to delay?

I keep circling back to a strange notion as I watch Donald Trump’s legal team seek to delay all these pending court proceedings.

It is that if Trump is as innocent of wrong doing as he proclaims … why not proceed full throttle to prove the ex-POTUS’s case in court?

Trump’s “delay, delay, delay” strategy seemingly belies his contention that he has done nothing wrong. That the allegations of obstructing justice, of seeking to overturn a free, air and legal election, of coercing local election officials is all part of a government “witch hunt.” He is pure and clean, he says.

OK. If that’s the case, then show us in a court of law … dude.

political news, State news

Hand-count ballots? Seriously?

Gillespie County, Texas, Republicans clearly have rocks in their heads if they believe that hand-counting every ballot cast in next year’s primary election is going to go without a hitch … or three.

Word to the wise: Don’t get any ideas, officials in other counties, about following the lead set by the Hill Country county of roughly 30,000 residents.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, let’s see. Human frailty, flaws and tendency to mistakes are likely to cause challenges to whatever tallies the many workers are going to face when they finish their work.

The Texas Tribune reports: This summer, leaders of the GOP in counties as large as Dallas and as small as Uvalde in South Texas seriously considered hand-counting ballots for their primary elections, according to public records and interviews with election officials.

Think about Dallas County relying on thousands of people hand-counting ballots in a county populated by more than 2.6 million people.

I guess the misplaced GOP fear of machine counting has gotten pols in Gillespie County — which is overwhelmingly Republican — to push some sort of panic button.

In addition to its potential unreliability, hand-counting is going to bring tremendous additional expense to Gillespie County, which is expected to train an additional 100 workers to count the ballots individually. Sheesh!

Again, according to the Texas Tribune: Citing his opposition to hand-counting ballots, Gillespie County GOP Chair Mo Saiidi resigned in September. Days after his departure, the remaining members of county Republican leadership finalized their decision to move forward.

“I could not in good conscience continue presiding over an election using a method that I did not feel was the right process to go through,” Saiidi said. “And I felt it was flawed. I felt it was not well thought out. I didn’t think it was the right thing for the community.”

Republicans led by the ex-POTUS have thrown an unreasonable fear into political leaders who used to depend on normal county election procedures to produce valid election totals. Are those days gone, along with trust in government at any level?

Let us hope not!

education news, State news

They work for us … not them!

How many times am I going to say what I’ve been saying since The Flood … which is that our legislators — be they state or federal — work for the people who elect them, not for those who run their respective legislative bodies?

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, throttled in his effort to rob public schools of money and handing it to private institutions, is targeting Republican legislators who had the temerity to vote against his school voucher plan. He is endorsing opponents of GOP incumbents seeking re-election in 2024.

Let’s set the record straight. The GOP legislators who oppose school vouchers represent rural districts that depend heavily on the health and livelihood of their public schools. They pledge to their constituents to support public education, given that in many rural communities the school system serves as the lifeblood of the community. Abbott wants to unseat House Republicans who oppose his crusade for school vouchers, which would allow parents to use taxpayer dollars to help pay for private school costs.

They did not pledge to support every single legislative agenda topic favored by Abbott!

This is ham-handed governance at its worst.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is employing the same strategy against those lawmakers who voted to impeach him earlier this year. For the purposes of this blog post, I am going to concentrate on Abbott’s campaign of revenge.

It is absurd!

To their credit, the rural GOP legislators who dug in against vouchers have held firm in their opposition, likely signaling an end to the string of special legislative sessions Abbott kept calling in an effort to foist his voucher plan on Texans. Their resistance infuriates Abbott, to be sure.

My response to that? Big … fu**ing … deal!

These lawmakers are looking out for the interests of the folks who sent them to Austin to do their bidding, not dance to the tune called by Greg Abbott.

legal news, national news

Colo. court invokes 14th … wow!

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The Colorado Supreme Court has shown judicial courage that appears to defy precedent.

It has ruled that Donald Trump cannot run for the Republican presidential nomination in that state’s primary because he engaged in an insurrection against the U.S. government on Jan. 6, 2021.

The Constitution’s 14th Amendment says anyone who does such a thing cannot serve in public office. It doesn’t say a thing about “due process,” or “trial by jury,” or a “conviction” of a crime. The Colorado court said, in effect, that the amendment speaks clearly and loudly enough to disqualify the former POTUS from seeking the GOP nomination in Colorado.

I normally would cheer this decision and declare victory in the fight to keep Trump out of the White House. Except for this caveat.

Trump is going to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is packed with a 6-3 super-conservative majority. Three justices were nominated by Trump, so it is quite possible they will vote to overrule the Colorado decision; throw in similar votes from Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Chief John Roberts and then, well … there you have it.

I am left to hope that a couple of those conservatives might be able to break away from their political loyalty and read the 14th Amendment carefully. Then they can assess that what Trump did on 1/6 qualifies as an incitement of the attack that ensued that day.

Yes, I know. It’s a faint hope … but it’s all I have.

national news

Graham mounts pitiful defense

Lindsey Graham has mounted what only can be called a pitiful defense of the guy he once determined was unfit for public office.

The South Carolina Republican U.S. senator has become a first-degree, top-tier suck-up to Donald J. Trump.

Trump over the weekend used Hitleresque language to describe immigrants, saying they are “poisoning” out nation’s blood. “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker pressed Graham on what Trump said, asking him if the ex-POTUS’s rhetoric caused him concern.

Oh, no. Graham said we should watch his actions, that it doesn’t matter what Trump says. What a line of BS.

Trump’s actions, I need to remind the senator, mirror quite nicely what he has said about many individuals. So, when he says people “poison” our blood, or calls his critics “vermin,” he is charting a path straight down the steps of Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Putin and other despots he reportedly admires.

Pathetic.

national news

What about Trump’s mental sharpness?

All this blather and nonsense about whether President Biden has lost a step or two mentally ignores or dismisses a key question.

Which is: Have you listened to the unhinged, uncontrolled and incompetent rants of the guy Biden succeeded as POTUS?

Donald Trump is 77 years of age. He is just a tad younger than the president. Trump bloviates about the Big Lie while Joe Biden is negotiating with world leaders. Trump cannot seem to get Barack Obama off of what’s left of his mind, mistaking Biden with the 44th president fairly routinely.

The ex-POTUS clearly is declining, as some medical experts are suggesting. Yet those who are critical of President Biden on the specious argument that he’s losing mental acuity fail to recognize the same thing in what is becoming apparent in the idiot who wants to replace him.

Try to nibble on this nugget: Trump also said that under his administration, shoplifters would be subject to extrajudicial execution: “We will immediately stop all the pillaging and theft. Very simply, if you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store.”

He said that President Biden’s policies will lead us into “World War two.” Hey, wait. We fought that one already. He said Army Gen. Mark Milley, the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, should be executed; that he swept all 50 states in 2020; that he defeated Obama in 2016; and that windmills are killing whales.

Dude is losing it, man. To think that some Americans actually want this lunatic in charge of the executive branch of our government is, well … simply beyond belief.

Donald Trump

Yes, words do matter

Let me crystal clear: Donald Trump’s repeated use of Hitleresque rhetoric in describing the state of play in this great country should worry every single American.

Who might it worry the most? That would be direct descendants of those who went to war in 1941 to fight Hitler’s evil Reich, along with the fascists led by the bumbling Benito Mussolini and Hideki Tojo, the warmongering prime minister of Japan.

Trump is invoking terms like “vermin” and saying immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our nation.” The “poison,” of course, comes from those who are black, or brown.

This man is evil in the first degree. He must be stopped. He cannot possibly ever step anywhere near the White House again.

I happen to be one of those direct descendants of WWII veterans. My late father enlisted in the U.S. Navy on Dec. 7, 1941 … the very day of the “dastardly act” committed by Japan’s naval and air forces against our military base in Hawaii. Dad saw his combat duty in The Med and dodged bombs and bullets fired at him by forces loyal to Hitler and Mussolini.

Thus, I take this “vermin” and “poison” rhetoric so very personally.

Trump is a racist madman. He is out of control. He is the embodiment of evil.