Tag Archives: Greg Abbott

State news, Uncategorized

Take this vow from Patrick with much salt

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says he’ll never run for governor against Greg Abbott.

Not only that, he says he’s not going to run for governor ever.

http://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/01/patrick-im-not-running-against-abbott-2018/

Do I believe him? Is this the final word on the subject?

I remain a bit dubious about this disavowal of any further political ambition. As for the finality, do not bet anything, not a nickel, that we’ve heard the last of it.

As lieutenant governor, Patrick presides over the Texas Senate. As governor, Abbott is the state’s chief executive. Patrick’s conservative agenda is well-known. So is his rather meteoric temperament. Abbott’s conservative credentials also are beyond question. However, there are times when he doesn’t seem as fervently conservative as Patrick.

I hear what Patrick says today about his political ambition. However, these things can and do change.

There’s just something about Patrick that makes me wonder whether he’s telling us the whole truth.

The late U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen once told me he wouldn’t accept a vice-presidential spot on the Democratic Party ticket in 1988. Then he did.

The late U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy said he wouldn’t seek the presidency in 1968. Then he did.

I believe Dan Patrick is capable of changing his mind.

 

State news

A most predictable response

I kind of knew this reaction would come as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott asked the federal government for help in combating the state’s terrible flooding. It comes from former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, who served in the Clinton administration Cabinet back in the 1990s.

This is what he wrote in his latest Facebook post.

“Texas Governor Greg Abbott finally requested federal disaster relief, and the President has just signed the order, as record flooding continues. I don’t begrudge Texas billions of federal dollars — we’re all part of the same nation, after all – but I do recall just five weeks ago the same Greg Abbott assuring Texans who believed a federal military training exercise was a plot to takeover the state that he would call out the Texas national guard to monitor the exercises.

“Not … incidentally, Texas’s congressional delegation contains some of the nation’s most outspoken deniers of human-induced climate chaos, such as Representative Lamar Smith, who charged that the White House report on climate change was designed ‘to frighten Americans,’ and whose congressional committee just slashed by more than 20 percent NASA’s spending on Earth science, which includes climate change.

“As I said, Texas deserves federal disaster relief. But wouldn’t it be nice if the Lone Star State acknowledged it can’t go it alone, and embraced reality?”

Precisely.

Except, Mr. Secretary, not all Texas believe as you have suggested.

 

local news, State news

Texas can use federal assistance

TX-flooding-2015

Hey, no kidding. Texas actually can use some help from the federal government.

As I understand it, Gov. Greg Abbott has to ask for a federal emergency declaration. The pictures I’m seeing from around the state, particularly in Houston and in the Hill Country, suggests the governor needs to get on the stick and ask for it.

President Obama talked to the governor by phone the other day and offered federal help. I’m guessing Gov. Abbott said, “Thank you, Mr. President. I’ll get back to you on that.”

Has he done so? I haven’t heard that he has.

Abbott calls the floods the worst in Texas history. As I’m writing this short blog, another storm is blasting overhead along the Texas Panhandle. It’s dumping more rain on our saturated ground — which isn’t nearly as soaked as the ground is in Houston, the Golden Triangle, the Coastal Bend and the Hill Country.

But it’s wet enough here.

My son, who’s visiting us from Allen — just north of Dallas — informed us of playas that appeared where there’s “never any water.” Well, he can’t say “never” now.

Ask for the feds’ help, governor.

And whatever you do, don’t let your political differences with the White House stand in the way.

 

national news, political news

‘You need to read the Internet more’ Huh?

This conversation occurred this week.

It involved a friend of mine and yours truly. It went like this:

Friend: How’s it going?

Me: Great.

Friend: Hey, what’s your opinion of that Jade Helm thing? Isn’t that what they call it?

Me: Yeah, you mean that rumor about the president declaring martial law and wanting to invade Texas?

Friend: That’s the one. Do you think it’s crap?

Me: Absolutely! But what really galls me is that the governor (Greg Abbott) took the bait and called out the Texas State Guard to “monitor” the activities of the federal troops coming here for military exercises.

Friend: I’m OK with that.

Me: (laughing hysterically) You mean you actually think that Abbott responded the right way by policing the activities of the troops?

Friend: Yes. I don’t trust Obama. I think he wants to declare martial law so that he can weasel his way into serving a third term as president.

Me: I haven’t heard that one.

Friend: Well, you need to read the Internet more. It’s out there.

Me: (laughing even more hysterically) But, but 98 percent of the stuff on the Internet is pure crap!

Friend: Not if you look at the “news sources.”

Me: OK, well, I’ll do that. But I’m telling ya, most of that Internet stuff is not to be believed. I promise you that on Jan. 20, 2017, the new president will take the oath of office and Barack Obama will leave the White House with his wife and daughters and return to private life.

Friend: I sure hope so.

I’m happy to report that we’re still friends. He’s a good guy. What I didn’t have the stomach to tell him, though, is that while I was working in daily journalism, the funniest thing a reader ever said to me, when I questioned an assertion he made in a letter to the editor, likely was this: “It must be true, because I read it on the Internet.”

I laughed at him, too.

State news

Abbott challenged by forces beyond control

This is why we pay the governor the big bucks.

He or she must deal with forces they cannot control. Political will? Forget about it. Returning favors? Not a chance. Paying someone back for doing you wrong? Not even close.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is dealing with forces no one can control.

http://www.texastribune.org/2015/05/27/deadly-flood-provides-abbott-his-first-no-manual-t/

As the Texas Tribune reports, Abbott’s immediate predecessor in the governor’s office, Rick Perry, quips to audiences to this day, that “Nobody gave me the manual” that explains how he copes with disaster.

Perry had his share during his 14 years as governor: hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, that big fertilizer plant blast in West. He had to buck up and just plain lead.

Abbott is now facing his own challenge barely five months into his first term.

Our weather has turned on us. Yes, it’s good to have the moisture — a term that seems quaint, given the volume of water that has fallen all across the state. The floods it has produced, though, is spreading heartache, grief and misery throughout much of the Hill Country and the Gulf Coast.

Abbott says the flooding is the worst in Texas history. He spoke by phone with President Obama, who pledged the federal government’s full support in helping Texas deal with this tragedy. Indeed, this is precisely the occasion to put all political differences aside — and there exist plenty of them between the governor and the president — while all parties work on behalf of stricken victims.

Has the governor done all he can do? I’m not prepared to make that judgment. The Texas Tribune reports: “To be sure, Abbott’s handling of the crisis has not been without some questions, including whether the state was fully prepared for the unrelenting run of inclement weather that began weeks ago. At news conferences throughout the state this week, he has assured reporters Texas was ready and everything worked that was supposed to.”

Actually, it seems almost impossible for any governor — or any elected official at almost any level — to be fully ready when events spring forth the way the flooding has done throughout the state.

This is Gov. Abbott’s crisis now. No one schooled him precisely on how to deal with it.

Let’s just call it a hyper-serious on-the-job training class.

We’ll see how it all grades out when the water recedes and Texans start reassembling their shattered lives.

 

State news

Obama pledges to aid, not invade, Texas

Did I read this correctly?

President Obama told Texas Gov. Greg Abbott that the federal government stands ready to assist in helping the state recover from the devastating floods of recent days. That’s what I read.

Obama pledges federal assistance for Texas flood recovery

What a marvelous turn of events.

Barely a month after the governor ordered the Texas State Guard to monitor federal troop movements in Texas after an Internet post declared Obama intended to invade and occupy Texas, the president is going to actually aid the state in its flood recovery.

“I assured Gov. Abbott that he could count on the help of the federal government,” Obama told reporters in the Oval Office. “I will anticipate that there will be some significant requests made to Washington. My pledge to him is that we will expedite those requests.”

That’s what presidents are supposed to do.

The floods have ravaged much of the state. Eleven people are now known to have died as a result. Others are missing. Property has been destroyed. Gov. Abbott compared the floodwater to a tsunami.

Better to aid than to invade. Then again, the invade part was a hoax.

This Texas resident wants to say “thanks” for lending a hand. We’ll need it, Mr. President.

State news

Texas is about to add to its reputation

1 Comment

Ask a non-Texan to characterize the Lone Star State and the folks who live here in a sentence or two and you’re likely to hear the word “guns” mentioned.

“Texans love their guns.” “Texans would just as soon shoot someone as argue with ’em.” “Don’t mess with Texas, or someone with a gun will get ya.”

That kind of stuff.

Well, the Texas Legislature is likely to enhance or embellish that reputation if it approves two bills — over the expressed opposition of chiefs of police and at least one highly senior university administrator.

Open carry and campus carry bills are likely to become law in Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott says he’ll sign them both.

http://www.texastribune.org/2015/05/26/texas-house-takes-campus-carry-ahead-key-deadline/

Lock ‘n load, Texas.

Police chiefs oppose the open carry bill that will enable those with concealed carry permits to pack the heat openly, strapped to holsters on their hips.

University of Texas System Chancellor William McRaven opposes the campus carry bill, which would allow concealed carry licensees to bring weapons onto college campuses.

The top cops and the chancellor have the same fear of both bills: They have the potential of creating tragedy, either through accidental shooting or self-inflicted gunshots wounds.

Both pieces of legislation give me the heebie-jeebies. Yes, the concealed carry law enacted in 1995 did the same thing, but it’s generally turned out all right in terms of its impact on Texas society. There haven’t been the spasms of violence in intersections over fender-benders that some of us feared when concealed carry became the law in Texas.

With open carry and now, with campus carry, I continue to get the nervous jerks over knowing that we’re (a) going to allow guns to be carried in the open and (b) allowing guns into university classrooms.

Retired Admiral McRaven, a former Navy SEAL who later headed the U.S. Special Forces command, has an interesting take on the campus carry bill’s potential impact. According to the Texas Tribune: “’If you’re in a heated debate with somebody in the middle of a classroom, and you don’t know whether or not that individual is carrying, how does that inhibit the interaction between students and faculty?’ McRaven asked at a Texas Tribune event in February. McRaven and others have suggested gun-wielding students might intimidate classmates and professors to the point of curbing freedom of speech.”

Maybe all this concern is overblown. Then again, maybe it’s justified.

I fear the worst if the cause for justification presents itself.

 

local news, State news

‘Tsunami’ flood inundates Central Texas

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott isn’t usually prone to mutter hyperbole.

So, when he says the floods over much of the state are the worst in anyone’s memory, then he is taking aim at the extreme hardship thousands of Texans are enduring from this crazy weather.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/governor-says-deadly-flooding-is-worst-ever-seen-in-texas-area/ar-BBkeRNz

A dam in Bastrop County apparently has failed; water has poured over the land. People are missing along the Gulf Coast. Texans have died as they’ve been swept away by raging water.

Abbott compared the flooding to a tsunami.

He’s declared disasters in 24 Texas counties.

Federal emergency management officials need to take notice of what’s happening here.

We’ve been bemoaning the local flooding here in the Panhandle, but it pales in comparison to what’s happening downstate.

Allen, where my son and daughter-in-law live with our grandkids, has been inundated along with much of the rest of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. The city had imposed watering restrictions; I haven’t heard whether they’ve been lifted. My family is safe, I’m happy to report.

Abbott has toured the area south of Austin from the air. He said: “This is the biggest flood this area of Texas has ever seen. It is absolutely massive — the relentless tsunami-type power of this wave of water.”

What can the rest of us do? Pray for their safety and for a break in this thing for which we’ve prayed already. The rain has arrived. But enough, already!

 

legal news, State news

So long to ‘pick-a-pal’ grand jury system?

Texas might be on the verge of doing something it should have done years ago.

It might dramatically reform the way many of the state’s 254 counties select members to sit on a grand jury.

Let’s hold to the cheers until it clears the Texas Legislature and lands on Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.

http://www.texastribune.org/2015/05/24/texas-moves-closer-to-overhauling-grand-jury-syste/

The Texas House of Representatives has approved Senate Bill 135. It would require grand juries to be chosen the way trial juries are picked: randomly.

The current system allows state district judges to impanel grand juries using a jury commissioner system. The judge picks a jury commissioner, who then looks for friends, acquaintances or just plain folks he or she knows to serve on a grand jury.

Here’s where I make my full disclosure. I once served on a Randall County grand jury. A neighbor who happens to be a friend asked me to serve. I said “yes.” I then was seated by 181st District Judge John Board, along with other grand jurors. We met for the next three months and heard criminal complaints presented by the Criminal District Attorney’s Office.

Did that grand jury work well? Yes.

However, there remains the potential problem of friends picking friends to serve on grand juries. Heck, even judges pick friends to serve as jury commissioners. Cronyism can — and does, on occasion — run amok.

As the Texas Tribune reports: “Critics of the ‘pick-a-pal’ system, an uncommon practice nationwide, say it could lead to conflicts of interest. The debate over the legislation has unfolded amid outrage nationwide that grand juries have failed to indict police officers in shootings of unarmed men.”

A random selection method does not diminish the quality of the grand jury that hears criminal complaints and decides whether to indict someone for an alleged crime.

Look at it this way: If a randomly selected trial jury can decide whether someone lives or dies if he or she is convicted of a capital crime, then a similarly chosen grand jury can decide whether that person should stand trial in the first place.

 

State news

Why do our state leaders invite such ridicule?

TXBikers

Take a look at the link attached right here.

It’s an editorial cartoon that was published initially in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and then republished in the Roanoke (Va.) Times; I’m betting other newspapers ran it as well.

It pokes fun at Texas. It’s not in a light-hearted way, I should add.

Remember when Gov. Greg Abbott said he would order the Texas State Guard into the field to keep an eye on Army and other Special Forces troops conducting an exercise called Jade Helm 15? Abbott, or so it appears, fell for the Internet chatter that had bee making the rounds, saying that President Obama was planning to “invade” the state.

Abbott’s message actually said the Guard troops would be dispatched to protect the rights of Texans. Against whom or what? Well, some of us thought he meant to imply that the federales actually posed a threat to Texans.

The cartoonists around the country have been having a field day with this story.

Why? Because the state’s governor has given them grist with which to use to poke not-so-light-hearted fun at the state.

Texas always seems to be an inviting target for others to shoot. Is it our reputation for boastfulness? Is that we’re bigger in size than the other Lower 48 states? Is it Texans present themselves in a cartoonish sort of way?

Do our leaders — starting with our governor — even care that our state has become such a source for comic relief?

Some of us don’t think it’s funny.