International news

Turks now feel brunt of ISIS’s monstrous wrath

AAhKMUE

Horror has struck again at a major international air terminal.

This time it’s in Istanbul, Turkey, home of the third-busiest airport in Europe, where 41 people were killed when Islamic State suicide terrorists opened fire and detonated explosives.

With each attack against a nation either in the Middle East or on its fringes — as Turkey is — the roster of nations aggrieved by ISIS grows.

The Turks have been on the front row of this fight since ISIS first surfaced in neighboring Syria. They’ve been a valuable ally of the United States in our own effort to eradicate the monstrous Islamic cult that has brought so much misery to the region and the world.

With each of these attacks, we see a redoubling of commitment by the nations that have been struck to do more to wage war against ISIS.

Jordanian citizens were killed by ISIS, so King Abdullah ordered a ratcheting up of air strikes by his country’s air force. Saudi Arabia has joined the fight as well. Russia witnessed one of its jetliners blown out of the sky and it, too, launched air strikes — ostensibly against ISIS targets in Syria.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/islamic-state-prime-suspect-after-suicide-bombers-kill-41-at-istanbul-airport/ar-AAhJukV?li=BBnb7Kz

This attack on Turkey ought to bring a fearsome and formidable newĀ ally into a ramped-up effort against the terror cult.

Those of us on the fringes of this fight cannot know for certain what the Turks have done already to strike back against ISIS.

Many more families now are grieving the loss of loved ones because of these monsters.

A glimmer of hope, though, does shine through with the anticipation of yet another critical and powerful ally getting even more serious in this on-going battle to eradicate this hideous international menace.

medical news

Memo to Hillary: Stay true to your Alzheimer’s pledge

alzheimers-disease-scrabble-pieces

Pat Summitt’s death this morning of complications from Alzheimer’s disease brought to mind a pledge that one of the candidates for president of the United States made earlier this year.

Democratic nominee-to-be Hillary Rodham Clinton pledged to devote $2 billion immediately toĀ search forĀ a cure for the killer disease.

I said then that I — and more than likely many other AmericansĀ — would keep the pressure on her after she takes the presidential oath of office next January.

I was impressed that she would make such a pledge, that she would target such a disease — one that affects loved ones arguably at least as much as it affects those who are afflicted by it.

Understand this: My interest in finding a cure for this disease is intensely personal. My family and I have lived through the horror of it, watching my mother waste away as the disease stole her cognitive ability over time. Another beloved member of my family is battling the disease right now and I am dreading what it will do to him eventually.

Pat Summitt demonstrated astonishing bravery when she announced she was suffering early-onset of Alzheimer’s-related dementia and then continued to coach her women’s basketball team at the University of Tennessee for one final season.

She deserves to be honored and mourned by Americans everywhere.

I’m going to look ahead, though, with the hope that if Hillary Clinton is elected president of the United States that she keeps her pledge to go after Alzheimer’s disease.

Many millions of us out here understand the pain this disease brings. The number of Americans affected by it only are going to grow as the nation ages.

Be advised, Mme. Secretary. We’ll be watching you carefully.

Sports news

This coach was an educator and a role model

pat-summitt-f7f4aab38b76e9d6

I knew about Patricia Sue Summitt’s winning ways on the basketball court.

She coached the women’s basketball teams at the University of Tennessee to eight national championships. She was fierce a competitor as they come. She would end up winning more collegiate basketball games than any coach in the U.S. history.

What I didn’t know — or may have forgotten — about Pat Summitt was that she demanded academic achievement among the young women who played basketball for her.

When I learned about Coach Summitt’s death this morning of complications from Alzheimer’s disease, I also read something else about her.

It was that every young woman who played through their entire athletic eligibility at Tennessee would graduate from the university.

Summitt has a 100-percent graduation rate during her storied and iconic athletic career in Knoxville.

They’re mourning her death at the university. They’ll remember her NCAA championships. They’ll salute her bravery after announcing she had early onset of the disease that would kill her, how she would coach a final year before walking away knowing more than likely that her time on Earth was short.

Those all are wonderful things to salute. I will honor her memory as well for those accomplishments. I will honor her as well because she died of a disease with which I have intimate knowledge, as my own mother lost her own fight against it many years ago.

Her enduring legacy, though, ought to be that she strove to have her young athletes complete their university education successfully. They were students first, and athletes second. Coach Summitt insisted they adhere to the term “student-athlete.”

Can there be a greater example of leadership than that?

International news, political news

No ‘new evidence’ found to implicate Clinton …

benghazi

So, do you think the battle has ended in the fight to use “Benghazi” as a tool to derail Hillary Rodham Clinton’s march to the White House?

I wish. It will continue full throttle.

The U.S. House Select Committee on Benghazi has concluded its expensive and highly partisan probe of the former secretary of state’s role in that terrible tragedy that erupted on Sept. 11, 2012 at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Four Americans died in a chaotic firefight that night. One of them was Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya.

Then-House Speaker John Boehner convened this committee to get to the truth behind what happened. The panel, led by Republican U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, called dozens of witnesses, plowed over the same ground repeatedly and then finally concluded that they cannot find any “new evidence” that Clinton did anything wrong.

Sure, they found plenty with which to criticize the administration. The military was ill-prepared to deal with the terrorist attack on the compound, the panel said. The administration didn’t do enough to protect the staffers who got caught up in the frenzy, it concluded.

In the end, though, it has determined that Clinton wasn’t culpable, that she didn’t engage in a cover-up.

Oh, but now she’s running for president of the United States. Rest assured that her foes are going to continue to question the manner in which she responded to the emergency.

And, oh yes, we have those e-mails and Clinton’s of a private personal account to distribute State Department messages. The FBI is investigating that matter.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/house-benghazi-panel-finds-no-new-evidence-of-wrongdoing-by-hillary-clinton/ar-AAhINBW?ocid=spartandhp

This has been an expensive endeavor, costing an estimated $7 million. Many of us — me included — are quite convinced that Speaker Boehner wanted to find something that would implicate Clinton as she sought the presidency. The panel came up short.

But for those who are looking and lusting for more dirt to fling at the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, theyĀ likely willĀ take some “comfort” in the knowledge that questions will linger as long as there are enemies of the former secretary of state around to raise them.

Still, I’m glad this select committee’s work is finished.

Finally.

local news

How does this happen?

train wreck

This wreck just occurred today. News crews from all across the Texas Panhandle are scrambling to sort out the details of this horrific accident, which took place just east ofĀ  Panhandle, Texas.

Are there fatalities? Well, two freight trains collided head-on. You can see the fire and smoke. I believe someone likely died in that wreck.

It’s a tragedy of immense proportions.

It is not too early, though, to ask: How in the world do two freight trains plow into each other?

Someone — or several “someones” — at the freight line likely will have to face some serious questioning about this egregious error.

Meantime, pray for those involved and for the crews who have answered the emergency call.

 

local news, medical news, military news

Faith in VA medical care remains strong

veteran-health-care-1140x641

I hereby declare thatĀ my faith in the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system remains strong.

I told you I’d inform you of what I learned from my health-care provider regarding an injury I suffered while walking with my wife through the ‘hood the other day.

Her diagnosis? “You’ve injured something in your knee,” she said. She said I need to use an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drug, keep the compression bandage wrapped around my sore knee, and “rest it as much as you can.”

There. Problem solved … I hope.

As is almost always the case, my appointment this morning at the Thomas E. Creek VeteransĀ Health CareĀ Center in Amarillo went like clockwork.

I showed up at 7 a.m. to get blood drawn at the lab; I was out of there by 7:25.

I grabbed a burrito at a nearby convenience store, brought it back and wolfed it down while waiting for my 8 a.m. appointment with my nurse practitioner.

She called me back at 8:15. We visited. I told her about my injury. She took a look at my leg and said, “Yep, it’s swollen.” She gave me her diagnosis and her proposed remedy.

I walked out of the Lone StarĀ Team clinicĀ at 8:50.

Not bad at all.

I still have this minor hitch in my step stemming from the “pop” I felt while walking the other morning with my wife and Toby the Puppy.

I also told you I’d keep the faith. It’s working well for me.

https://highplainsblogger.com/2016/06/va-might-face-a-stern-test-soon/

 

 

 

national news, political news

GOP comes down with ‘buyer’s remorse’

donald

Buyer’s remorse must be spreading.

British voters agree to pull Great Britain out of the European Union and now might be regretting that decision.

Now we hear that most Republicans in this country want someone other than Donald J. Trump to be their party’s presidential nominee.

In both cases, I fear that voters will have to live with the consequences of their decision.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/donald-trump-republicans-polls-224853

A poll published by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal say that 45 percent of Republicans want Trump to be their nominee. They want someone else to carry the banner into the fight this fall against Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Democrats.

Sorry, folks. Here’s the thing: Trump has won more primary contests by far than anyone else. He’s collected enough convention delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot. He’s going to be the GOP nominee this summer when delegates gather in Cleveland.

We haveĀ a saying in Texas that goes something like this:

“You dance with them that brung ya.”

Sure, Trump has a seemingly endless list of failings as a national political leader. No need to detail them here. You know what they are.

But he’s won a fair-and-square primary fight against a large field of opponents, most of whom were much more qualified than he is to become commander in chief.

He’s your guy, GOP.

Good luck at the dance.

national news, political news

Sen. Warren becomes newest Trump target

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How does this go?

The man who is set to become a major-party presidential nominee is now going after a woman who is campaigning as a surrogate for the other party’s presumed nominee.

And what is his line of attack? He is calling her “Pocahontas” as an epithet.

Let’s back up for a moment.

The presumed GOP nominee Donald J. Trump is now going after Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who today campaigned alongside presumed Democratic nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Why? Well, Warren has declared that she has some Native AmericanĀ heritage in her background. Trump doesn’t believe it. Thus, he has hung the “Pocahontas” label on her.

What’s more, Republicans are now bringing out the man Warren defeated to become the U.S. senator from Massachusetts — former Sen. Scott Brown — to refute Warren’s claims of Native American heritage.

I don’t get this.

Why is that even an issue? Why is Trump obsessing over whether Warren actually has a tiny bit of Native American heritage in her background.

Warren is now being vetted as a potential running mate with Clinton. Rather than challenging her record as a U.S. senator, Trump has chosen to attack her ethnicity.

He calls her a “fraud” because she hasn’t proved that she actually has some Cherokee Indian ancestry in her background.

Let’s be clear here: Elizabeth Warren isn’t running for anything. She’s a surrogate for another accomplished woman, Hillary Clinton.

Shouldn’t the presumptive GOP nominee concentrate on policy differences he has with the presumptive Democratic nominee?

Oh, wait! First, he needs to reveal that he has any policy views in the first place.

national news

Governor stands for safer gun rules

concealed_carry

Now that we’ve re-entered the realm of gun violence, gun safety and gun regulations in the wake of the Orlando, Fla., massacre, I want to applaud a Missouri politician for retaining some sanity in this discussion.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon today vetoed a bill that landed on his desk that would have allowed residents to carry concealed weapons without obtaining a permit to do so.

That’s right. The bill would have removed the requirement for Missouri residents to take classes, obtain a permit and submit themselves to a criminal background check.

Nixon said the bill would make his state less safe. Gee, do you think?

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article86150657.html

A number of states have enacted concealed carry legislation over the years. Texas was among the first to do so. My own initial objections to enactment of the law have given way to acceptance of the law in Texas, if not an outright embrace of it.

Many Texans have sought and obtained these permits only to be able to carry a firearm if they choose to do so.

The regulations in Missouri mirror those in Texas. They are reasonable and prudent. Indeed, state and local police officials opposed the weakening of the restrictions there.

According to the Kansas City Star: ā€œI cannot support the extreme step of … eliminating sensible protections like background checks and training requirements, and taking away the ability of sheriffs to protect their communities,ā€ Nixon said.

Gov. Nixon’sĀ veto faces the threat of a legislative override in September. It is my hope the veto withstands an effort to throw out common sense regulations.
political news, State news

Clinton within shouting distance of Trump in Texas

ClintonTrump-Split_jpg_800x1000_q100

Take heart, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

A University of Texas poll says you’re trailing Donald J. Trump. But, hey, it’s only by 8 points. The previous Democratic presidential candidate — Barack Obama — lost the Texas vote to John McCain and Mitt Romney by double digits in 2008 and 2012, respectively.

A part of me, though, is a bit surprised that Trump has even an 8-point lead over Clinton in Texas.

I don’t know who University of Texas/Texas Political Projects Poll surveyed to come up with an 8-point gap. I wonder if it included the requisite number of Latino voters who comprise such a significant minority of Texans.

We all know how Trump — the presumptive Republican nominee for president — has gone out of his way to offend Latinos. He started with his plan to “build a beautiful wall” along our southern border; then he intimated that all Mexican illegal immigrants were “rapists, drug dealers and murderers”; then came the assertion thatĀ  an Indiana-born federal judge was biased against him because the judge’s parents were Mexican immigrants.

https://www.texastribune.org/2016/06/27/poll-trump-leads-clinton-8-texas/

I’m well aware that public opinion surveys only serve as “snapshots.” They don’t predict the future.

However, some political thinkers believe Clinton has a legitimate chance of winning Texas this fall. Others, though, believe the state is too deeply Republican to change now and that Clinton isn’t the type of Democrat who can repaint the reliably red state into a blue one.

If the Democratic nominee is to have a chance of capturing Texas’s huge trove of electoral votes, she’ll need to get Latinos to the polls. History is not on her side.

Then again, we’ve all talked about how “conventional wisdom” has been tossed aside during this election season.

Commentary on politics, current events and life experience