TRUMP:...Georgia Trial To be Televised...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Get your Coke and microwave popcorn ready. And plan on settling into the couch for a few days, weeks maybe. Donald J. Trump's trial is on the horizon and the presiding judge says it'll be televised. Whoa, Nelly!

Are you ready?

ARE YOU READY?!!

Not since the Trial of O.J. Simpson captivated America has a trial been this anticipated. Trump on the stick. There in court. Fighting like a sumbitch to stay out of prison.

This from ajc.com: [ . . .Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee has confirmed that Trump's Georgia felony trial will be streamed via the county court's YouTube channel and that a press pool will be arranged, allowing the trial to be televised. That news comes to us via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Each of the 19 indicted defendants’ trials will be televised, in fact; current legal wrangling has yet to determine which of the defendants will have their trials split off from Trump's, but a number of his co-defendants have already broken with Trump to request that their own trials happen much, much sooner than Trump's current (non-indicted) lawyers are pushing for. Attorney Kenneth Chesebro was the first to request a speedy trial, receiving an Oct. 23 trial date from Judge McAfee. Trump's trial is currently scheduled for next March. ]

Right about March Madness time, eh?

Cool.

Or, as one Rick Perry might say about here, "Bring it."

There has been no response to this from Trump or his lawyers, but a judge's ruling on matters such as this one usually stands.

And, who knows, maybe Trump will even take the stand. We say that knowing that he seems to blow it every chance he gets with the legal system.

Anyway, it should be for good television during our cooler days...

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WASHINGTON, D.C.:...Rioter Gets 17 years In Prison...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Another malcontent got the big shaft. Proud Boy Joe Biggs, shown in photo above, will not be home for a while. He's been sentenced to prison for his part in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

This from dailybeast.com: [ Biggs was "an instigator and leader" of the riot, according to prosecutors. Now he’ll serve 17 years behind bars after being sentenced for seditious conspiracy on Thursday.

It’s a lengthy jail term compared to the other Capitol rioters - only a year shorter than the longest sentence given for Jan. 6-related crimes. That belongs to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who got an 18-year sentence for the same crime.

Biggs is a veteran of the U.S. Army and sustained a head injury during his service in Iraq. He later joined right-wing conspiracy website Infowars as a correspondent. When he stormed the Capitol with his fellow Proud Boys on Jan. 6, Biggs was a “vocal leader and influential proponent of the group’s shift toward political violence,” prosecutors argued.

But Biggs claimed that couldn’t be farther from the truth. He pleaded with the judge to go light during his sentencing, saying he wanted to be around for his daughter and ailing mother.

"I know that I have to be punished and I understand," he said, according to CNN, but added, "please give me the chance, I beg you, to take my daughter to school and pick her up."

"I’m not a terrorist," he said. "I’m one of the nicest people in the world." ]

Well, be nice behind bars.

That's our best advice for this guy - yet another insurrectionist who wishes to portray himself differently when in court. You went nuts. Now, you go to jail.

Crime still does not pay...

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McALLEN:...Mayor's Mexico Tour Continues...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | He threatens to become the Rio Grande Valley's ambassador to Mexico. We speak of Mayor Javier Villalobos, who keeps mining our southern neighbor for business.

This from the McAllen mayor about his latest effort: [ Visiting with Mayor of Mier y Noriega.  Our Mexican partners play a vital part of the RGV’s economy. We must keep on building our relationships with our Nuevo León communities. A majority of companies coming from China are relocating in the northern part of Mexico and our area complements the necessary trade and commerce for the benefit of both Mexico and the U.S. ]

Sounds like the effort is worth all it could bring to The City of Palms.

Villalobos seems to have made seeking new commerce with Mexico a signature venture of his administration.

Nothing wrong with that.

Earlier, the mayor visited Tampico on Mexico's Gulf Coast and Monterrey inland.

Trade with Mexico has long been a part of the Valley's existence...

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HURRICANE BRIEFS:...Day Of Utter Misery...

 

STAFF REPORT

PERRY, Florida | It appears that Hurricane Idalia claimed only two lives as it made its way across northern Florida and into Georgia and South Carolina.

By comparison, the last big hurricane to strike the Sunshine State - Ian - took 144 lives to the grave.

Not that Idalia was a nice visitor.

This from an online report: [ As Hurricane Idalia blasted through the Carolinas and out into the Atlantic Ocean, flood-stricken and wind-blasted residents in Florida and Georgia were picking through the debris to see what remains of their homes and possessions. ]

That's Tom Lanier, 78, in photo above. Not a happy camper, no. He lost a chunk of his home.

But that's hurricanes, isn't it?...

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EDINBURG:...Friday Night Lights Up Mayors...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

EDINBURG, Texas | Well, a bet's a bet. McAllen High beat Edinburg High in their season opener last Friday. Edinburg Mayor Ramiro Garza Jr, formerly city manager of his hometown, paid up.

Here are his words: [ So our Bobcats came up short last night but fought until the end. I have no doubt they will be back and have a great season! And now, to pay up. I promised that if we would not prevail, that I would wear a McHi Bulldog cap. Well, here it is Javier Villalobos McAllen Mayor! ]

Football is king in the Rio Grande Valley.

Conjunto music freaks can dance around the Mulberry Bush all day and night, and that's fine. But everyone - I mean, everyone - turns out for Friday Night Lights.

McAllen Mayor Villalobos, shown in photo above wearing the purple & gold of McHi, is a native of Carrizo Springs out west a bit. But he's all-Bulldog these days.

There was a time, both of these mayors should know, when both cities had only one high school. The rivalry was hot.

Edinburg's popular mayor likely remembers the student shenanigans.

Ha ha...

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SUN SPORTS:...State Champs - 1961 Donna Redskins...

BROWNSVILLE:...Cascos Readies His Move...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

BROWNSVILLE, Texas | Four days. That's all the time he has before announcing whether he'll run for office in 2024. Republican Carlos Cascos is on the clock.

The former Cameron County Judge and ex-Texas Secretary of State listed Labor Day (Monday, Sept. 4th) as the day he would make his decision known. It'll be a Yes or a No. And it'll be either for county judge or Congress, if he decides to go for it.

Little of note has come from him in the last few weeks, other than an occasional post on his Facebook page. There, he has largely stayed with local issues and passed on national stuff. His latest posting was about ineptitude at the City of Brownsville's two business-seeking entities, BCIC and GBIC. Both have been roundly criticized and pretty much labeled losers at this point.

Cascos will be 71 years old two weeks after Labor Day - on September 18th.

The county judge possibility is the clear longshot here. Cascos lost to incumbent Eddie Trevino last November by 4,000-plus votes. Trevino has the greater portion of four years left in his term, so that may be a reason Cascos seeks the 34th Congressional District seat.

That one is currently by Democrat Vicente Gonzalez.

Our read today is that it is the Congress job Cascos is currently considering, if any.

Gonzalez defeated Republican greenhorn Mayra Flores by almost 10,000 votes in the November, 2022 election. She is a declared candidate for that seat.

The margin of victory seems to indicate a stronger Democratic Party base than that fielded by Republicans.

Cascos would have to whip feisty Miss Flores (shown in file photo above) in the party primary before squaring off against younger, well-funded Gonzalez.

It's all something to consider.

Monday, Monday, yes...

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FROZEN:...Mitch McConnell Goes Zombie Again...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Now, it's twice that U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has seemed to freeze while speaking at a press conference. This time it happened while addressing reporters in his home state city of Covington.

This about that from Twitter, now known as X: [ When Mitch was asked his thoughts today on running for re-election in 2026, his body responded… he froze up again. This is a problem. I’m sympathetic to health, but we can’t have individuals in office who are clearly unfit to serve due to their health. ]

A month ago, the 81-year-old McConnell suffered a similar incident at a news conference in Washington, D.C. There, he appeared to go full-stone for several seconds before aides grabbed him.

In Covington, an aide also did the quick rescue.

McConnell seemed fine after a few seconds of bailing from this world.

The Republican likely will not run for reelection in three years.

Too bad. He is the unofficial anti-Trump in the party...

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SUN STORIES:..."Last Kiss Of 1949"...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Drawn to each other three months earlier by the coldest winter in local memory, Delia and Pedro saw their friendship grow from nothing to the ragged edges of love. Unfortunately, the year was coming to an end and the next one seemed more exciting - 1950.

Delia loved gardening; Pedro loved partying.

The old army wool blanket from his days in the military they had shared at his place suddenly found itself in the back of the closet. Their chrysalid relationship had not stood the test of time, as they said in all romance novels.

Pedro had tried, is what he would've said about the unexpected breakup. And he was used to trying, having managed a tire repair shop for almost 10 years, the sort of enterprise that did businesses thanks to the region's cheap automobiles.

Sweet Delia was more forthcoming - she admitted she did not actually ever love Pedro, which rather surprised him, especially after seeing her so physically engrossed in their lovemaking. This he said from the perspective of a seasonal lover, which is what he had been for Delia when the cold rains and sleet came that year.

When she finally told him it was over, Pedro did an about-face and walked toward her restaurant's door, saying not one word but thinking that he wanted to tell Delia she would someday feel the emotional pain he was taking home...

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SAN BENITO:...More Of That Silly Historical Crap...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

SAN BENITO, Texas | Hey, we're hip. Run around the Rio Grande Valley and be told everything is "historic" - even plain ol' downtown streets.

This from waz zappenin' San Benito: [ Picture with San Benito Mayor Ricardo "Rick" Guerra during Market Days on Historic Robertson Street. ]

The mayor is the one in the flowing yellow shirt and faddish tennis shoes in the photo above.

What's historic about Robertson Street? Nothing much, other than that it's been downtown since they laid it down. No, we're not being mean. Just factual, you might say. But we get it: everything can be "historic" in the Valley if we just say so. Weird, but true.

Just because a street or building is old does NOT make it "historic".

Hey, listen up: Something significant and memorable has to be associated with whatever is designated as "historic". We couldn't find any references to Robertson Street reaching that threshold. It's there, like most city and town streets, being used and sort of maintained by local government. Who is it named after - the western actor Dale Robertson? As my old pal Melissa Zamora might about here: "Quien sobby?"

It's just an odd quirk pretty much full-across the RGV.

McAllen has its Cine El Rey on boozy 17th Street. It's been right there seemingly forever. Is it "historic"? Not really. Simply being kept in use and still the scene of popular events does NOT make it "historic". It's nice that someone has decided not to bulldoze it, 'cause the facade is actually cool in its border architectural simplicity.

Harlingen has Las Cazuelas Restaurant (see photo below), a favorite of mine when in Cardinal Country. Its exterior is old and has not exactly been touched-up, but is it "historic"? I say, NO.

Historic for any Valley building would be if some major celebrity, like a president, dropped in and said or did something extraordinary, like if President Franklin D. Roosevelt had made his declaration of war against Japan ahead of World War II, say, at El Jardin Hotel in Brownsville.

Nothing like that has ever happened anywhere in the magic valley.

You could almost hear it, had it happened:

"Oye, Juan, que es eso - infami?"

"Ees how the date will live, ese"

Yeah.

Folks in the RGV should be a bit more conservative when declaring anything "historic," as, well, it does diminish that which actually is...

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BROWNSVILLE:...Where Poverty Is Undefeated...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

BROWNSVILLE, Texas | This falling birdhouse home to some 180,000 residents continues to be the poorest along the Texas-Mexico border. Poverty reigns supreme here, forever over-arching personal drive and ambition. There is some of the former and some say not enough of the latter.

But why is that?

Why is Brownsville so depressed. Its median annual income is $20,326, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2020 numbers. Yeah, you'd argue that twenty-grand goes a long, long way in a city with such close ties to Mexico. Downtown Matamoros is no more than a well-struck 4-iron south from downtown, across the Mighty Rio Grande.

The symbiotic relationship is key to the local economy. Many local residents do their shopping in Mexico, get haircuts over there, get their vehicles repaired, buy shoes and clothing for their schoolkids and dine at what is just about half-price when compared to Brownsville restaurant prices.

So, maybe an income of $20, 326 isn't all that bad.

But the federal government says too many Brownsvillians live below the poverty line. And like we said, twenty-grand isn't bad for a single person. But there are many families here, and, for a family of 4, the poverty line is $27,750, according to the Feds. A family of 6? You'd need to earn $37,190 annually.

Figures for other on-the-border towns aren't that much better than Brownsville's, although most are a little better.

Laredo comes in with a median income of $23,100

El Paso is at $24,071.

For Texas as a whole, the median income is $31,462.

This from a book I recently finished reading: [ The opening pages of The Other America set out the problem: There was a "familiar America" of postwar prosperity, of televisions and radios and automobiles and suburban homes, and then there was a shadowland - "another America" - of between 40 and 50 million people who lived in poverty. The poor might not be literally starving, as they were in other countries, but they were "maimed in body and spirit," their lives twisted and deformed by material lack, and their existence "invisible" to the broader society. ]

It would be too-easy to say the residents of Brownsville are a defeated lot. A lot of those long faces and slumping shoulders you see out there these days are really the result of summer's oppressive heat, is what we would guess.

But there is some accuracy to that as an observation of Brownsville's residents.

And City Hall does not seem to have the answers. More often than not, it has the problems. Its new mayor, John Cowen, has not exactly come out of the bullpen as some Al Hrabosky, the "Mad Hungarian" who terrorized Major League Baseball hitters in the 1970s and early-1980s.

Cowen has been rather quiet, more introverted than any of the other Rio Grande Valley mayors, some new to the job like him, but much more active.

The current chaos and disarray over at two of the city's economic entities, Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC) and Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation (GBIC), is a prime example of the failures that dog Brownsville. Both city-appointed entities reportedly were designed to bring new business to town, from elsewhere or from within if qualified.

It never happened.

Big money went down the rathole and Brownsville got no jobs or no businesses. Some monies did go to existing businesses, but none that, say, brought better-paying jobs. Both BCIC and GBIC are still in existence. The question is: Why?

Any other city with better leadership would have cut its losses by abolishing both boards, re-framing the mission and starting over from scratch, with a fail-safe administration mission and better-educated boardmembers. As things stand, Brownsville is doing that, in effect insisting on future failures.

Perhaps the poverty thing is so ingrained here that no one gives it much thought. The city at the mouth of the Rio Grande is home to a population that counts 94.7% Hispanics (Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, according to the Census Bureau), and the thinking there likely being that this bloc of people is used to being poor.

Yeah, poor Brownsville...

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MAR-A-LAGO:...Trump Sees Ramaswamy As Veep...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | What's that - he likes the dark-skin dude? Holy moley...me, oh, my...he's the apple of Trump's eye. Shocker. Upset City. Pick a cliche. It'll fit.

Donald J. Trump, the four-times indicted cat seeking the Republican Party's 2024 presidential nomination, says he'd be okay with Indian-American Vivek Ramaswamy as his vice-president. Not that it's going to happen, but that's what he's saying.

There was this today from axios.com: [ Donald Trump showered Vivek Ramaswamy with praise when asked in an interview if he'd considered the 38-year-old biotech entrepreneur for vice president.

It's the most Trump has weighed in on Ramaswamy's presidential candidacy, revealing his openness to a significantly younger and arguably more radical anti-Washington unknown.

Driving the news: Trump called Ramaswamy "smart" and "young" and "full of talent" when asked by conservative talk show host Glenn Beck what he thinks of a "Vice President Ramaswamy."

"He's a very, very, very intelligent person. He's got good energy, and he could be some form of something," Trump said of Ramaswamy. "I tell you, I think he'd be very good." ]

But we all know Trump is a horrible judge of people.

How many of his White House people are under indictment?

Yeah.

This is more like the Kiss of Death for Ramaswamy...

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HARLINGEN:...Gonzalez Brings Home The Bacon...

 

STAFF REPORT

HARLINGEN, Texas | Congressman Vicente Gozalez has been good for this Mid-Valley city. He keeps bringing home the bacon. That's a good thing for the Democrat, as itching Republicans are hot on his heels ahead of the 2024 election.

This from Harlingen Mayor Norma Sepulveda, shown in photo above next to Gonzalez in suit & tie: [ We hosted Congressman Vicente Gonzalez at City Hall and he held a press conference to provide a legislative update for our district. Back in March, we submitted 10 projects to be considered by the Congressman and 2 were funded through earmarks. These included 5th and 7th Streets Storm Sewer Drainage Improvements for roughly $1.4 Million. This project will replace 1.22 miles of 12 to 24-inch reinforced concrete pipes, manholes, and inlets mostly among segments of 5th and 7th Street. This project will help downtown and major thoroughfares known to be flood-prone. Also funded at approximately $650K was our request to update the radio equipment for the Harlingen Police Department. ]

I mean, that's a good deal.

Any way you look at it...

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SUN RECORDS: Newsroom Jukebox - "Hotel California"...

MAYRA:...That Photo With The Bishop...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

BROWNSVILLE, Texas | Has she been back? Back to visit with Bishop Daniel Flores. The photo you see above is one taken a few months ago, when Republican and 34th Congressional District candidate Mayra Flores was hot, as in front-center in national news.

We always wondered what their conversation consisted of, whether it was a roundhouse chat on all-things-religion or just on the hot-button issue of abortion.

Bishop Flores, head of the Brownsville Diocese, is pro-life, of course.

Mayra Flores, daughter of San Benito by way of Tamaulipas, Mexico, is anti-abortion, so the conversation had to be a pleasant one for both of these homo sapiens.

We tried to get at the bottom of this presumed symbiotic relationship, but were walled back from any direct answer from her camp when Miss Flores blocked all access to her Facebook and other social media accounts. We are persona non grata to the respiratory technician now living in bucolic Los Indios. Oh, well.

And then it hit us that this photo may also have been taken after she won the congressional seat once owned by local favorite son Fil Vela back last summer. Could be, we were told without any sense of definitiveness.

Miss Flores, of course, lost the important race against better-funded and better-educated Democrat Vicente Gonzalez last November.

If she hit up on Bishop Flores after winning the Special Election (and serving a brief six months), well, what could have brought her to his manger? Was she seeking advice (talking points from the cloth) on how to speak to the abortion issue up in Washington, D.C.? Was she interested in carrying news that her district in Deep South Texas was chock-full of anti-abortion Mexicans and Mexican-Americans?

Who knows?

By the way, Mayra Flores isn't saying much these days. She's actually quieted down. At least, publicly, although we're sure her Facebook page and her Twitter (now X) are full of the usual FOX News tripe. You know her cheap spiel: open borders, Hunter Biden, Joe Biden's age, pro-gun psalms, the entire Republican Party platform stuff, in other words.

Has she said anything about Congressman Gonzalez?

Oh, for sure. She has him dead-center in her ledger notes of must-do daily utterances.

All that, yes.

We still wonder if she's stayed in touch with Bishop Flores. That's an intriguing friendship, I must say.

And, yeah, what ever happened to religion staying out of our national politics? What a crock, eh? The two are likethis these days. Thisclose!

In any case, I like that photograph. Look at it atop this post. What is Bishop Flores saying to her at the moment the photo was taken?

"I'm gonna need you to lay some Uncle Sam cash on me, child," that's what he's saying...

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TAMPA:...Hurricane Idalia About To Slam Florida...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Geez, Louise. It was only last September 28th that Hurricane Ian raked its killer 150-miles-per-hour winds full-across central Florida, cutting northeast from Tampa to Lee County off the Atlantic Coast. In all, 144 Floridians died during that hurricane.

This one, say the weatherboys, will also be a monster.

And already, the state led by flaky Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is battening up the hatches and stocking up on essentials such as water, paper products, ice and perhaps even beer.

This comment from a local about that from tampatimes.com: [ "People are worried. This is unusual, even for a hurricane," said cashier Tina Hayes, 57. Some might be more concerned because of Hurricane Ian’s destruction last year, she said. ]

DeSantis earned a bit of silly criticism after Hurricane Ian from Palm Beach resident Donald J. Trump, who noted DeSantis had lapped-up to President Joe Biden (Democrat) perhaps a bit too much when asking for post-hurricane federal aid, which he got.

This time, presidential candidate DeSantis quickly left the campaign trail in Iowa as this hurricane set its sights on defenseless Floridians, a favorite target of these meteorological bastards.

Hurricane Idalia is set to make landfall tomorrow morning, Wednesday.

I do love that name, yes...

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MIAMI:...First Republican Hopeful Out...Fuera!!!...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | One aspirant down. And it's the Hispanic candidate. Florida's Francis Suarez never had a chance. He entered the 2024 Republican presidential sweepstakes late and never got his footing. He hit the campaign trail in important Iowa and even visited McAllen on his tour of the Mexican border. But he got zero, nothing in return.

This from the Miami Herald: [ After laying low for a week, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said on Tuesday that he has suspended his presidential campaign. Suarez, an attorney and private equity executive, announced his decision on social media.

"While I have decided to suspend my campaign for President, my commitment to making this a better nation for every American remains," he posted on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.

Suarez, who was the only Hispanic candidate seeking the GOP nomination, launched his campaign on June 14 after teasing a run for months. He raised millions of dollars and hoped to connect with conservative voters by branding himself as a tech-savvy big-city mayor who is pro-police and business-friendly. ]

So, who's next to the Exit door?

We say former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson will bow out soon, as will North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. They simply do not have the political legs to stick around for the next debate even. That one comes around Sept. 27th.

South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott is treading water, as is ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Still in the hunt, but barely, if we can be honest, are Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Veep Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and overnight sensation Vivek Ramaswamy, who, we say, has peaked.

They at least had a chance at making ground; unknown Frances Suarez never did...

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EDITOR'S NOTES:...The Cadence of Coffee...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | It's true - mornings are a bit hot these days. My day usually starts at about 5:30 Ayem with my cold-water shower. After that, a quick looksee at my Email on my trusted HP laptop leads to looking for my cleanest jeans and shirt. I'm out of the apartment by 7:00 AM and at my neighborhood Starbucks a few minutes later.

But, boy, that first cup of Pike Blend hits me a bit rougher lately. And I blame the day's fast-arriving heat. I mean, 85 degrees at such an early time is just this side of cruel. I'm not alone on any of this, as conversation at the coffee shop tends to lead with the horribly hot weather.

I know. It's the Annual Texas Summer Scorch.

And, hey, weren't Brazilians complaining about 97 degrees in their country. Then you realize that it's winter down there and that, yes, 97 is damned hot for them, as well. Almost a-hunnered in the middle of winter. Can you say Global Grilling?

Anyway, I enjoy my early mornings, so the heat was something I just had to endure, like the stray dogs and cats and that one homeless guy I keep seeing outside my favorite breakfast restaurant. The other day, my friend Roy had one of the waitresses take him a few tacos and a cup of Joe. He was gone by the time I left the popular, always-noisy eatery.

One thing I did recently was suspend our Discussion Group's weekly meeting.

Yes, we tire of talking Trump and all that jazz. But, again, some of the guys were saying it's just too damned hot to roust out of bed for yet some more analysis of what ails this great country. We'll be back in Mid-September, was the consensus.

My comment to that went to a sincere belief that little will have changed in our national politics by then. It's just a feeling, like the one you get when you spot a pretty lady at the bar and she answers your initial smile with one of her own. Valley women should smile more, is what I say.

Life is daily.

I live it sort of quietly, all things considered.

But back to my coffee. It is without a doubt my only surviving vice. Once there were many more; today it is my beloved morning coffee that satisfies a lot inside my aging body.

I picked up a bag of the Pike Blend yesterday morning. It costs a bit more than $16, when pre-Covid-19 it was like $11.99. Time and expenses fly. No big deal. I may or may not brew some at my apartment on any given day, although I could. My four-cup Mr. Coffee is as reliable as, well, the day's freakin' heat.

The day's news and possible stories for this platform will take up some of the rest of my day.

I've got two-three new books I ordered online, so those'll likely grab me after lunch, between 2:00 PM and 6:00 PM. Then, it's a call-around to see what sweetheart wants to go get dinner. I'm feeling P.F. Chang's right now, although I always give-in to whatever they want.

By nightfall, my bent is toward easy relaxation. No politics, no arguing, no pontificating, no BS.

A stop at Starbucks for a post-dinner cup of coffee and a helping of pleasant conversation sets the stage for what's to come later on...

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BORDER:...Texas Guardsman Fires Across Rio Grande...Hits Mexican...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | It begins. Wait, wait. We're being a bit overly-dramatic there. Yes, a Mexican citizen was shot by a Texas National Guardsman, but it's a reach to say the U.S. will soon invade Mexico, as nutty Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has promised.

This from texastribune.org: [ A National Guard member on duty at the Texas-Mexico border in El Paso fired across the Rio Grande, injuring a 37-year-old Mexican man in Ciudad Juárez on Saturday night, according to the Texas Military Department and Mexican news outlets.

"On the night of 26 August, a National Guard Servicemember assigned to Operation Lone Star discharged a weapon in a border-related incident," a spokesperson for the military department said in a statement. "The incident is under investigation. More information will be made available as the investigation progresses."

According to El Diario, a Spanish language newspaper in Juárez, Darwin José García of the southern Mexican state of Veracruz initially told police he was migrant attempting to cross into the U.S. But the man later told reporters he was practicing a sport on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande around 8:50 p.m. Saturday while a group of migrants were crossing the river, according to the newspaper. García said he then heard shots and realized he had been shot in the leg, the newspaper reported. ]

We looked for but could not find any sort of comment about this shooting from Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

Perhaps he'll have a comment later today, or maybe we missed it.

Abbott is always cat-quick to note stuff coming from the southern side of the Mighty Rio Grande (Yes, that's the lame Rio Grande in the photo atop this post), but he always goes quiet when things on this side go wrong.

Hey, your guys shot a man standing on his country's soil.

Abbott's not listening...

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TEXAS:...Uh, What Effin' Sovereign State???...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Again, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is crowing about his "sovereign" state. He'd been quiet of late, but an opinion piece he is said to have written has been published by the New York Post. In it, Republican Abbott claims he is defending the border against migrants crossing over from Mexico by way of his so-called "state sovereign rights".

We say: What fuckin' state sovereign rights?

Texas, at last check, is a member of the United States and, as such, bows to the federal government on most aspects of domestic and international relations.

Abbott wrote this in an editorial published in today's edition of the New York Post: Biden is clearly more concerned with preventing Texas from protecting our sovereignty than stopping transnational criminals from exploiting his border crisis for profit or discouraging migrants from risking their lives to enter America illegally.

Texas needs to secede from the 50-state union to claim sovereignty. Yes, there are "states' rights," but that's something different. Here, when Abbott says Texas is being invaded by unarmed migrants, well, invasion by a foreign country or, say, criminals, would be clear cause for a federal response. Until you see a six-deep line of mad migrants crossing over firing AR-15s, well, it's not really an invasion, at least not a military one that would warrant national action. 

From Wikipedia, on whether Texas is a sovereign state: While Texas has been part of various political entities throughout its history, including 10 years during 1836–1846 as the independent Republic of Texas, the current legal status is as a state of the United States of America.

Abbott's use of the word is merely political, and cheap politics at that.

He should stop saying it, 'cause the feds keep laughing at him. Or, more to the point, he should stop using it to buttress his weird actions along the Rio Grande. Perhaps he picked it up from Mexico's calmer president, who, correctly, has said his "sovereign nation" is opposed to any meddling from the United States.

Sovereign must just sound good for Abbott.

Too bad it holds zero legal standing. If it wanted to, the federal government could fly an F-16 over his buoys and blow them out of the water. Abbott would moan and groan and Rednecks would howl for a civil war, but there is nothing Texas could do about it.

That Abbott says President Joe Biden, a Democrat, is concerned with "preventing Texas from protecting our sovereignty" is wrong. The federal government defends all states against any sort of aggression. Abbott knows this. He also knows that he used millions of dollars from Covid-19 aid given to Texas by the federal government to combat the virus for work on his Border Wall plan, which has failed.

The Texas-Mexico border is still not secured.

Blame lies with the federal government on that, although, well, a few other elements always work themselves into the equation - we are a country of immigrants, we offer asylum and we remain a beacon of freedom (according to our lying high school American History books).

I'm waiting for Abbott's next move.

Surely, he's not going to simply take to writing editorials for conservative newspapers.

Is he?...

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SUN STORIES:..."Nobody's Angel"...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Patrick was done with daytime TV. Morning had broken with breaking news about some horrific death down the road toward Brownsville of a teenager, his pals injured in an overnight wreck. And then had come head-shaking audio and video from a news conference held by a crazy front-runner for the American presidency.

Things were toasting from sea to shining sea and chewing was getting hard on the front teeth. Moving noise accompanied the afternoon rain for the first time ever, and it became clear to Patrick that simply living a life without societal drama was now a thing of the past.

He called his current female companion, a sparkplug hairstylist named Laura, and asked to see her.

"I'm on my period for three more days," she had quickly thrown at him, drawing real laughter from Patrick, who had grown up with a hard-ass father who made fun of his mother's menstrual cycle.

"I just want to have a nice, quiet dinner with you," he'd said in a rare, restrained tone. Where, had been her next line.

"I'm thinking of something basic, like meat loaf and mashed potatoes, rolls and iced tea over at Diaz Diner downtown," he'd said in calm reply.

"Geez, Patrick," she went on. "That does not sound like you. Something basic? Since when! You're a heartless, bronc-busting cowboy, a bow-hunter, a demanding-as-Hell lover and a tireless warrior from way back in the day!"

Been watching the news, he told her. That's what's got me down a bit. Laura, a Mexican woman with the sort of body that says "romance a-comin' " with every high-heel step she took, laughed a bit softer this time.

"That's why I tell you, lunkhead -  all you need on TV is Judge Judy," she continued, sighing for effect. "News today will ruin your day and your life!"

Seven okay for you, she heard him say from the other end.

"Seven-thirty," she shot back, fronting her womanhood...

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POLITICS:...So What If He Next Runs As A Republican?...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

BROWNSVILLE, Texas | Eric Garza hasn't had a smooth ride in his first three years as sheriff of simpleton-heavy Cameron County. Problems within the department have dogged his administration. Disgruntled employees have been airing dirty laundry. Inmates have died in custody at the county jail.

And local bloggers have gone loco in criticizing his every move.

Now, it is a vato-fueled rumor moving slowly but surely across town that Garza, a Democrat, may be switching to the Republican Party for his reelection campaign in 2024. The idea has rankled a few unemployed locals.

To that we say, "So what if he does switch?"

Big effin' deal.

It's not as if it would mean actually much to the day-to-day job. A congressional candidate switching parties is one thing; a local politician doing it is largely meaningless and only a barely superficial stain on his record, if that.

Local public officials are not any more empowered by being either a Democrat or a Republican. Oh, the Republican governor may come down to visit you are mayor and if you say you're one of his ilk, but nothing will change as far as doing the job. The same performance metrics will be in place.

The connection some loose-tongued residents make between, say, the sheriff's office and that of a more powerful post, like congressman or governor, is nonsense. Rio Grande Valley counties have had both Democrats and Republicans and...it's played out fine. No Republican sheriff has gone after residents of the poor side of town, nor have they favored the wealthy. It's been rather calm, in fact.

Last election saw the sitting sheriff (who had been beaten in a primary election by Eric Garza) up and support the Republican candidate in the eventual race. Omar Lucio was that fake Democrat and, well, the Republican lost and 84-year-old Lucio died, but nothing wild and onerous ever happened. That's gray-hair Lucio in photo above. A local resident was killed in his home by one of Lucio's escaped prisoners. Such wanton lawlessness has not happened under Sheriff Garza.

The job is the same for whoever gets it, political party aside.

That Eric Garza sees better possibilities as a Republican would be normal.

He's a politician, fer chrissakes!

Besides, and this is as important as anything else, Garza really has not had a major scandal on his hands. Hidalgo County Sheriff J.E. "Eddie" Guerra can say the same thing. But his predecessor? Man, what a lawless lout. Now there was a lost missile.

That would be one Lupe Treviño, who was first elected as Hidalgo County Sheriff in 2005, pled guilty to money laundering in 2014. Treviño was accused of accepting money for his 2012 re-election campaign from Weslaco drug trafficker, Tomás Gonzalez, also known as “El Gallo.” A judge sentenced Treviño to five years in federal prison.

His son Jonathan, a deputy and former Mission Police Department detective, was found guilty of drug trafficking and sentenced to 17 years in prison. He is scheduled for release in May, 2031.

Compared to that mess, Eric Garza's tenure as sheriff has been rather tame, yes.

But scandalous, no.

Not even close. He's been a lightning rod for bored and petty Brownsville bloggers and no one else.

Whether he seeks reelection as a Democrat or switches party to the Republican fold is meaningless at the end of the day. The job carries no political clout outside its operating sphere. Being a "local" Republican is not like being a "state" or "national" Republican.

The so-called power here comes from the job itself, not the party affiliation... 

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Republicans Are About To Tear Into Surging Vivek Ramaswamy...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Isn't it cool that Republicans are starting to hate one of their own - Vivek Ramaswamy, the rising political star who keeps ascending in the party's 2024 presidential polls? That guy. He's strike-zone hot, as they say of streaky baseball hitters.

But it'll get rougher for him as the Dog Days of August on the campaign trail cool off into the Fall. The election is still 14 months away, yet one can't help but notice Ramaswamy's arrival in a political party that at heart already has its preferred candidate - one Donald J. Trump.

That performance at the Republican National Committee's first debate in Milwaukee last Wednesday was not a wildly successful night for him, but Ramaswamy said enough to roil the feelings of his seven fellow Republicans onstage.

Candidate Nikki Haley, for one, chastised him on several occasions, once telling him he knew nothing of foreign policy. Ramaswamy smiled it away. Same for criticism he got from former Veep Mike Pence, who got an earful from his younger (38) opponent about Pence's handling of his election certification duties at the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 - the day of the infamous riot.

Ramaswamy did not back down. And he rarely does that. His wife Apoorva (a physician) told Time Magazine that Vivek loves sports, but considers politics his favorite game. "He just loves to talk," his wife said.

So, would the Republican Party consider Ramaswamy's candidacy seriously? We ask this because his poll numbers rose from a paltry 3% before the debate to a respectable 8%. It's not a great improvement, but is quite sizable for a literal nobody. His gain in that department rankled supporters on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, to date the runner-up to Trump in most party polls.

Is Ramaswamy right or left of Trump. That's what we were looking for in our data search.

This from the profile in Time Magazine: [ Ramaswamy's politics are often hard-right: he wants to cut federal regulators, supports ending affirmative action, and argues that trans kids are often dealing with unrelated mental health problems. But he doesn’t always sound like a typical Republican. Though he describes himself as personally "pro-life," he is one of few GOP candidates who admits he does not support a federal abortion ban. He wants to ban social media for people under 16, and scrap the automatic right to vote for those under 25. ]

What comes across clearly about this guy is his glibness.

Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and an ex-ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, couldn't help frowning or looking at Ramaswamy with some disdain during that first debate. He was that effusive, his points all well-known, hard-ass Republican points, but issued always with the confidence of a raw but sharp political rookie. He is a graduate of Harvard and Yale Law School.

Unlike Trump, Vivek did not inherit his millions. As a businessman dealing in volatile hedge fund investments (pharmaceuticals), Ramaswamy found enough profitable success there to become a billionaire somewhat recently, in 2021. He likes to say he owns two modest homes in his native Ohio, but will also tell you he travels in three private jets he owns. And he loves to play down his wealth.

An anecdote in the Time Magazine article recalls a woman he met while campaigning in New Hampshire who told him she was ashamed to say she was just one of the "us cowtown people" in the state. Ramaswamy drew her smile when he said, "Oh, come on. I'm one of you."

It is that sort of connection he forges easily with voters he meets - something totally at odds with, say, Donald Trump's entitled behavior.

But we'll see if he keeps ascending.

His own Republican mates may be the ones shooting him down....

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The Farm & Ranch Report...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | So, you're now thinking that Donald J. Trump is on his way to jail, that, yeah, it still holds that no one is above the law? Many an American got that in their brain after last Thursday's show in Atlanta, where Trump surrendered on those charges that he tried to overturn Georgia's vote in the 2020 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Well, don't get your hopes too high.

There are three reasons why Trump will never go to jail: (1.) he's white, (2.) he's rich and (3.) he's male.

That slow process of getting him to where he is now (actually facing charges of instigating a coup d'état) moved at a snail's pace for a reason. White America, including plenty of Democrats, does not want a white man to be the first jailed president ever. Yeah, laugh all you want. And then study our history.

You've heard it said over and over: If a Black president had done what Trump did, he'd have been imprisoned long-ago. True that. You know it. Trump has been the recipient of a load of breaks, before and after he was elected president. The guy has lived a charmed life. Three attractive wives, several more-attractive porn stars, big bank loans from Russia, a home in ritzy, ethnocentric (mostly whites) Palm Beach, two stupid sons out spewing lies he told them, a daughter who made her millions off China and a son-in-law who didn't leave the White House with Trump until he'd pocketed a $2 billion gift from Saudi Arabia in exchange for who knows what.

No, that climax scene in this lousy, B-grade movie starring one of our citizen fatboys will not include camerawork of Trump being walked into a federal prison.

Not happening.

Best for him would be house arrest. In Mar-a-Lago, that would be about as good as it gets for that program. Punishment? No, not anywhere close. But maybe it will shut him up somewhat, something the country needs desperately, Rednecks all-aside.

Let us hope...

-0-

Notre Dame beat the U.S. Naval Academy 42-3 yesterday in college football's initial game of the 2023 season. It was 28-0 at halftime. Not much of a competitive contest, but, well, we were sort of itching for football, so we sat in front of the TV and watched the merciless beating.

Next up for us is next Saturday's game between Texas and Rice in Austin. It should also be a general whipping as Rice, well, is not anywhere near a top tier football program. The test will be on the Longhorns, a team which has been disappointing since QB Vince Young led it to the national title in 2005. We expect big things from Texas, but we know we'll ultimately be let-down.

That's been their pattern, which is sad because the Horns have won nine national championships, the first one coming in 1914.

 -0-

Not much lately from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the Man Who Tamed The Tame Rio Grande. The Republican made waves all year up until recently. He's been too-quiet, which makes us believe that he'll soon add to his buoys as Border Wall policy and razor wire as a re-enactment of the Battle of The Bulge.

What could be up Abbott's sleeves?

I fear the worst, mainly because this guy has so much free time on his hands. I mean - the buoys? We had to laugh when we first heard of this, but, well, Maria, there they are in the middle of the passive Rio Grande. Some solution to the migrant problem that is always magnified by Republicans.

But, no, it would not surprise me one bit if prankster Abbott up and announced Texas had purchased the old Berlin Wall and would be erecting it along the northern banks of the Rio Grande, this after failing to buy chunks of the Great Wall of China, when the Chinese said, uh, no.

You think?

-0-

The weather's been a bit more tolerable lately, but we're not done with the Annual Texas Summer Scorch. This coming week will be Hell once again. The day's high reading in McAllen tomorrow will be 108 degrees, with the feels like at about 115-degrees. Tuesday and Wednesday will be at 103 degrees, according to the air-conditioned weatherboys.

September arrives on Friday. That will be, if nothing else, a state-of-mind blessing.

Halloween is two months away, Thanksgiving three months and Christmas four months.

Are you ready!?! Are you ready!?!

-0-

Our wandering reporting staff spent the weekend on South Padre Island, where some of them said the drinks were better than the beach. We had asked a few of them to stopover in Brownsville, the Harlem of The Rio Grande Valley, snoop around and bring us a report on that city's doings or undoings.

Brownsville is still poor and boring, they messaged.

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SUN RECORDS: Newsroom Jukebox - "Pretty Woman"...

No Surprise:...They Only Jailed The Black Guy...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | One more time: How many defendants at that wild jail booking in Atlanta, Georgia the other day? Eighteen, you say. And how many of them were white? What - there was one Black man? And who among the indicted glitterati that included Donald J. Trump and Rudy Giuliani was jailed...and is still in jail?

The Black man.

No one else.

Yeah, no surprise there, I suppose.

This from a news report: [ Trump and the 18 co-defendants in his Georgia election interference RICO case all met the deadline to surrender to authorities for arrest on Friday, and while most of them were released from the Fulton County jail on bail, one remains in custody. 

Harrison Floyd, a former marine who was associated with the group "Blacks For Trump," (shown in photo above) was charged earlier this month with three counts related to his alleged participation in a racketeering scheme to meddle with the 2020 election results and his harassment of campaign worker Ruby Freeman. 

During a court appearance Friday, Floyd appeared without an attorney and claimed that he could not afford to hire one. The court countered that he did not qualify for the services of a Georgia public defender, which are granted or denied following an application and eligibility review. Judge Emily Richardson informed Floyd that she would not be granting his release on bond at that moment.

"There are grounds for bond to be denied at this point," Richardson told Floyd. "I’m going to go ahead and find that you are a risk to commit additional felonies and a potential risk to flee the jurisdiction. So I’m going to deny bond, but a full consideration of bond will be addressed." ]

Floyd’s case has now been assigned to Judge Scott McAfee. 

When the bond wasn’t granted, the co-defendant objected and argued he had presented himself to authorities for his surrender in a timely manner. "I got on a plane, I voluntarily came here," Floyd said. 

Some noted that this is not Floyd’s first arrest. In Maryland, he was charged after allegedly assaulting an FBI agent in May. The agent had served him a subpoena related to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s separate investigation into Trump’s efforts to interfere with the 2020 election.

So the "Blacks For Trump" guy remains in jail. Sounds like he actually fronted "Thugs For Trump," but we may be being a bit too-harsh.

It's just interesting and notable that the only Black dude in the indicted gang was the only one deemed a "flight risk" and a "risk to commit additional felonies."

Geez, Louise, that sounds more like...Donald J. Trump.

And, by the way, Trump has not come forward to vouch for or to pay Floyd's bond...

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