By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ
McALLEN, Texas |...Angry talk moves like wheels falling off an aging garbage truck. Noisy and dangerous. Dogs no longer bark. They know. Cats, too. Birds have flown over to the island. Wives are stocking up on Ranch Style canned beans and soups. Men are drinking as never before.
The nasty election looms.
Grandpa used to say times and the future would be better. He's been dead since 2016. What are we to do? Is there hope for America or are we merely going full doom & gloom here. When is the last time you squashed an ant with your boot heels just because it was there?
Wearing your thoughts on your sleeve these days, there at the ready? Come at me 'cause I like Joe Biden whenever you're up to it. Digging on me 'cause I'm Brown and for Trump? Drop your guard, homeboy! This one is for malaria, the forgotten disease.
Will antsy Republican Mayra Flores climb that mountain and knock incumbent Democrat Vicente Gonzales off his 34th Congressional District perch this time? She's into it hot & heavy, we hear. Sharp-as-a-nail Democrat Michelle Vallejo doing the same against Republican Single Mom Monica De la Cruz in our 15th Congressional District.
Hey, it's the bottom of the fourth inning in all of this. Who's ahead in these three contests, all being played in local, adjoining ballfields. The crowds are not roaring, not in support, no. That noise coming from the stands, the upper decks, is not applause or feet in a synchronized stomping. The wave as yet has no color.
We Americans love our sports, and politics is it right now. Anyone following the National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs? No? I thought so. Boring baseball? No, again. Waiting on muddy football? Perhaps.
One thing is clear here: Someone will win.
Politics offers no ties, no sharing of the crown. Biden is up, Trump is on trial. Vicente Gonzales is plotting, Mayra Flores should have spent the last two years wring a book, autobiographical and on policy. Monica De La Cruz is still unsure of her Republican wings. She's not MAGA, so how low is she on the congressional totem pole. Opponent Michelle Vallejo is all-Valley, even owning a flea market in puro-Valley Alton.
I could give you odds on these three races.
But I'll wait until the dusty corner jukebox in this rolling cantina stops playing those scratchy records of intoxicating cumbias better suited for another day...
-30-
Blue Wave! I see it!!!
ReplyDeleteBiden, Vicente and Michelle Vallejo!!!
DeleteMy Poll:
DeleteBiden up, Trump down.
Vicente up, Mayra down.
Michelle up, Monica down.
Vicente has brought a lot of federal dollars to the valley. We should keep him.
DeleteNice photo of Mayra, tho.
DeleteI see the same old Mayra. Nothing's changed with her since she lost in 2022. No growth there.
Delete"Women and families in Texas are having their freedoms, liberty and safety stripped away from them and I'm fighting back. #TX15 deserves a congresswoman that will stand up for our families no matter what." - Michelle Vallejo
DeleteMichelle Vallejo is looking better and better every day. She is puro-Valle!
DeleteMayra Flores has her Facebook page full of photos of her stopping at places to eat. That's a campaign?
DeleteKRGV-TV should hire her to do restaurant reviews!
DeleteRepublican Monica de la Garza seems not to be into this this time around. Perhaps she has petered out.
Delete"Yesterday was a monumental day as we broke ground on the new air traffic control tower at Valley International Airport in the City of Harlingen. I was proud to secure $4.5 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to improve air traffic safety and efficiency. Grateful for the collaboration with FAA, Mayor Norma Sepulveda, and local leaders. This project marks a significant advancement for our community's infrastructure. #TX34." - Vicente Gonzalez
Delete"Monica De La Cruz has proven to us that she will never put our hardworking South Texas families first. We deserve so much better. This November we are holding her accountable and she's getting fired." - Democrat Michelle Vallejo
DeleteMonica's been getting some heat from MAGA types almost every day. She's not fighting back.
DeleteCNN Poll: Few think Trump is being treated the same as other defendants. True that. Special treatment!!!
ReplyDeleteHe's 78 in another month, so they're just being kind to this old coot.
DeleteIt’s pretty telling that Trump isn’t going after this National Enquirer witness guy on social media. It's obvious that he knows where the bodies are buried. Trump has no choice but to eat it.
ReplyDeleteWhere's Melania?
DeleteWhy does this Supreme Court not read the Nixon decision that is now precedent? That decision said the President was not above the law and certain actions had nothing to do with being President. The Constitution limits the Executive power (no where does it say, oh great GOP believers in strict reading of the Constitution, that a President is able to violate the laws or extend his/her power) AND no person is "above the law" nor can be, in a democracy.
ReplyDeleteThis is about the Supreme Court delaying for Trump. It's shameful. Day one it should have been thrown out.
DeleteWhy is The Supreme Court being allowed to join this Madness? Someone or Something needs to be done ASAP..Please!!
DeleteI see these doomsday headlines every day and increasingly realize that America is already gone. We have so many people dragging her down, trampling her democracy, ideals and decency. Everyone who still believes in this country is being called on to save it and I fear not enough people will respond. Trump and the 1 percent won’t suffer. Neither will the SCOTUS. But the rest of us… we might just be doomed.
ReplyDelete"Todd Blanche was a partner at a prestigious law firm when he quit and took on Trump as a client"
ReplyDeleteHe had no choice but to quit because his firm wanted nothing to do with Trump. This, folks, is what is referred to as a BAD CAREER move.
Justice Clarence Thomas chooses not to recuse himself from another January 6-related case. Republicans are just doing whatever the hell they want to do!
ReplyDeleteSocial Security’s COLA formula could change under new proposal — and mean higher benefits for seniors. Early projections have 2025 increase at a low 2.6%
ReplyDeleteWhat's bad is that the formula they use does not take into account the cost of groceries or gasoline. They should, of course.
DeleteBefore the Republican party went crazy, I would joke for whichever candidate I thought would be best and it didn't matter which party they belonged to. Not anymore. I will never vote for another Republican!
ReplyDeleteGood for you!
DeleteAbout those campus protests: America, the melting pot? or America, the powder keg?
ReplyDeleteNo MAGA types show up to support Trump today! One headline: "Trump PANICS AGAIN when NO ONE Shows At Trial"
ReplyDeleteChrist, I hope the same thing happens at the polls in November.
Trump claims hush money trial Interferes with his campaign, but on his day off he went golfing. That was last Wednesday, a day off in court.
ReplyDeleteHe doesn't care. Ever.
DeleteWhy did the Founders add "Impeachment" to the Constitution if the POTUS had Immunity?
ReplyDeleteThe history books will record Biden as one of the best presidents in history.
ReplyDeleteEcho that.
DeletePresident Joe Biden says he's 'happy to debate' Donald Trump. Trump says he's ready to go
ReplyDeleteCourt is too cold, says Trump! You’d think a stable genius would know how to dress to not be cold. Besides, he’d be even more likely to fall asleep if it was warmer.
ReplyDeleteTelevise the trial. Americans need to see and hear it all.
ReplyDeleteIf you as a voter want a president who looks out for your interests and things that directly impact your pocketbook in a positive way, the Democratic presidents have done that.
ReplyDeleteFDR - Social Security
LBJ - Medicare and voting rights act
Obama - Health care insurance.
Biden - insulin prices
It seems to me that the average Republican guy who is railing about the economy should think about that.
Crooked Clarence Thomas is not retiring. He knows all his "friends" will leave him when he gives up his position. White wife Ginni may even leave him.
ReplyDeleteThe Trump lawyer at the Supreme Court hearing said, "making a mistake doesn't lead you to criminal prosecution". This statement is absolute absurdity! Every single day people are prosecuted for unknowingly making mistakes and spend time in jail over it.
ReplyDeleteThat's the lawyer's name in comment below, btw.
DeleteTrump lawyer D. John Sauer has claimed at the Supreme Court today that the 'official acts' of a president, immune from criminal prosecution should include:
ReplyDelete- stealing the Nation's secrets to sell them for personal gain to foreign entities, declaring an election null-and-void if the results indicate the opposition won, ordering the assassination of political rivals without evidence or trial,
accepting bribes from foreign dignitaries and industry moguls.
This sounds to me like John Sauer wants his POTUS to have the powers of a Medieval King.
What has become clear to me is that when Trump is told that something he wants to do is illegal, he never responds by saying "well, we can't do that", but instead always responds with "How do we get away with it?". That is the mindset of a career criminal. Not someone I want leading this nation.
ReplyDeleteStormy Daniels is the next scheduled witness!!!
ReplyDeleteOpinion: The Supreme Court just showed us that Trump is not incompetent. He's a master of corruption
ReplyDeleteZero respect for Supreme Court. Zero confidence.
DeleteIf we fail to act decisively and vote Democrat in the upcoming November elections, we must hold ourselves accountable for the consequences, as the warning signs have been evident. Therefore, it is crucial that we actively participate in the democratic process and cast our votes to protect our nation's democratic values and institutions.
ReplyDeleteMAGA Trumpers can't figure this out, they deliberately go to information sources that lie to them and they know this to be true, but yet they still repeatedly go back to those same sources for their information.
ReplyDeleteSo of course, whenever they go to any other network that is reporting on a story or an issue to them, they're going to see it as a lie because it's not the version that they heard from the source of information that they prefer to use that they know lies to them.
What a complicated confusing world it is for the MAGA Trumpers
President Biden and Democrats need to get going. Be bold! Be aggressive. Trump is down. Let the American people know what you Demos can do!!!
ReplyDeleteThe courtroom is frigid, yet Trump is sweating it out.
ReplyDelete