Farmworker Asked About Paycheck...Farmer Slapped Him Across Face...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | They put food on your table. Every day, without fail. For low pay and tough working conditions. Long hours in the hot sun, employers who don't give a damn about the God-awful housing they provide. Employers who are slow to pay.

America's farmworkers.

And often, they get abused.

This about one such incident in Utah that happened last week: [ The president of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation, Ron B. Gibson, will take a leave of absence after allegedly assaulting an employee at Gibson’s farm in Weber County, Utah, on Aug. 8. Gibson is also under investigation for human trafficking and fraud following the incident, according to the Weber County Sheriff’s Office.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed by the employee, he and other co-workers had not been given their last four paychecks. They confronted Gibson about the matter, which led to a physical altercation.

A video released by KSL News shows Gibson, 50, telling an employee to "shut up" before hitting him in the face with the back of his hand. The injury required further medical attention, according to the police statement.

Gibson’s employees told KSL about unlivable conditions on the farm, where 14 people live in a house with the smell of urine and feces due to an overflowing septic tank. One worker said they work from morning till sundown, "while Ron goes on trips and adventures and [the workers] don’t have money to eat."

Gibson was booked into the Weber County Jail on one count of assault, but has since been released.

This was followed by a statement from the Utah Farm Bureau Federation announcing Gibson’s leave of absence "following an incident involving an employee on his farm."

In that same statement, Gibson apologized, stating, "I’m disappointed in myself. I have deep respect for the men and women willing to work on farms across America, including mine. I simply could not manage the farm without their help, and we wouldn’t have the abundance we do in this country without them."

Teresa Romero, president of United Farm Workers, shared a statement on the incident: ". . . .This situation is disturbing and unfortunately not that uncommon. The courage of these workers is remarkable. They clearly are facing retaliation including physical violence but they’re still working to hold this man accountable. This man is the head of the Utah Farm Bureau. He is supposed to be a leader in his community - but the only ones showing leadership are the workers brave enough to stand up to him. People who abuse the workers who feed this country should face the harshest penalties possible." ]

The name of the abused farmworker was not given.

Not paid in four weeks? That's enough of a reason to go asking why not.

The employer wasn't taking questions. He told him to "shut up" and then hit him across the face.

But there will be fruits and veggies for dinner...

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SUN RECORDS: Newsroom Jukebox - "Tú Ya No Soplas"...

Another Week, Another Indictment For Donald J. Trump...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Yes, him. The familiar guy whose noggin we see from behind in photo above. One Donald J. Trump. He was indicted again yesterday, for the fourth time, this time in Georgia. Yes, it was expected. Had been expected for months now.

But now we know the particulars.

This indictment pointedly alleges Trump orchestrated a criminal enterprise, committing more than a dozen felonies, as he tried and failed to overturn his defeat in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election. According to an indictment handed up Monday by a Fulton County grand jury, the filing also lodged charges against 18 of Trump’s allies. They presumably helped him spread false conspiracy theories and repeatedly strong-arm top state officials as he tried to cling to power.

The 41-count, 98-page indictment said Trump and his co-defendants refused to accept the fact that Trump lost in Georgia. But "they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump. That conspiracy contained a common plan and purpose."

It marks the second time this August the former president has been indicted for interfering in the 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Pundits are noting that the Georgia case is far different because it also charges a large cast of alleged accomplices – from former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former state Republican Party chairman David Shafer.

Also charged: state Sen. Shawn Still; attorneys John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Bob Cheeley, Ray Smith III and Kenneth Chesebro; former assistant U.S. attorney general Jeffrey Clark; former Coffee County GOP chairwoman Cathy Latham; Atlanta bail bondsman Scott Hall; former Coffee County elections director Misty Hampton; GOP strategist Michael Roman; publicist Trevian Kutti; Illinois pastor Stephen Cliffguard Lee; and Harrison Floyd, who briefly ran for a suburban Atlanta U.S. House seat before serving as director of Black Voices for Trump.

These charges, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, are the culmination of a 2 1/2-year criminal investigation launched by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis shortly after Trump’s leaked Jan. 2, 2021, phone call with Brad Raffensperger, during which he asked the Georgia secretary of state to “find” him 11,780 votes.

This is a biggie.

Trump has called it part of a government witch hunt, and lately has been saying it's just a way to keep him out of the 2024 presidential election. That's a farfetched accusation, but he keeps making it.

Lindsey Graham, the Republican U.S. Senator from South Carolina, yesterday went on FOX News to say the case should be dropped. "The American people should decide at the ballot box whether Donald Trump is president or not," Graham said.

Irony of irony, Lindsey.

The thing is voters decided it in 2020...and Trump refused to accept the result...

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Cruz, Abbott Out Of 2024 Presidential Race:...Good!!!...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Rafael Edward Cruz, better-known as Ted Cruz, the annoying, smarmy U.S. Senator from Texas, won't be a part of the Republican Party's 2024 presidential clown show. Not this time.

And neither will another Texan who'd sort of made an effort by acting like a Lone Star State version of Donald J. Trump - Greg Abbott, the governor.

Cruz has told the news media he's out; Abbott likely is glad he never entered the nomination process. For him, it is too late.

Earlier this year, Cruz told supporters on a call that he will be running for reelection in 2024 and will not seek the Republican nomination for president. "I'm on the ballot in 2024," he said recently, according to the Houston Chronicle. "I'm running for re-election."

Abbott, meanwhile, just won reelection last year. There are those who have been saying that much of the tough-guy posturing from him has come in anticipation of a run for president. But the 65-year-old, wheelchair-bound Republican has been mum. He's been governor since 2015 and likely likes the job.

Cruz, at age 52, has time to go for it again later on. He has not quite been the "busy legislator type," as Cruz-sponsored bills are rare and far between. More often than not, he has been a joke and punching bag for the press.

Plus, he no doubt remembers the whipping he (and his wife, Heidi) got at the hands of then-candidate Trump in the 2016 race. It was then, for one, that Cruz heard Trump call his wife ugly. There was no meaningful reply in defending her honor from the Cuban-American Cruz.

It'll be interesting if Abbott gets a looksee for vice-president, however.

But, sure, you do wonder if he'd take that thankless, second-banana job. Look at what it tends to do to those who do take it.

Just ask Mike Pence...

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Getting Older In The Rio Grande Valley:...No Respect...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Where are they? Where are the gray-haired learned leaders, the wise elders, the steady-the-ship ones who got us to this point? Who knows, but they are not being very public.

Oh, you can see a few at IHOP or Denny's at breakfast.

But they are not overly-active in local politics. Young people have taken over and are now in charge. The mayors of the Rio Grande Valley's Big 3 cities - McAllen, Harlingen and Brownsville - are relatively young leaders, all under 55 years of age.

Cameron County has a young sheriff, a Democrat who beat out an 84-year-old Democrat (now-deceased Omar Lucio) for the right to challenge a Republican for the post. He (Eric Garza) won that one, too.

About the only "older" sitting politician around here is Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez, who is a far-gone 80. He's a thoughtful public servant, although he did make public comments about making a move at Disneyworld - drawing it from Florida, in other words, following strong anti-Disney efforts by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to change the theme park's tax contract with the Sunshine State.

Beyond that, in smaller towns from Rio Grande City in western Starr County to Brownsville in the RGV's far east, it is the young leading the way.

Has the Valley forsaken its elders?

Perhaps the entire RGV social strata has done that. Where once, the elders were revered and enlisted for leadership, they are now forgotten, afterthoughts in a fast-moving world. 

I see it.

You likely do, as well...

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Ivana Trump's Unattended Grave:...Groundskeeper Up!!!...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Sometimes you just have to let her go. In the case of Donald J, Trump's first wife, Ivana, that includes her gravesite. The so-called billionaire buried his wife at one of his golf courses and it now appears that weeds and grass have overgrown the grave.

This from a report at themessenger.com: [ The lonely grave of Donald Trump's first of three wives at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey is showing little care or attention, recent photos attest.

Ivana Trump, mother of the former president's three eldest children, was buried in the plot just over a year ago after she was found dead following a fall down the stairs of her New York townhouse. The death was ruled accidental.

She was 73 when she died, and was Trump's wife from 1977 to 1990. She divorced him after he began an affair with better-looking Marla Maples, who would become Trump's second wife.

Ivana Trump's grave not far from the golf clubhouse and behind the first tee is the only one on the 502-acre grounds of Trump National Bedminster. ]

Trump's second and third wives - Maples and Melania - are still alive.

There has been no comment from Trump on this one...

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Ron DeDummy...Wants To Attack Mexico Now...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | All but done, is what they're saying about ditzy Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his slumping presidential campaign. And yesterday, he went looking for an issue that sounded about right for Republican residents of Midwest Iowa, where he is seeking voter support.

The issue: Attack the Mexican cartels with U.S. military force.

He's not the first one to say that, but DeSantis is struggling mightily to remain relevant in the 2024 Election stab against frontrunner - and thrice-indicted - Donald J. Trump. He recently rebooted by firing one campaign manager and hiring another.

Wife Casey had been the attention-getter of late, but now she's pretty much vanished. Perhaps Ron felt she was getting too much on the good side of the national press. Who knows? There are those who say this particular campaign is in disarray, a cool word for shambles, disastrous, chaos and a mess.

Can he recover?

Early polls show him second behind Trump and ahead of a host of lesser Republicans in the hunt for the GOP nomination. DeSantis has, however, qualified for the August 23rd candidate debate, the one Trump is saying he will not attend. Hopefully, 77-year-old Trump will be on his psychiatrist's couch, as all anger, hilarity and threats coming from him tells us he is really a dude begging, screaming and angling for an intervention.

But DeSantis is still there, as they say in songs about our national flag.

Trouble in politics, I suppose, is a matter of opinion. He is doing his best in squeezing farm-tired hands and aging, slumping rubbing backs on the Iowa corn-on-the-cob trail. Perhaps he knows he can't blow it worse than ex-Republican President Gerald Ford when being handed real Iowa grub. Ford visited San Antonio once, was handed a wrapped tamale and proceeded to munch into it cornhusk and all. Go ahead, Ron - have that offering of Iowa Scotcheroos! Yeah, eat it with your fingers! Ha ha ha.

But we're here on that stuff about attacking our neighboring ally, Mexico.

Really, Ron?

Donald J. Trump has said something similar in the past, as has Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham from South Carolina. Yes, we know, it's a handy political issue, but, always, an empty threat. First Mexico, then Canada - is that the plan?

DeSantis would do better for himself by mentioning domestic issues, things and services Americans need and want, like a curb on inflation and what that does to pocketbook issue such as groceries and household bills, gasoline and taxes. Fix that first. Mexico and the uncooperative cartels can wait.

Plus, Ron, you haven't said a word about drug use here in the states. You know, the addicted Fentanyl user - the Americans buying the drugs you say come from the Mexican cartels? And what do you say about the opioid mess in the Appalachian region, the one decimating entire little mining towns? Haven't heard your take on that, Ron.

Illegal drugs are a major problem in the U.S., but, hey, let's lob some missiles somewhere.

That always gets the voters, great patriots that they are, energized like nothing else.

Expect Ron DeSantis to shift to another excitable issue later today. And to another tomorrow. And so on and on and on. 

He's got nothing...

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THE SUNRISER:...A Sunday Feature...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McAllen, Texas | Keep him out of politics. Yes, him, the Almighty. God. He's not a Democrat; he's not a Republican. He's God. The highest paygrade, yes. The Eternal Father.

It's Sunday and we've had our fill of religion, at least for one more week.

Discussions continue across our grass-whorled country, especially about our ongoing presidential political season. It seems endless already, doesn't it. Where's Moses?

The Evangelical Right desperately wants religion in our national politics. They pay for certain politicians and they want things angled their way. Abortion is a no-no for them. Same for adultery and gambling and coveting the best friend's wife.

Unfortunately, human beings are a very flawed biology. They will cheat, gamble and abort, if it suits the family. They may say they don't do openly it, but they do it. You know it and I know it. What's our divorce rate again - 63%? Ho hum, sure. How much has Las Vegas grown in the last 20 years? Too much. Is abortion on the verge of extinction? Ha ha ha ha ha. No.

Abortion will be back, kids. Politics is cyclical. The swing of the Pendulum ring a bell?

Noise chasing a presidential campaign always follows the attention-grabbing schtick. You say abortion and the other guy will say anti-abortion. It's a cheap, low-rent game, I know. How else to forge a candidacy, though? Can you simply go out there, say you're a Republican and go on about every American being equal and having the same brain? No. Not these days.

You have to talk wedge issues. Rednecks in currently hot Iowa want to hear candidates differentiate Americans in the manner that they do. Blacks? We don't have too many Blacks in Iowa. Hispanics? Even less of those cockroaches. Tell me about how great we are, Ron. Tell me about how we built this great country, Donald. Tell me we're America, not that New Mexico.

And tell me you're a God-fearing religious man.

Tell me you have and read the Bible. You and the Little Woman at bedtime. You read it together, at times with your kids. It's the Great Difference-Maker. It's what tells us you're one of us, and not one for them, too.

I love my God. And I hate how he's being used and abused by these shallow, flawed mortals. They don't really care about God's teachings. They want to erase history, the same history we offer God as our years on his planet. What slavery, they say aloud. Slaves benefitted from slavery. God heard that, and he wasn't happy.

But they keep at it. They stay with the blatant lies and with the racism and the bigotry. Stay with it openly! You'd think that, as good and practicing Christians, they'd know who's watching them. I know. They don't care. They don't care because they fully believe that their God agrees with everything they're saying and doing.

Do an "origin" search on the last name of DeSantis and have one last laugh... 

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Fires In Maui...Idyllic Lahaina In Ash Gray...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | We've stayed up with the news coming out of Maui in the Hawaiian Islands, but have waited for additional and better info that is coming, but is coming slowly. As of today, officials at the scene say 93 residents of the tiny island have died in those hellish runaway fires.

The lovely tourist town of Lahaina, popularized in "The Last Resort" by The Eagles, is no more. Photos of the coastal town show a cremated landscape in ash gray.

Maui is the island located between Oahu (Honolulu) and the larger island of Hawaii.

According to 2020 statistical data on Wikipedia, Maui's population was 165,386. Like many islands, it lives by way of tourism, its population ballooning during the summer vacation months. Indeed, many of those believed dead are people being reported as missing or unaccounted-for by relatives in the U.S. Mainland.

The fires began early last week in the hillsides overlooking Maui, the spread coming steadily and slowly toward the populated area. Large acreage of trees and brush overgrowth fueled the unabated spread. Police officials reported finding charred bodies inside burned-out vehicles along the road leading into and out of Lahaina.

The mayor of Lahaina was quoted as saying the death toll given to the press is of people found outside local buildings. Evidence of bodies burned to a crisp (cremated, really) is expected to be found once experts can enter the still smoldering area.

The disaster is being described as the worst in decades.

President Joe Biden today said the full force of disaster aid for Hawaii is forthcoming. He has not said whether he will go to the island anytime soon, although it may be too early in the recovery process. News reports had it TV star Oprah Winfrey was in Maui to help with financial aid. She is said to own property on the island. Actor Jason Momoa also was on the scene.

Amazon zillionaire Jeff Bezos has pledged $100 million to aid in the rebuilding.

Meanwhile, search and recovery teams are using cadaver dogs to help find those missing and the increasing possibility of more deceased victims.

So far, crews have not searched inside buildings, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said Friday. The deaths in Lahaina confirmed as of Friday afternoon likely happened outdoors as people were trying to escape flames, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green told reporters.

"Without a doubt, there will be more fatalities. We do not know, ultimately, how many will have occurred," said Green, noting that officials should have a better idea of that within days. An early estimate of the cost for rebuilding is being given as $5.52 billion.

We looked for but could find no words for Lahaina or Maui from any of the Republican Party's candidates for president.

Life is for the living, is what they'd probably say...

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Talk Of The Town:...Evander Holyfield In Harlingen...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

HARLINGEN, Texas | Who can forget heavyweight boxer Evander Holyfield's toughest fights? He left the sport in June 2014, leaving with a record of 44-10-2. But that bloody fight against Iron Mike Tyson - Wow! Tyson even bit off a piece of Holyfield's ear.

That one came June 28, 1997. Tyson was disqualified.

Well, ringside fans, guess who arrived in Harlingen the other day: Evander Holyfield!

This from Mayor Norma Sepulveda's Facebook page (she is shown in photos with Holyfield, up top and at right): [ It was truly an honor and privilege to welcome Evander Holyfield, the “Real Deal” to the City of Harlingen! 

Evander is the only professional fighter to win the heavyweight championship four times, surpassing Muhammad Ali’s three times! He will be our special guest this evening at the RGV Boxing Hall of Fame ceremony being held at the Harlingen Convention Center! ]

We join in welcoming the champ to the fights-loving Rio Grande Valley.

But, to us and to most true boxing fans, Ali is still The Greatest.

You know it...

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RATS!!!: Abbott's Busing Of Migrants Is Working...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Just when you thought you were dog-tired of using damning words against heartless Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, along comes word that his kinda-devious plan of sending migrants to New York and California is...working.

And now, Paul Revere's Massachusetts has joined the howling chorus asking President Joe Biden to, well, do something about the southern border.

Oddly, as Abbott and fellow GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continue chartering overland buses to hustle migrants off to Democratic Party-governed cities and states, the number of apprehended migrants keeps dropping, according to officials with the U.S. Border Patrol. How to reconcile that?

It's a flawed plan Abbott and DeSantis spin sillily in that, well, we're not either alleviating or ridding ourselves of the problem when we shuffle it to one of our own other 50 states. 

But as an effective political wedge issue, the darned thing is doing what Abbott and DeSantis want it to do - pressure Democrats. The president, a Democrat, hasn't taken the bait, however.

Yesterday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat (shown in photo at right), did implore Biden to come to the aid of the cities being forced to absorb the thousands of arriving migrants. She joined New York City Mayor Eric Adams, another Democrat but one who has of late taken a harsher approach to the situation in The Big Apple, more and more mouthing Republican platitudes about the southern border.

This excerpt from politico.com: [ "Democratic governors and mayors, mayors in Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, here in New York, El Paso, Brownsville, all of the mayors have been saying that this is a national problem, and we need national leadership," Adams said at a press conference in Manhattan.

"We all should be talking about this in a very real way. And there was a moment that I felt, as though, was I the only one that was seeing this? ... I was asking myself, are we the only ones that are seeing what’s happening to human beings?"

Gov. Healey and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul have made private entreaties and public pleas to Biden administration officials for faster work authorization. Massachusetts’ all-Democratic federal delegation sent a letter to top Biden immigration officials last week urging them to expedite processing employment authorization documents for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

In New York City, where asylum-seekers are sleeping on sidewalks outside a makeshift intake center, Adams is again blaming the White House for not sending enough federal aid to the city that’s seen more than 93,000 newcomers since last spring.

So far, the Biden administration has barely budged on the politically thorny issue, saying the national immigration problem requires a congressional solution. ]

It may, although there has to be a way other than strapping ourselves with cheap, hardly-eclectic gamesmanship of the sort Abbott and DeSantis offer.

Immigration is and always has been a responsibility of the federal government. Southern Border states run by Republicans such as Texas and Arizona (California and New Mexico governed by Democrats not so much) are now using the issue for political gain. Fair or honest or not, the game is being played. Americans have come to care, is our feeling at this point.

And crafty Republicans are making points with the overall citizenry. No question about that. Shallow, often-wrong issues tend to do that with an otherwise-busy population. Buses not branded Greyhound rolling down the highway draw attention, as they do when they pull into a city's downtown sidewalk and unload poor-looking passengers.

The issue needs to be resolved.

Showman Abbott likes to crow endlessly about "Biden's Open Border" policy, but he governs Texas and, so far, Texas itself has failed to stop the flow of however-fewer number of immigrants still coming...

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We're Okay With Prosecution Of Hunter Biden...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | No one in this country is above the law. You find yourself chased by law enforcement and, well, you better offer-up your best defense. Letting criminal smoke slide is never good and only brings on additional doubt as to your innocence.

So, you're the president's son. Whoop-de-do to that bull you know what.

President Joe Biden's 53-year-old son Hunter has been targeted by too many observers to be allowed to skate. The rumors and innuendo related to his foreign business dealings include bribery and tax fraud. He should be investigated until facts are established and if he's found guilty of breaking American law, well, he should face the punishment.

Same for Republican Donald J. Trump, by the way.

This one is about Hunter, an all-around bon vivant said to have dabbled in drugs and wild sex. Indeed, one of the top stories chasing him and his father involves a topless club stripper who mothered his daughter, the one the president only recently - shamefully late - acknowledged having.

Good news came today about the government's efforts to get to the bottom of Hunter's allegations, every one of which is serious stuff!

This from the BBC: [ Joe Biden's son Hunter will now be investigated by a special counsel with additional powers, the U.S. attorney general has announced. Merrick Garland has elevated the status of David Weiss, the federal prosecutor who has already filed criminal charges in the case.

A plea deal on tax and gun charges against the president's son collapsed earlier this month.

Republicans are pushing hard for an inquiry into Hunter Biden's business dealings.

In a surprise announcement at the Department of Justice on Friday, Mr. Garland (shown in photo at left) explained that he was making the move after a request by Mr. Weiss. The new designation will provide the prosecutor with extra resources to pursue the investigation and to potentially bring further charges beyond the state of Delaware.

Mr. Garland said the special counsel would produce a report when his work was done, and that the justice department would make as much of it public as was possible. "The appointment of Mr. Weiss reinforces for the American people the department's commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters," Mr. Garland said at a news conference. ]

Hunter Biden's lawyer, Chris Clark, responded in a statement: "We are confident when all of these maneuverings are at an end my client will have resolution and will be moving on with his life successfully." Mr. Clark pointed out that the investigation has already gone on for five years.

Interesting nugget: Mr. Weiss was appointed by former President Donald Trump to become the U.S. attorney in Delaware in 2018. Not long after, in 2019, he opened an investigation into allegations of criminal conduct by Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden has since been charged with two misdemeanor tax offenses for allegedly not paying income taxes in 2017 and 2018, years in which he earned in excess of $1.5 million, according to the US Attorney's Office in Delaware.

He faces an additional felony charge for allegedly possessing a firearm while addicted to and using illegal drugs. Hunter Biden had previously reached a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to the tax charges and admit the gun offence to spare himself prison time. However, U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika squashed the deal due to "nonstandard terms" and the "unusual" nature of the proposed resolution for the gun charge.

Since then, Hunter Biden and prosecutors have engaged in further plea negotiations but remain at an impasse. In a court filing on Friday, Mr. Weiss's team said they now expect the case to go to trial - and could potentially file new, more serious charges in Washington DC or California.

As could be expected, Republicans want to see the younger Mr. Biden further criminally charged, along with the president. They allege that President Biden has profited from his son's rangy business dealings in Ukraine and China.  

It's all allegations at this point. But Republicans are exhibiting the sort of prosecutorial vigor they have never entertained on any of the charges and indictments leveled against their own Donald J. Trump.

Get on with this, we say...

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Michael Cohen, A Run For Congress?...Uh, Why Not?...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Is it all that unexpected? Nah. I say it's par for the course. Michael Cohen, former president Donald J, Trump's "Fixer" attorney, is thinking of running for Congress. And get this - he wants to do it as a Democrat!

As they say about primo grub and cold beer in Texas, "It don't get no better'n this."

Politics, of course, should never surprise us. It is the best game on the planet.

This excerpt from a report at newrepublic.com: [ Cohen is a former personal attorney and longtime fixer for Donald Trump. He says that he is considering challenging New York Representative Jerry Nadler in the primaries. "There’s a multitude of folks encouraging me to run," Cohen said.

It’s unclear who those folks are, though. A poll conducted in April by The Economist and YouGov found that just 15 percent of Democrats view Cohen very favorably. And switching tickets wouldn’t work, either, because Cohen is even less popular among independents and Republicans. ] 

It should be noted that Nadler has solid support in his district. The 31-year-incumbent has serious name recognition and is backed by powerful Jewish communities in his district (Cohen also is Jewish, btw). He handily defeated primary challenger Carolyn Maloney in August 2022 with 55 percent of the vote, compared to her 24 percent.

Yes, it would be an uphill slog, but Cohen, who has been disbarred, has the time. He's not talked about finding employment elsewhere after leaving the Trump organization in 2018. He'd been with Trump since 2006.

And it was in 2018 that he was arrested. The 56-year-old Cohen later pleaded guilty to campaign finance charges and to lying to Congress. At the heart of the charges were payments Cohen facilitated to Trump paramours Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal.

He served 13 and a half months behind bars. The rest of his three-year prison sentence he served in home confinement.

Since his imprisonment, Cohen has been a very visible, outspoken critic of embattled Donald Trump, and he has on numerous occasions testified against him before federal authorities and Congressional committees.

Our Read: His stab at politics is a crapshoot.

We say he has no chance against Nadler, who is respected and well-entrenched...

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At An Eatery? Get A Whiff Of That Sleepy-Looking Dude!!!...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Most popular eateries around here - here being the lovely Rio Grande Valley - aren't into signage. Well, other than hours of operation or job openings, like "Cook Wanted" or "Cashier Needed." Nothing wild. Oh, every so often you still see the "No shoes, No shirt, No service" one, but not all that much anymore.

Enter a restaurant in Dallas with the sign you see in the photo above.

What tha...!!!

Yeah, no tokers - inside the restaurant. Even if you did it at home, at your chick's place or in the alley. Boys, we're not in Vietnam anymore.

The place is E-Bar Tex Mex, in East Dallas.

According to The Dallas Observer, it has been "serving bowls of loaded queso and plates of enchiladas for more than a decade. But the cozy neighborhood spot with a fun (and usually crowded) patio has a message for customers: If you smell like marijuana, you won't be served."

The alternative newspaper chased the story and, well, here is an excerpt: [ The no-weed-stink policy has been in effect for about five years, the restaurant's owner says, but it recently drew attention on social media. One commenter responded in a post on Facebook, "thanks for the heads up on that. Not so much tryna stick it to their business more than just wanted to be in a place I’m not gonna get my high blown lol."

"I always smell like weed tho…. & E Bar queso was my favorite. Lame," wrote another. ]

The journalism clash was balanced by data that said support for marijuana use across the country has grown like crazy. A Pew Research study, the newspaper went on, found that 88% of Americans support legalizing marijuana for either medical or recreational use. California, Colorado and many other states have legalized use, and nationwide there's been a steep rise in acceptance; in 1985 only 23% of Americans supported legalization. 

So, the question was asked: Can Restaurants Refuse To Serve Someone Who Smells Like Marijuana?

In Big D, far upstate, The Dallas Observer reported, Dallas City Code prohibits discrimination based on race, religion, sex, color or national origin. So, yeah, restaurants and bars must post dress codes in writing, in a conspicuous and clearly visible location.

The rowdy tabloid also quoted honchos from the industry. "Like other businesses, Texas restaurants can deny service to customers as long as they follow federal, state and local non-discrimination laws," Kelsey Erickson Streufert, public affairs officer at the Texas Restaurant Association, says.  "When restaurants proactively adopt clear policies that align with these legal standards - and train their employees to implement them on a fair and consistent basis - it helps to ensure a welcoming dining experience and sets expectations for both customers and employees alike."

Bottom line: Restaurants can refuse service, so long as it's applied equally to everyone. Don't Bogart that joint, Granny. Pass it over to me...

E-Bar Tex Mex (see photo above) on busy Haskell Avenue has had a "marijuana code" for several years.

E-Bar owner Ernie Quinlantan was asked about his anti-weed policy. He says his business has had the policy for about five years. "People reeking of marijuana, it just ruins everybody's experience around them, you can't possibly have a great meal with someone who has that much odor," Quinlantan told the newspaper. In every case, he noted, the smell has been overwhelming; no one is getting a sniff test as they walk in.

Have busted customers rebelled? He says he's never an issue after asking people to leave.

And, as always, businesspeople like him drag out the liability issue.

"If you're reeking of marijuana, then you're already under the influence," Quinlantan said.

Serving a Weed Head would also open him and his business to the possibility of a situation being escalated. Quinlantan points out that his weed policy is no different than his drinking policy, which is one familiar to all bar owners - you drink too much; you'll be asked to leave.

Could such a policy rear its head in the Rio Grande Valley?

Well, there's the belief that Big City stuff always makes its way to the Little Cities, so... 

And, uh, we're sure you've heard the skinny that most people in a public place around here do smell of weed. Same for your cash. 

That may be a flippant observation, but is it?...

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McAllen Welcomes Miami Tough Guy...And The Gov...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Well, he is a Republican, after all. No, not the firebrand Trumpian excitable boy, but a Republican nonetheless. So, perhaps with that in mind (and with his official duties as mayor), Javier Villalobos welcomed Francis Suarez to The City of Palms on Thursday.

That's them in photo above, Villalobos at right.

Suarez, the mayor of tropical Miami, is a candidate for president in the 2024 election, a long, long, long, long, longshot candidate, we should note for our discerning readers. He was in town and on the border, uh, you guessed it, highlighting what he is calling "Biden's Open Border" in his pretty much comatose campaign. With Suarez, you get the feeling that the only place his campaign is rockin' is in his own mind.

Also in attendance at something called a "Governor's Small Business Summit" by the McAllen mayor's office, was the Texan who actually has failed to secure the border, one Gov. Greg Abbott (shown at gathering in photo below). We were not present, so we can't report on what Abbott may have said about that crazy razor wire and those hilarious Cheeto-colored buoys he has strung along a stretch of the Rio Grande over in largely-meaningless Eagle Pass. Why only in Eagle Pass, has been our question.

This from McAllen Mayor Villalobos via his always informative Facebook page about the pseudo-political soiree: [ "What a busy day. Had the honor of introducing our Governor at the Governor’s Small Business Summit, met with Miami Mayor and Presidential candidate, Mayor Suarez, and ended the evening at the Mujeres Unidas Gala.  We also announced the future PAC (Performing Arts Center) Broadway Series. I love our great city of McAllen. ]

Well, okay. A little bit of action in town is always a good thing.

Suarez is a funny dude. His campaign is nothing but a rip-off of the road-weary platitudes that is today's Republican Party - abortion, Hunter Biden's drug and money problems, the lawless Mexican Border, President Joe Biden's failings, blah, blah, blah, ad nauseum.

You'd think the guy had at least one original bone in his Tony Montana body (see photo above again).

We're okay with the political season being what it is for Suarez and for fellow Texan Abbott, but, man, every now and then we'd like to hear something positive about America from these guys. Why is that so hard for Republicans?

Wild, I know.

Kinda feel like passing a song request up to the fancy podium while Abbott has the floor. Sing it, governor: "...and there we were, all in one place, a generation lost in space...With no time left to start again..."

Would be nice to hear, even if it might sound as grating as a splintered fingernail's screechy scraping of a 1950s high school blackboard, like something off a very old, badly-scratched 33 rpm record.

Right?

Right...

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Grieving Uvalde Mom Honors Daughter...She's Running For Mayor...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

UVALDE, Texas | She had to do it. It's what you do to preserve the memory of your child and to somehow believe that tomorrow will always be a better day. Kimberly Mata-Rubio is running for mayor of this still-mourning town, a little more than a year after her daughter was one of 19 kids murdered at Robb Elementary School.

This excerpt from a story published by the Los Angeles Times: [ Since the murder of her daughter Lexi on May 24, 2022, Mata-Rubio has dedicated herself to activism. She and her husband, Felix - a former sheriff’s deputy who was restrained and prevented from entering the school when he arrived at the scene that day - have navigated their loss in part by joining the other families and loved ones of the 21 victims (two teachers, too) in the fight for gun reform.

She’s kept herself busy traveling to Washington, D.C., to march for her daughter, meet with lawmakers and testify before Congress. Her life has become a complex mix of grief and hope, and each new milestone reminds her that this isn’t what she thought her life would be. She’s traveled out of state more in the last year than she ever has, but now, she’s turning her focus back home.

Late last month, Mata-Rubio announced her campaign for mayor of Uvalde.

"I think a lot of people attribute everything to strength, but I don’t necessarily think I’m a strong person," she says. "I just think that I’m a determined person. And I am determined to make sure that this world remembers Lexi. I’m honoring her with action so that when you hear her name, you think of all the change that’s coming." ]

Don McLaughlin, the old mayor, is leaving the post and has said he will seek a state representative's post.

How do you cope? Much has and hasn't happened in tiny, dusty Uvalde since that bloody day in May of last year. Texas officials have reviewed the actions (really, inactions) of law enforcement that responded to the scene in the minutes after the school alerted authorities of a gunman in the hallways.

The chief of security for the school district resigned, ran for the city council and won, but then resigned under intense pressure from the community. He was blamed for the inaction at the scene. It was a fast-react squad from the U.S. Border Patrol that eventual confronted and killed the gunman. DPS state troopers also were faulted for not entering the school as the crack of gunfire cut through the school building.

Mrs. Mata-Rubio has likely tired of asking questions about why and how this could happen.

She's no doubt comforted and inspired by the belief that her daughter would happily endorse her campaign for mayor.

The election is in November...

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That Carlos Cascos:...All The Sounds Of A Candidate...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

BROWNSVILLE, Texas | You know the clues. A would-be candidate stays away from the country club golf course and the chatty bars. That's his wife headed out to the shopping mall and he's okay with it. Carlos Cascos is fine with all of it. He wants to talk issues.

Like this, from his busy Facebook page: [ "Many of us have to live within our means. We don't have the luxury of voting ourselves increases in compensation. The county commissioners court awarded themselves huge raises last year & once again they will award themselves raises again. Taxpayers are not ATM machines. This is what some of you voted for. So, think about these raises as you struggle to pay your property taxes, gas, & groceries." ]

Well, he's been talking (and been roundly talked about) as a potential candidate for the coveted 34th Congressional District seat currently kept warm by adept Democrat Vicente Gonzalez, but, here, here he sounds more like a surefire candidate for the Cameron County Judge's job.

You think?

Mr. Cascos is a learned, veteran politician, having served as county judge and as Texas Secretary of State. He's an Old Line Republican not quite in step with the mind-numbing bizarreness of one Donald J. Trump.

Pocketbook issues. Remember those? Mr. Cascos digs deep into his pockets to grab at that once-everywhere angle for the aspirant public servant - appealing to something quite familiar to all, money. Cash on hand for the household bills, Maria.

Property taxes are high, as declared 34th Congressional District candidate Laura E. Cisneros will tell you. Sit you down and tell you, in fact. Gasoline is relatively stable, although it's inching up. Groceries are the stunner, as prices keep rising on the basics. And Mr. Cascos might want to throw in shaving razors, for both men and women. Eight Gillette blades for $32! Blame Joe Biden for that one? We kid. Blame H-E-B.

When last we'd checked-in with Mr. Cascos about his political plans, we were led to believe that he had targeted Labor Day (September 4th) as the day he would make his decision on whether to run for any post. It's right around the corner, as old flower street vendors used to say in Matamoros when asked about the nearest barber shop.

It's nice that he mentions costs for the consumer, but we suspect Mr. Cascos, a principal in a local accounting firm, has no trouble meeting his taxes, gasoline or groceries expenses.

Plus, there's not much a county judge or single congressman can do about property taxes, gasoline or price of groceries.

Still, it sounds good, like he cares.

Really, we believe Carlos Cascos to be an honest man. His record as a public servant is positive, much more than a host of others still sitting pretty (and useless) in office.

We'll see what he decides to do...

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THIS: Robotics, Artificial Intelligence - McAllen And Matamoros Tech...Well, Yeah...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Just when you thought he needed a break. Mayor Javier Villalobos, shown at left in photo above, is back at forging better business and social relations with neighboring Mexico. The mayor - McMayor, since he's from McAllen? - is looking at whatever opens up as an opportunity.

This from a report he offered city residents by way of his Facebook page: [ "It was great meeting with STC (South Texas College) and Matamoros Tech to further discuss robotics, AI, and how we can mutually benefit our students, manufacturing, and the creation and retention of jobs. When we think regionally, we don’t have to stop at the Rio Grande." ]

Earlier, Mr. Villalobos had travelled to Monterrey and to Tampico in his effort to bridge additional business for The City of Palms. A shorter trip to Reynosa followed those two.

Frankly, we hadn't heard much about either robotics or AI (artificial intelligence) in a local context, so maybe this will lead to a full report from McAllen City Hall at a later date.

Matamoros Tech, eh?

Wonder what John Cowen, the mayor of Brownsville, thinks about that? Brownsville and Matamoros like to believe they're likethis - joined at the hip.

All we can say is: "Way to go, Mayor Javier!!!"...

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[EDITOR'S NOTE:...Also in the photo atop this post are representatives from Matamoros Tech and STC, we guess. Unfortunately, their names were not given...]

Gov. Greg Abbott's Joke: No Solution, Just Beastliness...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

EAGLE PASS, Texas | Weeks into Governor Greg Abbott's "...Little games for little minds" approach to migrants cavalierly crossing the Rio Grande, a bit of rare sympathy for the asylum seekers has come from residents of this poor border town.

They are telling the Republican governor that he's lost their support. Older women and children hurt on the Texas banks of the river has not landed well with concerned residents such as Magali Urbina and her husband. They want Abbott to back off, to re-think his approach and to do something other than lay down a razor wire fence to deter but also injure migrants.

"There’s a humane way to do it," Miss Urbina told a reporter for the Texas Tribune. According to the online newspaper, an image of a pregnant woman bleeding near the river has stuck with her. She’s not happy at having seen bodies of drowned migrants floating in the river past the family orchard. Mexican officials, she said, removed a body that had drifted into the buoys.

"We can’t help them all, but maybe we’re supposed to help some. Maybe that’s what God’s calling us to do," Miss Urbina went on. Like many Americans, she said she wants the Joe Biden administration to make it safe for asylum seekers to enter the U.S. and she hopes the federal government changes immigration laws, so migrants don’t have to risk their lives.

Abbott, shown in photo above, at right, has said little lately. His border policies, however, proceed unabated. There are no plans, we believe, to change any of the on-site barriers or practices. Razor wire lines a good stretch of the riverbanks south of Eagle Pass. Abbott's Cheeto-colored buoys have been strung in the middle of the Rio Grande, visible to anyone who walks up to drives to the site, which parallels a city park.

The concern expressed by residents of Eagle Pass is new and comes after they originally supported the idea of making things more difficult for the migrants to walk across the river's shallow waters. There have been three drownings in the area, although the governor's office in Austin explained it involved migrants who had drowned upriver and floated down to the buoys.

Mexico has lodged its complaints with the federal government and included Abbott's office in its protest. The migrants who drowned - and most of those attempting the crossing - were and are not Mexican citizens.

Republican Abbott has not addressed the Mexican concern, but has threatened the federal government here with court action following criticism saying his buoys violated treaties the U.S. has with Mexico. There is no indication that Abbott will do anything other than what he has been doing to date. Nothing says he will remove the razor wire fencing or the buoys.

Indeed, the guess here is that he's likely dreaming-up some other way to deter the migrants, whose numbers, frankly, have dropped dramatically in the last few months, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.

What's in place now, note his critics, is merely the governor's months-long, road-tired political stunt.

And it has not come cheap for Texans, as Abbott has spent millions on buoys, fencing and on busing detained migrants to other states. The governor is simply being deliberately mean.

Still, the problem exists.

Abbott has shifted part of the problem to other governors, yet, plainly, has failed to secure the border...

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That Chubby Dude Eating Like A Pig A Republican?...Maybe...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Okay, Valleyites, can you tell if the mustachioed Mexican guy next to you eating greasy, drippy tacos is a Republican or a Democrat? Do you just assume that he and the other half-dozen Mexicans around him are voting for President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election just because, well, that's the handy stereotype?

Would you be as quick to nod "yes, yes" if it was a roly-poly White guy at another joint chomping, say, BBQ ribs?

A thinning hair guy and his younger woman dining on Chinese lettuce wraps?

Some loner-looking, pale-face dude killing a shrimp salad?

Who knows, but we're theorizing today. Perhaps there is a clue to everybody's politics out there in the public byways. Clothing? Shoes or boots for the drugstore cowboy? Sundress or short shorts & halter top for the little lady?

Or maybe you go on what you hear, what people are talking about at a restaurant or coffee shop. You hear the name Trump often enough and you still may not know they're fans or haters of the Dracula of Mar-a-Lago. If a Democrat, do you want to get off your chair at the eatery at hearing a kind word for Democrat Joe Biden, the president, and just yell it out, "Hallelujah!"?

Well, those are clues.

And, really, clues are all we ever have with strangers. Your pals will be familiar, as will their politics.

But your rolling community, the people you don't know, now there's a political motherlode, the Main Vein of useful info. If you have no idea about your neighbor's politics and one afternoon he hangs a yard sign backing Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, well, you have more than a clue. Say hell-o next time you see him or ignore the sonofabitch. That's the New American Way, baby.

I dunno. I see a Valleyite scarfing down a plate of crispy chicken tacos ( "De pollo, por favor...") and I pretty much know local culture and history defines him as a Democrat. Conversely, if I see a chubby, big-jowls guy with an overly-red neck sidling up to the moist beef counter, well, that "feller" is a Republican. Mexicans rarely sidle, see.

A real Chinese restaurant would make things harder. Everybody looks like a Democrat there. Maybe it's the happy faces at every table, or perhaps it's the aroma of orange chicken sauce. You can't be a world-hating Republican at a fake Chinese restaurant, no. The food won't let you. Chinese requires your full attention and smelling ability. Politics, those customers will tell you, can go to Hell - I'm killing spectacular Mongolian beef, ese!

Seafood is a quirky one. I've heard people who love shrimp are really people who once lived on Earth as mollusks - the old reincarnation bit, yes. Scallops? I've never had those, and never will. Oysters? I don't know about eating slithery Boogers, but my lady friend Laura loves them. Tex-Mex seafood of the sort you find in non-chain seafood eateries? That is something to wonder about, as it is likely mostly Mexicans ordering the popular Sombrero Platter and the fish Ceviche adored by Mexican wrestlers. Camarones Al Mojo de Ajo (Shrimp in garlic sauce) is a totally Democrat plate. Republican Anglos don't have the taste buds or stomach for that delicacy. New Republican Mexicans do, but they would rather order a Whataburger than be caught saying Camarones Al Mojo de Ajo in public.

Barbecue is strictly Republican grub, even down here along the Mexican border, where barbecue is not quite the attraction it is up Austin Way.

And it would be even more difficult for us to assess its partisan politics because there are few Blacks in the Rio Grande Valley. Blacks are BBQ, BBQ is Blacks - like Franklin's on Austin's East Side. Mexicans here do not like to be served their food on butcher paper. It's what they do everywhere in BBQ Heaven Lockhart, Texas!

Lockhart, Luling, Seguin - those are primo BBQ hangouts of the First Order. City Cafe in Luling will feed you so that you sleep better. Smitty's and Blacks's in Lockhart?

 To die for, bro.

Here in the RGV, BBQ eaters can be both Demos and Republicans. The fare is not exactly found in every Valley town. And where you do find it, well, it's always owned by an enterprising Mexican - hardly the culinary connection great BBQ needs. You have to be Black or a redneck for good BBQ.

So, where are we?

Oh, okay.

Go ahead and glance over at the people eating across the restaurant dining room and tell yourself the odds of being able to tell this or that starving, numb-scarfing individual is a Democrat are probably good (because they are in the majority here).

Not so much for fingering Republicans, however...Not yet anyway...

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