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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In The Rio Grande Valley, Local Politics is Fun...But That's all...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

HARLINGEN, Texas | Chris Boswell had been mayor of this mid-valley city for 16 long and lonely years. Things hung low and residents fully believed Harlingen was as Republican as town as there was in the entire country. Everyone elsewhere in the Rio Grande Valley looked at it, pointed at it and, when the talk turned to politics, said the city was, indeed, a Republican haven.

Then came Norma Sepulveda, a neophyte politician with big dreams of sitting high at City Hall.

She filed to challenge Boswell...and she beat him.

Miss Sepulveda is a Democrat. We cannot confirm that Mr. Boswell, shown with Mayor Sepulveda in photo above, is a Republican, although he always acted like one. In itself, the job is supposed to be non-political - at least as far as a candidate having to declare party affiliation.

The campaign talk was of Harlingen seeking a new direction. It wasn't its perceived politics it wanted to change, but that's what Mayor Sepulveda offered, a new way of doing government things around here. So far, and she's only been in office 1 year, streets have been cleaned and paved, parks have been spruced-up, downtown businesses highlighted on the mayor's Facebook page (did Boswell ever go out to eat?). Mayor Sepulveda wants to see and be seen.

That's a major change for the mayor's office.

We wondered this: Do RGV cities and towns actually represent either the Republican or Democrat dogma? Subdued Harlingen was always thought of as a Republican stronghold, although perhaps only because of Boswell, who did nothing to change Valleyites' minds about his city.

Brownsville also just got a new mayor in John Cowen. He has been described to us as an Independent, but we wonder about that. Cowen strikes us as a born Republican. Unlike Mayor Sepulveda in Harlingen, Cowen has been Brownsville's Chris Boswell so far. He apparently does not want to be a very public mayor. We also have not heard of any major - or minor - infrastructure undertaking in Brownsville since he assumed office earlier this year.

To read bloggers and their reader commentary in town, Brownsville is a literal untended moonscape of potholes forever angering city residents. Every now and then, they are filled-in, but never fully-and-finally-patched. The lack of bus shelters has been another local bane, but Cowen has said nary a word about what he's doing about that. Something tells us Mayor Sepulveda would fix such a lack of public service from one week to the next. Same for new Mayor Javier Villalobos (shown in photo above, at right) in better-McAllen, where potholes are hard to find and where bus shaded shelters are seemingly everywhere.

Brownsville Mayor John Cowen (shown in photo below) has a great opportunity to do things differently, but will he? Voters recently granted him a $40,000 annual stipend. He's yet to earn it, in our opinion.

Some residents like to believe that Brownsville is a political Petri Dish, a city where entry into politics is very much like entering a Stripes convenience store or local tortilleria - no Big Deal. Others say Brownsville is not as political as it seems, in that the overwhelming majority never vote. Its population is said to be somewhere between 180,000 and 240,000. Politicians have won influential positions with less than 5,000 votes. Shameful is a word that comes to mind. Dumb is another. Anecdotes of weird politics abound in Brownsville, like the mayor who once deposited a $26,000 check not written to him into his own bank account (it was corrected). Or the mayoral candidate who, at a candidate forum, yelled at another candidate to pipe down and siddown!

Or the wife of a newly-elected city commissioner who also took the oath of office and placed her hand on a Bible along with her husband. Or the...(you get the drift). You go to Harlingen to calm down, to McAllen to dine and shop...and to Brownsville to buy two-tortilla tacos and drink a few tepid beers.

McAllen was somewhat surprised when Mayor Villalobos up and announced he was a Republican. The city is quite conservative, but he didn't have to do that. One of his first Republicanesque moves was to attack New York City Mayor Eric Adams for complaints the easterner voiced about the many migrants being sent to his city by pro-Trump Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

Mayor Villalobos laughed out loud in telling Adams he had handled many more migrants, which was a small fib, as migrants around here are "handled" by the U.S. Border Patrol and Texas state troopers. McAllen has a healthy mix of liberals and right-wingers, is what my friends tell me. There has been no discernible change in Life in McAllen since Republican Villalobos assumed office. As we've written before, it is a huge WTF! that Mayor Villalobos has adopted the Republican Party. He is originally from Crystal City, cradle of the pro-Mexican La Raza Unida Party of the late-1960s and 1970s.

Perhaps political affiliation in the Rio Grande Valley is not unlike an individual's preferred vehicle - the object of love being either the practical car for basic transportation or the expensive brand name just for show.

You think?...

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Reporter's Notebook:...Dark Republicans And The Big Tease...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Dark Republicans. Smart, smiling party members like young presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Like Mauro Garza, the congressional aspirant. Like Tim Scott, the U.S. Senator from South Carolina. Like former South Carolina Gov. Nimarata "Nikki" Randhawa Haley. Like Mayra Flores, the 34th Congressional District candidate.

To real, down-to-the-core MAGA Republicans, those people are NOT Republicans.

Their skin is too dark. Their names are too-foreign.

You're fooling yourself if you think the Republican Party in the full-grasp of MAGA would ever accept them. Not in any office wielding any sort of real power, like the presidency. They may run, but they can't hide.

It is The Great Unwritten.

The U.S. may be a country with the richest immigrant history on the face of the planet, only don't make too much out of that in front of a MAGA type. Vivek Ramaswamy (shown in photo atop this story) is an Indian-American, like Haley. That is just, uh, totally unacceptable in an American president, the boys in MagaLand will tell you in no uncertain terms.

Josh at me all you want. America today is as segmented as a table puzzle. You people over there stay to your side of town, ya hear me? That stuff is alive and living well across the land. Believe it. Vivek and Nikki are getting lip service; that's all it is. Traditional Republicans may argue that the assessment is not true, but traditional Republicans are house pets for MAGA troops.

Tim Scott is simply too-Black, much blacker than Barack Obama, whose mom was White. His skin color is more along the lines of Al Sharpton, the activist MAGA loves to hate. Locally, chipper Hispanic congressional candidates Mauro Garza and Mayra Flores may as well be farmworkers to MAGA, and it doesn't matter how MAGA they wish to come across themselves. Acceptance is not coming for those two. They may be tolerated, especially if they win. But there's no invitation to Mar-a-Lago in the mail, Baby.

Suffer again.

At least, when Garza and Flores were Democrats, the Democrats acknowledged their biology - they are humans! MAGA could give a flip about them. Yeah, go ahead and ask them (but in private) if they'd like to see Ramaswamy or Haley as president. Make me laugh, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

We could dig into our files to get info about the lack of Blacks and Browns in Donald J. Trump's administration. Or in Greg Abbott's, the Republican Texas governor. Don't look for any big numbers in either case. They're not there.

Actually, nationally, Democrats fare only slightly better.

The U.S. still retains a Whites-dominated hierarchy in Congress, the courts, the Supreme Court, the military and its ambassador corps.

I know. So, why are Whites - and MAGA whites especially, forever bitching?

The Blacks and Browns and the Indians are playing the game.

It's a major cruel tease, but the game is being played.

Pity...

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Once Upon A Loser: Trump Hangers-On Face Defeat...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | She wants sooo-oh desperately to belong. We speak of newfangled Republican Mayra Flores, the naturalized American who much desires the 34th Congressional District seat currently held by Democrat Vicente Gonzalez.

Not happening, says fellow Republican Carlos Cascos, the former Texas Secretary of State.

Mr. Cascos, who may yet enter the same contest, believes the man Mayra Flores says won the 2020 presidential election - one Donald J, Trump - is a certain Election Day flop quite ready to doom her and other South Texas Republican candidates. Listening Mauro Garza, the other declared candidate for the same post? You, astronomical longshot candidate Laura E. Cisneros? You, as well.

About Republican chances if Trump is the party's 2024 presidential nominee, Cascos said, in so many words, "Good luck with that, but it ain't happenin'."

Or, well, in his words, "down ballot" candidates (all of these locals) would stand no chance of winning. I know. You can almost hear Mayra Flores grabbing that old chips & salsa tray and flinging it across the dining room floor. Mauro Garza, shown in photo at right, would likely stand up and say, no, scream, that he didn't launch his campaign to lose, and that, heck, he won't lose. But he will. Mauro Garza, like Mayra Flores and Laura E. Cisneros, is a Johnny-come-lately Republican - in our eyes, these three are a trio of posers. Hopeless laments.

I mean, Mauro Garza looks like the quintessential JC Penney's men's clothing department salesman. If I see it, well, voters will see it too. Rural child Mayra Flores needs polish, a "looks & moves" makeover. She's wanting to play a Big Time political game living in a bucolic metropolis she calls Los Indios - not quite Big D. But that 6-months-long taste she got as a Congresswoman, after she won the Special Election to fill resigned Congressman Fil Vela's seat last summer, not only emboldened her but it also got her thinking she was something special.

She lost to current Democrat Vicente Gonzalez in the November General election by some 10,000 votes. It didn't take her long to blast Republicans who she believed had not turned out to vote. It was bad form and likely something district votes have not forgotten.

Laura E. Cisneros, an oncologist shown in photo at left, is, frankly, apparently out for a good time and nothing more. She was a voting Democrat only a few days ago, fer chrissakes! Political grasshopper? Well, we fully expect to see her in the Libertarian Party after this election, yes.

It did cross our mind that what Mr. Cascos was saying about down-ballot Republicans faring badly in South Texas might also be speaking to his potential run. Has he decided against challenging his party colleagues for the right to take on well-entrenched Vicente Gonzalez?

Well, yeah, you could read that into his words. He is a South Texas Republican and he said South Texas Republicans would not do well if Donald J. Trump is the Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election.

Well, being eternal fight fans, we would wish Mr. Cascos in the Main Event. Him and incumbent Gonzalez. That's the attraction in the 34th Congressional District outdoor ring. . . .Pay Per View, baby. Let's get rrrrrrrrrrready to rummmmmmmmble...15 rounds of boxing in the cruiserweight division...

And, yes, we do ask ourselves if Mr. Cascos is also writing himself off. It's a legit question based on what he has said. 

Carlos Cascos fully believes Trump would lose (again) to Democrat incumbent Joe Biden...

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Carlos Cascos: "Trump 2024 Would Be A Disaster For The Republican Party"...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

BROWNSVILLE, Texas | It's pretty much what we expected from him. Republican Carlos Cascos simply does not fit the vacuous individual mold quick to hand over his or her brain to Donald J. Trump. Indeed, the former Cameron County Judge and ex-Texas Secretary of State says Trump 2024 would be a "disaster" for his party.

We had earlier written about perhaps this being a good time for Mr. Cascos to make his feelings known on where he stands with the thrice-indicted Trump, our push coming only because we have been led to believe that he is considering a run at Democrat Vicente Gonzalez's 34th Congressional District seat.

In any case, here is what Mr. Cascos fired-off in our direction after we published our story: [ "Let me say this now. I believe Trump would be a disaster for the Republican Party & would all but guarantee a Biden victory. Coupled with that, I believe Trump as the nominee will, at least in purple counties, such as Cameron, would be a detriment to all down ballot candidates.

Until facts surface that proves rampant voter fraud, Trump lost the 2020 election.

Although Trump is ahead in the polls, I don't believe he's the best candidate, but then again, that's my unsolicited opinion. Trump may win Texas, but he will not win the RGV. Does that matter? No.

But what does matter is the impact he will have on down ballot candidates, & it won't be positive. I'm sure I will get criticism for my comments, but so be it. I believe them to be true. As far as the indictments, we should trust our Justice system. I am angered by the DOJ's failure to hold others to the same level of scrutiny...Clinton, Hunter Biden & many others, but that is beyond our control. The biggest challenge will be finding a jury of Trump's peers to judge him. I have stated before, we must wait and let the Justice system process take its course." ]

Good to see him on the record on certain points. It's what the voters want and will need in 2024 - honesty.

We're not going to play Devil's Advocate on the points Mr. Cascos makes here.

Well, except on this one: Donald J. Trump has let it be known that he can't get a fair trial in Washington, D.C., where he has called the federal judge a "nightmare". Jury members, he cried would be coming from a collection of liberals. Trump wants the judge to recuse herself (leave the case to another judge) and he wants a change of venue, like, his lawyer said, to the Virginias, where the jury pool would be more conservative.

Yet, Trump and his lawyers said nothing about the case he faces in Miami, where the jury pool will draw from mostly conservatives and from a voter sector he won convincingly in 2016 and in 2020.

Trump should fight in the courtroom. If he's not guilty of the charges, you'd think he would want the trials to come around quickly and see him defend himself as vigorously as he complains. As to a jury of his "peers," as Mr. Cascos states, well, theoretically, every and any American is his peer.

Trump is not questioning the Miami federal judge (one he appointed) and he has said nothing about a potential jury make-up there...

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[EDITOR'S NOTE:...We thank Carlos Cascos for his prompt reply. It can't be easy being a Republican these days, even in an out-of-the-way region like the Rio Grande Valley...]     

U.S. Women's National Team Knocked Out At World Cup. ...They'll Be Back...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Winners of four out of the first eight World Cups. That's how dominant the US Womens National Team had been in international soccer. Until today, Sunday. They fought to the wire, their match with Sweden in a tie at the end of regulation play. It was the Extra Time penalty kicks that failed the Americans, as Sweden won that shootout.

The Americans were going home in an unfamiliar manner - as losers.

Those who follow the sport know that much had been said and written about the lackluster play of the Americans, with sportscasters pretty much saying things would end badly this time around. It did.

The United States had won the last two Women's World Cups and four of the eight tournaments held before this year. They had never gone out before the semi-final stage. This time they have been sent packing in the last 16 having won just one game in Australia and New Zealand, an unconvincing 3-0 defeat of Vietnam.

Fans of the sport could see unfamiliar play on the part of the USNWT from the very beginning, as things seem to not be as sharp as in earlier tourneys. The two-time defending champs had trouble scoring. Action that had seemed choreographed and successful had yielded to visible insecurity on the pitch (the field of play). Star Megan Rapinoe missed the Extra Time shot at goal that sealed the victory for Sweden. How many times in previous play had she been the hero? Too many to count.

But that was earlier. This tournament was a new day in the sport we see every four years (the calendar year after the men's World Cup, btw). Criticism of the readiness could be found in the days and weeks before the World Cup began. The U.S. wasn't ready. The squad was not clicking. Something was up. News reports covered it all.

Then, in the midst of the World Cup, came the silliness.

The American team was not singing the National Anthem at the games. A few players could be seen lip-synching, but not all. Observers noted other nation's squads were singing loud and proud, the Americans not even putting their hands to their hearts.

That had nothing to do with the games at hand, with the play.

But it was yet some more negativity thrown at a national team that had been criticized for something or another all year long.

They go there to play, not sing.

The USNWT will be back..

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Will He Ever Say A Critical Word About Trump?...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

BROWNSVILLE, Texas | Accountant Carlos Cascos is a well-respected resident of this luckless border town. Most everybody who is anybody knows him, from his days as Cameron County Judge and his two years as Texas Secretary of State.

Mr. Cascos is a throwback Republican. Don't expect crazy, wild-eyed political rhetoric from him. He's too-grounded in the Rio Grande Valley culture to act-out some fake persona. Think bygone and mostly boring Texas Gov. Bill Clements and that's the sort of calm & collected politician you'll find in Carlos Cascos.

Still, what with the avalanche of strange and high school-silly stuff coming from the leader of his party - one Donald J. Trump - you'd think that Mr. Cascos would at some point venture a public comment on the mess that is his party and his party's racism and bigotry ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

He's not an announced candidate for anything yet, although he's on record as saying Labor Day (Sept. 4th) will be the day he decides on a run for the 34th Congressional District seat held presently by well-funded Democrat Vicente Gonzalez.

Would a candidacy force Mr. Cascos into the public debate stage?

Yes, it would. And really only because his party opponents would never let him skate to the primary next Spring. Overly-vocal declared candidate Mayra Flores certainly would charge after him. She's deeply invested in winning the shot at Gonzalez, who beat her by almost 10,000 votes in the last election. Mauro Garza, another announced candidate, isn't as boisterous as Miss Flores, but you never know if things get tight. He's from Raymondville, with ties in San Antonio - sort of a bit away from the district's territory, which runs mainly up the Texas coast north of Brownsville.

Mr. Garza was beaten by Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz of McAllen in the last election.

It says here that much will change in the Republican Party's primary if Mr. Cascos enters the race. Like from the moment he says he's in the contest. The dynamic would be the equal of a semi-cloudy sky going full high and bright, not a cloud in sight.

In earlier comments, Mr. Cascos has said he wonders about Miss Flores ability to articulate her candidacy away from Trumpspeak, a language she is quite adept at spewing. A debate would be in order, he went on, adding that he was unaware of Miss Flores debating anyone since she began her political career from a life of respiratory therapy, her earlier profession.

A public debate would test Miss Flores (and Mr. Garza) in a very different manner. Carlos Cascos has much more political experience and, as a graduate of the University of Texas, is better-spoken. About that, there is no doubt.

Still, he has to address the Trump foibles.

What does Mr. Cascos think of all these indictments (three, so far) hanging off Trump's neck? We know Mr. Cascos to be a level-headed man, so would he be with former Vice President Mike Pence on whether Trump is stomping on the U.S. Constitution, or is he fully, 100% behind the former president?

Bet this: Mayra Flores would ask him directly in a debate.

Mr. Cascos prides himself in being a conservative. Is Trump flashing his brand of conservatism? Does Mr. Cascos endorse Trump's penchant for making threats against those not sold on his cult-like ways? Does "revenge" belong in our national political discourse?

It's a cruel, heartless, winner-take-all world, politics. We do wonder why Mr. Cascos, who is almost 70 years old, would bother.

Yet, as mad as politics have become in this country, he may be of a mind to go at it one last time.

Look for this: Should Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott offer his blessings publicly, Carlos Cascos will climb into the ring...

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Time To Wonder: Who Will Calm The Country?...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | A long time ago, CBS newscaster Walter Cronkite was often described as the conscience of the country. Cronkite was there when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963. The calming effect of his reassuring words is still remembered and often noted by historians writing of our past.

There is no Walter Cronkite today, no one individual the U.S. can point to as someone who can keep the national heart rate in place, even when disaster or worrying movements spread across the so-called fruited plains.

A very good case can be made that Donald J. Trump is doing his damndest to turn this country upside down, to empower racism to the max, bigotry in church even and deliverer of a mood the country can only endure for so long.

Where's the president?

Why isn't Joe Biden speaking out about any of this? I neglect to assign him his proud Democrat badge because this writing is about being an American leader first and foremost. We all know that Trump is NOT a Republican; he merely plays at one for his advantage.

Should Biden go on national TV and say something about this whole Trump mess? I mean, it stinks full across the world. What do foreign leaders (and people) think of the United States now? When Biden won the 2020 election, a sentient writer in France wrote: "Welcome back, America. That was weird." You think Trump hasn't devalued the American brand? He has.

Thursday, after Trump's appearance in court for his third indictment, reporters caught up with Biden while he was riding his bike (see photo atop this story) around his neighborhood in Delaware. They kept asking him about Trump's court appearance, asking if he would take questions.

"Probably not," the president told them.

Biden is not talking. Perhaps he feels it would only incite Trump's noisy, always-threatening supporters. But he should take into account the entire population, not just fear a certain group going all-political at the mention of the name Trump.

It's a cop-out on the part of the president. He is the nation's leader. He has the only megaphone that counts during emergencies, and this Trump insurrection is an emergency. Things can devolve into street warfare with only a few words. Someone needs to tamp down wild emotions. But there seems to be no one around to do that. Even hardly-glib Gerald Ford said a few words after he pardoned President Richard M. Nixon on September 8, 1974 to bring an end to the Watergate break-in mess.

There is quite a bit of writing out there on where this Trump stuff will end up, whether resolved peacefully and legally or whether Trump will fuel an armed revolution in the streets. And don't think that he can't do it. His words after every court appearance are always about revenge if he wins the 2024 presidential election. Trump does not want to go to prison; that's also clear. He is the one dangerous wildcat with his back to the wall, and he does not want to be there.

The well-known historian Douglas Brinkley had this to say about the country needing a calming voice: "There’s nobody that the public at large is willing to listen to, because the trust in government has corroded to such a low degree. And the polling on journalists, the Supreme Court, Congress, the presidency - they’re all low. People aren’t admiring our public servants."

That's both cold and damning.

Where is America these days? Are we more North Korea and South Korea than a Star-Spangled union?...

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The Trump Cult: Republican Can Do No Wrong...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Reporters asked Lindsey Graham, the U.S. Senator from South Carolina, if he felt siding by troubled Donald J. Trump so often meant that he was in a cult. "No, I'm not in a cult," Graham said in quick reply.

When they asked former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin the same question, she said: "The response that we've seen in polling from Republicans suggests that they're going to stick with him, that it's more of a cult than a political party at this point."

The press had asked her bout rabid MAGA supporters of the thrice-indicted Trump.

Well, he doesn't seem to lose ground no matter what ridiculous thing he says or does. Trump at times even gains in polls undertaken to see where 2024 presidential candidates are in relation to one another on the campaign trails.

Much sense has been said about the seemingly glued connection between MAGA fans and the former president. There are similarities to actual cults, but most who look into it come away with a variety of reasons for such strong attractions to Trump. One is racism, which Trump pushes. Bigotry, too. A crazed disdain for the federal government. A wild desire to blame Democrats for the nation's ills. And, more recently, a burning belief on the part of some Americans that the country's Department of Justice has been weaponized against Republicans.

All of that is in the mix. And, yes, Donald Trump is the common bond, the one who brings them all together. Mostly, this brawling Republican Party (and we differentiate it from the one that counts more-sensible members, such as traditional Republicans Mitch McConnell and Mitt Romney) is a symbiotic collection of whiners, losers and people who fell between the economic cracks. All you have to do is scan one of Trump's rally crowds to get that impression. InstaPoll: 86% of MAGA is comprised of food stamps recipients.

When they speak, what you hear is low-rent English and a distinctly rural vocabulary.

Maria, these are not our best citizens.

But they do vote. And that's the challenge for Democrats and for America.

Cultists will go to the end of the road with their leader, as David Koresh found out in Waco back in February of 1993. Jonestown, Guyana back in November 1978 ring a bell? Some 900 cult followers of Jim Jones were commanded to drink cyanide-laced drinks. They all died. Jones was found with a gunshot wound to the head, quite dead.

Those are typical endings to these things. We don't believe Trump would ever kill himself (too vain), but we do wonder about his die-hard followers. The idea of a horrible ending for MAGA types is premature. MAGA is hot right now.

What would happen if Trump lost the 2024 presidential election and found himself convicted of the felony charges he now faces, prison being front-center in the world of news photos?

That's the Great Unknown.

It's a long way to the end of 2024, to political resolution (the vote) and to the loss of any sort of redemption (the jury's verdict).

Cult leader or mere celebrity of the moment, Donald Trump himself can only wish the worst does not come to pass...

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