SUN SHORTS:...Quotes From The Dusty Campaign Trail...In District 34, Republican Mayra Flores Sticks To Handy Border Issue...Wonders Why Democrats Would Back A Democrat Like Mayorkas...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

BROWNSVILLE, Texas |...Positions in partisan politics are easily adopted, their public utterances always predictable. Mostly, it is that familiar knee-jerk reflex. Rarely does it move the needle on who's winning and who's losing. It is simply just a few more words.

Take Republican District 34 candidate Mayra Flores. She's tanned, rested and ready for whatever moves across the news wires. This past week, the U.S. Senate passed on impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - as was always expected, seeing that Mayorkas is a Democrat and the senate currently controlled by the Democrats.

Still, Flores chirped-out her sidelines analysis with this: "The Biden Administration and Texas Congressman Vicente Gonzalez are not serious about protecting our borders or the American people. They are all against the impeachment of Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas."

Yeah. Pinch me out of this slumber.

I suppose it's fine for candidates to birddog what opponents and the other party are doing, but blurting out criticism needs to be a bit headier. The Mexican border as it relates to Texas has apparently been under an "invasion" only Republicans see.

There for a few months, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was dropping the word into all of his sentences. Where are we with that today? Abbott has been somewhat silent and the Republican hordes he drew to tiny Eagle Pass for quick review have stopped, well, being drawn to tiny Eagle Pass.

We would say to Miss Flores that perhaps a more-intelligent response would make her assessment actually meaningful, like, yes, noting it, but also acknowledging that her 34th Congressional District opponent - incumbent Vicente Gonzalez - is just a congressman, one of many, who really can do nothing on his own.

What's the poor Democrat going to do, Mayra - go against his party? So naive.

Parroting is for parrots...

-30-

[EDITOR'S NOTE:...We are not all that for Congressman Vicente Gonzalez, as our feeling is that he apparently has no fight in him, not for the Rio Grande Valley anyway. Rarely, does Gonzalez exhibit that "homeboy" attitude we need in Congress. Say something controversial, Vicente!!! Mayra Flores has the fight, but our feeling there is that she's in the wrong political party...]  

WE, THE JURY:...Prosecutors/Defense Almost There With Selection...Interesting Mix So Far...MAGA Says Defendant Trump Cannot Get A Fair Trial In New York City...No-Nonsense Judge Pressing Onward...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas |...The case is underway and as happens even in B-Grade Hollywood legal thrillers, the defendant has his fans and he has his boo birds. Donald J. Trump is no exception. Trump's on trial for alleged illegal business accounting related to his $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

So far, he's hanging in there, like a doomed nutcase but hanging in there just the same.

We're watching, tuning in to the goings-on during the daytime, blowing it off at nighttime. This, we say, is not the O.J. Simpson trial until Stormy Daniels takes the stand. No one has been murdered here, unless you count the truth. Stormy is not the new Nicole Simpson, although she's just as attractive.

There is no Kato Kaelin in this spoof, unless former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen suits you in that goofy role. And, of course, Judge Juan Merchan is likely an improved version of Judge Lance Ito in the Simpson case.

It should be noted that Simpson died last week; Donald Trump is still very much alive.

We do not willy-nilly compare these two notorious dudes as equals in their problems, but we scribes in America like to rethread our history at every opportunity. There is, for example, no "white Ford Bronco" in the Trump hush money trial. Does Trump even have a driver's license? We're pretty sure he owns black gloves. In fact, he was wearing them on the day he gave a speech to his supporters before they staged that wild, destructive riot at the National Capitol Building.

Are we saying that Trump, like O.J., will be found not guilty?

No, we're not. Not yet anyway.

This posting was supposed to be about jury selection for his trial, so...  

From axios.com: [ Eleven more people - five jurors and six alternates - still need to be picked in the case. Dozens have already been dismissed because they said they couldn't be impartial, a sign of the complexity and unique nature of the case.

Here's what we know about who's been selected so far:

1.) The foreman, who works in sales, lives in Harlem but is originally from Ireland.

2.) A native New Yorker who's an oncology nurse.

3.) A corporate lawyer originally from Oregon.

4.) A self-employed IT consultant who lives on the Lower East Side but grew up in Puerto Rico.

5.) A teacher and lifelong New Yorker. She was the only juror in the box who said they didn't know Trump was charged in three other cases.

6.) A software engineer who works for Disney.

7.) A lawyer who lives on the Upper East Side.

What's next: Jury selection is set to resume today. Judge Juan Merchan is moving things right along: He said opening statements could start Monday morning. ]

We'll tune-in again later today to see what else has come down the prosecution pike. Trump will address the press as he steps into the courthouse, damn it all as a fake trial and proceed to walk into his political degüello.

That's a clue as to where we sit on the eventual jury verdict, yes...

-30-

SUN RECORDS:...Newsroom Jukebox...We Do Remember Puerto Vallarta..."La Chula" - MANA...

DISTRICT 34:...Bad News For Republican Mayra Flores...FOX News Lists Congressional Democratic Seats In Peril...Vicente's Is Not One...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

BROWNSVILLE, Texas |...They're subjective, yes, but looksees at who's in trouble come Election Day and who isn't always bring some possibilities. Congressional seats, those won for two-year terms at a time, are fair game when listing the good representatives and the bad.

FOX News, no attraction for Albert Einstein or the Mensa crowd, this past week listed six Democrats who may not be there in the next 2025 Congress.

District 34's Vicente Gonzalez was not on the list.

That may be a bad sign for his familiar opponent, Republican Mayra Flores. He beat her by 11,432 votes in 2022, but she's back on the warpath, tearing him apart at every political opportunity.

The six Democrats fingered by FOX News were: Jared Golden (Maine), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), Matt Cartwright (Pennsylvania), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Washington state), Mary Peltola (Alaska) and Elissa Slotkin (Michigan). See photo at right below.

Noise from this campaign has been rather minimal. You can catch up with the Flores Camp on Facebook, where she posts regularly. There's nothing glaring in the way of a singular make-or-break issue she identifies as one that will whip Gonzalez in November.

Gonzalez is being Gonzalez, the calm politician who holds his tongue until he can't. He's the dude who labeled Mayra's supporters as being the equal of "Jews For Hitler" during the Nazi heyday. Is he worried this time around? You'd never know it by looking at his all-RGV face. Vicente Gonzalez knows being and acting cool is a clash for the feisty style offered by Mayra Flores - a Trump MAGA Republican, if her postings are any indication of which way the winds blow for her.

Flores lost the noisy 2022 fight against two-term Gonzalez rather convincingly, the final tally being 70,896 votes for him (52.7%) to 59,464 for her (44.2%). That's a hill-and-a-half to climb. Could Mayra do Mt. Kilimanjaro? Mt. St. Helens? This one is Everest for her.

But she remembers that race against Democrat Dan Sanchez in the summer of 2022, when she whipped him silly in that Special Election to fill what was then resigning Congressman Filemon Vela's seat. She took down and pinned the hardly energized Sanchez, 14,799 votes (50.9%) to 12,606 for Sanchez (43.4%).

Then Mayra (shown at left) was felled by Gonzalez in that year's mid-term elections.

Area pundits are giving steadfast Gonzalez the race once again, although I suspect that younger Flores has some newfangled angle to get at voters. The district is largely a Coastal Texas one, encompassing Eastern Hidalgo County, all of Cameron County and points due north from there.

With any luck, district voters will get a debate or two from these two...

-30-

DISTRICT 15:...Republican Incumbent Monica De la Cruz Again Facing Dangerous Democrat Buzzsaw Michelle Vallejo...This Shaky GOP Seat Could Easily Flip...Vallejo Hits Monica On Social Security...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas |...It's still early in the Western Hidalgo County campaign, but comfy Republican incumbent Monica De La Cruz's reelection effort is already dealing with the same feisty Democrat who challenged her last go round and is challenging her again.

Democrat Michelle Vallejo may make it this time.

De la Cruz, 49, has a however-slim record to shoot at this time around, one that, frankly, is shallow as she's only been in office since winning election in 2022. There is no signature piece of legislation bearing her name, three of the votes she offered went for "Denouncing the horrors of Socialism," installing Mike Johnson as Speaker of The House and in favor of the expulsion of fellow Republican George Santos from his congressional seat.

Not much for South Texans there, no.

Noise from both of these camps is barely audible at this point. But things will shake out soon.

The 32-year-old Vallejo, owner of a popular flea market in Alton, is using her Facebook page to engage followers almost daily, often with looksees at her district's needs, but also with harsh criticism of De La Cruz, an insurance agent by profession shown in photo above.

Neither comes across as a wild-eyed candidate. You'd have to likely pose a pointed question to De La Cruz to get her to say anything about her party's troubled leader, one Donald J. Trump. Perhaps Trump is a non-factor in largely rural District 15.

Miss Vallejo, meanwhile, is going for the cultural jugular.

From Vallejo, via her Facebook page: [ "Our abuelitos have worked hard and paid into social security their entire lives so they can retire with dignity.

Instead of fighting for our #TX15 families, @RepMonicaDLC has, once again, placed Social Security on the chopping block. She cannot be trusted in congress." ]

But we know that politicians are always looking over their shoulders, so it was no surprise that De La Cruz quickly joined the Social Security defense, chasing Vallejo by posting this on her Facebook page: "It is an honor to have the support of so many senior citizens and abuelitos. I will NEVER stop fighting for your hard-earned benefits! Protecting Social Security and Medicare will ALWAYS be one of my TOP PRIORITIES!" 

Vallejo also damns De La Cruz for siding with her party's leadership in clipping the so-called Internet affordability program, which helps poor Americans cover a portion of the cost of access.

What's apparent in Vallejo's postings is a certain insistent drive any opponent would respect. She's front-center daily and on-topic regarding issues affecting District 15 constituents, a voter makeup consisting of hardworking, hardly wealthy people.

Still, Vallejo will have to overcome a convincing defeat she suffered against De La Cruz in 2022, when she lost by some 12,000 votes - 80,978 (53.3%) to 68,097 (44.8%). As drawn up, the colon-shaped 15th Congressional District (see map above) is a narrow strip of South Texas running from western Hidalgo County here in the Rio Grande Valley northwards to eastern Guadalupe County, to the east of San Antonio. The district includes all of Brooks, Jim Wells, Live Oak, Karnes, and Wilson counties.

That's a strange carving of South Texas voters, but that, too, is political.

The much-younger Michelle Vallejo deals with poor people often as operator of her flea market. Monica De la Cruz, from Edinburg, is a single Mom. There's something uniquely valley there, in both. Vallejo will get financial support from the Democratic Party. De La Cruz must wait on pocket change after Donald Trump gets the lion's share from the Republican Party.

Hard to think of either one of them as undeserving of this seat.

Michelle Vallejo is the proverbial model for the Democratic Party as it has played out historically in South Texas. It's also hard to believe that Monica De La Cruz is seeking to be full-hog MAGA...

-30-

[EDITOR'S NOTE:...As we noted, it is early in this campaign. We will keep monitoring both of these camps and publish when an issue or controversy of interest surfaces...]

DONALD TRUMP ON TRIAL:...First One Up Today In New York...Falsifying Business Records...The Hush Money Case...He Paid A Porn Star To Hang Low...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas |...As John Lennon once sang, "'I Dig a Pygmy,'" by Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf Aids...Phase one, in which Doris gets her oats!" Well, the soothing/grating sounds of legal music will surely sail across the fruited plains. It's Donald J. Trump on trial this fine, mid-April morning, and the whole country is in the house.

How long has this been going on, as another song would add about here.

Too long.

But we're at the starting gate. It's Popcorn Time in America, lads. Hit the couch heavily and settle in for some riveting testimony. The fan is on high, yes. The fiddler is in the room, his bill in hand. Time to pay up. Is he guilty or not guilty?

Inquiring minds - and a shitload of bloggers - want to know.

As per The Associated Press: [ . . . .Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The charge carries up to four years in prison, though whether he will spend time behind bars if convicted would ultimately be up to the judge.

The counts are linked to a series of checks written to former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to reimburse him for his role in paying off porn star Stormy Daniels. Those payments, made over 12 months, were recorded as legal expenses in various internal company records.

To win on the felony charge, prosecutors must show that Trump not only falsified or caused business records to be entered falsely - which would be a misdemeanor - but that he did so with intent to commit or conceal a second crime. ]

Of course, 77-year-old Trump has denied all allegations. Yet, say non-believers, why would he hand over $130,000 to a sexy Babe? He also paid off lovely Playboy foldout Karen McDougal, allege the confidant prosecutors.

So, in today will walk presidential candidate Trump, the first former president to face a criminal trial in the whole hog history of these United States. Hey, not even Tricky Dick Nixon, Baby. This is a genuine "first ever."

This isn't his worst potential pitfall. Trump has three other cases on his hefty back, the insurrection one also in NY, the lection meddling case in Georgia and the classified documents charges in Florida. Excuse me, while I kiss the sky, yeah.

I dunno, I dunno how I feel about all of this legal wrangling.

My bet these days is that Trump will never see a prison cell. He's a former president and, to many, convicting and sending his big butt to jail would be too-South America. Plus, he's a white dude, and we all know about rich, white guys and the always-there Get-Out-Of-Going-To-Jail card. It's just a fact of multi-tiered American life, see.

 So, do enjoy it as dramatic TV.

It won't be televised, but you can bet the networks and some peripherals will gush-in with updates all day long. Trump's the punching bag, and news outlets will unload on his over-sized political carcass.

And I'll know it's true, 'cause I'll see it on TV (sorry, John Fogerty)...

-30-

WORLD AT WAR:...Iran's Wild Drone And Missile Attack On Israel Fails...It's Only The Beginning...U.S. Helps With Anti-Missile Batteries...Joe Biden Warns Bibi Netanyahu Against Counterattack...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas |...It had been coming for days following Israel's earlier bombing of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, Syria. A missile attack, is what U.S. intelligence was saying.

It came yesterday - some 200 or so drones and missiles.

According to reports, Israel fended off almost entirely, the number 99% being tossed around liberally in news stories. Credit the so-called "Iron Dome" anti-missile batteries availed to Israel by the U.S.

But don't expect the U.S. to stay in the fray. 

This from axios.com: [ President Joe Biden told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a call on Saturday that the U.S. won't support any Israeli counterattack against Iran. Biden and his senior advisers are highly concerned an Israeli response to Iran's attack on Israel would lead to a regional war with catastrophic consequences, U.S. officials said.

Iran launched attack drones and missiles against Israel on Saturday night local time in retaliation for an airstrike in Syria that killed a top Iranian general.

"More than 200 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles were fired from Iran," IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said. Most of the threats were intercepted outside of Israeli airspace, he said.

A U.S. defense official earlier said U.S. forces in the region shot down Iranian-launched drones targeting Israel. Biden told Netanyahu the joint defensive efforts by Israel, the U.S. and other countries in the region led to the failure of the Iranian attack, according to a White House official.

"You got a win. Take the win," Biden told Netanyahu, according to the official.

The official said that when Biden told Netanyahu that the U.S. will not participate in any offensive operations against Iran and will not support such operations, Netanyahu said he understood. ]

This, of course, is tangentially connected to the ongoing Israel/Palestinian brawl in the Gaza Strip. The Israelis fully believe that Iran funds Hamas terrorists in the region, often also arming then with weapons.

It'll be interesting to see where else this goes.

The U.S. does not want a fast-spreading wildfire in the Middle East...

-30-

SUN RECORDS:...Newsroom Jukebox..."I Thought About You"...

LATINOS NOT QUITE FOR TRUMP:...Republican Touts Newfound Support, But It's Not There...Pew Research Indicates No Rise In Latinos For GOP...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas |...Oh, how they wish for a Red Wave in November. Republicans want the whole world to arrive at their door, all hungry for Trump fascism, all eager to vote for him. It's not happening, folks, as Democrat Joe Biden might say about here.

That Red Wave may hit certain beaches on the east coast (the Carolinas and Florida), but too much long-winded racism and bigotry will keep it over that way.

Latinos are not flocking to those beaches. Neither are Blacks.

You'll get the insecure, ethnicity-denying Hispanics and the whimsical Blacks, but not the majority.

This from Pew Research: [ The Pew Research Center released polling this week that casts serious doubt on recent surveys showing Donald Trump making significant gains among Black and Latino voters.

The Pew survey suggested majorities of Latino, Black, and Asian voters continue to largely favor the Democratic Party. The results show very little change among Black and Latino Americans since the early 1990s, while white voters remain almost exactly as aligned with the Republican Party as they were in the early ‘90s.

". . .Not much 'racial realignment' in these Pew numbers," Vanderbilt political science professor John Sides tweeted, attaching a series of Pew graphs tracking party alignment over three decades. ]

It is significant, credible material this research outfit puts out every now and then. Yes, the fight at the ballot box continues, as it should, but any reports that Trump has collared a large number of Latinos is fake news. You'll see that only on far-right news outlets, like the Wall Street Journal, New York Post and the conservative English tabloids across the Atlantic.

Trump's campaign is in more than just financial trouble. He's in court on Monday for that Stormy Daniels hush money trial, a criminal prosecution that requires him to be in court and not out on the campaign trail.

The smiles and gushing optimism will still be there on the face of the once-proud Democrat from Manhattan, but legal experts say he's in deep doo-doo on this case. He is alleged to have paid the strikingly-Catholic Miss Daniels $130,000 for something.

Trump denies the affair and the payment, a transaction for which his previous attorney - Michael Cohen - has already been imprisoned. He may or may not testify; Stormy and Cohen will.

And who knows how the Latino voter angle will play out in down-ballot races.

There are two of those here in the Rio Grande Valley, with 15th Congressional District Republican incumbent Monica De La Cruz seeking reelection and Mayra Flores again pitting herself against Democrat incumbent Vicente Gonzalez in neighboring District 34.

De La Cruz won a tough fight in 2022, while Flores lost to Gonzalez by some 10,000 votes.

No Red Wave has as yet been ballyhooed this time around, much less spotted...

-30-

TIME, TIME, TIME:...Polls Show Democrat Biden Rolling Up To 2024 Victory...Others Have Trump Inching Ahead...They're Shallow Voter-Sentiment Samplings...Often Wrong...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas |...It's still a crapshoot. Drama on Election Night, an American staple. We're almost there for the 2024 presidential shootout pitting trusted democracy against wild dictatorship. It's one or the other. Do Americans get the importance? No, not yet, and perhaps they never will. Americans are comfortable, air-conditioned softies who, well, believe everything will always be alright.

Send in the clowns.

We have no way of looking into the future and coming back to tell you which candidate will win, whether incumbent Democrat Joe Biden, the 81-year-old, or terribly-flawed Donald Trump, the oft-indicted New Yorker on trial as of Next Monday for violating campaign finance laws while paying porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to shut up.

Stormy will testify, so she is not shutting up, and Americans seem to have splintered off and taken sides, taken them with the vigor of a young and new porn star out to make a mint satisfying the longest amongst us dudes.

Do polls matter? I say no. I say they are too shallow, one so-called respectable national poll admitting it only surveyed 833 Americans to deduce that Biden would win easily. Trump has paid for enough fake Wall Street Journal polls to keep that print journalism operation in business.

But, hey, watch out for the Latino vote!

Who knows about that one? It's a minor vote (10%, if that?). Still, it's a measuring stick. The turbulent political winds blow up and down in the Hispanic community, say the pollsters who likely never set foot on such locales. The Black vote! Oh, bro, keep your eye on the Black voters. It could mean victory or defeat in the South!

Yeah.

The Italian vote is about to convict Trump in that New York City trial. What about that vote, Maria? Are you hip to the spaghetti & meatball jury verdict. Oh, yeah, there could be a Jew or two on the jury. What about the Jewish vote? Poll me a few Germans. They may go with fellow German Donald J. Trump just because he's German.

Hey, poll this!

Ah, well, it's all part of our national politics schtick, central to the game. It's still early, is what we're saying at our weekly discussion meeting over at the restaurant. Most seem to agree. Hanging on us like a cool, colorful lei on the flight home from Honolulu is the prospect of violence after the vote is counted, not if Biden wins reelection but if Trump and his people wish to take their disappointment out into the streets.

Yeah, riot at the malls this time. Burn the mother down, as The Trampps might say about here.

Richard J. Daley, once the Trump-like blowhard mayor of Chicago, liked to put it this way: "The only poll that truly counts, is the poll the voters take in the voting booths on election day."

Of course...

-30-

THE MAN WHO LIED:...Donald Trump's Words On Abortion Ring Hollow...No One Believes He Would Leave It To The States...A Panderer, He Will Do What Benefits Him...Always...

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas |...Came the statement somewhat late if late is a few weeks, a few months. What was drama queen Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump's wishy-washy position on the hit-button issue of abortion? Would the adulterer say he'd ban it nationally, as his rabid supporters insist, or would he melt-in with the effect as it would affect his campaign?

Trump went with latter. He thinks talk of abortion is the worst conversation for Republicans.

This in a country where, analysts say, up to 2 million abortions occur annually. 878,000 in the first 10 months of last year, 2023. The statistical data is clear - Americans are into abortion as a medical treatment.

Politicians, well, Republicans, don't get it. They lean on abortion as some sort of God-divined no-no, when reality (life) shows it to be a necessity, at times a life-saving necessity. Yes, the abortion numbers went down in states (South Carolina, Indiana, North Carolina) that outlawed it, but that was not about need as much as it was about political power.

As the 2024 General Election gears up for its usual late-inning drama, Democrats are using the Republican anti-abortion position to win votes. And, as has happened in states where abortion is placed on the ballot, they know it is a winning issue up and down the ballot.

President Joe Biden is playing it up, as is the Democratic National Committee (DNC); Republicans not so much.

Indeed, Republicans are harping on Trump's new (fake) position. They know it is a loser in November.

From newrepublic.com: [ . . . .In a rambling video statement posted to Truth Social on Monday, Donald Trump claimed that if he is - egads! - reelected, abortion "will" be left to the states. "The states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land," he said. "Many states will be different. Many will have a different number of weeks, or some will [be] more conservative than others, and that’s what they will be. At the end of the day, this is all about the will of the people."

Trump’s statement is notable in part for what he left out. By declining to support a federal, week-specific ban on abortion, he angered Marjorie Dannenfelser of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life, a powerful anti-abortion group. "We are deeply disappointed in President Trump’s position," she said. "Saying the issue is 'back to the states' cedes the national debate to the Democrats who are working relentlessly to enact legislation mandating abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy." ]

For me, this is not an issue worthy of a national referendum. The Border Wall, yes. Abortion, no.

Medicine is a patient's issue. Government does not belong in that world. Doctors are not trained to sway with arriving political issues. An abortion is a treatment for the woman, for the woman and her husband, for the woman and her family, for the woman and her doctor, for the woman and her faith.

Republicans often wish to rule with a heavy hand.

Mostly, it is Republican men.

They should play with their own bodies. What do they call it - pocket pool?...

-30-

SUN RECORDS:...Newsroom Jukebox..."Un Six-Pack De Cerveza"...Grupo Tolerados, 2020

CASH CRUNCH:...Republican All-Out Support For Donald J. Trump Taking Cash From Down-Ballot GOP Candidates...Does RGV's Mayra Flores Have Enough In The Bank To Oust Gonzalez?...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas |...Word in the corporate hallways has it that the troubled Republican Party is funneling all of its money to presidential candidate Donald J. Trump, every single buck and penny taken from contributions to the Republican National Committee (RNC).

What that will mean to down-ballot candidates such as Mayra Flores, the GOP's horse in the 34th Congressional District race is anybody's guess, although when the news comes from the RNC itself that Donald gets all the money, well...

How this may be affecting the Flores campaign we do not exactly know. She's been quieter than usual heading into the summer months, a time when political campaigns with national implications get rolling.

So far, nothing.

Flores may be huddling with Big Scheme handlers, and maybe we're premature in saying her campaign is jogging. But news also has it that Democrats are raking in the money like never before. President Joe Biden's campaign has been ballyhooing big hauls they say has left Trump and the RNC in the dust.

That is good news for District 34 incumbent Vicente Gonzalez, who likely will not have a cash problem as he rolls out his reelection bid. The November General Election likely cannot get here soon enough for him.

We have no access to Mayra Flores, as she has blocked us on her Facebook page.

It would be rather interesting to ask her about the current state of her campaign's financial standing. At last report, back a few months, she reportedly had almost $1 million in her war chest. To date, however, we have seen nothing of her advertising, although that could be soon coming.

She has a hard row to hoe, a tall mountain to climb.

Gonzalez is a dog at campaign time, and he wants to keep his job. And has tasted victory against her once already, by some 10,000 votes in the most recent 2022 election.

What sayeth thou, Mayra Flores?...

-30-

SUN FLICKS:...Reporters At The Movies...The Pink Panther..."Does Your Dog Bite?"...

TRUMP ON ABORTION:...He's For The National Ban...That Denial He Issued Monday Was A Lie ...His Latest...Don't Fall For It...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas |...They all say he's lying again. Who? Donald J. Trump, Republican candidate for president. About what? His stance on abortion. Really? Yeah.

Big surprise.

The 77-year-old Trump yesterday took to the airwaves to say he is not all that interested in proffering a national ban on abortion as president; he will let the issue be decided by the states. Democrats are not buying it. Neither, likely, are American women who are strongly against any anti-abortion legislation.

But, as could expected, right-wing news media began painting Trump as a "moderate" on abortion, the stab at ridding him and his party of the one issue that will doom them in the November General Election.

This from newrepublic.com: [ . . .It’s a mirror image of how the right works. Usually, they love Trump because he takes hard-right positions and sticks it to the libs. The Muslim ban, the border talk, the "vermin" rhetoric, and so on. Fox News and other right-wing outlets promote and echo this extremism constantly.

But on Fox News this week, they’re going to be saluting Trump for doing the opposite. By the end of the week, I bet Fox hosts will have called Trump a brave "compromiser" and "moderate" and "conciliator" a couple hundred times. Can’t you just hear it? "This is real leadership. Donald Trump understands that there are competing strongly held views on this topic across the country, and he has selflessly put aside his own strongly held personal views to try to find a compromise position all Americans can live with. That is presidential leadership, my friends." ]

Hogwash.

Once a liberal Democrat in his home state of New York, Trump has morphed into a racist pro-right zealot of the first order. To believe him on anything is to believe in lies as a human virtue.

Donald J. Trump may not personally be against abortion, but he will play one to win The White House.

More lies on aisle 45...

-30-

ECONOMY:...National Doing Okay...Republicans Not Falling In...Except for Texas Governor Greg Abbott...He Confirms It...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas |...Greg Abbott perhaps has been spending too much time on the sun-parched Mexican border this past year. The 66-year-old Republican has pretty much made a name for himself as a tough anti-undocumented immigrant dude.

He's bought enough razor wire fencing to save the industry. He's placed large buoys in the middle of the Rio Grande to wall-off swimmers headed north. He's done more than enough, yet the border, he will tell you, is still not secure. Blame that on the Democrat in The White House - President Joe Biden.

But do credit Biden with a booming national economy, Abbott now says.

He went on right-wing TV on Sunday to say the country's economy is doing great thanks in large part to a great Texas economy.

What?! Republican Abbott confirmed the nation's economy is doing great under Democrat Biden?

Yes, he did. This as Republicans across the political spectrum are running campaigns on word that Americans are suffering the cost of groceries, housing, gasoline and education. Greg Abbott kinda says that's bunk - the U.S. economy is flying high.

This from thehill.com: [ Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) appeared to take credit for the boost in the U.S. economy, saying Sunday that the improvements across the country are because his state’s economy is "doing so well."

Fox News pressed Abbott on how the latest jobs report showed that the recent surge in migrants has helped increase payrolls and "keep a lid on consumer prices." He pushed back against that remark, instead saying the boost in the U.S. economy can be attributed to Texas and Texans, not immigrants. ]

Abbott went to on to say his tough stand at the Mexican border has led to a "72 percent" drop in illegal entry - a surprise in itself.

Does that mean the "invasion" he touted is over? How about a press conference on the topic?

Well, yes, Texas may be doing fine economically, but it still pales behind California's, plus the knock against Texas is that it leads in receipt of federal aid, like welfare that includes food stamps and housing vouchers.

We do applaud the governor for acknowledging the Biden Economy.

He didn't have to do it, and we suspect he has since received some curt email or text messages from one Donald J. Trump, the apparent Republican nominee for the November presidential election...

-30-

SUN RECORDS:...Newsroom Jukebox..."The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)"...

BROKE DON:...Republican Presidential Candidate Donald John Trump Gets Biting Nickname From Democrats...It May Apply...He's Dog-Pedaling...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

BROWNSVILLE, Texas | ...Lara Trump is not happy. She loves her father-in-law, and some people are hurting his feelings by calling him "Broke Don." It's a nickname, and the target, one Donald J. Trump, is somewhat familiar with the concept of dissing others by way of unflattering monikers.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was "Low Energy Jeb" to The Donald.

Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio was "Little Marco."

Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina was "Horse face."

President Joe Biden is "Sleepy Joe."

We could go on, but you get the drift. Donald Trump loves applying nicknames, something, it is said, characterized as the work of small minds. I mean, he's a guy. A guy is going to hurt another guy with a dumbass nickname? He'll likely hurt a woman, but not a guy.

Now has come his daughter-in-law, the unattractive one married to his son, Eric, and the co-head of the Republican Party National Committee (thanks to Donald)

This from newsweek.com: [ Donald Trump's daughter-in-law is not a fan of a new nickname given to the former U.S. president.

Lara Trump lashed out at President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for anointing her father-in-law as "Broke Don."

The Democrats have been trialling (testing) the new nickname for Donald Trump, who is facing hundreds of millions of dollars in legal bills amid his many lawsuits, by taking a leaf out of Trump's book with his infamous use of nicknames for his opponents. These have included referring to Biden as "Sleepy Joe" and calling Hillary Clinton "Crooked Hillary" during the 2016 presidential race.

Lara Trump (shown in photo above) slammed the new nickname for Donald Trump, claiming that her loud father-in-law is the master of monikers and is not in fact, facing financial trouble. Donald Trump has also denied he is having money problems.

"The reality is Joe Biden and Kamala Harris... they try to, usurp Donald Trump as the greatest marketer in the world with his naming of people [and] it doesn't work, it's ridiculous," she said during an appearance on Eric Bolling's The Balance show on NewsMax on Thursday.

". . . . And not only that, immediately after that they tried to name him "Broke Don," but he actually got $6 billion with the Truth Social site." ]

That last reference to Trump making $6 million off his Truth Social venture on Wall Street is a mirage, at least according to investment experts who note that its stock has been falling every day since it went public the other week.

So, "Broke Don," then?

Will it stick? Will it hurt the Fake Republican candidate in the November election.

No, and no.

It's just a childish nickname...like all of the ones Trump has affixed on his enemies...

-30-

BOND, THAT BOND:...Step Up, Donald...Four Criminal Cases...Americans Deserve Some Answers...Hey, Maybe You Do Have A Defense...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas |...A resolution is in order. Years of alleged crime and the slow scheduling of charges and trials have us here, waiting on star-crossed Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump's legal verdicts. Guilty or not guilty, that's what America want to hear at this point.

Trump seems to not want those trials, any of them.

An observer would be excused for thinking the man is guilty, as, well, an innocent man would be eager and willing to make his case before a judge or jury. Not 77-year-old Trump. He's fighting it with every last lawyer and breath. And it's wearing the country down. Our politics are wadded up and caught in Trump's trap, his roiling legal shenanigans a literal fishing net of the sort only a world-class Gloucester, Massachusetts fisherman would love.

That case he lost related to years and years of business fraud brought a verdict more than a month ago: $454 million judgment against him and his two sons, Don Jr and Eric. The elder Trump was supposed to post that entire amount in a bond if he headed to appeals court. He did, but the bond was reduced to $175 million, which a cheesy California company posted him last week.

It's under review, as they love to say in the National Football League.

News comes that the bond company has some problems. Of course it does. Everything Trump offers/touches comes with problems.

But then there's this via dailykos.com: [ Trump’s unconventional Bond supplier has some problems.  Primary among them being the lack of credible balance-sheet evidence, proving that Knight Specialty is "good for" the $175 Million IOU posted. NY law requires this credible evidence, which shows that Bond posted is, among other things, not more than 10% of the Bond Company’s available (liquid) capital assets.

Trump’s "white Knight" did not show this.

In their amended filing, they still leave much to be answered for, in terms of fiscal credibility:

1.)  The "balance sheet" numbers re-posted, amount to notes scribbled on a napkin.

2.)  The "balance sheet" numbers re-posted, have not been independently audited, and attested to as being accurate.

3.)  The "balance sheet" numbers re-posted, have numerous vague Liabilities and Obligations, that offset the likewise vague Assets listed.

4.)  The "balance sheet" numbers re-posted, were only through 12/31/2023. 

But what’s a $175 Million IOU among "Business Associates," Capisce? Why all the fuss, just trust-em...

Micheal Popok of LegalAF, goes even further. He raises the serious likelihood, that Don Hankey, owner of Knight Specialty Insurance Company, has just broken "money laundering laws" - with statements he just made on CNN.

By saying that Trump has the "cash on hand" to pay back the $175 Million for the Bond - but also, that "he has no idea where Trump has gotten that money from" - Mr. Hankey has just admitted to a possible "money laundering" scheme. It is his responsibility to know where Trump’s collateral cash is coming from - assuming he is indeed a credible Bondsman, that he has purported himself to be.]

It's a mangrove swamp out there in Legal Land.

We know Trump loves that. he enjoys throwing wrenches into moving bicycle tires. It slows things down, and that is precisely all he wants for the moment.

And, boys, we're not even close to getting an eventual appeals court ruling on the original court judgment. What to think of that as the election nears. Yes, it's seven months away, but little tells us this will be resolved before the vote on November 5th.

Americans have a right to be angry, to openly say our justice system is skewed to favor the rich and famous.

Of course, it is...

-30-

SUN RECORDS:...Newsroom Jukebox..."María Bonita"...

WOMEN:...What The F*ck Are They Doing In This Hate-Filled Republican Party?...So Many Sexist Bummers...No, Never A House Speaker Or Veep...

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas |...There is a wide gap between them. Women are readily welcomed and gladly accepted in the Democratic Party. They are used and abused in the Republican Party. It's all out there for review, so open and clear. You see Vice-President Kamala Harris out there pretty much every day. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, too.

Republicans have never had a female vice-president, nor a female Speaker of the House of Representatives. Never, as in not through our national history. Women have braved wars and even started them in ancient times.

Here in our inclusive political arena, Republican women have risen only so much. We have a few in the U.S. Senate, a few more in the House and a gaggle of state governors.

Never a Republican vice-president or Speaker of the House, again we note.

And these days, it is issues important to women - abortion and IVF - that seem to be manipulated by Republican men. They are after an all-out, everywhere ban on abortion and are now pushing an effort to outlaw IVF treatments. So much for the party of family. They are hellbent, eyes wide-open, feelings at their ankles, mouths in an animalistic frothing.

Why do women stay with the ever-hateful Republican Party?

Is it all about Us vs. Them on important societal issues - just another sport? Fight the transgenders, tease a Social Security trimming that will hurt seniors, ban books, screw with voting rights, gerrymander to hold power, abuse a homely southern senator into giving the worst State of The Union response on record (a housewife kin the kitchen).

You can list your own, as I am sure there are more examples. The current Republican Party is nothing if not a raging work-in-progress on open racism, bigotry and all-around hate. We stopped reeling long ago. The script is in place and being acted upon. This is the party of Donald J. Trump, American Nazi.

Once, hope had it that women might gain stature within the GOP. It once fronted a woman for president (Elizabeth Dole, wife of U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, an admirable gent back in the day). Once, it posted one for Veep (Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin) and once it had actually leadership in the House.

Margaret Chase Smith, a Republican U.S. Senator from Maine, ran for president in 1964.

Yes, names and dates are out there for history buffs and political junkies.

But we write about today, about today's Republican Party. It is a doozie of a gang of self-serving politicians who long-ago (2016?) dropped all pretense and went anti-America bonkers. It found an audience, yes.

It delivered New Republican Women like Georgia's Marjorie Taylor Greene and Colorado's Lauren Boebert in the House (see photo below). They arrived fresh off a racist Romper Room, or something like it. Their legislative input has been a Big Zero, neither offering signature proposals or winning Bills. But they are the blouse & skirt Face of The GOP these days.

Taylor Greene has earned the job of official batshit screamer at the State of The Union addresses by the president; sexy, playful Boebert is apparently fond of fondling in public theater settings (a Beetlejuice performance in Denver). Not quite the stage mom offered by TV back in the day, when June Cleaver of Leave It To Beaver wouldn't even wink sexually at TV husband Ward Cleaver.

But that was TV, something for the American Living Room.

Hollywood was a bit more serious, attune with reality in offering The Stepford Wives and Diary of A Mad Housewife. You can smile and laugh about these characterizations, but they do offer a looksee into our moving times.

Are Democrats better at accepting women as equals.

Yes, far better.

Any 1st Year political science student could point to this and that female Democrat public servant and likely not be able to match her with a Republican counterpart. Our own state, Texas, is top-heavy with males in the State Legislature, currently led by the Republican majority.

A strong Republican governor from the weaker sex? Maybe Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, although she's not in a prime-time sort of state. Sanders is a tough broad rough on a man's eyes, but she seems to be running her state like Republican Greg Abbott lashes Texas. Once, she was being talked about roundly as a potential vice-presidential running mate for the reputed misogynist Trump.

Take this is a brief looksee into the Republican outhouse and not as any sort of White Paper on the topic. We could write books - books! - about the state of our national politics, as many journalists are doing.

Our bent here is to simply shine the discount flashlight on a sliver of what's going on.

The Republican Party is likely keeping loads of shrinks in business, is what we would add...

-30-

LETTER FROM HOME:...No, Immigrants Are Not "Animals" ...They Continue To Work, To Build America...That's A Fact...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas |...The racist Republican candidate for president yesterday again told us that he believes immigrants coming to this country are "animals, not humans." He's wrong. They are more human than he will ever be, but we all know Donald J. Trump's world is a Bizarro World, an alternative universe where he, and only he, gets to decide pretty much everything. 

Has he seen the hard labor they perform for America and that's why he says it? Has he seen them perspiring like dogs to build our roads and highways, our roofs, our cute suburban landscaping, to work the meatpacking plants? Has he seen it and decided, man, that's too much work. He wouldn't do it.

And we would venture to say that many, many of his well-heeled, air-conditioned Republican pals would never do it, either. Hey, it's hard work, so hard that the country acknowledges that Americans would never do that sort of work. An American picking cotton all day in the hot sun, harvesting our fruit and vegetable crops?

Where? When?

No, kids, immigrants (. . .and we speak of dark-skinned immigrants because that's who Trump has in mind when he disrespects them) are not animals. They are our salvation, coming in waves as we need them, coming to do the jobs Americans will not do, coming to be berated by our comfortable wealthy, coming to work, coming to make sure we have apples and lettuce at the dinner table.

Locally, I do not hear the counter message. Trump gets a pass on his often-stupid utterances. It's national politics, they say here in the passive, subservient Rio Grande Valley. It's the former president, the one we know as a rabble-rouser. Trump's just being Trump, silly and absurd.

But elsewhere is where you'll find Americans who know the score, who know what immigrants have meant - and continue to mean - to this ever-ungrateful shank of land said to still be the home of the brave and the land of the free. 

We publish this sentient letter to The Los Angeles Times in its entirety: [ To the editor: Thanks to Lorraine Ali for her thoughtful column about the immigrant workers who died in the Baltimore bridge collapse.

Yes, we are happy to have immigrants perform the jobs that are too dangerous, dirty or onerous for our delicate hands and sensibilities. But we hate them and wish they would stay out of sight.

We need immigrants who care for our elderly parents, watch our young children, clean our homes and tend our gardens. We may even consider them "family" as we illegally pay them under the table without reporting their wages or contributing to their Social Security.

But we hate them for entering illegally, if they work for someone else.

Yes, these workers who lost their lives are someone’s family members who work difficult and sometimes dangerous jobs to try and give their children a better life. We need them to make our lives comfortable and keep our country functioning.

Some say these people should "stand in line" and immigrate to the U.S. legally. Now, tell me where the line starts for construction, farm and domestic workers? You can't, because there isn't one.

Welcome, immigrants, to the United States — democracy or hypocrisy?

- Laurie Jacobs, San Clemente ]

-0-

Well said and pretty much a bullseye.

I reel at reading about what Trump and his Republican ilk say from one day to the next. It is as if we're living in a washing machine at the local laundromat, all of us in the spin cycle wishing the damned thing would finish the job. The much-awaited November General Election cannot come soon enough and our hope that the courts at last put this man on trial (four criminal cases, some 80 felonies to be dealt with) gets no relief.

To date, Donald J. Trump is above the law. Perhaps that will change one day.

What won't change is our dependence on hard-working foreigners willing to come here to do our dirtiest jobs while being called names you would never hear in church. Their women caring for children and the elderly, cleaning them when Americans disdain doing it for little Timmy and Grandma Mavis.

Animals, he calls them...

-30-

SUN FLICKS:...Reporters At The Movies..."Reds"...

CASH, BABY:...Anti-Trump Republican Donates $900,000 To Democrat Joe Biden's 2024 Campaign...Attorney George Conway, Former Husband Of Trump Acolyte Kellyanne...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas |...You've seen him criticizing his fellow Republican Donald J. Trump on television news and talk shows. Like forever, yes. Attorney George Conway has brought the guns against the current Republican leader, always noting and spotlighting Trump's gaffes, missteps and ridiculousness.

Now, Conway is bringing the cash against his favorite foe.  

This excerpt from axios.com: [ George Conway, the lawyer who became an online celebrity with his anti-Trump tweeting, will headline a fundraiser for President Joe Biden in D.C. on April 24, Democratic sources tell Axios.

This is Conway's first big pro-Biden event.

Conway, who's divorced from former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway, wrote a check for $929,600 — the max you can give to the Joe Biden Victory Fund. The minimum gift for the event is $500. ]

No, it's not a big surprise. Not if your day includes watching daytime TV, gab shows like Morning Joe, where Conway is a regular. Was he on it this morning? Probably.

Funding presidential candidates is always a good move, goes the influencer's line. Some old dude who made his fortune selling mattresses in Houston chipped-in a bundle for Trump the other day, even sent him a truckload of mattresses for Mar-a-Lago.

The talkative Conway, however, seems to take extra pleasure in jabbing big target Trump.

We suspect he's not the only deep pockets dude eager to fork over a few bucks in support of one or the other.

Names will keep coming...

-30-

SUN RECORDS:...Newsroom Jukebox..."The Only Living Boy In New York"...

LIARS:...Our Politicians Have Grabbed Hard To The Nasty Habit...Cops Do It Too...Hey, Americans Love Lying...On A Resume, It's Okay...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

BROWNSVILLE, Texas |...So, you see, everybody lies. It's the world we live in. Everybody. From our friends and pastors to our politicians. We hear lies about personal histories (things our friends, family and acquaintances did and did not do as military people and as working professionals), about our accomplishments, about who we really are and about our social meanderings.

Your neighbor is a high school dropout, but he insists on telling you he is a professional - not one course in college study or expensive coat & tie in his closet. Lying grabs him some cred, goes the line in the streets. It is what veterans also know as "stolen valor," when someone who never served a day on Navy base or Army post claims he did. Silly lies. Little lies. But lies just the same.

Our best-known national politicians now live the lie. Live it daily. Self-aggrandizing also goes on the resume. Lie often glossed over by another lie. The opponent is this and that, lies. Today, it goes without saying that lying is some sort of badge for most elected officials. They can't help themselves, not when they, too, believe that everyone lies.

Once, in an earlier America, it was actually frowned-upon. Once, a politician who lied would quickly find himself on the outs, forced to resign, which they did readily. Not these days. If it's not a lie, it's a refusal to acknowledge facts. "Why did you resign the post, sir?"

There is no answer.

The guy resigned a top-level political post and never told his friends or supporters exactly what happened, why he or she resigned. That's a part of the story. And, for those of us in storytelling, the information belongs. Oh, well. There will be no info and the brain will have to frame its own reasons, often a bad one or two.

Cops lie. Some of the best fiction, we're told, can be found in police reports.

Governors lie. An invasion at the border, ours has been crowing. When busloads of supporters show up to see for themselves, they find a calm stretch of the South Texas border, they find local residents in full frowns, they find that the hot story has been exaggerated. The word "invasion" has a clear meaning. What we have seen of the Mexican border and the on & off surges in immigrant arrivals is not an "invasion," not as any self-respecting military man would define the word.

But the lie accomplishes its task - it roils the citizenry, sparks interest in resolving the manufactured crisis and, ultimately, it serves one man's political purposes.

A lie draws no blood. Perhaps that is why lying is so easy, so handy, so apropos in the moment a politician reaches for a lie or two. Same for a straying wife or husband in the world of adultery. You lie for advantage, the cheapest there is.

The car is fully paid-for, they will tell you, when the bank owns the note.

I suppose I have lied a time or two. I mean, more than likely to women, never to my employers or banker. I actually thought it was cute, or, perhaps more correctly, being cute. I'm so sure I was also lied-to. My U.S. Navy recruiter told me I'd be able to "put in" for favored duty stations. Well, I did "put in," but I never got assigned to places I wanted.

Over the weekend, I heard several times that our religious leaders have been lying about the very ethnic makeup of Jesus Christ. The imagery at my church is of a tall, handsome, long-haired White man. Non-liars say Jesus was actually a dark-skinned Middle Eastern man.

Oh, well. Perhaps too many photos of the White Jesus, too many stained-glass windows with that image, have been printed and sold to ever make the needed correction.

It's actually hard to find a part of society where lying is not a player. Grocery store operators are said to now be lying about why prices have risen and stayed risen. One onion selling for $1.08? A concha of Mexican bread fame at $1.28? They lie and say the point of origin (farmworkers and bakers) are the problem, the gougers.

Eh. I know. It's just a dollar here and there. But why lie? Because it's the American Way?

Well, yes.

Does that explain Liar Extraordinaire Donald J. Trump?

Totally...

-30-

SUN RECORDS:...Newsroom Jukebox..."Kodachrome"...

RAPISTS:...Sexual Attacks On White Women As Topic On The Campaign Trail...Assault By Hot-Blooded Immigrants... Fearmongering Up!!!..

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

BROWNSVILLE, Texas |...Sex crimes by hot-blooded immigrants. Beyond swimming the passive Rio Grande, we mean. The worst of crime. Crimes against American women, White women especially. That is the issue front-center in Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump's campaign.

In his active mind, it's always a brown-skinned man accosting a White woman. Never mind that Trump is one who's been convicted of rape in New York. No, that's okay - it was White-on-White sex.

The attack and murder of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley last February by an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela in Georgia fueled the narrative, this one sailing onward from Trump's initial speech for office in which he labeled all Mexican "illegals" as being rapists.

Who knows what the data would show? Statistics on Undocumented Brown men raping White women cannot be found, not as such. It happens every day in porn scenes, but that's acceptable. The FBI has statistics on rape by Americans, yes. Trump is not playing that tune. Perhaps, in his mind, White women being raped by White men or American Browns is okay, fine.

It continues as an issue at his rallies. He spewed the same fear over the weekend. You'd think these rapes are a daily occurrence. Maybe he knows something we don't. The media, however, does not seem to be a part of his spiel. Rapes are covered in news reports generally, by local outlets for the most part, unless it's one that grabs national headlines, like Miss Riley's.

Should we care about the fearmongering?

It's politics and, well, these days everything goes in that world.

This nugget from dailykos.com grabbed my attention: [ Republicans who are pushing for more restrictive immigration policy ahead of a pivotal election year continue to lean on an old strategy in their appeal to voters: broadly framing immigrant men as dangerous next to imagery of young white women victims. ]

It's not all that new. We've heard it in the past, although never this loudly coming from the mouth of a candidate. Mostly, it was the Black Card these White politicians played, especially in the American South. Looking at a White women could get you hanged, went the line. So true.

Supposedly, these new immigrants are looking for work and a better life.

But who knows? Perhaps we're not so in-the-know about these things.

Sex is a human need, yes.

I suspect, however, that it is not atop the list of a newcomer's must-dos once inside this country. I mean, what do White people imagine - every one of these guys pouncing on the first chubby White chick they see? Yeah, sure. The imagination also deals in votes. It's an easy one for the brain. And, for some, it is tell-me-what-to-think these days.

Donald Trump knows that. He reads his rally audiences; he fashions what they want to hear.

By now, well know that Trump is a master racist, one unashamed to throw out the worst in himself.

He loves women, is what he has said often.

And, on this, he likely figures all men love women. What he hasn't spotlighted is the possibility that these hot-blooded undocumented immigrants are also targeting Black and Brown women for sexual gratification.

But then, he may not care about the rape of non-White women...

-30-

SUN RECORDS:...Newsroom Jukebox..."Tommy"...

CROSSWINDS:...Following A Lame Winter, A Breezy Spring Sets The Stage For The Annual Texas Summer Scorch...Uh, 91 Degrees Today, 95 Tomorrow...

 

By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas |...We all know and some of us love our subtropical weather, that annoying, oppressive humidity working itself into our days and nights, there with the relentless summer heat, our existence being nothing more than life in a soft winter and a serpentine summer.

Hey, Maria, it'll be 91 degrees today!

Whoop-de-doo. Is that your response? The old line - that you knew it was coming, that the cool evening of last Thanksgiving and the one a bit cooler on Christmas were just passing moments of meteorological goodness.

I don't know that anyone'd ever studied our regional weather. Well maybe the weatherboys on the area TV stations. They are the evening weather warblers, after all. I mean, is that even a tough job around here after mid-April, when every day is just another hot day? Until late-October, at that.

You could write a paper about it for a college class, yes. That would be reason enough. But, other than that, weather is, well, weather - the local bully and occasional villain, like when, and if, a hurricane aims this way.

Mostly, it is a life of shorts and worn T-shirts for me on a daily basis by this time next month. Until then. I shall insist on my blue jeans and harness boots, an all-cotton, long-sleeve shirt and that'll be that, my cool-weather uniform. And, actually, I'm not alone on that approach. People I see out and about apparently shop where I shop.

I do like the thought of women shedding their however-slight winter garb, those sweaters and pants. A woman in pants? That's a story for another day.

So, 95 degrees here tomorrow. Can 100 degrees be far behind?

It's our insistent environment, the life-giving ambiance there even when we go for an afternoon jog, when we just sit outside and watch the wild birds, when we get into lively discussions about our horrible politics at the restaurant. If it's 95 degrees, it's time for ice cream. Forget Donald Trump and Joe Biden and all that daily mental rot.

Get me some sliced peaches for my primo vanilla ice cream. Stock my freezer with a generous amount of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I love the smell of caramel in the morning.

Only, if it's hot and humid, well, bring on the ice-cold lemonade, Baby. Get on the couch with me and say something about the air-conditioner working nicely, the overhead fan supporting the concept of colling the joint.

I could bitch for hours about the perspiration that comes with a July and August scorcher. I could damn the planet's gods for ruining my morning coffee's delightful cool-weather taste, for throwing the climate change seriousness in my face.

One could get all riled-up, yes. 

But that was me a few years back, soon after I'd returned to my homeland after years away.

I'm subtropical now, see...

-30-