Refuse the Juice

Chavez Out - NPT Exclusive

http://www.newspapertree.com/opinion/4326-lion-s-den-rep-chavez-out-former-tigua-governor-in

Hand it to Jaime - he got the inside track on this and put it to paper.

They say NPT is dead, and that's fine.  If you don't want the inside info, keep going everywhere else to read old news. 

Say what you will, but Jaime beat everyone to the punch by simply picking up the phone and asking around.

Very good job Jaime.

I'll wait a day to put my commentary out - I've talked about her too much already. 

Some Thoughts on Grissom's Tribune Article

I'm really addicted to this Texas Tribune thing now (www.texastribune.org).  What a wealth of information all in one place! 

Brandi Grissom has written several initial pieces for the site and I was reading a piece that is tagged as being on their "blog," but it looks like a normal article.  You can go read it HERE.

Here's one of Rep. Norma Chavez's quote from the piece:

“Obviously, I had the worst press this summer and the end of the (legislative) session, which complicates the issue,” 

When she says things like that, I'm sure that she has a severe personality disorder that doesn't allow her to see her actions as we see them.  I had the same disorder until I was about seven years-old. I finally figured out that when I was the only one in the entire world saying that I didn't do anything wrong, I probably did something wrong.

Norma chalks her bad behavior and questionable ethics up to "bad press." I guess she thinks getting into juvenile cat fights in public is okay as long as it's not reported in the papers.  That's where she is wrong.

Her inability to square herself with her actions means that she is incapable of learning from them.  In severe cases of the personality disorder you will find people who will repeatedly burn their hand on a hot stove because they can not rationally assign the cause of their pain to their own actions. 

She may also live in a world where she thinks that she operates out of the public view like a mob boss or secret CIA agent.  She is completely unaware that her actions are seen by many and thus reported to many more.  Her delusion that she operates covertly only serves to fuel her surprise that anyone would question her actions.  You have to remember that when she first went to Austin as a representative 13 years ago there wasn't the kind of instantaneous media that there is today.  With the advent of blogs and other means of community gossip, legitimate news sources have been forced to cover the bitchy exchanges between two of their delegation members.  Norma no longer gets away with having a force field around Austin. 

I'm not sure that Chavez has the ability to calculate right from wrong.  Using her per diem to attend classes in Austin is something that most of us would know was wrong.  Not for her, though.  She saw it as a right given to her through the privilege of service.  On a smaller scale this happens in the workplace when company travel funds or stationary privileges are abused.  The worker often believes that their sacrifice of time and effort warrants more reward than the pay they are receiving.  If you have owned a business, you have more than likely run into this attitude.  It is no different with whatever psychological ills Chavez suffers from.

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Another interesting part of the piece is that Grissom points out that Naomi Gonzalez has said she is running for Chavez's seat.  We kind of missed that here in town.  Actually, we completely missed it.

I don't know much about Naomi other than her run against Rep. Emma Acosta.  She lost to the midget, which was bad.  Hopefully she can make a mark in her next effort.

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Hope to see some good info on Newspaper Tree later - make sure you drop by.

 

Make Sure You Read NPT on Wed.

They're going to have something very important that no other outlet will have.  It will be worth your time.

I'm happy to say that the few people who have continued (and the one person who started) writing for NPT have done a great job.  I hope the medium can stay alive as a commentary/opinion venue.  Although I think it will serve as a launching pad for some big stories that only somebody who is not a reporter can track down. 

Make sure you tune in tomorrow (Wednesday) to read the big news.

Odds and Ends - The Death of an Ego and More!

We all know Brandi Grissom and have read her stuff in the El Paso Times for years.  We also know that she was scooped up by Eliot Smith for his new Texas Tribune project.  He was the editor of Texas Monthly before this project.  Coincidentally my life long dream is to be published in the Texas Monthly... Who knows how that will work out with Smith gone and a new guy or gal to be taking over.

The Tribune site launched today and it's full of great stuff.  You have to become an avid reader - I command you.  It's http://www.texastribune.org and you have to stay up to day on what's going there.

Brandi's piece can be found at this adress: http://www.texastribune.org/blogs/post/2009/nov/03/chavez-decide-senate-bid-turkey-day/

It's a must read! She's done a great job and I hope she keeps her eye on us in the future.

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Hector Montes is hanging up his hat after a three year run at KHRO.  He's leaving to go run Scary Larry Medina's campaign.  Something tells me he should have stuck with radio. 

He did take a parting shot at me, which was touching.  After more than a year away from that spot on the dial he still cares about me to talk about me!

Strelzin will be going from a prime spot during the day (4-6) to the shittiest slot of the day (3-5).  Nobody is listening anyhow, so it's not a big deal.  There's nothing like that 3-4 hour where nobody is listening and that 4-5 hours when nobody is listening either.  It's always much better to give up the 5-6 slot where everyone and their mother is in the car listening to the radio even if the signal is weak on the far west side.

The big winners are Greg Freyermuth and Jaime Abeytia.  They keep their good spots and get to control the day's topics.

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I couldn't have laughed harder when Paul Strelzin went in to attack Jay Kleberg yesterday while Shapleigh was a guest on his show.  Jay Kleberg is a rumored candidate against Rep. Joe Moody and is said to be running as a republican. 

Strelzin automatically thinks he knows how others are going to think when he tees up someone to smack down.  Strelzin started in on Kleberg stopping just short of blaming him for Christ's homicide, Lou Gherig's disease and the fact that the Cowboys haven't won a playoff game since the time the Magna Carta was written.  As Strelzin slowed to a halt to let Shapleigh take a turn verbally abusing a man he's never met, you could hear the eagerness in his voice.  Then it all came crashing down.  Shapleigh stopped short of endorsing Kleberg on Strelzin's show.

That made my year. 

Shapleigh is probably not happy with Moody's support of Rep. Chavez and is holding a grudge.  Besides, Kleberg is on the board of Community Scholars and that puts him in a good light with Shapleigh.

If you think Shapleigh doesn't hold grudges, get your head out of your ass. 

Moody is running in a district that trends democrat 51 percent or so.  He doesn't need to be linked to Strelzin or Chavez in a race  against a well funded opponent.

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Did anybody notice that the El Paso Times gave Congressman Reyes a pass on his ethics investigation on the word of one of his staffers?  They asked his own people if he's guilty of any wrongdoing and they surprisingly said "no."

Did somebody forget to mention that his staff can't answer that since they aren't the "deciders" of that issue?  Why did the times let that fly?

That's like asking a criminal if he's guilty - of course he's going to tell you he's innocent.

Larry is from the Planet Ego.

You'll have to excuse me if I didn't take the time to read Larry Medina's 100th announcement of his candidacy for County Judge on NPT last week.  It seems that while Obama is using a strategy that has him never stopping his campaign, Larry just keep announcing his candidacy over and over again.  Neither will work.

It wasn't until I was at a little party over the weekend that someone brought to my attention the completely asinine announcement and its asinine message. Larry Medina says he's going to end corruption if elected. 

I hate to say this, but is he going to get elected and then quit?  That's the only way Scary Larry could end corruption after being elected - quitting. 

You must remember that this is the guy who was in a rather inconvenient plane crash with a plane full of architects.  At the time Larry was on the "Architect and Engineer Selection Committee" as a city council member.  His duty was to pick architects and engineers to receive multi-million dollar contracts with the city.  Imagine how all the other architects in town who were not taking Larry on fishing trips to Mexico felt when they found out their competition was doing just that!  Now all those projects they weren't awarded seemed to make sense - they weren't giving Larry gifts!

Since Larry was a good democrat in a town run by democrats at the time, the local enforcement entities like the District Attorney decided not to rock the boat.  Little did we know, that while that plane was crashing, Mena, Cordova, Telles, Flores and a whole host of other democrats were robbing tax payers blind for bribes.  Any indictment of Medina would have led to what we are seeing now with the public corruption scandal.  You must remember that when Larry pulled this particular trick it was well known throughout the community who could be bought and at what price - it was happening at all levels of government.

Also happening at that time is Emma Acosta's rein as the head of a department that would not only be millions over budget, but connected to people who went to federal prison and another incident where $70,000 was billed to the city for work that was never completed (Cause # 20021068).  Again, the District Attorney did not bring charges against the guilty because of their status as good democrats.  The cause number goes to a civil suit I found in relation to the case.  Funny those involved are still getting healthy city contracts and are frequent appointees of Ms. Acosta's for things like the PSB board.

When Larry wasn't indulging in unethical plane trips to Mexico, he and his buddy Tony Dill were playing some rather interesting games.  Ask an engineer or architect what Tony Dill would offer in return for retaining him as a lobbyist.  Then remember that Dill has pleaded guilty in the corruption case.  Was Tony Dill that good of a local lobbyist that by retaining him you always had Scary Larry's vote, or was there something more sinister going on? I do remember that when Larry did get in front of one architect/engineer he told that person that because they were white, he doesn't vote for them to get work.  Somehow the white person Larry was talking to got the idea that something green would make his own whiteness go away, if not only in Larry's eyes.  So Larry is possibly a racist and an ethically challenged individual - allegedly.  Don't believe me?  Go talk to an architect or engineer.

Larry's history of fighting corruption (by "fighting" I mean "being a part of" - allegedly) continued when he was appointed to the Housing Authority board.  He and David Escobar fought corruption (by "fought corruption" I mean "participated in" - allegedly) by having the feds come in a shut the whole thing down and open an investigation.  That story hasn't been finished yet, but again there are people in the community who had business with the Housing Authority and they will tell you that certain appointees attempted to shake them down in order to keep that business with the Housing Authority.  After all, why would a new board appointee want the names and contact info for anyone who currently had a contract with the Housing Authority?  You know why, so don't play stupid. 

Medina has roots in the corruption family from way back - allegedly.  To say he's going to be a county judge who fights corruption is like saying Mayor Cook is going to outlaw guitar playing in the city limits - ridiculous.

Scary Larry isn't deterred by his history at all.  His ego is locked in some kind of room that is sealed off from the outside world.  His ego still thinks he's really popular and that cashing in Conquistador awards for political capital will actually yield him a glorious victory.  His ego needs some fresh air.

Scary Larry has teamed up with KHRO 1150 host, Hector Montes to for an all out media blitz that is quite pathetic.  Montes is using his afternoon spot on the dial to attack Medina's likely opponent, Commissioner Escobar.   The attacks are rather weak given that they are played to a rather weak audience.  We're talking 50 to 100 listeners city wide. The time slot isn't a desirable one and KHRO is taking a huge risk letting this guy engage in campaign activities for little in return.  At some point it will have to stop when Entravision management figures out that Hector Montes is a part of Larry's campaign efforts.  If Strelzin's history with Caballero is anything, it's an example of what's happening right now with Montes.  Somehow KHRO is bound to repeat history...

Hector Montes and Larry have also been actively posting comments on all articles relating to Larry in order to give the appearance of massive public support.  It's obvious and it's sad.

Larry forgets that he hasn't won in his own district in quite a while.  Somehow he thinks people outside of his district are going to be more receptive of his candidacy... not likely.  His ego is getting in the way of his common sense.

I do have to give him some credit.  He's going to go out there and poke everyone in the eye for no better reason than he's losing and he isn't going down without a fight.

Anybody want to bet he sues me for writing this?  I can't wait until the government has to give up names in order to back up what I'm saying.  Maybe he'll think twice when he finds out what I know!

An Interesting Take on Gender and Ethnicity

I was listening to Jaime Abeytia's radio show on my way home for lunch today.  He was talking about a woman running for some local office.  She apparently married a white guy and for campaign purposes had to start throwing her Spanish maiden name in the mix to soften her whiteness for the election. 

I love this topic because it shows how inherently racist our society is.

On his show Jaime correctly asserts that the altering of a candidate's name to better reflect their original ethnicity is almost exclusively a trait of communities with large Hispanic populations.  There has been some of this type of name reorganization, if you will, in Polish and Irish communities in the past, but never to the extent that we see the Hispanics do it.

Obviously this situation happens more often with females than males.  Females often take their husband's name when they get married.  You will find some male candidates who have a white devil for a father and Hispanic mother will pick up their mother's maiden name out of convenience when they decide to run for office.  All of this is absolutely hilarious to me and rightly brings these candidate's decision making abilities into question.

I have often joked with people that to get elected in the Lower Valley that it's best to be a Hispanic female.  My big finish to the monologue usually advises that the perfect name for a Lower Valley candidate would be "Female, Hispanic."  Changing your name to that would almost guarantee a win in any race.

Years ago a colleague of mine and I were discussing a rather heated local race taking place in a southern California city where one of the candidates had brought her Spanish last name out of retirement for the election.  His question to me was a hard one to answer, he asked "who should be more offended, her husband whose name isn't good enough for her anymore, or the voters who are supposed to vote along ethnic lines instead of on the issues?"

That's a tough question.  I would say both the husband and the voters should be a little put out.  However, the voters are the reason this is a practice in the first place, so they can live with the reality they built.

The husbands of these women have to wonder what about their last name is so bad that they have to sneak their old one back into the mix.  Would they be doing this if their husband's name was Ruiz instead of Smith?  All of a sudden the husband is a white devil who she loves dearly, but not publicly.  It's as if she is saying, "I love you babe, but your whiteness is bad for my image."  I liken it to a white woman in the south being in love with a black man, but worried about how it would look if they appeared in public together.  In fact, it's no different.  She is saying, in this case, that her husband's ethnic background is not acceptable to others, therefore she would like to distance herself from it if only by a hyphen. 

Women have a choice when getting married to either take their husband's name or keep their own.  I offered to let my wife keep her last name.  My name is rather long and hard to spell and pronounce. It causes lots of inconveniences and I was happy to keep my wife from being frustrated.  She took the name anyhow and has regretted it every single day since.  The good news is that she's way too proud and stubborn to admit I was right and she was wrong, so she's kept the name and doesn't complain much.

I would advise all women who are Hispanic and in love with a white devil that they consider keeping their name just in case they want to run for office in El Paso in the future.  It just makes the ethnic pandering so much easier.

The addition of a Spanish surname to a candidate's current WASP name does say a lot about the electorate.  If there wasn't something to the strategy, we wouldn't see it being repeated in nearly every election cycle.  It obviously works.

When a candidate decides that their WASP name isn't going to work for an election, they are really saying that the voters in that district are ethnicists/racists.  They assume the voters would be turned off by the idea that they may be white.  In order to avoid the appearance of being white, they put a Spanish name in the game to do battle with their WASP image brought on by the fact that they (hold your nose here) MARRIED A WHITE GUY! 

(Yes, I know that Hispanics are of the white race blah blah blah)

A few years back a really intelligent and nice guy named Troy Hicks ran against Representative Eddie Holguin.  Hicks made no bones about his chances when asked about them on the Paul Strelzin show.  He said that his anglo last name would be a disadvantage.  Strelzin took a moment out of his daily routine of interviewing himself to chastise Hicks about that comment.   You would have thought the guy said Hitler was a role model for diversity. 

Hicks went on to give Holguin a pretty good run for his money, but unfortunately he's dropped out of sight since then.  I really liked the guy and thought he'd be a great elected official if given the chance and it's not because he's white.

The charge of racism followed Hicks after his little bout with honesty on a live mic (don't you wish more politicos would have bouts with honesty).  He was the poster child for our ethnic separation in this community even if he was merely an observer.  The hypocrisy was so thick around this statement that you could have sold it by the pound after hacking it away with a machete. 

Never had those like Strelzin, who were filled with righteous indignation over the statement, said a word about the reclamation of Spanish maiden names in order to appeal to voters who they knew would only vote for someone with a Spanish last name.  The act of pandering to a certain race or ethnicity had been taking place well within the view of the public for decades.  It only became a problem when a white guy pointed it out. And at that, the problem was that the white guy pointed out.  Somehow it was wrong for a white guy to point out what is essentially the fact that we vote in this city along racial and ethnic lines.  At least we do in certain parts of town. So much for calling it how your see it. 

It should be noted that Mayor Cook and that Senator Shapleigh are white.  Shapleigh has not had a Hispanic opponent to my knowledge and the Mayor's closest competition in the last election was a white guy (Gus Haddad).  Take from that what you will.

In closing, I think it's ridiculous for anyone to vote along racial or ethnic lines.  A white guy is as likely to screw me as a guy from any other race.  Assuming that because someone has a German last name like mine makes them just like me, or a fan of my same values, is stupid.  We're all individuals whether or not our government likes it or not.  You are more than your ethnicity!  I want you to vote accordingly.  If being Hispanic is the only qualification you look for in a candidate, then you deserve whatever you get from them when they are elected.  Good leadership knows no color.

Hello Captain Obvious

The El Paso Times must have just found their tickler file from 2007.  Today's editorial explaining the housing shortage for the incoming troops is long overdue.  We're talking two years overdue, not two months, by the way.

While I disagree that these soldiers are going to have families of ten coming with them as the paper would have you believe, there will be men and women who will live off base.  Most of them will be young and single.  They will have some disposable income and that's always a good thing for the economy. 

Don't believe the hype that certain people want to feed you about the size of families moving to town.  We all bought that lie when we were asked to vote for the school bond issue a few years back.  If we didn't build new schools there would be massive over crowding and natural disasters that would end the existence of the human race. That's at least what we were told by those "in the know."

It turns out that we had schools like Houston elementary that were running way below capacity back then and even lower now.  The First Cavalry, we also found out, wasn't full of married men with big families.  Turns out that it's mostly young single men.  Why do we need to build them new schools?  They don't even have steady girlfriends much less wives and hoards of kids. 

Always remember that for Superintendents new schools look much better on their resume than do good schools.  Sucking up tax dollars is what school districts do and they like to hire people who can help them do that.

However, apartment space will be at a premium even if classroom space isn't.  If there isn't enough space to house the troops the first and only effect will be the increase in rents.  What was once a $500 month apartment will be an $800 a month apartment. 

This will displace non-military families and send them out to the edges of the county where rents are cheaper.  Our colonias will grow.  We will be asked to provide even more tax dollars to improve colonias to help handle the mass amount of people searching for cheaper living.

Why is this going to happen?

Because our city council happens to be very anti-business.  They would rather make you live in the neighborhood they desire rather than let developers and home builders build new living spaces.  Their feud with the business community will lead to exactly what they want - no new growth. 

If the city council wasn't so Marxist, they'd realize that the construction of new living spaces is a sign of economic growth and strength that keeps the housing market stable and affordable.  Because they are Marxists, they have stifled all growth and expect you to live the way they do and within their rules.

The good news is that your house is about to be valued way higher.  That means higher property taxes!  More money for the Marxists at the city and school districts to spend!  More schools we don't need!  More bridges for people from other countries! More of all the things that you don't want!

I'm just glad the Times finally figured it out.

Under the Category of People I don't Know, but Love...

http://texassenate29.wordpress.com/

I hope this person keeps up the good work and I thank "LEP" for the link.

Whoever is publishing the blog can expect a lot of traffic.  Norma Chavez is a hot topic.  She's the woman we love to hate. She is the local celeb that we can't take our eyes off of even though we know we should.

I'm working on a piece right now for NPT that will look at the District 29 race from a practical point of view.  I was hoping the lionstar would continue his column through the troubles at NPT, but I guess he has become a big radio star and can't find time to write these days. 

Look for my new stuff coming up.