Refuse the Juice

A Little Advice for Mr. Besco

I applaud this Besco guy for putting his hat in the ring for Rep. Reyes' seat.  Anybody having the courage to run should be congratulated for their effort - it's not an easy endeavor.

However, Mr. Besco didn't do himself any favors yesterday when he appeared on Paul Strelzin's daily radio interview of himself yesterday.... that sentence almost makes no sense.

I know that Besco is trying to get his name out there to attract voters. Good for him.  That's what a candidate does.  Appearing on Strelzin show seems like a good idea, but it's not. Here's why...

First off, he's got three listeners and they are certified as the dumbest people in town.  Even if they stop drooling for a few seconds to listen to what you have to say, they're too stupid to understand.  These people are brain dead idiots who worship Strelzin as an idol.  And when I write "idol," I mean it as in "false idol." 

Second, Strelzin isn't going to let you talk.  It's his talk show, you're just there to wear headphones and make sure that the chair next to him doesn't float off if for some reason we lose gravity.  The only thing Mr. Besco could have taught anyone yesterday is that he's a good listener.

Third, the three or so people he calls an audience spread nasty rumors about anybody they don't like.  These buggers on the face of the humanity are already running around claiming that Mr. Besco molests children, pushes old ladies down at the supermarket and is a holocaust denier.  I got an email last night in fact claiming that Mr. Besco hasn't paid his taxes.  I'm sure that's untrue, however, that's the kind of people who listen to Strelzin's show.  The person who sent me the email is an avid Strelzin listener and caller, which means he thinks the earth is flat and that Jimmy Carter was a good president.

Gossip is the play thing of idiots.  I just had to add that...

When I finally tuned in yesterday, I heard Mr. Besco sinking like a mob snitch in the Hudson with concrete water skis on his feet.  He was falling victim Strelzin's barrage of non sequiturs right from the beginning.  When he did get a word in, he wasted it. 

It was very hard to listen to because I think Mr. Besco is an honorable person and I hate to see good people get verbally raped like that. (And yes, I used the word "rape" and I don't care if it hurts your feelings.  Your democrat/Holly Wood buddies think that because you're artistic that it's okay to drug and rape a 13 year-old girl, so I get to make reference to it here.)

Besco's biggest mistake was to go on the show.  His second biggest mistake was not to do his homework on Strelzin.  Strelzin always goes to someone's campaign website and focuses his entire interview (if you can call it that) on it. 

For example, Besco's website says "Send a Veteran to Congress Who Believes in America."  Going into a commercial break Strelzin sucker punches him with "Are you saying Reyes isn't a veteran who believes in America?  He saw actual combat time! He was in the war!  He killed zipper heads with his bare hands and tossed grenades to gook toddlers!"  Okay, he didn't say the last two things, but he popped an unsuspecting Besco right in the jaw and went to break.  It's the kind of chicken-shit thing Strelzin does and you have to be ready for it.

Besco needed to answer - "Yes, I'm the only vet in the race who loves America. Reyes would rather investigate our security forces than support them.  Reyes let Pelosi and Obama strip of us the funding for future combat systems that would make our war machine more effective while keeping our soldiers safer.  Reyes ripped up the grass and put dirt on our fallen heroes..."  Besco could have said all of that, but he didn't because he was unprepared.

Then Besco started talking about schools.  He didn't have a clear issue to highlight and Strelzin went off on him again about the color of the new buildings at Coronado and the size of Franklin and then he moved on to interviewing himself about his own history with the schools.  At that point I had been listening for less than ten minutes and I was starting to lose brain cells.  I had to turn it off.

Mr. Besco needs to know what he's doing when speaking in public.  He has to have one issue in the chamber and three more in the clip when making public appearances.  For example, his main issue can  be taxes and how much of them are returned to our district.  He can use my latest article as the basis for his argument.  He can drive that home as the number one issue and use it as the answer to any and every question asked of him.  It sounds like this:

Strelzin:  "where are you from?"

Besco: "Who cares where I'm from, I live in a city that get's less than 50 percent of its federal tax dollars back and it's because Reyes is ineffective."

Strelzin: "I hear that you eat babies."

Besco: "I do eat babies to keep them from growing up and realizing that Congressman Reyes gives all their hard earned tax money away to people in Maine to research moose sex."

Strelzin: "You know I used to call the basketball games at UTEP!"

Besco: "And when the government took that money out of your check, Reyes made sure it never came back anywhere near where it was earned."

When Besco knows an issue an pounds it home, he can then go off in another direction like the veteran's hospital we don't have. 

Why he was talking about schools is beyond me.  He's not running for school board, he's running for Congress.  Don't pull in issues that you have no authority over. 

In general, the talk radio circuit here is not worth wasting your time on.  You've got four egomaniacs blabbing to hear themselves blab and they've all got the same three listeners.  The advertising on the station is nearly 100 percent give aways, which should tell you that nobody is listening.  That hour wasted at the station could have been used to canvas a neighborhood.  God knows if you talk to three people, you've reached more voters than you would on local talk radio.

And I know what they are going to claim, "all the candidates who come on my show win!"  That's not completely true and the ones who do win are expected to win easily because their opponents are usually crazy ankle-biters who live in vans under the bridge down by the river.  

If you don't believe me when I say that these people have killed talk radio, ask someone you know that doesn't read this blog about local talk radio.  They will have no idea what you are talking about.

with that, I must go.

I Don't Think Barb is Gonna Run

I'm not sure Barbara Perez is going to run for County Judge.  She had Commissioner Escobar on a week or two ago and from what I understand, it was a pretty  normal exchange.  Not too much ass kissing and not too much ass kicking. 

I think Perez has figured out that about ten minutes after she leaves her radio show, it will have been nine minutes since anybody remembered who she was. 

I also think there's a lot of ethics baggage there and the powers that be in the fractured democratic party threatened to drag all of them back out to the light. 

Plus there's a general feeling that this is Escobar's race to lose.  Larry Medina doesn't have chance in hell and Sergio Coronado is going to be dealing with some demons from what I hear.  Cobos won't run, but will collect money to pay legal fees until he must give up the gavel.

There's really not that much money out there for the candidates to collect.  Since the corruption scandal broke a few years back, donors have stopped giving as much.  No longer can you buy an election.  Name recognition is going to be everything in the upcoming election.  And depending how people feel about the person behind the name, will determine the way they vote.

In Medina's world he thinks people like him a lot.  The reality is that most people are nice to him, but do not trust him.  I've seen him at some charity events where people politely shake his hand and listen to him shortly before kindly excusing themselves and mouthing the word "asshole" to their spouse as they walk away. 

Escobar has been pitching a pretty solid game since day one.  Other than one ethics complaint about her receiving free representation from a lawyer that was quickly withdrawn, she's been steady.  I think her link to Shapleigh will hurt her among the more conservative voters on the westside and up in the northeast.  With no republican challenger as of yet, this shouldn't be a problem for her.

As usual all the action for the democrats will be in the primary.  They won't show up for the general.  This could mean trouble for the likes of Moody, Shapleigh, Reyes and players to be named later.  Don't believe me?  That's fine.  I'll prepare while you laugh.  If democrats would do some thinking here locally, they'd see where the problem will be for them in this upcoming election.

Do You Recall?

Council looks like they're about to put the Red Road extension back into the long-term plans for the valley.  This means Mary Francis Keisling and friends are going to suffer a little thing we like to call a "hissy fit." 

Expect that they will be circulating recall petitions next week.  They have used the threats of recalls in the past to get what they want in the past - this exact issue as a matter of fact.

The level of crazy that is about to be paraded around town will be second to none. 

Do not piss off old, rich white women with a lot of time on their hands.

How Does Anyone Defend Any Local Longtime Politico?

I don't usually mention my work for NPT on here, but today it's worth referencing.

In my latest effort I took the time to put a dollar amount on exactly what Congressman Reyes brings back to the district in the way of earmarks.  I did my research and the results were shocking.  Reyes isn't very good at returning our tax dollars to our district. 

Instead of El Pasoans swallowing the reality that is front of them, they go to defending Reyes.  This boggles my mind. 

We are told every day by the likes of Shapleigh, Reyes and Chavez just how crappy our situation is.  To hear them talk we're drowning in a cesspool.  The economic indicators show that we haven't progressed much in the past twenty years.  We're poor and we may be getting poorer by the day. 

All the while that this has been happening, we've been under the leadership of Shapleigh, Reyes and Chavez among others.  Have they not noticed that they've been totally ineffective in turning this ship around?  Why do they keep pointing out that we're a poor community while doing nothing to change that fact?  Why would they brag like they do about it?

It's no coincidence that if you want to find the poorest communities in Texas you only have to look no farther than house and senate roster.  Blue districts are poor and the red are not.  The one thing poor communities have in common are democrats.

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As for the constant bullshit claim that Reyes saved Ft. Bliss from BRAC... stop it.  Please stop saying that Ft. Bliss was going to be closed, because it wasn't.  All bases went under review.  Ft. Bliss is extremely important due to White Sands and it's geographical location.  There was never an intention to close the base, just some drama seeking reporters looking to scare the local community.

Ask anybody in command of the military about the bases that were closed and what functions they offered the armed services.  Then ask them the likelyhood of Ft. Bliss closing.  When they stop laughing, they'll tell you that Ft. Bliss will never be closed and has never been really considered for closure.

As for the desalinization plant.  Reyes had zero to do with it.  There's a reason his name isn't on the building.  The military had to go through KBH to get what they needed.  Reyes was too busy moving his family to Washington and getting them six figure jobs.

Wait a second - do I see a pattern here?  Seems like the local dems get into office and find a way to better their lot in life while serving.  Chavez took taxpayer money and put herself through college without our permission and Reyes made himself a millionaire while promoting his family to the same status.  The worst part is that there's so many more in town who have done the same!

We have  a severe problem here and I'm guessing that if we don't solve it soon we won't have to worry about seceding from Texas - they'll just give us away to New Mexico.  New Mexico might not want us.

Think Our Health Care System is Bad?

How about that little girl getting the help she needs from the private industry.  If you went the way of Obama and Pelosi wanted you to go, there would be no private industry to help this girl.  She'd be shuffled around a public health care system who would figure it was cheaper to let her die than to let her live.

Think about it. 

Making My Points For Me - Thanks Lionstar

Readers of the blogs that are available locally tend to be the best updating service out there. As soon someone out there posts something they think would interest me, they email me the info.

Today I got an update on Jaime A's (Lionstar) blog where he's yet again too busy to post, but not so busy he couldn't take some time to take a shot at me.

He's mad at me because I called him out as being on the take for Norma Chavez and God knows who else.  His writing has been filled with bullshit talking points from Norma for months and all of our private conversations in the past were filled with his bragging about being so close to Norma and other politicians. 

He claims that he's his own man and that all that he writes comes from the heart and that he's not in the can for anyone.  And then he writes this in his blog and destroys that claim.

Unlike David K, who writes so much about me lately that he should either pay me or add my name to the title of his blog, I'm actually involved in politics, something he likes to criticize.

People "involved in politics" wouldn't happen to have an agenda, would they?  Jaime O. Perez is "involved" in politics and I'm sure he has a clear agenda.  Dee Margo is "involved" in politics and he has a clear agenda.  Larry "Mumbles" Medina is "involved" in politics and he has an agenda.  Nobody would ever believe that they were writing anything for publication that wasn't aimed directly at furthering their agenda.  This goes for Jaime as well.

Being "involved in politics" means that you are either lobbying, running, advising or writing policy for some political candidate or issue.  When expressing your views on any subject involving politics, you must alert your readers to your connections in order to create a foundation of honesty and trust.  Not including your associations only brings questions to the integrity of your effort.

I am not "politically involved."  I am a member of Conservative Grassroots El Paso, which is a policy driven non-profit.  However, I do not write anything on their behalf and have never been asked to.  If I were to be asked to, I would make sure there was a disclaimer alerting everyone of that fact.

Any consulting I do is mainly for ballot initiatives.  I don't ask NPT to let me write about those issues.  It would be wrong to do so.

I would never describe myself as "politically involved."  That would mean that I'm on somebody's team.  I don't want to be on a team.  I don't want to use my craft for their gain.  I don't want to be used at all as a matter of fact. 

Jaime's latest admission that he is in fact a political player can not go unnoticed.  There are about a dozen folks in town who write opinion pieces for the various publications in town.  I can't think of one of them claiming to be "politically involved."  They know that would pretty much end their run as a columnist.  Being an observer instead of a participant is important when trying to establish yourself as a writer of opinion.  

I think what Jaime might have been grabbing at is that he's actually a political gossip columnist.  He likes to relate the rumors he hears about who's running for what office.  That's fine.  There's a place for that. However, how much are we not hearing that he knows about the forces he's aligned with? 

Is he going to tell his readers that Rep. Acosta has nominated a woman for the PSB board who may have a history with the city that constituents may not like?  Is he going to tell us how much campaign money Norma spent on the Obama campaign?  Is he going to give you the whole version, or only the version his buddies want you to hear - like a fight that never happened involving Marisa Marquez? 

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that he invented a fake County Judge candidate in what I thought was going to be a short blog experiment about rumors.  He even had a logo made up for her.  I bowed out of the project when it became apparent that he was going to ride this fake candidate to the bitter end.

All of this just brings me to a point about how the guilty act - nervous.  He's acting like someone who has been caught, not somebody who has nothing to worry about.  I've been accused of everything from being paid by the progressives on city council to beat up Rep. Quintana to a lover of transvestites.  Have you ever seen me explode?  Your reaction to accusations is 50 percent of the evidence against you every time.

What this city needs is influence free thought.  Jaime doesn't fall into that category.

There's an old saying I just made up using part of an actual old saying..

"If you do what you've always done... then you must be in El Paso."

Oh yeah - and as for my obsession with Jaime.  He can join any other public person in El Paso dedicated to promoting themselves over the good of their city as a target of my blog.  I will not ignore the bad in this city.  I will expose it.  If someone doesn't want to be mentioned here, they can start doing good and I'll leave them alone (it's too late for you Larry Medina, so don't even try).

Mobile Voting, Immigration Forum and Unwanted Endorsements

I think it's an unfortunate solution to budget problems to cut the mobile voting program.  I know things are tight, but there's a lot of good to be promoted with the mobile voting program. 

I've always liked the idea of bringing the precinct to the people.  It eliminates the excuse of not having time to vote.  When the booth is just outside someone's office it limits their excuses.  The United Blood Services knows this to be true with their efforts.

I dare not suggest that a group of private citizens collect the money to run the program again this year.  That would only lead to questions about the validity of the votes. 

All we can do now is make sure we drag people to the polls with us.  Early voting is still very convenient.  A driver's license is all you need and they'll get you the right ballot.

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The Paso del Norte Social Work Academy is having a forum on immigration reform Friday October 9, 2009 - 8:00 AM to 12:00 Noon at 1101 E. Schuster Ave.

I wish they would have someone who doesn't share their exact strategies on the problem present to the group.  At least they are putting something out there.

I think that while immigration reform remains a big deal here, it's losing steam in Washington due to a myriad of other problems associated with current legislation.  Again, politics will stand in the way of anything happening with this issue anytime soon.

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I read where County Commissioner OOOPPPSS!!!  Pat Dan Haggerty endorsed the only announced republican candidate for Reyes' seat last week.  Talk about a shitty start for the new guy.  The week before Haggerty announced his undying love for the new candidate, he voted for a resolution calling for social medicine.  With republicans like Haggerty, we don't need democrats!

I'm still thinking of running against Haggerty, Shapleigh or Reyes.  However, there may be some obstacles to that.  Run of the mill type stuff like expanding business lines, wife commitments and of course a writing gig that my come through for me.  I'm still in the hunt, though.

Thoughts on Austin - Not Stephen F.

You may have noticed that I haven't done any updating since Thursday of last week.  That's because I was in Austin for a wedding this weekend.  I would have liked to have given you some warning, but there's nothing good about telling thousands of strangers that you're going to be out of town for four days. 

Anywho...

We drove to Austin.  I love driving.  I especially love the route to Austin via highway 290 that  you catch via I-10 just after Junction, Texas.  The road is sandwiched between some of the best ranches in the entire country to see exotic breeds of animals breed for sport.  When you aren't spotting blesbok and kudu, you're seeing trophy sized white tail deer everywhere.  We even saw a rather large bull elk that in my opinion would take a spot in the top 10 in the world if taken with bow out in the wild.  All that makes the drive worth it.

Plus, my wife and I get to have some time where the cell phones are off and we can chat about anything without interference.  It's a nice six to eight hours of time with the person I love most.  If you think about it, spending eight hours with your spouse alone usually means your sleeping.  We should all make an effort to work on that.

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The meat of the subject - Austin.

My wife loves Austin.  She spent ten years there and she misses it like nothing else.  I've always thought the place was a refuge for liberal Yankees who got tired of cold winters and the extremely high cost of living up north.  She tends to disagree with my assessment even though I'm 100 percent correct.

This was the first time I've ever been to Austin and didn't have a completely full schedule of political activities that require you camp out at the capital.  I would be able to actually see what the city is like this trip. 

This past weekend Austin was having its annual super concert called "ACL Fest." The big concert has a myriad of acts, attracts stars like the Wilson brothers and Sandra Bullock and is "the thing to do that weekend."  We didn't do it... But we did stay in a friend's condo right next to the large outdoor venue.  Needless to say, I got to see a lot of the locals.

Here's what I learned about Austin.

People who live in Austin are huge fans of Austin.  Not one person in the entire city will be heard saying, "this place sucks."  It doesn't happen.  While in conversation with a couple from Houston who were talking about a recent trip to France that they had dreamed about for years, the only person from Austin withing earshot reminded us that Austin was in fact a better destination for history and art.  This was not a joke.  It also wasn't followed with any kind of justification - it just was better and that's it.

I started figuring out that the people in Austin are fiercely pro-Austin in a polite way.  No place is better and they'll politely and pointedly let you know.  Theirreverence for the town reminds me of certain American's reverence for their cultural heritage like the Italians and the Irish (we Germans are still a little shy given our recent massacre of six million Jews.  However, we do give you Oktoberfest). 

Austonians (I hate using "Austinites" for personal reasons) are so supportive of their town and culture that embrace everything whether it's good or bad.  I'm talking food here.  They have something they call "migas" there and it's not that good of a meal.  However, they think it was prepared by Christ himself and will tell you so.  This attitude is indicative of their view on all of their "Tex-Mex" efforts.

It astounds me that a group of people would take such pride in screwing up Mexican food that they'd rename it instead of doing it right.  But that's how Austin is. 

I have thought the food sucked most every time I ate there and I retain that opinion after last weekend. 

The culture of Austin is what gets me the most.  In a state like Texas there needed to be a place where the hippie-types could gather and feel at home in the 1960's.  The seat of government for the state coupled with a large public university was the perfect spot for them to gather.  Couple all that with great weather and the home of Texas' unique honky tonk style music scene and Austin became a destination.

Today's Austonian is a person who prides themselves on being unique.  In fact, every single person there seems to be trying to out-unique everyone else.  The result?  Everybody looks exactly the same.  Yep, they might standout in your hometown, but in Austin... they all look the same in an effort to be very different.  I find it hilarious that the whole city is made up folks trying to be individuals and they end up all being just another flock of sheep - no different than each other at all.

In fact, my conservative/preppy attire set me apart pretty well.  I got a lot of funny looks from folks in my wranglers and boots with a short-sleeve button up shirt.  I didn't even have on cool boots, either.  I was wearing a flat bottomed "concrete worker" made for a specific type of activity.  Inadvertently I had out-uniqued all the unique people at a bar called Little Woodrow's.  The bohemians were not happy.

The whole place just doesn't strike me as all that cool.  If being a waiter with dirty clothes and a bunch of tattoos is your cup tea, then Austin is your place.

So there. That's my thought on Austin.