𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗔'𝗦 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗢𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗦 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗔 𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 𝗙𝗨𝗡 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗖𝗛-𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗝.𝗗. 𝗩𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘

 

𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗢𝗧-𝗪𝗘𝗜𝗥𝗗-𝗔𝗧-𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗗𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗗 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣, 𝗝.𝗗. 𝗩𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘, 𝗥𝗙𝗞 𝗝𝗥 𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗧!

𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗔 "𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗖𝗭𝗔𝗥," 𝗞𝗔𝗠𝗔𝗟𝗔 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗦 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗗 𝗔 𝗥𝗢𝗟𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗬

Downtown Brownsville

The late Carlos Cascos was the first person I heard suggest dealing with undocumented immigration by going further south than the U.S./Mexico border:

"I believe a border wall along Mexico's border with Guatemala will be much more efficient in many respects than us building & investing on a 2,200 mile border wall. along our Southern border."

More recently, Vice President Kamala Harris was assigned to identify the root causes or drivers of migration from Central America's northern triangle; Guatamala, Honduras and El Salvador, a "very hard, convoluted portfolio," according to Senator Chris Murphy of the Foreign Relations Committee.

While Trump misrepresents her role, calling her a "border czar," she was not put "in charge of the border," but given a diplomatic assignment to see what could be done to reduce poverty, violence and corruption, factors fueling migration to the U.S.

Shortly after Harris began to research those issues, migration to the U.S. began spiking from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuala.

Nicaraguans I spoke with in Matamoros seeking asylum in the U.S.

The Brownsville Observer editor spoke with a group of Nicaraguans in Matamoros who'd crossed the infamous Darien Gap on their way to seek asylum at the U.S. Border. (I'm reasonably certain that Trump's contention that insane asylums are being emptied and sent to the border is a result of confusing "seeking asylum" with an "insane asylum.")

Just as Harris began looking into conditions in the northern triangle, migration began to originate from other countries; Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Vice President Kamala Harris

Harris did engineer $4B in government aid and $5.2B in private investment to create or support 250,000 jobs in Guatamala, Honduras and El Salvador, monies some have called "too little, too late."

𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗙𝗬 𝗩𝗣 𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦, 𝗣𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗔𝗡𝗗 "𝗜𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗖𝗔𝗡'𝗧 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘 𝗔 𝗕𝗔𝗕𝗬, 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗔𝗜𝗡'𝗧 𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗧!!"

J.D. Vance

In the immortal words of Private Gomer Pyle:  "Surprise, surprise!"

Another quote from Juvenile Delinquent Vance, this time spoken to a teacher's union, has surfaced:  "You know, so many of the leaders of the left, and I hate to be so personal about this, but they're people without kids, trying to brainwash the minds of our children."

Vance will waive this quote off as he did the one about "childless cat ladies," saying it's been "taken out of context," or merely "sarcastic," but, in the words of Maya Angelou: "When someone tells you who they are, believe them the first time."

When we contemplate Vance being just a heartbeat away from the presidency in a Trump administration, we're reminded of other VP candidates from years past who underwhelmed: Sarah Palin, spelling champion Dan Quayle, and Ross Perot's Admiral James Stockdale.

Of all of the above-mentioned VP candidates, J.D. Vance is the scariest.

Sarah Palin

Dan Quayle

Admiral Stockdale

𝗥𝗜𝗢 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗘 𝗟𝗡𝗚 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗭𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗢𝗞𝗘𝗗~~~ 𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗨𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗟 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗘𝗡𝗩𝗜𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗟 𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗔𝗖𝗧 𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗘𝗗!!!!

by Nicholas Cunningham, Gas Outlook, submitted by Mary Helen Flores, Citizens Against Voter Abuse 

NextDecade’s stock plunged after a federal court tossed out its FERC authorisation, dealing a blow to the Rio Grande LNG project’s fortunes. Analysts say the decision could havea “chilling effect” across the entire U.S. LNG industry.

Fishermen on South Padre Island, Texas, near where Rio Grande LNG might be built (Nicholas Cunningham/Gas Outlook)

Two major LNG projects in South Texas suffered a major setback in early August, with a U.S. court tossing out their construction authorisations. The full impact of the decision is unclear, but the projects— Rio Grande LNG and Texas LNG — may now see delays and increased financial risk.

On August 6th, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rescinded federal authorisations for the two gas export terminals located in Brownsville, Texas near the U.S.-Mexico border. The $18 billion Phase 1 of Rio Grande LNG is the larger of the two projects, and it is currently under construction. Texas LNG is still awaiting financing and remains on the drawing board.

The court scrapped a key authorisation issued by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), concluding that the federal agency violated the law by not adequately assessing the environmental and climate impacts of the two projects. FERC had previously found that the LNG terminals would emit hazardous air pollutants into nearby communities, and that they would also create substantial greenhouse gas emissions, but nonetheless gave the projects a greenlight in 2023.

The court said FERC erred in not conducting a supplemental environmental impact statement, and ordered the agency to go back and do that analysis. That process could take several months or longer to complete.

NextDecade, the company behind Rio Grande LNG, saw its stock price plunge by more than 35 percent in the days following the court decision.

“Today’s decision is a great victory in our battle to protect public safety and preserve our environment and quality of life,” Jared Hockema, the city manager for Port Isabel, located just a few miles fromthe LNG projects," said in a statement.

The court also ruled against FERC on several other points. FERC did not look at data from a nearby air monitor in Port Isabel, which might have resulted in air pollution data that would exceed federal standards.

“During our litigation, no one disputed that if FERC did use that monitor, it would have shown a violation of EPA’s air quality standards,” Nathan Matthews, a senior attorney for the Sierra Club, who argued the case in the DC Circuit Court, told Gas Outlook.

“FERC is going to need to get some new air modelling done, and do some new analysis about why it is approving projects that would increase particulate pollution, even though cumulative pollution would likely exceed the federal standard,” Matthews said.

NextDecade backs away from CCS

The court also said that FERC would have to assess Rio Grande LNG’s proposed carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) proposal.

In 2021, in response to a prior legal setback, Rio Grande LNG said that it would build a CCS facility to capture 90 percent of the emissions from the LNG export terminal, describing the project as the “world’s greenest LNG.”

In early 2023, Gas Outlook investigated some of the problems with these claims.

In regulatory filings, Rio Grande LNG had admitted that the CCS component was a “voluntary undertaking,” and also indicated that CCS may not work out for a variety of reasons, but that the LNG terminal would move forward with or without CCS. In the spring of 2023, FERC halted its regulatory review of the CCS proposal because Rio Grande LNG had not provided enough information. 

In its recent decision, the DC Circuit Court said that FERC must review the CCS application because NextDecade positioned CCS as a crucial part of the company’s ability to address concerns about excessive greenhouse gas emissions.

“Indeed, Rio Grande implored [FERC] to consider the CCS proposal as part of the re-authorisation process precisely because it viewed the two actions as related and thought that the CCS proposal’s ability to capture most of the terminal’s GHG emissions would make re-authorisation more likely,” a judge for the DC Circuit wrote in his opinion.

As a result, the court’s decision had put FERC and NextDecade in somewhat of a bind. “NextDecade either needs to show how CCS would work, and then FERC can evaluate the pros and cons. Or, Isuppose, 

NextDecade could say that it won’t work,” Matthews said in an interview with Gas Outlook in mid-August.

That’s precisely what they did. On August 20th, NextDecade withdrew its application for CCS entirely. “The CCS project at RGLNG is not sufficiently developed to allow FERC review to continue at this time,” the company said.

CCS has a dismal track record, and NextDecade’s concept was very thin on details. But, not moving forward with CCS could pose problems to NextDecade’s reputation with buyers of its gas overseas, who have been told they will be purchasing “green” LNG.

In a follow-up email, Matthews said it’s not clear that NextDecade can simply walk back its CCS concept.

“For three years, NextDecade has insisted to FERC and the public that it would implement a carbon capture and sequestration project that would reduce Rio Grande LNG’s egregious greenhouse gas emissions by at least 90%,” he said. 

As a result, FERC must look at CCS “whether or not NextDecade would prefer to move on,” he said.

“Industry doesn’t get to decide for itself how much pollution control is enough. Numerous other LNG terminals—including Commonwealth LNG, Cameron LNG, and CP2 LNG—plan to implement at least some carbon capture and sequestration, and NextDecade hasn’t offered any explanation as to why it can’t do so as well.”

Potential delays for Rio Grande

NextDecade did not respond to several inquiries from Gas Outlook, but issued a commercial update on its website on August 14th.

“We do not agree with the D.C. Circuit Court’s recent decision to vacate the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) remand authorisation of the Rio Grande LNG Facility,” NextDecade CEO Matt Schatzman said in a statement. 

“We are committed to taking any and all available legal and regulatory actions to ensure that Phase 1 will be delivered on time and on budget and that FID of Trains 4 and 5 will not be unduly delayed.”

Phase 1 includes the first three liquefaction trains, which are under construction, while Phase 2 consists of a proposed fourth and fifth train. NextDecade was hoping to make FID on Phase 2 later this year.

The smaller Texas LNG project also said it hopes to address the issue as quickly as possible.

“We are studying the opinion, which is a procedural decision to correct a technical deficiency,” a spokesperson for Texas LNG told Gas Outlook. “Our team is committed to resolving this issue quickly and completely to continue our progress toward FID and construction in the near term.”

But the delays could be lengthy, and the loss of FERC approval injects a degree of risk into the LNG projects that could rattle investors.

In a note to clients, equity research firm Webber said that NextDecade could take a “two-pronged approach” to keep its construction schedule on track, consisting of getting FERC to finish its supplemental environmental impact statement as fast as possible while also appealing the DC court decision. Withdrawing its CCS proposal may shorten the time it takes FERC to do its analysis. In the meantime, NextDecade should continue with construction, Webber said.

“While a RGLNG T4 expansion is certainly delayed, we see a path where Phase 1 is still completed vaguely on time, with eventually T4 & T5 following,” Webber said in its report, referring to the fourth and fifth liquefaction trains.

 “However – we’d also note that if things [go] sideways from here, the risks to the timeline and broader viably of the project could mount quickly, as the technical options for RGLNG are very limited.”

The firm added that the court decision “will likely have a chilling effect on the entire U.S. LNG market, as underwriting new projects – either via off-take or capital gets riskier and more expensive.” 

“Unless it’s self-funded…we think any new project or expansion in the U.S. may be in a holding pattern until this is resolved and the uncertainty created around the regulatory process is eased,” the firm concluded.

FERC has 45 days to seek a rehearing, during which Rio Grande LNG can temporarily continue construction. After that, things get murkier. While it is not a foregone conclusion, it is conceivable that construction may have to come to a halt in the coming weeks or months.

“This ruling therefore has the potential to delay Rio Grande’s construction schedule and Texas LNG’s progress to FID this year and into service in 2028 since the certificates could be invalid in six weeks and construction cannot take place without them,” ClearView Energy Partners, a Washington-based consulting firm, wrote in a note to clients.

One of the project’s main investors is a private equity firm called Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). GIP helped push Rio Grande LNG to a final investment decision in 2023 when it injected capital into the project. 

TotalEnergies also took a 16.67 percent stake in the terminal.

But following the latest court decision, the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, an investor advocacy group, warned that GIP is putting institutional investors at risk by continuing to invest in Rio Grande LNG.

“The setbacks facing the Rio Grande LNG terminal serve as an additional warning sign for investment funds with hundreds of millions exposed to this GIP-backed terminal,” Alissa Jean Schafer, PESP climate director, said in a statement. 

“Given the mounting number of issues with the project, the Rio Grande LNG terminal represents a highly risky investment for GIP.”

Global Infrastructure Partners declined to comment.

NextDecade vowed to keep the project on track, but appeared rattled by its new regulatory problems.

Schatzman warned that the court decision would have “far-reaching implications,” posing threats to many other LNG projects. It is the first time that a federal court has vacated a FERC approval for an LNG terminal.

“If the ruling stands, the precedent that would be set by the Court’s action has the potential to impact viability of all federally permitted infrastructure projects because it will be difficult for these projects to attract capital investments until they receive final unappealable permits,” Schatzman said.

One day before the court decision, NextDecade signed a $4.3 billion engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Bechtel Energy for the construction of Train 4, reiterating its intention of issuing a greenlight on the expansion in the second half of the year. But that is now in doubt.

“I don’t know whether the investors are going to want to put money into this project while they’re waiting to see how this goes,” Matthews said. “That’s a risk that they could take. Further invest in this project even though they know that they may lose their authorisation.”

𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗨𝗠 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗟𝗔𝗗𝗬𝗦 𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗭𝗢𝗢, 𝗪𝗘𝗗𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗗𝗔𝗬, 𝗔𝗨𝗚𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝟮𝟴, 𝟰:𝟬𝟬 𝗣𝗠 𝗧𝗢 𝟳:𝟬𝟬 𝗣𝗠

 

𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗜𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗕𝗬 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗚, 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗙 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗥

 

𝗟𝗨𝗟𝗔𝗖 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗘𝗦 𝗩𝗢𝗧𝗘 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗢𝗥𝗦 𝗞𝗘𝗡 𝗣𝗔𝗫𝗧𝗢𝗡, 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗚 𝗔𝗕𝗕𝗢𝗧𝗧

 by Mariza Mendoza, SBG San Antonio Staff Report, August 27, 2024

SAN ANTONIO - The Latino Civil Rights Group (LULAC) wants a federal investigation into Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Members say his office conducted raids at the homes of LULAC volunteers looking for evidence of vote harvesting and that these raids were unethical and illegal.

Those targeted in the raid by the attorney general’s office live in quiet communities. Many are elderly election volunteers who are community leaders.

”I don’t do anything illegal. I follow the rules of the elections office and I have never done anything illegal," says Lidia Martinez, a target of one of the raids.

87-year-old Martinez is a 35-year LULAC member. She says she has never directed voters to vote a certain way or worked on behalf of anyone. She felt humiliated when nine officers from the AG’s office and Texas Rangers raided her San Antonio home and questioned her for hours. They took her cell phone, laptop, and blank voter cards.

“At one point they had me outside in front of all my neighbors while they searched the living room,” says Martinez.

Last week, Martinez shared her story exclusively with us and wanted her identity hidden. On Monday, she was among several LULAC leaders and volunteers targeted by the AG’s office for alleged voter fraud. She shared her story, demanding the US Justice Department investigate.

“It was very embarrassing, very intimidating, harassment. They searched everything in my house,” says Martinez.

Senator Roland Guttierez added, “This guy's actions is scaring people in Frio County from even voting. That is their tactic. That is their intent and that is what they’re trying to do."

Senator Guttierez said when Paxton was being investigated for securities fraud, law enforcement never threatened him with weapons to get inside his home or office.

"Nobody pointed a gun at him and yet he’s pointing a gun and intimidating our abuelitas,” says Sen. Guttierez.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Governor Greg Abbott Suppress Hispanic Vote through Cheating, Intimidation

The US Census Bureau says in Texas there are just over 30 million people and about 12 million are Hispanics. That’s roughly a third of the eligible voter population.

"I was born here and here I am and old woman helping seniors and veterans here. I am in San Antonio being harassed by these people why," says Martinez.

According to Martinez, the officers said they came because she had filled out a report saying that older residents were not getting mail ballots and were looking for voter cards residents had filled out that might have been stashed in her house.

Ken Paxton's Election Integrity Unit Investigates

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's Election Integrity Unit is leading the investigation into these allegations of ballot harvesting.

The scope of the unit's work and authority has dramatically changed over the last couple of years.

In 2022, for example, The Texas Court of Appeals held that Paxton had to get permission from local prosecutors before investigating and pursuing charges for election related crimes.

Paxton, in this most recent string of warrants, did get a referral from 81st Judicial District Attorney Audrey Louis, seeking the attorney general's help investigating allegations of vote harvesting and election fraud.

State lawmakers harshened punishments for election-related crimes back in 2021.

A series of bills made it a State Jail Felony to lie while registering to vote, requires the secretary of state to conduct random audits of elections every two years, banned the unsolicited sending of mail-in ballot applications, and requires an i-d for mail in ballots.

The bills also criminalized “Ballot Harvesting,” or collecting people's ballots to turn in to authorized locations, as opposed to the voter mailing them themselves,

The win Paxton last touted was the June 2022 conviction of Victoria resident Monica Mendez, who pled guilty to 26 felony counts of voter fraud; which included assisting a voter to submit a ballot by mail and unlawfully possessing mail-in ballots.

So far, no one has been criminally charged in connection with this local investigation. Search warrants were also filed under seal.

Abbott Announces Over One Million Voters Removed from Voter Roll

On Monday, Governor Greg Abbott announced that Texas has removed more than a million people from the voter roll since Senate Bill 1 was signed into law three years ago.

The bill elevated "lying while registering to vote" to a State Jail Felony, it criminalized “Ballot Harvesting,” and required the Secretary of State to conduct randomized audits of elections every two years.

It also required ID's for mail-in ballots and banned unsolicited ma mail-in ballot applications.

𝗔𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗬 𝗢𝗙 𝗨𝗦 𝗦𝗨𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗗, 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣 𝗜𝗦 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘𝗟𝗬 𝗧𝗢𝗢 𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗨𝗣 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗗-𝗨𝗣𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗘𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝟭𝟬 𝗗𝗘𝗕𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗢𝗡 𝗔𝗕𝗖

 

Trump's just-posted rant above hints that he's waffling about showing up for the agreed-upon debate scheduled for September 10 on ABC.  Interestingly, Trump did not use the excuse he'd made earlier that his agreement had been with Biden, not Harris, nor restate the lie that he couldn't appear on ABC because of a pending lawsuit with the network.(The original debate agreement was signed well after he initiated that lawsuit.) 

Trump's claim that Kamala Harris has "turned down Fox, NBC, CBS and even CNN" is false.  When asked about other debates than the one already planned for September 10, Harris said "we'll see if Donald Trump shows up for that one" before considering subsequent debates.

For certain, Trump is cowardly, weak, scared shitless, but his reluctance to join Harris on the debate stage is actually his best option as he would not fare well on the same stage with Harris, the former prosecutor and California Attorney General.

Trump would very likely not be up to questioning on the level Harris gave to Attorney's General Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr, who both fumbled their answers, Sessions admitting to being "nervous" under questioning in the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing by then Senator Harris.

If anyone has doubts about Kamala Harris' skill set, the links below should clear that up quickly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK_HmEFxCpI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHd_UlebyoM

While not making an allowance for Trump if he goes back on his word, his advisors may realize that he's not intellectually up for a debate with Harris and may have encouraged him to back out of the ABC debate, but only appear on the Trump-friendly Fox News.

Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, despite paying out a $787.5M settlement for their lies during the 2020 election, have continued to tweak their messaging and "reporting" in favor of the former president.

𝗢𝗗𝗗𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗟𝗜𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗬 𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗢 𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗘, 𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗪𝗘𝗜𝗥𝗗𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗨𝗥𝗦𝗨𝗜𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗣𝗢𝗪𝗘𝗥 𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗢 𝗩𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗨𝗘

 

Being weird, odd, or even "different," is no crime as long as you're not a sexual predator, axe murderer or someone convicted of fraud.

Donald Trump is two of the above, convicted, not by a "radical left" president, but by a jury of his peers, yet somehow, although he wouldn't qualify to drive a school bus, he can still become President of the United States.

Trump's current sidekick, J.D. Vance, is somewhat off-putting, with an obvious social awkwardness and clumsy body language, but the "weirdness" comes from his lack of core values, the hypocrisy of agreeing to be the running mate of someone he once called "America's Hitler."

Tad Hasse

Trying to think of a local weirdo, the only one I could come up with on short notice is Tad Hasse, the local Republican operative who welshed on a $100 bet we had on the 2020 Presidential election, but also the fool who once promised a Republican audience north of Corpus Christi that he would "exterminate Democrats." 

Boy George

Admittedly, I once viewed Boy George of the  Culture Club as a bit weird, but no weirder than the folk mentioned above and no, Mr. George, "I don't really want to hurt you."

"𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣 𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗘𝗗, 𝗨𝗡𝗙𝗜𝗧 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗜 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧 𝗛𝗜𝗠"~~~~~"𝗜 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗗𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗗 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣!"

 

From the editor: Our children and grandchildren may not have many "Profiles in Courage" to emulate, but, if they aspire to be double-talking cowards with no moral standards or principles, flip-floppers with worm-eaten brains, there's no shortage of role models.

Below are politicos who initially identified the moral turpitude of Donald J. Trump, spoke out against it, before flipflopping like spineless, soulless hypocrites and endorsing him.  

This strange phenomenon, ongoing since 2015, includes the following gutless wonders with their initial descriptions of Trump beneath their photos:

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

"terrible human being," "probably a sociopath," "who filled his administration with swamp creatures," "unhinged," "barely coherent barrage of wild and inaccurate claims," "ran up the biggest debt in U.S. history," "under no circumstances would I serve in a Trump administration."

J.D. Vance

"America's Hitler," "cynical asshole like Nixon," "cultural heroin," "serial sexual assaulter," one of the U.S.A.'s most hated, villanous celebs."

Senator Lindsey Nelson

"If we nominate Trump we will get destroyed and deserve it." "The president's conduct is subject to the law of the land." "believed that martians came down and stole the election" "race-baiting xenophobic, religious bigot." "Tell Donald Trump to go to Hell."

Nikki Haley

"America is committing suicide to vote for Trump." "He is unhinged; he is more diminished than he was." "saying things that don't make sense." "not qualified," "We don't pick kings. We don't have coronations." "I know the American people are not going to vote for a convicted criminal." "insecure," "toxic," "4 years of chaos."

Senator Ted Cruz

"pathological liar," "sniveling coward," "bully," "a small and petty man who's intimidated by strong women," "nuts, kooky," "He lies practically every word that comes out of his mouth." "utterly amoral," "serial philanderer." 

Senator Mitch McConnell

"January 6 was disgraceful to which he was morally responsible." "totally discredited himself," "wild falsehoods," "unfit."

𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗘-𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 "𝗥𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗟𝗘𝗥𝗦" 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠 𝗧𝗔𝗚 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗧𝗢 𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗞𝗔𝗠𝗔𝗟𝗔 𝗜𝗡 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

 

𝗝𝗘𝗥𝗥𝗬, 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗖𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗘; 𝗜'𝗩𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗔 𝗙𝗔𝗡𝗕𝗢𝗬 𝗢𝗙 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗢𝗦 𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗭𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗢, 𝗡𝗢𝗥 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗜 "𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗦𝗘𝗗" 𝗛𝗜𝗠!

"Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton, 1887

Donald J. Trump

Admittedly, my primary focus in recent months has diverted from local political races to the national stage: Donald Trump vs the United States, democratic values, "alternate facts," disinformation vs truth.

Should the disingenuous Trump prevail November 5, 2024, mini-Trumps will sprout across our land, including the RGV, hurling juvenile insults at the political opponents, denigrating them, dehumanizing them, while also stifling, squelching and stymieing other would-be dissenters.

Yet, despite my focus on the national election, every few days, I'll scan our two other local blogs, El Rrun Rrun and the McHale Report, to see what's being written and reported.

The prolific Jerry McHale, in just the last 24 hours, had submitted over 30 blog offerings on the McHale Report, many simply photos accompanied by a caption or headline, including the obligatory entry featuring human female mammary glands.

In the 29th position among Jerry's submissions was an article featuring BISD Board Trustee Carlos Elizondo that misrepresented my perspective with regard to Mr. Elizondo, chiding me to "Google" his name or read characterizations of him through the years on El Rrun Rrun.

Carlos Elizondo

If I bear responsibility for Jerry's mischaracterization of my position on Elizondo, it's because my article on the pending sale of the Brownsville Learning Center(the former Cummings Middle School) to the Gladys Porter Zoo simply contained a Facebook discussion between Ramiro Gonzalez and Carlos Elizondo that I posted without commentary.(Surprisingly, McHale didn't also assume that, by posting that conversation, I'd also become a fanboy of Ramiro Gonzalez.) 

Even as a self-described backsliding agnostic, my articles frequently contain the admonition from the historical Jesus in Saint Matthew 24:15,16 to "Let the reader use discernment."

In other words, I'm suggesting that my adult readers can form their own conclusions as I share the bare bones of a discussion or controversy without side commentary from me and that's what I've done in reporting on the proposed transfer of the old Cummings Middle School buildings to the zoo.

In another article, following my lunch interview with BISD Board President Jessica Gonzalez, I think I'd made clear BISD's position that the sale would need to net them sufficient funds to build an alternate Brownsville Learning Center on one of their campuses.

Before going further, let me post McHale's statements that misrepresented my view:

(EDITOR'S NOTE: At The McHale Report we find it interesting that The Brownsville Observer's Publisher Jim Barton is putting in a good word via his anonymous contributors for BISD Trustee Carlos Elizondo who  is hoping to win a majority on the BISD Board of Trustees so he can fire Brownsville's own Superintendent Jesus Chavez. Barton's praise of Elizondo comes in the middle of the negotiations between the City and the BISD over the sale of the former Cummings Middle School. Eventually, the City will buy the property at a reasonable price in order to expand Gladys Porter Zoo, Brownsville's number one tourist attraction. The BISD basically has no use for the aging complex. It's present function can be transferred to any number of empty BISD school buildings. Elizondo, often considered the community's version of Donald Trump, is not a good person. He has had a checkered career at best. If he had the mental capacity to play chess, he would have been checkmated many years ago. He likes to think of himself as a king when he barely has the power of a pawn. Blogger Barton is an eclectic thinker, so he has his reasons for putting Elizondo on a pedestal, but if he would just scrutinize Google, or Juan Montoya's El Rrun Rrun archives, he would immediately discover from the many deleterious articles posted about the former fire chief, who got caught with his pants on fire, depicts a person who is nothing short of despicable. He is one of the many reasons Brownsville never seems to get ahead. As we reported earlier from a prominent public servant who is held in high prestige: "There is something wrong with Carlos. He is sick.")

In the interest of accuracy, not self-vindication, I never "praised" Elizondo, someone I've been aware of since, as a chubby young firefighter, he was taking night classes to better himself at a local college.

Two friends of mine, longtime firefighters Jorge Lerma and Rico Bocanegra, mentored Elizondo, unabashedly supporting him as he eventually rose to the position of Fire Chief, replacing the embattled Lenny Perez.

Over his years of service with the local fire department, Elizondo was involved in several instances involving theft or misappropriation of department property, although none of these charges ever seemed to stick to the teflon-coated Elizondo.(My memory is that I was the only blogger attending those civil service hearings.)

Although, many of us were shocked at the racial slurs caught on the taping of comments by former City Commissioner Cesar De Leon, it's worth noting that it was a supposed friend, Carlos Elizondo, who recorded and released that tape to the public.

There was also the matter of an ill-advised supplementary ambulance service involving Elizondo, City Manager Charlie Cabler and City Attorney Mark Sossi that may have contributed to the firing of Sossi and abrupt retirement of Cabler.

During Elizondo's tenure as Fire Chief, I ran into a distraught Rico Bocanegra just outside the U.S. Post Office on Elizabeth Street.

While sparing me the details, Bocanegra had this to say about Elizondo:  "Jim, we did everything to support and help that boy, but, as soon as he gained control, he stabbed us all in the back."

And, in the interest of accuracy, let me quote what I wrote about Elizondo in the Brownsville Observer when he was elected to the BISD Board of Trustees:

"One personal surprise in the November election was Carlos Elizondo's easy BISD School Board victory over Drue Brown and Philip Cowen.

Elizondo, a personable young man, has had his brushes with the law and countless questionable incidents, including being charged with "unauthorized" ATM withdrawals amounting to thousands of dollars from a Brownsville Fire Department account and other misdeeds, but he's never been convicted.  There were even reports that Elizondo had cheated on his entrance exam, changing his grade from 69-71, but he later referred to the whole thing as a "witch hunt."

My first encounter with Carlos was over a decade ago, introduced by Jorge Lerma and Rigo Bocanegra, de facto leaders within the Brownsville Fire Department.

Back then, Jorge and Rigo were proud of Carlos, a chubby lad working nights in the fire department and taking college courses at UTB during the day.

The story was that then Fire Chief Lenny Perez was giving Elizondo a hard time with tuition reimbursement, something spelled out clearly in the city's contract with the department.

By May of 2016 Elizondo was named Brownsville Fire Chief.

In short order the very men who'd supported Elizondo's climb through the ranks to become Fire Chief, felt betrayed, backstabbed and disrespected, seeing firsthand how easily power corrupts.

As is typical in Brownsville and the valley, Elizondo's hiring was based on compadrismo, not merit.

Eventually, Elizondo was deposed as Fire Chief without pay October 17, 2017 by the city, a decision held up during a 2018 civil service hearing before a 3 member panel headed by retired firefighter Ben Nunez, Sr.

During that civil service hearing and a followup hearing in 2019, Attorney Ricardo Navarro, representing the city, claimed that even after Elizondo's termination, he'd unlawfully accessed a Brownsville Fire Department computer 48 times for emergency response information in attempting to divert emergency calls to a private ambulance service partially owned by Elizondo.

Elizondo was only charged for 11 of the instances of unlawful computer access, but found not guilty, but his tenure as Fire Chief was turbulent and department morale was extremely low.

This is only a partial summation of Elizondo's checkered record, but, no matter, Brownsville voters have deemed him worthy of guiding the education of their children for the next four years."

Jerry McHale

Gawd dammit McHale. Get your shit right!

𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗚𝗔𝗟 𝗜𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗧, 𝗙𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔 𝗥𝗔𝗠𝗜𝗥𝗘𝗭, 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗦 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘, 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗠

By Rene Torres

Felicitas Ramirez was not any different than the many of today who want to come to this country for a better life.  As a youngster she grew tired of the many stories she heard of the wonderful opportunities afforded in the United States.

So in 1912, Falicitas decided to take the journey from Huatuzco, Veracruz to the promised land.  Carrying only the necessities and risking her life—she safely crossed the river and made Brownsville her home—and before long found employment as a housemaid with a pioneer family in town.

After several years in Brownsville, she found love when she meets Miguel Izquierdo, a legal citizen of the United States born in Brownsville.  Miguel sold home-made candy, moving his portable display counter from street to street or wherever there was a demand for his candy.

Miguel expressed to Felicitas that he needed help with his business, so in 1919 they married.  She continued to make home-made candy until 1924, when a more lucrative trade attracted him.

There was more money in Tamales

In 1937, Bill Brewster of the Herald wrote their story, “He built a small, two-wheel cart and began selling tamales.  Each day while his wife worked at home cooking, Miguel wheeled his wagon to a location by the memorial fountain of the Market Square and hawked his wares.  The tamales were excellent and Miguel’s tamales prospered.  He soon became known to his customers as the “Tamale King.”

Business was thriving and the original wagon was inadequate.  Miguel saw the need to build a second one that resembled a small steamboat.  It was mounted on wheels and from its smokestack raised steam from the heated tamales.  From then on the her tamales were known as the  “Life Saving Tamales.”

Only seven years after their marriage, one day Miguel failed to show at Market Square.  The entrepreneur who had work so hard to build his business was dead.  Customers wondered if the “Life Saving Tamales” were a thing of the past.

But then after  Felicitas replaced the “King,” to continue the sale of tamales from the familiar little steamboat cart located at its usual place.

Because her responsibilities grew of now making and selling, she was forced to change her hours.  No longer was the wagon standing at the Market Square all day.  Her business hours were from 4:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

It was common for many of her customers to go by her house on Twelfth Street opposite the courthouse where they could also buy the fresh beef, pork or chicken tamales.

The once illegal immigrant that came to this county to live the American dream—with weary hands and fingers was still selling tamales in 1937.  Although she knew no English, Felicitas had found it necessary to learn enough to handle her trade, for the majority of her customers were English speaking who knew no Spanish.

Miguel set the foundation for a successful business, but Felicitas convinced the people, her customers, she had something they wanted.  The amazing thing is that part of their story occurred during the “Great Depression.”

Was Grover Cleveland thinking about Felicitas when he wrote “a truly American sentiment recognizes the dignity of labor and the fact that honor lies in honest toil?”