Some local commentary from Kathie Greer

This is the Indy's "Across the Fence" column by Kathie Greer for this week:

Across The Fence

A jerk in County Commissioner’s clothing

I set out earlier this week to educate myself on an important local issue.

Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone #1 is a program designed to promote new businesses, residences and revenues in a section of downtown Amarillo.

Many of my friends and acquaintances — most with a definite for or against point of view — have discussed various aspects of the plan. I’ve listened intently from the middle of the fence, not feeling like I know enough about the plan’s particulars to jump in either direction.

As a resident of Amarillo and Potter County, I felt like it was my responsibility to develop an understanding of the issue. And, I’ll admit, my work as a journalist also prompted me to pursue the details.

My informational quest led to elected officials and staff members in city and county offices. I also prevailed upon my contacts within the community for their input and perspective on the financing plan for TIRZ.

Potter County Commissioner Manny Perez and County Judge Arthur Ware are on opposing sides when it comes to the county’s participation in the TIRZ. Perez’ complaints center on the weight of the county’s investment and return versus the city’s portion. Ware believes growth and productive enterprise in downtown Amarillo will broaden the tax base and ultimately benefit everyone in Amarillo.

Even though they disagree with each other, both men were open, forthcoming and polite in their discussions with me. Even better, each man willingly referred me to other people they felt were well informed on this subject.

That’s the response I’ve usually gotten from the elected representatives and staff members I’ve worked with over the years. Those past fact-finding missions have included people from the basic services, like water and sewer, all the way to United States senators and their staff members. I’ve always been dealt with fairly and professionally, even if my previous positions or columns about them haven’t been glowing compliments.

Imagine my surprise when Potter County Commissioner Joe Kirkwood was neither polite nor professional. Not only was he less than forthcoming, I don’t know if he was honest.

I met Kirkwood several years ago when I worked with him on a community project. He seemed both a knowledgeable and likable candidate and I was encouraged by his election.

But Kirkwood showed a completely different side to me during our conversation on Monday. His tone, accusations and reluctance to provide a county resident with information left me not only disgusted, but actually angry.

I told him, when he answered his cell phone, that I was looking for information about TIRZ. His immediate response was that it must the day for TIRZ discussions because he’d just left a meeting with other elected officials where they had discussed the issue.

That struck me as rather strange. And my suspicions mounted when he refused to tell with whom he’d been speaking or the nature of those discussions.

My knowledge of the Open Meetings Act is that private meetings of elected officials are forbidden on just about everything except personnel, contract negotiations, litigation and other specific matters. And even legal executive sessions must be announced to the public.

Things deteriorated further when I asked Kirkwood to tell me how TIRZ was structured and why he thought it would be bad for Potter County residents.
No solid information or facts about the plan were presented. He did, however, profess his objectivity repeatedly while simultaneously telling me the whole thing would only make the rich richer and that it wouldn’t help any other residents of Potter County. He said that he thought the Amarillo Economic Development Corp. had already been put in place to do the same thing that TIRZ is supposed to do.

One point where I might have found agreement with him was on the issue of fair representation between the county and the city on the TIRZ board. But as that discussion led to the committee the county commissioners have appointed to study the matter, another red flag flew in my face.

Kirkwood indicated to me that members of the committee had already made up their minds, while continuing to tell me that he himself was trying to remain objective.

He said that he knew people from the County Auditor’s Office, the Tax Department and the County Attorney’s office who were opposed to the plan. But he wouldn’t tell me the basis for their opposition. And when I asked for names so I could follow-up on the arguments against the reinvestment zone, Kirkwood again refused.

"I don’t want you lobbying those people,” he told me.

What?

Wait a minute.

Since when are asking questions and seeking information considered lobbying tactics?

Furthermore, the names of those committee members are a matter of public record. Doesn’t Commission Kirkwood know that?

And as a resident and taxpayer in Potter County, don’t I have the right both to ask questions and to state my opinions to county officials?

Evidently, Kirkwood doesn’t think so.

Bill Sumerford, a Potter County resident who keeps a close eye on tax issues, lives in Kirkwood’s precinct. Sumerford said that he has called Kirkwood at least three times and left messages asking to talk to him about TIRZ. So far, Sumerford reported, Kirkwood hasn’t bothered to return any of those calls.

Sumerford also told me that even though Kirkwood knew most of his constituents supported a Potter County tax freeze for the elderly and disabled, the commissioner voted against it.

It looks to me like Kirkwood is out of touch and unresponsive to his constituents.

It’s evident he’s also one of those elected officials who doesn’t believe in the public’s right to know.

I still haven’t made up my mind on whether TIRZ, as it was initially structured, is the best plan for Potter County. Unlike Kirkwood, though, I think I’ll wait for the committee’s official report.

The one thing I do know is that Kirkwood isn’t the kind of representative I want at any level of government

Cut-and-run Republican terrorist-emboldening troop-haters

Why does cut-and-run troop-hater Sen. John Warner hate the troops?

Republican senator: Bush should begin Iraq withdrawal

Doesn't he want our troops to succeed? Is he for or against our troops? Why does he insist on giving aid and comfort to the enemy by demoralizing our troops (whom he hates)?

Bushnam

Ok . . . President McCokespoon wants to now compare Iraq to Vietnam, even after he opposed such terminology in 2004.

This is a country that loves soundbites, loves small words.

Let's help Bushie out.

Join me, take 10 minutes, and write the AGR RIGHT NOW. john.kanelis@amarillo.com

And in every letter to the editor, please refer to Iraq from now on as "Bushnam", as in, "Bushnam is disaster, much like Bush's domestic failures, and pitbulls."

Sorry to be so blunt, but if our lazy paper gets loaded with letters, 100 + swamping them, maybe this will stick.

Maybe us little folks can make a small difference. Will you join me? Sent mine already.

-Prodigal Son

We'r eBack

The Amarillo Independent Web site is now active with content. Hope you all like the new look.

Sneak Peek This Weak

More of PTS’s exclusive look at JJ Abram’s new film:

As our valiant hero Mac Thornsmallberrys guides his squadron into battle against the horrible beastie (from an extremely safe distance) death rays suddenly flash from the menacing monster’s eyes, vaporizing the avenging aircraft into little itty bits.









The courageous Thornsmallberrys, champion of truth and objectivity, declares the engagement a victory and retreats to his small 30,000 acre ranch to spend the last of his remaining farm subsidy millions.

Meanwhile the creature has descended upon the fairest jewel in the entire city, the last bastion of truth, justice, and equality throughout the land. Below it spies its next victim, the piddling pusillanimous paper publisher himself.





























But wait! What’s this? In a freakish turnabout the two find puppy love and bound to the top of the Fisk Building, favorite haunt of drunken bums and bloggers who pee in its abandoned desiccated toilets.

Here on the romantic windswept heights of the Fisk they shall mate and produce a master race, the supreme pitiless pit bull, the ultimate baying breed of beagle bigots.


















But their fanatical dreams of oppressing humanity are not to be consummated this day. Their vigorous if errant mounting is suddenly interrupted by the attack of the Pantex Plutonium Pussy.



















A victim of one of the many “incidents” at a top secret installation near Amarillo, Pantex Plutonium Pussy is now America’s secret weapon against giant evil pit bulls, terrorism, and creeping liberal progressivism at home and throughout the world.

All cheer Pantex Plutonium Pussy!

Next on PTS E!: Mobs of Mutant Monster Mice created to feed Pantex Plutonium Pussy rampage across the country raiding our cheese factories! Only on PTS E!

PTS Exclusive

Rumors abound regarding the upcoming JJ Abrams monster flick, codenamed Cloverfield. Panhandle Truth Squad has obtained this exclusive image, giving you the first look at the new movie monster:

Another Viscous Attack

Dammit, these pitbulls are everywhere!

Justa Bloggin'

Dude! This guy has one of those newfangled internets! AND a color monitor and dot-matrix printer!

I have not done this in a while, but mucho thanks to everyone reading PTS. We regularly hit 100+ page views/day. When I think back to when it was just me and Spacedark, I am amazed.

Do Democracy a favor, and forward on our site address above to a few patriots.

-Prodigal Son

(Picture of Prodigal Son: Circa 1988)

Something different to do.

For an alternative to the Polk Street Block Party check out Femme II.

I won't be able to attend, but my S.O. will be performing.

www.myspace.com/femmenow

**FEMME 3 at the Nat Ballroom**
Doors open @ 8 p.m.
$10 donation at the door benefiting the Women's Wellness Center
B.Y.O.B.

Femme is an eclectic evening celebrating women in all areas of art, including musicians, poets, painters, photographers, belly dancers, etc. All are welcome, so come on over!

I Know What I Did This Summer

Main Street and pit bull
Silverton, CO


Christ of the Mines and pit bull
Silverton, CO




Andrews Lake and pit bull
Colorado



Balcony House and pit bull
Mesa Verde National Park, CO

Where's a big government handout when you need it?

A developer lost interest in spending $15 million to transform the Fisk Building into a hotel because of uncertainty about the possibility of future tax incentives for the project.

we're spending our children's inheritance

"Hope I die before I get old???" ... bit late for that, eh?

We all knew it would come to this: the fate of the Baby Boomers.

At 3:36, the Boomers' final message for those of us who must pay for their decrepitude ... and live in the world they left behind.

spacedark

anarchy through capitalism

(Amarillo) I won't be going anywhere near any kind of retail store this weekend. For one thing, my new mother-in-law will be in town. But that is, of course, not the only reason for my refusal to participate in capitalistic excess this weekend.


This weekend Texans will be performing the strange ritual known as tax-free weekend. Of all Texan ritualistic activity, this particular one is the most bizarre and least humane. I refuse to participate in such a horrible spectacle. As in all ritual, the value of the tax-free weekend is primarily symbolic. Although participants often claim to have "saved money," this claim is highly dubious. Prior to Zero Year -- 1999, the first year Texans performed the tax-free ritual -- merchants frequently had something called "sales," which often offered more in the way of real value to consumers than the tax-free weekend. Although sales can still be found, they frequently offer a smaller savings than they would have been before the tax-free weekend. This has led to speculation that the real value of the tax-free weekend is primarily to businesses who greedily reap the whirlwind of the crowds and their money without having to reduce their own profits in any way. Those who find it difficult to believe that a state would undertake an action primarily to help its businesses while disregarding its human citizens are advised to study the peculiar history and customs of this particular state.

I did not always refuse to participate in tax-free weekend. Early in the history of the "holiday", I went in to the very Belly of the very Beast -- The Mall Itself. And there I witnessed the teeming hordes. I saw shocking numbers of parents wearing colored brassieres underneath thin white T-shirts. I witnessed tweenage kids-- in stores in which all the dressing rooms were full-- changing. clothes. in. the. aisles. at the demands of those parents. And then in one horrible moment the nightmarish truth hit me: I was in the presence of the Great Unwashed. And I hate the Great Unwashed. I screamed in horror.

So if you do choose to venture out this weekend, please, for god's sake, be careful out there. Not all who enter a department store or a mall this weekend will come out alive. And even those who live will be forever changed by the experience, and not for the better.

spacedark

And We Thought We Had Nutters

The Amarillo Globe-News has its gatekeeper to protect us from the obscene, but civilized people may wonder where the bar is when Virgil Van Camp wishes that we emulate the ancient Romans:

“They came, they conquered, they governed. The unruly Jews revolted. Not a problem. Tear down their holy temple, kill a few Jews. Problem solved.”

(Interesting that hundreds of thousands of butchered Jews are “a few.”) Or by imitating them with

“. . . a Pax Americana. We could take over troubled spots around the globe, concentrating on areas with natural resources, such as oil, that we need. We could extract the resources, use the profits to create a working society and pay for the occupation.”

And like them install puppet dictators to solve our or other nation's difficulties. He has repeatedly said the Geneva Conventions are pointless, and called for our military, like the Roman Legions, to slaughter civilians without mercy.

Let us remember Elwood N. Stein’s solution to the war in Iraq:

“drop a few bombs we have in reserve” and “with the power we have in storage . . . wind up in a Christian world.”

What a small desire it is to obliterate the entire non-Christian world. What nonchalance to publish a letter on global genocide.

We need not recount the many other offenses against human dignity and civilized behavior made by these and other whack-jobs printed in the Amarillo Globe-News. Here we shall note the inordinate and mindless worship still offered President George W. Bush by their thronging wingnuts in the face of deceit and disaster.

But these nutjobs pale in comparison to Philip Atkinson, contributing editor to Family Security Matters, Imperial Rome enthusiast, George W. Bush disciple and nuke booster.

[For more on Family Security Matters and its connections to neoconservatives and the White House see SourceWatch.]

In "America's Choice" (see comments) Atkinson declares we must use violence to dominate others or like the Romans risk the collapse of “Pax Romana.” In shades of Van Camp’s “rape, pillage and burn” Atkinson insists we “must be ruthless, merciless, resolute and unhesitating” in the use of nuclear weapons: “inflict genocide or commit suicide.” Both Van Camp and Atkinson find triumph in the incineration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but since then America has been in moral decline and squeamish about inflicting brutality and annihilating our enemies.

In "Conquering the Drawbacks of Democracy" flatly states that the Iraqi’s should be slaughtered with nuclear weapons and replaced by Americans; that democracy is the enemy of truth and justice, a threat to the United States, and that George W. Bush should use his military power like Augustus to become President-for-Life and restore sanity to America.

Extremist? Yes. Lunatic? You would think so, but the man’s “analysis” was, until quite recently, admired and taken seriously. Only when his work was discovered by the wider media was Atkinson “disappeared” from the FSM website.

Rational people would no doubt think Mr. Atkinson a certifiable, shells and all, nutcase. Yet we must note that his insane, extremist views were quite agreeable to his right-wing compatriots. Let us also observe that the difference between Mr. Atkinson and our local nutters is not one of kind but of degree.

Let that be the "apparent difference.” Our extremists have the gatekeeper to keep out and clean up their worst offenses. And as difficult as it is to imagine even Van Camp has gone too far, but with his outrages scrubbed few are left the wiser to his true madness.

That is the virtue of having a gatekeeper. Whatever reactionaries, extremists and right-wing sociopaths may exist, we are presented those that are least “objectionable.” We sleep in our beds, safe in blessed ignorance of neighbors that are like Philip Atkinson, demanding Muslims be exterminated, that Iraq be nuked, and America turned into a praetorian dictatorship led by George W. Bush. Who knows who they are? Who indeed?

Open Thread

Anyone Around These Parts?

-Prodigal Son

Time Travel

Yes . . . ITS POSSIBLE.

-Prodigal Son

Royksopp

Ok . . . this has nothing to do with politics, but ever since I saw the caveman GEICO commercial where he is on the treadmill at the airport, I have been hooked on this Royksopp band.



Just me, but this video appeals to me visually. Maybe living up in beantown, and commuting on the train, maybe because the colors seem to remind me somehow of my youth back in the days when the cassette tape was cutting edge. Design was just beginning to use computer graphics . . . I dunno.

Youtube is amazing. The hazy, rosy, images and video memories of a kid in the 70's can be relived.



Needed a break. Something different.

-Prodigal Son

1 Minute of Not Bashing Dav* H*nry

While cutting the tall grass I did perchance mow over an unseen doggie landmine, and as the foul stink filled the air, I thought perhaps then was a good moment to pause and let the ceaseless panhandle wind dissipate the stench.

As I reeled and sought escape from the reek of sun-hot grass and blade-sheared excrement thoughts came unbidden to my mind of the writings of Dav* H*nry. Coincidence surely, but what were at first unpleasant reflections on right-wing rubbish strangely became a meditation on how others, and especially myself, have so harshly abused him of late.

Under the punishing Amarillo sun, in clothes drenched with sweat, I felt pangs of remorse. How could we, repeatedly and callously, attack a young man with such an obvious mental deficit? H*nry has certainly overcome this deficiency to meet his weekly allotment of words, no mean challenge for a walnut in a primate skull.

Here though was something passing strange, for as the flies buzzed over the scattered dung and a hammer began to throb in my brain, I remembered something curious. H*nry had, in asking his one monosyllabic question of a commissioner candidate, provoked a brief exchange that revealed his rapier wit to have all the dash and edge of a pudding snack.

Surely this man, as the sun seared across flesh and the heat weighed like anvils upon every limb, was incapable of filling buckets of unmitigated drivel. It was beyond his human capacity. And as I staggered against the fence, the yard gently rolling like an open sea, it came to me: 100 monkeys at 100 typewriters would eventually write Shakespeare.

Not to compare H*nry to Shakespeare, for shame! As I lay on the ground, my skin hot and dry, I watched the monkeys scamper about in the elm above. Did we really need 100 monkeys hunting and pecking at random on 100 typewriters to produce H*nry’s flapdoodle?

Men in odd suits appeared speaking a language I couldn’t hear. The monkeys fled into the blazing sky. I felt cold and ice, and lifted up. I knew monkeys were too advanced on the evolutionary tree to produce H*nry’s work. They might write Shakespeare, but not even lobotomized monkeys would write H*nry.

It was then, as the metal gates of Heaven swung open and I was jostled into the cool rolling antechamber of the hereafter, that I had an epiphany, a vision, of chickens. I had seen chickens trained to play toy pianos by pecking at seed put on the keys. In time, without the seed, they would through sheer dumb reflex mindlessly peck at the keys. Was that H*nry’s secret? I smelled alcohol and a needle-sharp pain. There was a mask over my face, and darkness came.

Now recovered from my overheated reverie, I am still troubled by these thoughts. Can it be that who we read and revile simply sits at a keyboard, just one small pecker?

Chapter 587: In Which All Is Possible and I Finally Agree with Dav* H*nry. Sort Of.

No, I haven't gone soft and Republican now that I'm married. And Dav* H*nry certainly could've found something better to reference than the archaic and boring "Our Gang."

But we should give our old adversary a Scooby Snack for stepping up to the precipice of criticizing his corporate bosses. In today's column, he all but admits that the Amarillo Globe-Republican has focused way, way, way too much on pit bull attacks.

Don't get me wrong. I'm scared shitless of my new father-in-law's pit bull, but that's my problem. When Chili Pepper crawls up into my lap, she's only trying to be friendly.

H*nry sez:

• "'Dog bites man' didn't use to be news, but when it is a pit bull doing the biting, stop the presses."
• He quotes Mike McGee, Amarillo's director of Animal Control as saying, "This whole thing about the pit bull is blown out of proportion. That's my personal opinion."
• And he even does research, pointing out that "From 1994-2005, the city received at least 25,547 calls a year (that in 1994), with a high of 37,617 in 2005. With that number of calls, one call a day pertaining to a particular dog breed doesn't seem that high."

Sadly, this is as far as it goes.

While Dav* never has any problem damning the torpedoes when he criticizes liberals and Democrats, he simply doesn't have the balls to be so aggressive in criticizing his corporate bosses or the city of Amarillo.

He avers that "the local media coverage of pit bulls is fair and understandable," and that "the pit bull backlash is understandable," and concludes with a whiny-ass but "that's not the dog's fault".

On second thought: Sorry, Dav*. I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. But you just don't deserve it.

spacedark

No End in Sight

The thing about all of these documentaries about W and the apple dumpling gang now, is that when we were marching and writing editorials to the Amarillo Republican, being called traitors, and the Dixie Chicks were dealing with this boolsheet, NO ONE was giving voice to our warnings.

That was 3600 dead Americans, and 500k dead Iraqis ago.

Which leads me to . . .why the F*** does Dave Henry have an opinion column? Broder? Krauthammer? the entire wall street journal ed page?

In a non-corporate owned media country, these a**holes would be out. They have been deadly, dangerously wrong.

It is my patriotic duty to call them out. Every day.

-Prodigal Son

everybody knows

"Haight Ashbury Victorians" by Kevin Roach of Creativity Explored (digital media (c) CE 2006)


Early in our honeymoon we visited Creativity Explored, a nonprofit where "artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit, and sell art," my new wife and I weren't particularly burdened by the well-meaning condescension favored by most visitors to such places. We've both been around mentally challenged people for so long that we can remember when they were called just "disabled"-- or worse. Basically that means that we didn't talk to the artists like they were children. (Hell, we're both educators so we don't talk to children like they're children, but you get the idea.)

So we had a good conversation with artists like Peter. Peter was- how do you say?- fairly "high-level" it CE, he had a good grasp of what was going on around him and even, to a large extent, in the world. That would make him "fairly high-level" on the streets of Amarillo, but you know what I mean.

When we told Peter we were from Texas, he naturally recoiled in horror. We were used to that reaction by now from San Franciscans. What made his reaction more, um, honest was that Peter had fewer-- how do you say?-- "filters". So he said just what most merely thought. "Bush!" he hollered. And then he embarked on a reasonably well-informed rant about The Emperor W's many, many sins.

We lowered our eyes in an approximation of meekness and said, yeah, unfortunately.

We should have taken from that experience a lesson about our mouths and discretion, but we didn't. Later, as we left the big room another artist asked where we were from. We did the same meekeyes act and said, again, Texas.

The next thing we knew, a roomful of developmentally-disabled artists were shrieking "Bush! Bush! Bush!" and shaking their fists and doing the thumbs-down thing and and stomping as we hightailed it out of there. So even though I've laid kinda low and concentrated mostly on hearts&flowers&love&stuff this summer, it was nice to know that I could still start a halfway decent political riot.

spacedark

Hey Founding Fathers . . . Stick it!

Yeah, you heard me . . . I mean that bill of rights thingie was written in 1789.

This is 2007 fer' Chrissakes'!

That whole whiny-ass IVth amendment "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." is a pre 9-11 mindset.

We have terra'sts that want to kill us because we are free and buy houses. And we need to get rid of those pesky bureaucratic hindrances to keeping your families safe from the Islamunofascists.

I mean, it's not as if we might spy on Americans for no reason and no oversight . . .

More patriotic than you troop-hating, Osama sympathizers,

-Prodigal Son

Honorable Ethics

The following is posted at the request of Erik V. Williams, former commissioner candidate:

On July 12, 2007, I wrote to Mayor Debra McCartt and the city commissioners to find out what they might have to say about John Kanelis’ “smell test” regarding conflicts of interest and how it might relate to Amarillo’s elected officials. I here present the letter addressed to them and all responses received.

* * *

To The Honorable Debra McCartt, Mayor of the City of Amarillo; The Honorable Madison Scott; The Honorable Brian Eades; The Honorable Ron Boyd and The Honorable Jim Simms, City Commissioners.

In his Sunday editorial “'Legal' and 'right' don't always match” (Amarillo Globe-News, July 1, 2007) The Principled John Kanelis took the Honorable Joe Kirkwood to task for failing to absent himself from certain votes made in his capacity as Potter County Commissioner. While John Kanelis acknowledged these votes were “legally correct” it was his contention these votes benefited the commissioner and that Joe Kirkwood therefore should have recused himself.

We can only applaud The Principled John Kanelis for his stand and agree that our elected officials should maintain a high standard of ethics. A conflict of interest beyond the legal definition, one that does not pass “the smell test” invoked by John Kanelis, should oblige an elected official to absent him or herself so as to remain above reproach.

Strangely the Amarillo Globe-News seems unprepared to hold the mayor and city commissioners to the same high standard as Mr. Kirkwood. With “the smell test” one might discover a conflict of interest in a city official’s direct or indirect ownership of property or control of downtown investments and the benefits of voting on downtown revitalization. Though posed the question the Amarillo Globe-News remains silent on whether it would suggest the mayor or any of the commissioners should recuse themselves were they to be in such a situation.

One can only speculate as to the publisher’s motivation for failing to uphold the ethics of the Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners, especially those whom the Amarillo Globe-News has so readily endorsed. I will therefore ask you to address, where the Amarillo Globe-News has not, whether the principle invoked by John Kanelis should be applied to Amarillo’s mayor and city commissioners.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Erik V. Williams
Former unwelcome guest columnist and Commissioner Candidate

* * *

July 13, 2007

Erik,

I haven’t heard from you, so I thought I would respond the best I can. I agree, as do all the commissioners, that when we have a “conflict of interest” item to vote on, that interested party will abstain. As far as downtown is concerned, I feel certain that if we vote on something that someone owns or has financial interest in, then that commissioner will abstain.

Thank you for the question. (not sure why you would think we would do otherwise)

Debra McCartt

* * *

July 21, 2007

I am all over your email.

First, I want you to know that just because it is "legal" does not mean it is moral". Just because attorneys and legislators got together and made a law does not mean it is moral.

We need to always hold ourselves up to be both legal and moral. Your email is duly noted and I thank you for your reminder that I need to always watch what I am doing.

Madison Scott

* * *

I would like to thank Mayor Debra McCartt and Commissioner Scott for their timely responses and affirming they will hold themselves to the highest ethical standards.

Lets Talk About Market Meltdown

I have been getting pummeled by friends/family about the last 3 weeks. Yikes . . . lets call it a correction and move on. What does it mean, and why did Cramer go into hypertensive meltdown? (Sorry for the poor vid) BTW, every biz school will be showing that vid for the next 100 years. LOL

If you took out an adjustable rate mortgage in the last 2 years, your payment is going waaaayyyy up next Jan or Feb. So much equity was withdrawn from homes (to pay for lifestyles that people couldn't afford) that despite a housing boom, people now own less of their homes than before the housing boom in certain areas.

Four points on the macro level:

1. Without mortgage equity withdraws, America's economy would hardly have even budged these past few years. We have seen $197 billion of mortgage resets so far this year. That is less than we will see in two months (February and March) of next year. In the first six months of next year we will see more than the total for 2007 or $521 billion. This means that the number of foreclosures will dump MORE homes into the market.

2. The direct effect of all this real estate implosion is leaking out onto the rest of the bond market in the form of higher interest rates. The higher rates mean companies that want to expand/build or buyout competition can't afford it anymore. And the banks lending the money to theses companies were backing it up with bonds holding . . . you guessed it. Real estate.

3. Under Bush, the U.S. now borrows $2 billion a day from the rest of the world. So what? A weak dollar makes food/gas/living more expensive, which means fewer bucks to offset a higher mortgage payment.

4. The financial troubles aren't limited to America. The rest of the world has been buying our mortgage-backed securities for years, and in an interesting call last week, Jochen Sanio, head of Germany's financial regulator, warned of the worst banking crisis since 1931.

The good news is that this is for the most part simply a re-pricing of risk and that this will get done over the next few weeks and months. It will take longer for Wall Street to come up with new, more credible securities to package debt to get deals done. Transparency will be the watchword.

The bad? If the overseas lending slows down, we will go into recession this year, and President Numbnuts will be the first Pres to be in office for two.

-Prodigal Son

Oh boy, here it comes...

Glad I'm not retiring anytime soon. I can't believe I just said that.

Bond turmoil worse than Internet bubble: Bear CFO

Update:

Jim Cramer is a jackass

Geeeeeez...

Senate passes Bush-backed spy bill

Somewhere in the remote Himalayas, sequestered deep in the recesses of his Obsidian Fortress, the Cigarette Smoking Man smiles.

When Dav* Attacks

Small-time wing-nut Dav* H*nry took a swipe at lefties this morning in defense of big-time wing-nut Bill O'Reilly. You see, jackass O'Reilly (having taken a break from harassing his producers while sodomizing himself with a vibrator) unwisely picked a fight with DailyKos and spin-off convention YearlyKos, allegedly because of so-called hateful remarks left in the comments sections. O'Reilly pressured JetBlue into dropping it's sponsorship of the YearlyKos, or at least having it's name taken off the list of sponsors. Lefties went through Papa Bear's hate site and turned up threats of varying nature:

http://www.americablog.com/2007/07/did-oreilly-promote-burn-down-capitol.html
http://www.americablog.com/2007/07/billoreillycom-islam-is-nothing-more.html
http://www.americablog.com/2007/07/billoreillycom-suggests-terrorist.html
http://www.americablog.com/2007/07/billoreillycom-i-am-keeping-my-guns.html
http://www.americablog.com/2007/07/bill-oreillys-web-site-threatens.html

Turn about being fair play, lefties trained their sites on Bill O'Reilly sponsors JetBlue and HomeDepot and persuaded them both to drop their advertising. And now Dav* is pissed. Waah waah. Big mean liberals. :(

Something of an interesting side note is this quote:

If Sam sells more right-wing thick-and-juicy T-bone steaks than lefty veggie burgers, this tactic probably won't work.

Dav* engages in the worn-out, unimaginative and easily discredited stereotyping that lefties are all vegetarians. It's like having KISS pass through town, singing the same songs they were 30 years ago. Man, get some new material.

Updated:
Dav* wrote:

One local Amarillo car dealer representative, whose company advertises on Fox, is almost hoping to get a call.

"That would probably help us," he said with a laugh. "In this part of the country? Bring it on."

Just out of curiosity, Dav*, what dealership are we talking about here? See, I'm in the market for a new car and I'd feel just terrible if I sullied the hands of Good and Righteous Conservative with my hard-earned, terrorist-appeaser dollars. Kind of hard for me to "bring it on" if I don't know who they are.

the rainbow ain't enuf

Only Tascosa High School received the state's lowest rating among campuses in Potter and Randall counties, but ratings do not show the whole picture, an official with Amarillo Independent School District said.

…

Tascosa received the academically unacceptable rating because less than 45 percent of black students passed the math portion of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. Only 38 percent of the 154 black students who took the exam passed.

"That is why the entire campus missed being acceptable," Amarillo ISD spokeswoman Becky McIlraith said. "You've got to go deeper. You've really got to understand what's going on."

…

"It's all about looking at each individual child," McIlraith said. "Some students just need more one-on-one attention."

Oh . My. God.

What folks just have to understand is that Tascosa has a lot of nigras in attendance. Our nice white kids did just fine but them black boys brought us all down. Fortunately, Bush’s Supreme Court is working on overturning Brown vs. the Board of Education so Amarillo can put our colored back where they belong.

This excuse is entirely unacceptable to me, both as a parent and as a human being. I choose to live in Tascosa school district because it is the only interesting part of town, in part because of its diversity. And I believe that my son will be better off for the experience of attending a diverse school.

Furthermore, I teach in a diverse school. Many of my students have only recently learned English. And we are not ranked unacceptable nor do we use our diversity as an excuse. Instead, we seek out solutions that are appropriate for our student body. As a sheltered/ESL teacher, I have been a part of one of those solutions for the past two years

The Tascosa cluster, AISD, and Becky McIlraith owe an apology to the Tascosa community, African-Americans, and Amarillo at large.

spacedark

the best of the worst

As I understand it, today is the last day to hack the Amarillo Globe-Republican's "Best of Amarillo" survey. I submitted a mix of "real" and smart-ass choices. (My vote for Panhandle Truth Squad as "Best local news web site" was real.)

I'm posting my choices in the comments. If y'all hack the "Best of"-- or even if you take it seriously-- post some or all of your choices as well.

spacedark

Dave "WHA?" Henry continues

A couple of days late with this but Davy boy remains consistent. Talking about the farm bill congress is working on he wrote "Under the ""fairness admendment,"" there are 26 congressional districts in Texas that would receive more farm money in 2008-2012 totals than under the current bill. Interestingly, 11 are Democratic districts."

Did he leave out "just" before "11," or did he just forget 26 minus 11 is 16 for the Repubs! Dave, Dave, Dave!

Your Kid Better Love Jesus with all his Heart

And he/she better be the right KIND of Christian at school. None of this liberal peacenik love your neighbor crappo.

Part of your childs public school curriculum THIS year thanks to the ever more wingnut Texas Extremist Leg.

One interesting requirement: "It requires public school districts to adopt policies specifically allowing spontaneous religious expression by students. A so-called model policy included in the law states that upperclassmen who are student leaders — such as student council officers, class officers or the captain of the football team — should be designated as speakers."

I bet the school districts will enjoy paying ever greater attorney fees as well.

-Prodigal Son

Fox Attacks

I'm guessing some or maybe even all of you are aware this site, but I thought it might be worthwhile to post it here as well. Bill O' Liarly has launched a campaign against JetBlue, a sponsor of the DailyKos.
I think it's fair game to respond, so take a look at this site, if you're unaware of it. I think it's a great idea.

Republicans Don't Surge Into Iraq

Letters to the Editor, Amarillo Globe-News, Monday, July 23, 2007

If our right-wing advocates, the president and vice president insist on keeping these brave young people in peril, I suggest that George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, and Rep. Mac Thornberry go to Iraq and fight with them side by side. That would show real support.

Roberta Hicks, Amarillo

Bravo Roberta, bravo! I think you may be a tad shy 24,999,995 Republicans, but bravo!

(You don’t disapprove of her "tone" Mr. K.?)

New Blog

Fanfare of trumpets, blast and sparkle of fireworks, blaring flatulence of bovine animals, IT'S A NEW BLOG....YIPPEE. I'd like to invite all of my friends here on Panhandle Truth Squad to join my conversation on "The Mote" where I'll be exploring the relationship between politics and religion. I know most of you don't feel religion and politics should mix, but ...well they mix...be honest now.
Come on over and help me debunk the Evangelical Pharisees that have usurped the Republican party.

Red State Update

Spacedark is officially hitched! Congrats SD!

Here is Dunlap and Jackie Broyle singing a special song just for you and the SO.



-Prodigal Son

Nose Held Hostage?

Despite an interrogative post standing for over a week and inquiring e-mail (see “Can Kanelis Keep His Nose?", PTS July 2, 2007), Mr. Kanelis’ nose has failed to respond. As a prominent and protuberant member of the Fourth Estate it has shown little hesitation sticking itself into people’s business, but now tweaked we hear not a snort, not a sniff, nor a snuffle.

At first it was suspected the nose had been put out of joint and was spurning our inquiry. Could a simple question turn up the nose with contempt? Was the nose looking down itself in disdain? Had this little feather gotten up his nose? It all seemed quite uncharacteristic for the nose to run from such a minor challenge.

Knowing how hard-nosed Kanelis’ probative proboscis can be, there seemed only one other explanation as to why the nose had taken a powder. It was not that it was unwilling to respond, but that it was unable to reply.

Had Kanelis’ nose gone missing? Were nose prints taken to identify it? If he didn’t have a nose how does he smell? Badly?

No, no, no, we are on the wrong scent.

My theory, which is mine, as to why we have not heard from Kanelis is that Less Simpson is holding his nose. You may laugh, but I do not think this theory is something to be sneezed at. I believe the nose has been muzzled.

As long as Less Simpson keeps Kanelis’ nose to the grindstone he can’t perform his “smell test” on the mayor and city commissioners so that they will keep their noses clean. It’s as plain as the beak on Dav* H*nry’s face.

Does this mean the end of Kanelis’ nose as we know it? Will he never smell again, cut off despite his face? Let us hope not. But who knows what is paid through the nose right under our noses.

The Indy Says: What Must Change

It’s never too soon to think about the future and with a little more than 15 months until the next national election, it’s time to consider some of the key issues.

And while many would say it’s the war in Iraq, or what might happen in Iran, or energy policy and oil prices, or national health care, the issues facing the American electorate are far broader and deeper than those.

Far more is at stake than the presidency, one-third of the 100 Senate seats and 435 seats in the House of Representatives.

At stake are the direction and moral fiber of this nation and whether a nation based on laws and integrity can continue to endure with a system so riddled with corruption, greed and indecency — in the corporate word and in all levels of government.

It is time for a New Contract with Americans. Notice I didn’t say “Contract with America.” The new contract is with the people of this country, not the country itself, a distinction that was lost on voters so many years ago.

Here are some, perhaps a beginning list, of provisions for the “New Contract with Americans:”

· Congress would eliminate the perquisites and insider benefits of office, including reduced-rate haircuts, charging users the going market rate for the use of any federal facility (the gyms come to mind) and special treatment at airports.

· Members of Congress would be required to fly commercially in coach seats and barred from the use of private aircraft as part of campaign contributions without paying for the going rate for those planes. This doesn’t bar candidates from owning and flying their own planes.

· All federal officials and employees would be subject to all the laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Freedom of Information Act and similar laws.

· The executive branch would no longer be allowed to invoke executive privilege in the face of a congressional inquiry.

· Election laws would be revised to require paper ballots for all elections, with the ability to have an audit trail for vote-counting, and no purveyor of voting equipment would be permitted to make any campaign contributions.

· Term limits would be imposed on Congress, by constitutional amendment if necessary, reducing the Senate term from six to four years and limiting senators to two terms and representatives to four two-year terms. In no case shall a member of Congress serve for more than eight years total in either the Senate or House.

· Congressional pensions would be capped at one-half the officeholder’s salary.

· No pay raise for any elected official may occur without an affirmative on-the-record, or recorded, vote.

· Election laws should be revised to cap the total amount of money any candidate may receive at $2 million, with no corporate or individual contributions permitted in excess of $1,000.

· Voters should be required to show identification and a voter registration card, with no poll taxes imposed.

· All campaign contribution reports and personal tax returns for any elected official (federal, state and local) and the president’s cabinet would become public records posted on an easily accessible Web site.

· All lobbyists at all levels of government would be required to register with the Federal Election Commission and all the personal and corporate tax returns of all lobbyists and lobbying firms would become public record.

· All private certifying or accrediting agencies, such as The Joint Commission, which inspects and accredits health care organizations, the Audit Bureau of Circulation, which certifies newspaper circulation, and all the agencies that oversee universities and other educational institutions, should be subject to audits and oversight by the General Accountability Office.

· Political appointees to federal agencies should be limited to cabinet secretaries and three deputy positions. The remaining positions would become subject to civil service rules, with the exception that whistleblower legislation should be strengthened to protect employees and take the advantage away from upper management.

· Legislation must be passed to reduce if not eliminate outsourcing. Such legislation would include provisions that require any firm that outsources such services as technical support to pay the difference between the prevailing wage for an American worker and the outsourced worker into a fund to pay for unemployment benefits for American workers who have lost jobs to outsourcing.

· Congress must repeal NAFTA and CAFTA.

· The federal government must enforce the borders. This goes far beyond a “fence” and must apply to all nationalities.

· Pardons and commutation of sentences would be barred for any conviction of perjury or obstruction of justice at any level.

However, these provisions of a New Contract with Americans are actually the second step.

The first step, which must occur on Election Day 2008: No incumbent senator or representative should be returned to office. I know in some cases it’s throwing the baby out with the bathwater, but this is the first step for us to take back our government.

Americans deserve no less.

Dave Henry Gives Aid and Comfort to Our Enemies by Criticizing the President in a Time of War!

A Republican (King Decider, no less) makes a rare appearance in Dave's weekly "kick in the pants" section:

and a kick in the pants.
To President Bush: The president just gave Democrats political ammo by voiding the prison term for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Any grown man who willfully accepts the nickname "Scooter" deserves time behind bars for a gross lack of judgment, not to mention reported perjury in a CIA leak scandal. The general public could not care less about Libby or the outed Valerie Plame, who will now have to live as a liberal hero/celebrity rather than the top secret double-not spy she claimed to be. Why take the political hit for a supposed scandal that makes most people flip the channel for the latest on Paris Hilton's prison ordeal?

Goodness, Dave, what guarded language. It wasn't "reported perjury", it was straight-up perjury. To quote Glenn Greenwald:

The Plame investigation was urged by the Bush CIA and commenced by the Bush DOJ, Libby's conviction pursued by a Bush-appointed federal prosecutor, his jail sentence imposed by a Bush-appointed "tough-on-crime" federal judge, all pursuant to harsh and merciless criminal laws urged on by the "tough-on-crime/no-mercy" GOP. Lewis Libby was sent to prison by the system constructed and desired by the very Republican movement protesting his plight.

I'm not convinced that "the general public could not care less" about this matter, but for the sake of argument, let's say they don't. The general public can't always be counted on to vote, either. That doesn't mean it isn't important.

I'm sure I'll get plenty of mediocre cheese enchiladas with red sauce when they send me to a black prison in kabul

Where are we going to eat today? It's one of the eternal questions, and one that never quite gets answered satisfactorily. Amarillo, they tell us has one of the highest per capita rates of restaurants around. But we never seem to be able to find a good place to eat. By "good" I mean "not part of the hypercapitalized, homogenized global empire."

There are actually a number of good, locally-run restaurants in Amarillo. Last night, the Significant Other and I had dinner at Bijan's Persian restaurant at 34th and Georgia. The place is run by an Iranian refugee and his family, and they actually act genuinely appreciative that you've come in. The dinner menu isn't extensive, but it's good, and apparently they also have a lunch buffet.

Look: I'd recommend this place even if it sucked. We've lost Greek restaurants, Indian restaurants, and Vietnamese restaurants in this town due to the inability of the zombified Panhandlians to try anything even slightly different. And how many freaking Tex-Mex restaurants do we need? Frankly, I'm sick of Tex-Mex.

There: I said it. Just do something different for a change, and support variety in Amarillo cuisine, okay?

Or, if you have no humanity left in your shrunken, commoditized soul, you can go ahead and eat at Applebee's again.

spacedark

Fourth of July Pop Quiz

(Amarillo, Texas)

1. George W. Bush stated in his commutation of “Scooter” Libby’s sentence that a prison sentence was just too harsh. The actions that led to Libby's conviction-- exposure of an undercover federal agent—undoubtedly “gave aid and comfort” to the enemies of the United States. What is the name given to the crime of “adhering to [the United States’] Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort” in Article 3, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution?

B. What was the punishment for this crime under 18th century common law (when the Constitution was written).

C. Judging this punishment to be slightly-- harsh -- how did the U.S. Congress “commute” it in 1790?

2. Does the writer of this story-- reprinted in the Amarillo Globe-Republican with a similar headlie-- know that Cindy Sheehan vowed yesterday to continue to be politically active?

3. How many stories about pit bull attacks has the Globe-Republican printed since last July 4?

4. The bald eagle—“America’s symbol”—whose resurgence from endangered species status is trumpeted on the Opinion page of the Amarillo Globe-Republican was saved by the Endangered Species Act. Has the Endangered Species Act been primarily supported by a) conservatives or b) liberals?

5. Has the Globe-Republican given its subscribers a price break since they fired most of their reporters and started using primarily wire stories?

(see comments for answers)

spacedark

your flag decal won't get you into heaven anymore (repeat by request)

(Amarillo, Texas) Nevertheless, I will wear my flag pin today. It's a harmless enough symbol of love and appreciation of the United States of America and her potential, even as the political, social, and actual landscape is blasted nearly beyond recognition.



However, this is not a holiday of blind patriotism. My son and fiancée laughed yesterday when they saw the songs I was putting on a disc for a holiday compilation. Mojo Nixon's version of "This Land is Your Land" was one of them. Also, "American Idiot". I explained that political protest is what this holiday is about. We're celebrating what was at the time an act of treason, for god's sake.

So, in that spirit, I'd like to state what my flag pin doesn't mean:

☺ It doesn't mean that I think that George Bush is a good Christian man.
☺ It doesn't mean that I think that Mac Thornberry is smart.
☺ It doesn't mean that Kay Bailey Hutchison should have advanced further in life than U.T. cheerleader.
☺ It doesn't mean that I even know who John Cornyn is.
☺ It doesn't mean that I support the war.
☺ It doesn't mean that I shop at Wal-Mart.
☺ It doesn't have anything to do with my religion.
☺ It doesn't mean that my goal in life is to get rich but still drive a pick-em-up truck.
☺ It doesn't mean that I'm white, straight, and male.
☺ It sure doesn't mean that I want to hear that Toby Keith song.
☺ It doesn't mean that I want to go shoot automatic weapons in an empty field in Oklahoma.
☺ It doesn't mean that I hate hate hate the Dixie Chicks.

So, perhaps, to pledge allegiance to the meaning behind the pretty piece of cloth, I will also wear this pin:



Remember that one? Those big words at the top say "We the People". That's kind of important, too.

spacedark

Bush Pardons Caspar Weinberger

. . . er, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby (R, Lying piece 'o' shit). Like father, like son. Use the Presidency to cover your ass.

Scootie gets his get out of jail free card, sorry Paris!

You should have violated national security to cover up for Cheney, and your ass would have been sprung pronto.

Why not the full pardon? I think Bush will actually do that the day before he leaves. And Scoot's $250k fine? Rumor has it that the "Save Scooter" fund has about $5 million sitting in it.

Interestingly, Fred Thompson runs the "save scooter" fund.

-Prodigal Son

Can Kanelis Keep His Nose?

On the eve of the May 12 city election I was witness to an interesting exchange. Erik Williams, candidate for Commissioner Place 4, ran into a former coworker at a non-political fundraiser. The coworker suggested to the candidate that if he won he would have to recuse himself from any votes that might benefit his architecture firm. Mr. Williams responded that he would not only recuse himself from votes involving his firm, but also those which might benefit his friends, associates, acquaintances, their hairdressers or their hairdresser’s poodles.

If only our elected officials had such ethics. Joe Kirkwood, Potter County Commissioner, has earned rebuke from editor John Q. Kanelis (Amarillo Globe-News, Sunday, July 1, 2007) for failing to recuse himself from votes which, while permissible according to the letter of the law, nevertheless benefited him and thus violated the spirit of the law.

Thus ends the saga of county crews performing work on private property, a criminal investigation, the hiring of an outside legal defense team, and the wrangling over who should foot the bill. For Mr. Kanelis Joe Kirkwood’s votes on these matters did not pass the "smell test."

Invoking the “smell test” as the principle by which elected officials should absent themselves certainly allows Mr. Kanelis to chide an official after the fact. But having done so, it now creates an interesting situation for our city commission and Mr. Kanelis in the future.

Should any issues regarding downtown revitalization come before the commission, by Kanelis’ own “smell test” over half the commissioners will have to recuse themselves as they directly or indirectly own property or control investments that would benefit from their votes. To complicate matters the Amarillo Globe-News has endorsed and supports each commissioner and the mayor.

Mr. Kanelis has made a challenge for himself. He has set out a principle which demands he continue to hold our elected officials accountable. He must remind political favorites in advance to recuse themselves, and rebuke them if they do not. Silence and editorial omission is not an option.

But there remains a simple question: will you Mr. Kanelis? As a frequent reader of this blog only you can provide the answer. What shall it be?

7/10/07 UPDATE:

HINT: John, click on "Comments" below to leave your answer.

Red State Update

Jackie Broyle and Dunlap strategerize about Bloomberg style party switching. (Bloomberg is otherwise known as celebrity abortionist, Dr. atheist Von Gay, of France)

Ann Coulter On John Edwards

On Monday's Good Morning America Ann Coulter said of Presidential candidate John Edwards:

“I’ll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot.”

So, she’d been planning to force him to have sex with her. My God she’s a monster!

a fractured faith

(Amarillo) More and more of late, I've been wondering how "Christianity" can continue to be considered by anyone who is honest with herself to be a single, cohesive philosophy. Does any basic theology remain that is shared by everyone who calls himself a Christian, from the Pope in Rome, to the evangelical megachurch compounds, to the Jabez-ites, to the old-school Methodist church I attend? They all seem so very different, and so at odds with one another.

And then there is this nightmare, from a Christian group with whom we are not unfamiliar in the Panhandle of Texas:




spacedark

the definition of "tokenism": open thread

(Amarillo) It's not the first rodeo for this cowboy.

It certainly ain't the first time I've driven through the "security" checkpoint at The Airport Whose Only Claim to Fame is That It Was Once Featured on an Album Cover by the Seventies Rock Group Known As "Bread."

But, tonight, as I dropped the S.O. off to catch a plane for one of those ubiquitous two-day conferences in Dallas, it occurred to me that I could have Osama Freaking Bin Laden hidden in my trunk underneath an Indian blanket stolen from Clines Corners, and the orange-vested security "guard" would open my trunk, glance at the blanket, see nothing untoward, grunt hmph!, and send me on my way.

So today's question o' the day: What could you sneak, unremarked upon, past the "security" "checkpoint" at The Airport That Should Be Sued Under Truth In Advertising Laws For Calling Itself "International" When You Could Only Truly Consider It International If You Close Your Eyes And Pretend That Dallas Is A Foreign City?

spacedark

Quick Quiz

Which of these two men is more powerful?



Much like the legions of unfunny, politically-correct leftists who exist mainly in right-wing imaginations, it seems there is a huge environmental movement that just won't give the poor little oil companies a break.

Red State Update

Jackie and Dunlap discuss a certain Texan libertarian candidate for President and . . . Nessie?



-Prodigal Son

well, at least Austin now knows we're up here

To no one's surprise, that's the Panhandle's very own Warren Chisum listed in the current issue of Texas Monthly, right up next to Tom "Otto" Craddick, as one of the very worst legislators of the year.

spacedark

Four Step Process

1.Pick up a copy of Sunday's Amarillo Globe-Republican or look at page 1A here.

2. Glance at the first headline in the first column underneath the lovely pics of Sen. Kaybailey and Sen. Johncornyn.

3. Reflect on how many, many, many, many times down through the long and twisted years this headline could have applied...and on how many, many, many crucial issues wingnut Texans would have been horribly, abominably, appallingly wrong.

4. Thank Whoever Almighty that you are a progressive Texan who is not represented by this headline.

spacedark

Breach of Faith

With Northwest Texas Hospital’s indigent care program “facing a possible financial crisis” due to shortfalls in its investment portfolio the Amarillo Globe-News has sounded the alarm ("Hospital district needs remedy" AGN June 8, 2007).

Only 11 years into a 25 year program to keep the tax burden off the citizens of Amarillo, the Amarillo Hospital District board is discussing a cut in programs, reinvestment, or a possible tax to keep the indigent care program on life support.

What is interesting about this looming debacle is that the AGN has not given credit where credit is due. The sale of Northwest Texas Hospital was decided, without consultation or discussion, by none other than Mr. Jim Simms, now City Commissioner, whom the AGN has, naturally, always endorsed.

Mr. Simms has taken a father’s beaming pride in the sale of Northwest. It was always first on his campaign list of personal triumphs. When the sale was imminent many back then saw this day coming but were, for some reason, ignored in the glorious stampede to fulfill Mr. Simms’ dream. Now that dream has turned to folly it may be quietly dropped off at an orphanage.

More interesting still is the AGN editorship’s reaction to the hospital board’s discussions. Let us remember that the most important part of the sale of Northwest was a promise to take care of the indigent. But what is more important to the AGN, the indigent or possible taxes?

Before answering remember that this is the same editorship that thinks the separation of church and state is nonsense, that our laws are based on the Ten Commandments, that our nation was founded on Christian principles. We must assume that for the editorship this is a Christian nation and our government is guided by the moral authority set forth by Jesus.

So when it comes to breaking a promise the editorship actually invokes a “breach of faith” with its spiritual overtones. Here is our little quiz:

For the Amarillo Globe-News it is a “breach of faith” to:

A) cut programs for the care of the indigent
B) impose taxes

If you picked “B” you are correct. Even though it is our Christian -- our moral -- obligation to take care of the sick and poor, for the avowed Christians at the AGN there is no problem breaking our promise to the indigent. The breach of faith occurs when we dare think of burdening the taxpayer once again.

Maybe we can, however, divine some Christian charity in the editorship’s first impulse to cut programs. At least they didn’t say we should send all the indigent packing with a bus ticket to Tucumcari.

one, two, and then me

The S.O. and my engagement ran in this morning's Republican.

Shockingly, although we paid for the extended entry, our education and job information was left off.

The chickens got their apology. The hospitals got theirs.

We demand ours. Start writing, Less.¹

spacedark

¹ Double entendre, much?