Author Archives: Red from Texas

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About Red from Texas

I'm proud to be Red. I have lived most of my life in Texas and I love this place. Here are a few things you should know about me. 1. I am happily married and intend to stay so. 2. I live in a house that is older than you, unless you are really old. 3. I own 2 rifles and a shotgun. I think handguns are just trouble. 4. I have never killed a man, but have taken out some deer and hogs. 5. I was a good student, but never close to being valedictorian. 6. In no particular order I like the Houston Texans, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Astros, FC Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur, Texas Longhorns and Houston Dynamo. 7. I hate Dallas but always have a good time when I go there. 8. I was a Dallas Cowboys fan for 26 years but declared that I was no longer a fan during the 1987 strike. 9. I don't own any pets. I like cats, and a good dog and I have met at least 3 of them in my lifetime. 10. I think the best part of Texas is west of I-35. 11. I own two pairs of cowboy boots, but don't wear them very often. 12. I don't have a pronounced Texas accent, but can affect one when needed. 13. My last meal would be fried shrimp with tartar sauce, a baked potato with all the fixins', a dinner salad with 1000 Island dressing, yeast rolls and chocolate fudge pie for dessert. 14. I'm an old Dad, but my children are none of your business. 15. I have two degrees from UT-Austin and somehow managed to fall in love with and marry an Aggie. 16. Most of my family are right-wing nut jobs but I love them anyway. 17. When I get to play golf on a regular basis, I shoot in the low 80's. 18. I don't get to play golf on a regular basis. 19. I think Fort Worth is the best town in Texas by a long shot. 20. I have a mean herb garden. Regards, Red P.S. Remember it's not a color, it's a state of mind.

File this Under Damn, Damn, Damn

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CNN reports that Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas) would have dropped out of the GOP race if he had lost Texas.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was prepared to drop out of the Republican presidential race had he lost his home state on Super Tuesday, he confirmed Wednesday, and is asking Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to do the same should he lose his.

The comments come after Cruz fell well short of expectations he set for himself on Super Tuesday. But Rubio, his chief rival in the anti-Donald Trump contest, is not faring much better. Now, heading into a critical two-week stretch before the primary in Rubio’s home state, Cruz is aiming to change the narrative, working to sell his own donors and backers on his own viability, which is more in question than ever before given Trump’s command of the race.

Listen, everyone recognizes Donald Trump is a unique phenomenon. And we were encouraged by internal numbers, but you know, I asked the team what do we do if we lose Texas?” Cruz told reporters in Overland Park, Kansas, on Wednesday night. “And we had reached the conclusion, if we had lost Texas, that would’ve been the end of the road.”

You blew it Texas.  Now the road goes on forever and the party won’t end until the convention.

Today in Texas History – March 3

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From the Annals of Diplomacy – In 1837, U.S. President Andrew Jackson appointed Alcée La Branche as the American chargé d’affaires to the Republic of Texas. The act officially recognized Texas as an independent republic.  La Branche was born on his father’s plantation on the Mississippi River near New Orleans in 1806. The family, earlier named Zweig (the German equivalent of French branche) had emigrated from Bamberg, Bavaria to Louisiana in 1721. Alcée  attended the University of Sorreze in France. and after returning home he was elected to the  Louisiana House of Representatives in 1831 and was elected as speaker of the House in 1833.

Texas received him enthusiastically viewing him as friend of annexation.  La Branche, however, was loyal to his country and aggressively defended the United States claim to disputed territory in Red River County (now Bowie, Red River, Franklin, Titus, Morris, and Cass counties). The two countries signed the Convention of Limits, which recognized Texas claims to the contested county and the Sabine River as the eastern boundary of Texas. La Branche also sought to reduce tensions concerning cross-border raids in pursuit of Native Americans.  He believed that the majority of Indian attacks were caused by Texans’ trespassing and surveying Indian lands.

La Branche Street in Houston is named in his honor.

Rob Morrow Elected Travis County GOP Chair – Local Party Officials Bemoan the Chaos their Voters Have Wrought

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Travis County Republicans are beside themselves over the newly elected County Chair Rob Morrow who defeated incumbent James Dickey by more than 6000 votes. Morrow is the co-author of “The Clinton’s War on Women” a book akin to the Bible in many GOP households. So why the wailing and gnashing of teeth?  Perhaps it has to do with the chickens coming home to roost.  In many ways, Morrow accurately represents the present tenor of the Grand Old Party.  You see, Morrow is fond of insulting anyone and everyone in his frequent Tweets – including the sainted Rick Perry.  Morrow

Red sees this as simply the natural progression of the GOP’s turn to ad hominem attacks and political viciousness.  Morrow is perfectly in line with the Ted Cruz/Donald Trump insult comic wing of the GOP. And how can anyone in the party legitimately complain about Morrow making fun of Perry or the entire Bush family when its presidential candidates spend about 75% of their time trashing their opponents.  So exactly how is Morrow out of line with the GOP electorate when he questions Rick Perry’s sexual preferences, or claims that the entire Bush family are criminals who should be locked up, or calls Hillary an “angry bull dyke”, or claims that Marco Rubio is “very likely a gay man who got married.”   And Morrow’s response to the Travis County Republicans who want him out?   “Tell them they can go fuck themselves.”  They can do that or vote for Ted Cruz – it’s pretty much the same thing.  Too bad the GOP doesn’t respect the will of the voters.  But if they won’t respect the President who won twice, why should they respect their new racist homophobe of a party leader.

The Texas Tribune has the rest of the hilarious story of the disintegration of the county party of Gov. Greg Abbot and AG Ken Paxton among other notable lights.   Red was literally ROTFL.

 

Shame on Oklahoma (and Alaska).

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Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas) won the Oklahoma primary with 34.4% of the vote followed by Donald Trump at 28.6%.  At least Texas has an excuse for letting him win the Texas primary (albeit with less than 44% of the vote – compare that to Bernie’s win in Vermont) as we are responsible for putting the irascible junior senator into the national spotlight (or more accurately the blame should be placed on the 631,136 GOP voters representing about 5% of the Texas electorate who decided that David Dewhurst was not conservative enough in the 2012 GOP runoff).  In other words, Ted may be a deceitful dirty trickster, but he is our deceitful dirty trickster.  Oklahoma has no such excuse.  And who knows what goes on in an Alaskan caucus?

Today in Texas History – March 2

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From the Annals of the Revolution – In 1836, Texas declared its independence from Mexico.  The previous day, delegates from the seventeen Mexican municipalities of Texas and the settlement of Pecan Point met at Washington-on-the-Brazos to consider independence from Mexico. George C. Childress presented a resolution calling for independence.  Richard Ellis, the president of the convention appointed Childress to head a committee of five  Edward Conrad, James Gaines, Bailey Hardeman, and Collin McKinney to draft a Declaration of Independence from Mexico.  Childress probably already had a draft version of the document with him when he arrived. As the delegates worked, they received regular reports on the ongoing siege on the Alamo by the forces of Santa Anna’s troops.  Childress and the committee drew heavily on the United States Declaration of Independence.   In the early morning hours of March 2, the convention voted unanimously to accept the resolution.

Red’s favorite passage:  “It has, through its emissaries, incited the merciless savage, with the tomahawk and scalping knife, to massacre the inhabitants of our defenseless frontiers.”

Vote!

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It’s Super Tuesday and it may not be excessive hyperbole to suggest that the fate of the nation hangs in the balance.  The presidential primary races may be all but over by the end of the day.  So Red urges everyone – Democrat, Republican, Tea Party, Independent, or Other – to exercise your franchise and vote for the candidates of your choice – even if it includes Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas).  We can’t all be right.

Today in Texas History – March 1

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From the Annals of Geologic Formations –  In 1978, The Nature Conservancy bought Enchanted Rock from the Moss family for $1.3 million.   The purchase kept the property preserved for posterity.  Various plans had been floated for the site including turning it into a real estate development or quarry.  The Moss family wanted the site preserved but the state of Texas lacked the funds or the willpower to purchase the Rock. TNC deeded the property to the State six days after the purchase.  The site was closed to the public for several years and reopened as the Enchanted Rock State Natural Area in March of 1984.

The granite pluton batholith near Fredericksburg rises to an elevation of 1825 feet and is formed from some of the oldest rock on the planet.  The Rock has long been a popular spot for hiking, rock climbing and camping.   The weathered dome, standing above the surrounding plain is known to geologists as a monadnock.  Archaeological evidence indicates human visitation at the rock going back at least 11,000 years. The  name “Enchanted Rock” is derived from Native American legend which attributed magical and spiritual powers to the high ground.

Red first visited the then private park in 1967 and has been back dozens of times since then.  It is a must see for all Texans.

Carson Crowd Trashes Cruz

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Ben Carson’s presidential bid appears to be on the fast track to Nowheresville, but he was still able to attract a crowd Tea Party hotbed Tarrant County on Sunday.  The most surprising aspect of the overflow event, was the hostility of attendees towards Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas).  The Texas Tribune has the skinny on the increasing disillusionment with Cruz in his “home state.”

[O]ver and over in conversations, members of this racially diverse, mostly evangelical crowd expressed revulsion toward the other GOP candidates, including home state U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.

Cathy Singleton, a Frisco flight attendant, has admired Carson since she heard him speak at an event in Branson, Missouri. 

“I think he has a big shot. We were discussing it earlier today,” she said gesturing to her husband, James. “So far, he is the only candidate we haven’t caught in a lie. I don’t like to vote for people that have lied consistently. He’s an honest campaigner.”   

Singleton confirmed her comments alluded to Cruz’s recent campaign turbulence: accusations that his campaign deceived Iowa Republicans into believing Carson was dropping out of the race there, and charges that a Cruz staffer shared an online video that falsely purported to show U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida making a negative comment about the Bible. 

“Before that, I was looking at some of the other candidates thinking, ‘Yeah, well, you know, maybe’,” she said. “But if someone’s going play that dirty with someone in their own party, they’re going to do that to anyone.”  

The Carson supporters who gathered Saturday showed no bias for the Texas candidate. The overriding sentiment expressed was disillusionment.  

Carolyn Nelson is a retired educator and real estate agent from Irving. She said she voted early for Carson because he serves as a positive contrast to the “bullish stupid activities that’s going on with the other candidates.” 

“I have no anger toward him,” she said of Cruz. “But I have no trust in him at all. He makes me nervous. I think he is dishonest. I thought he was dishonest before Trump called him a liar. I just would not vote for him.” 

Linton Davis is an operations manager at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth plant. He called Cruz “a politician,” as if the term was an ad hominem attack. 

“The thing that makes Ted a politician is… not what he says, but the way he says it and the things he will do,” he said. “He plays dirty pool… There’s a sense with Ted that it’s an ends-justifies-the-means type attitude.” 

Today in Texas History – February 29

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From the Annals of Leap Year – In 1988, the Chamber of Commerce of Anthony declared the town the Leap Year Capital of the World.  Local residents Mary Ann Brown and Birdie Lewis, both born on a leap day, approached the Chamber of Commerce with the idea of a leap year festival.   In connection with being the self-proclaimed Leap Year Capital, the town is also home to the Worldwide Leap Year Birthday Club which is open to anyone born on a leap day.  On February 29, every 4th year (except for years divisible by 400) Anthony throws a birthday festival. People throughout the USA and overseas travel to this tiny town to take part in parades, birthday dinners, and hot air balloon lifts.

Anthony is a small community on the Texas-New Mexico border north of El Paso and is called Anthony because a chapel to St. Anthony of Padua was built after the Civil War.

Red Watches TV – Sort of

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Red doesn’t really watch a lot of TV.  But there have been a very few television shows over the many years that Red has actually made some effort to watch on a regular basis.  Going way back, these include such classics as Green Acres, The Wild Wild West, The Avengers, Hill Street Blues, Magnum PI, Star Trek – Next Generation, Northern Exposure, The X-Files, and Monk.  Currently the only shows that are always set to record at Casa Red are Endeavor, Sherlock, Mercy Street, Turn and The Big Bang Theory – all of which except the last are very short season series.  Red doesn’t really need an excuse to watch more TV, but would welcome any suggestions for your favorite series that Red might just enjoy.  But you can forget any “reality TV” or contest type shows – Red has no time for such nonsense.