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.

Today in Texas History – August 26

From the Annals of Police Thuggery –  In 1870, one of the more violent episodes in the infamous Sutton-Taylor Feud occurred.  The STF was one of the longest bloodiest feuds in early Texas.  The feud allegedly arose from disputes following the Civil War. Josiah Taylor was a Virginian who settled near Cuero in DeWitt County. His sons, Pitkin and Creed Taylor and their sons, nephews, in-laws, and friends were the mainstay of that faction. William E. Sutton was a native of Fayette County who had moved to DeWitt County.  Many of the Sutton group were associated with the State Police.  There appears to be no evidence to support the claim that the STF began in another state and was carried forward to Texas.  The tortured path of the STF is hard to follow, but it apparently began in  1866, when Buck Taylor shot a black sergeant who came to a dance at Taylor’s uncle’s home, and Hays Taylor killed a black soldier in an Indianola saloon.  The violent Taylor saga continued when  brothers Hays and Doby Taylor killed two Union soldiers at Mason in November 1867 and then escaped to Karnes County.  In March 1868, Deputy Sheriff William Sutton led a posse in pursuit of a gang of horse thieves. When the gang was caught in Bastrop, Charley Taylor was killed and James Sharp was taken prisoner and then shot while “trying to escape.”

The Taylors claim that the STF began with the killing of Buck Taylor and Dick Chisholm at Clinton on Christmas Eve in 1868.  Buck apparently claimed Sutton had been dishonest in some horse dealing and a gun fight erupted.  Ultimately, the STF devolved into a running battle between the Taylors and  party and  the State Police under Edmund J. Davis and orchestrated largely by Capt. Jack Helm.  The State Police were involved in the killing of several members of the Taylor clan.  One of the worst episodes was the assassination by the State Police of Henry and William Kelly, sons-in-law of Pitkin Taylor, on August 26, 1870. The Kellys were arrested on a trivial charge, taken a few miles from home and shot.  Helm was dismissed after the shooting, but continued to serve as sheriff of Karnes County.   Sutton then became the de facto leader of the group.  Helm had the distinction of later being killed by John Wesley Hardin in Wilson County.

Williamson County Judge Going to Prison for Illegal Arms Dealing

Former Williamson County Court-at-law Judge Timothy Wright was sentenced to 18 months in Federal Prison for his role in an illegal weapons trading scheme.  U.S. Attorney Richard Durbin, Jr. indicated the following in a Department of Justice pleading.  “While sworn to uphold the law, Judge Timothy Wright repeatedly violated federal laws governing the sale of firearms. He falsified official firearms records to hide the true identity of the real buyer and then lied to federal investigators about his crimes. These are serious crimes for which he has been held accountable.” Breitbart reports the details of the downfall of the jurist from deep in the heart of Tea Party Red Williamson County.

Federal prosecutors say that between June, 2014, and March of this year that Wright sold more than 60 pistols, without a federal license, and some of those guns were sold to felons, and other firearms ended up in Mexico.  

Wright’s home in Georgetown was raided in late March, he was arrested about a week later, spent a night in jail in Austin, and then plead [sic] guilty in federal court in May. He then resigned from the bench in Williamson County, saying that “No one is above the law, especially judges. 

Open Letter to Kenneth Starr

Chip Brown of Scout posts a powerful open letter to Baylor University Chancellor and President Kenneth Starr.  In the aftermath of Sam Ukwuachu’s rape conviction, the pathetically incompetent BU investigation into the allegations and apparent lies of Head Coach Art Briles about what he knew about Ukwuachu’s past, someone’s head needs to roll.  Whose will it be?  Brown calls out Starr for the failed investigation especially given Starr’s stellar legal stature.  Brown clearly questions whether any university athletic program will go after its rainmaker – the men’s football program – and why Starr did not do more to insure that Baylor students were safe.

That probably puts the onus on yourself, a top legal expert once considered for a U.S. Supreme Court appointment (by George H.W. Bush), to make sure everything about the rape allegations were properly vetted, right?

To make sure your campus was safe from a potential predator – especially in the wake of defensive end Tevin Elliott’s conviction in 2012 after he was accused in court of being a serial rapist?

You have legally defended someone accused of sexually preying on young girls. In 2007, you joined the defense team of Palm Beach, Fla., millionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sexually molesting several underaged high school girls before paying them off. (Epstein later pled guilty to soliciting prostitutes and spent 13 months in a private wing of the Palm Beach Jail).

And you also investigated the sexual dalliances of then-president Bill Clinton in a $70 million probe laid out in graphic detail in a 445-page report that led to impeachment proceedings. If anyone was qualified to try to separate fact from fiction in the case of Ukwuachu and a female Baylor soccer player, wouldn’t it be you? With the university’s reputation potentially on the line because of the Elliott conviction in 2012 and the U.S. Dept. of Education Title IX probe?

As the head of the university, and with what was already on the line, was it your responsibility to talk to Art Briles about if Ukwuachu needed to remain at Baylor?

It’s been my experience covering college athletics the most powerful person on a university campus is a conference-championship football coach making it rain with donor millions with a chance to win a national title.

Few, if any on campus, maybe outside of the school president and chancellor, are willing to be the voice of reason when it comes to having a hard conversation with a football coach in hot pursuit of being No. 1.

Was there a hard conversation about how, after Ukwuachu’s indictment in June 2014 for raping a Baylor women’s student-athlete, it might be time for Briles to recruit another pass-rusher? Briles has a daughter, and he undoubtedly respects you.

At that point, would it not have been fair to conclude Ukwuachu had violated the BU Student Conduct Code and needed to be expelled as a threat to the rest of the campus (especially after previous issues involving a rocky relationship at Boise State helped lead to his transfer to BU in the first place)?

In this case, it appears a female Baylor soccer player was left to fend for herself in more ways than one, including – according to Texas Monthly – having her scholarship cut after accusing Ukwuachu of rape and then not being found credible by anyone in a position of authority on campus. Is that accurate?

In my experience, this is a situation where the leadership at the top of the university needs to stand up and be accountable for whatever it did or did not do on behalf of a once-proud Baylor women’s soccer player who came to Waco to enjoy the best years of her life and transferred out shattered, humiliated and ignored.

Rick’s Legacy of Failure in Healthcare

Thanks largely to flailing presidential candidate and former governor Rick Perry, Texas has the worst healthcare record in the entire nation.  The Dallas Observer reports that Texas is the only state that still has more than 20% of its population without healthcare coverage and ranks only ahead of Oklahoma and Louisiana in the quality of healthcare provided to its citizens.  All so Rick could score points in his futile attempt to grab the presidency and presumably work to ruin the healthcare system of the rest of the nation.

The state comes in third to last in the overall ranking, ahead of only Louisiana and Oklahoma, which is the rough equivalent of beating a couple of asthmatic 4-year-olds in a foot race. Similarly, Texas falls significantly below the national average in such categories as patient safety, healthy living, HIV/AIDS, nursing homes, etc. Not only that, in many cases it has fallen further below the national average than it was in the past, which either means that care has gotten worse (unlikely but possible) or that other states have gotten better faster (more probable).

So, what specifically are Texas’ biggest failures? Of the 200-odd categories, Texas fares worst in “New AIDS cases per 100,000 population age 13 and over” (489 percent below the national average); “Hospital admissions for uncontrolled diabetes without complications per 100,000 population, adults” (383 percent); and “Avoidable admissions for hypertension per 100,000 population age 18 and over” (332 percent).

Rick’s Reeling Run

Former Gov. Rick Perry’s quickly fading Presidential campaign took another hit on Monday with the departure of Sam Clovis, his Iowa campaign chairman. Clovis, a right-wing talk radio host, professor and failed U.S. Senate candidate gave warm regards to Perry, but left with the feeling that all is not right in the Perry camp.   “I feel bad for the campaign and I feel bad for Governor Perry because I think he’s a marvelous human being, he’s a great man and it was my honor to be a part of this, but it was just time to move on.”  Clovis indicated that the move to stop paying campaign staffers came as a surprise to him.  Other campaigns will likely be quick to snap up Clovis, who is considered to be one of the premier GOP political operatives in the state.

Clovis said he has been approached by “several” other campaigns since Perry stopped paying his staff earlier this month. He said he expects to be working for another candidate within days. “I’m going to go where there’s the best fit.”  Clovis considered working for  Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas), Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Carly Fiorina and Donald Trump, before signing up with Perry.  Look for Clovis to settle in with either Cruz or Trump.

Today in Texas History – August 25

From the Annals of the “Great” War –  In 1917, the 90th Division of the U.S. Army was activated at Camp Travis in San Antonio.  The division was initially formed from Texas and Oklahoma.   Known as the “Tough Ombres,” “Texas’ Own,” or the Alamo Division, it adopted the monogram insignia T-O in France during World War I. The division was posted in France in 1918 and saw action in Lorraine and in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne operations.  The 90th suffered 7549 casualties with a total of 1091 killed in action and 6458 wounded.  After the Armistice the Ninetieth did occupation duty in Germany and came home in 1919 for demobilization.   Red’s grandfather served as Lieutenant in the 90th in WWI.

Photo of 2nd Battalion, 358th Infantry, 90th Division.

Brian Hoyer Named Starting Quarterback for Texans

Feisty Brian Hoyer has been named the Houston Texans starting quarterback for the season opener with the Kansas City Chiefs.  Hoyer, who has been much-maligned by the Houston sports radio crowd, will get a chance to prove it on the field.  While everyone talks about the importance of the QB position, it probably won’t matter who Coach Bill O’Brien has taking snaps unless there is a marked improvement in the offensive line.  Since the dismissal of Chris Myers and the failure of Sua’filo to emerge as a legitimate starter, the O-line is in relative turmoil inside the tackles.  The main reason the Cowboys were a playoff team last year was because they have spent capital and precious draft picks on offensive linemen and now sport one of the best units in the NFL.  The Texans had a similarly excellent line only 4 seasons ago and it carried them to the playoffs twice.  With a journeyman quarterback and Arian Foster out for the foreseeable future, 2015 could be a long year for the Deep Steel Blue, Liberty White and Battle Red clad fans at NRG.

At least, Hoyer understands the situation.  After the pathetic offensive performance in Saturday night’s preseason game against the Broncos, Hoyer said, “I think at this point there’s definitely things that need to be corrected and get fixed. But I don’t feel poorly about where I’m at. I don’t know if I’d say I feel great. I think we have a long way to go as an entire offensive unit, myself included.”

Hoyer will definitely need to improve on last year’s line with the Browns.  Read it and weep, Texans fans.

Rank
Comp. pct. 55.3 32nd
TD-Int ratio 0.92* 31st
Total QBR 39.8 30th
Yards per att. 7.6 9th

TCU and Baylor Flying High in AP Preseason Poll

Texas and Texas A&M – not so much.  Ohio State pulls off a first ever sweep of the 61 first place votes up for grabs in the AP Preseason Top 25.  TCU ranks second and Baylor (despite current travails) is in fourth place in the meaningless annual preseason exercise.  Ohio State has been top-ranked 7 other times at the beginning of the season and has never won the national championship in any of those years.

Texas comes in unranked but in 38th place in the voting with a mighty 3 points.  A&M lands just outside the rankings with 61 points in 26th place.

The Longhorns at least have a chance to move up quickly when they face Notre Dame in South Bend on Labor Day weekend.  The Aggies also would get a huge boost from beating a highly regarded Arizona State team in the Texas Kickoff Classic at NRG Stadium in Houston on September 5  and probably would move into at least 15th place.   As usual, most of the top 25 play the typical first game assortment of lower division patsies, perennial doormats and conference weak sisters.  A handful of the top 25 may face actual tests in the first week.  Notable matchups other than Texas v. Notre Dame and A&M v. Arizona State include:

No. 1 Ohio State at Virginia Tech

NO. 2 TCU at Minnesota

And the likely game of the week in  No. 3 Alabama v. No. 20 Wisconsin

Is Ken Paxton Also Just a Bad Lawyer?

Ken Paxton’s already shaky legal legacy took another hit this week when newspapers across the state began examining his role as an ad litem attorney for two children of Tanner Hunt – one of the children of Ray Hunt who killed himself in 2011.  According to the San Antonio Express-News, Paxton was an ineffective if not possibly corrupt ad litem attorney for the two young girls.  Paxton attempted to settle their claims to a multi-million dollar trust for $750,000 and would have had them disclaim inheritance rights to the larger Hunt oil family fortune.  Paxton appears to have been in way over his head in attempting to protect the rights of his clients.  Either that or something else was going on.  But either way, Texas’ top lawyer again has shown that he is simply not up to the job – whatever it is.

 Tanner Hunt, son of Dallas oil billionaire Ray Hunt, texted the mother of his two young daughters in fall 2011 for a picture of the girls in their Halloween costumes.

The next day, he took a Glock pistol, pressed it to his chest and fired a single shot, an Austin police report states.

At age 31, he left behind a $200,000 estate and no will, records show.

His daughters stood to inherit not only that estate but had potential inheritance claims on a $2 million trust that had been established for their father and possibly other trusts created by their great-grandfather, legendary wildcatter Haroldson Lafayette “H.L.” Hunt, who died in 1974.

But the following year, state lawmaker Ken Paxton was appointed attorney ad litem in Tanner Hunt’s probate case. He later put forth a settlement that called for Tanner Hunt’s daughters to receive just $750,000, which Paxton would invest for them — if they relinquished any claim on any further inheritances from the Hunt family.

That settlement was rejected by the girls’ mother, Crystal VanAusdal. It ultimately was replaced by a more generous, confidential settlement after the mother filed a motion asking the judge to recuse himself.

Red thinks there may be more.

Today in Texas History – August 24

From the Annals of Independence –  In 1821, the long Mexican fight for independence from Spain came to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Cordoba.   The treaty was signed by Juan O’Donoju, Captain General of New Spain and  met Agustín de Iturbide, General of the Mexican Army of the Three Guarantees.  The war had begun on September 16, 1810 when Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla issued the famous “El Grito” from the steps of his parish church in Dolores, a small town east of Guanajuato.  Spain’s attempt to control Mexico was doomed after former royalist Iturbide came to terms with independence leader Vicente Guerrero in 1820.   After 10 years of turmoil and incredible bloodshed from mostly local revolts and guerrilla actions, the unification of the factions effectively ended Spanish control.  At the time of the treaty, Spain only controlled Mexico City and Veracruz and the end of colonial rule was inevitable.