Today in Texas History – April 18

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From the Annals of the Tejanos – In 1842, Juan Seguín resigned as Mayor of San Antonio due to threats on his life.   He was falsely accused of aiding the Mexican army and discrimination against Texans of Mexican origin – even those who served in the revolution –  became too oppressive.  He fled to Mexico to “seek refuge amongst my enemies,” where he was captured, arrested and coerced to enlist in the Mexican army as a staff officer. He returned to San Antonio with the opposition army of Adrian Woll  in September 1842 and in a cruel twist of fate later served under Santa Anna in the Mexican-American War of 1846–1848.

In February 1848, Seguín requested permission to return to Texas and eventually  established a home adjacent to his father’s house and began ranching in Floresville.  He also returned to political life and was elected to two terms as Justice of the Peace of Bexar County and later County Judge of Wilson County. In 1883 he settled in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas to be near his son Santiago, who was mayor. He died there on August 27, 1890. His remains were returned to Texas in 1974 and as part of the nation’s Bicentennial celebration were reinterred in Seguin during ceremonies on July 4, 1976.

New York Has Cruz Problem Figured Out – Just Ignore Him

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The all-consuming ego of Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas) took a hit last night when his speech was almost completely ignored by the crowd at a gala event at the Grand Hyatt in Midtown Manhattan.  After Donald Trump and even John Kasich got welcome receptions, the audience snubbed the brash Texan.  Cruz, trying to look gallant in a tuxedo (unsure if it was combined with cowboy boots), began with a joke in reference to Trump’s speech, which was mostly a detailed list of his various real estate and construction ventures. “I will admit to you, I haven’t built any buildings in New York City,” Cruz said.  As the say at the bullfights – Silencio.

Cruz did not fare any better with his standard stump speech – a diatribe that anyone paying attention to the GOP race has already heard multiple times.  But his scripted applause lines fell flat as most of the audience quickly stopped paying attention.  As Cruz droned on, the crowd grew increasingly loud and less interested in Cruz with many people talking amongst themselves, milling about, and eating and drinking.   It’s hard to say the crowd was anything other than rude to our Junior Senator, but then again, one might think that Ted must be used to people hating him by now.  However, for a complete narcissist like Cruz the worst possible thing is to be ignored.  He can only hope that the nation ignores his likely third place finish in New York.

Today in Texas History – April 15

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From the Annals of the French –  In keeping with this week’s museum theme, in 1956, the restored French Legation was opened to the public.  The site is in East Austin adjacent to the Texas State Cemetery.   France was the only country other than the United States to recognize the Republic of Texas.  France sent Jean Pierre Isidore Alphonse Dubois, from the French Legation in Washington, to be the chargé d’affaires  in Texas.  Dubois was instructed to to remain in Austin to maintain an official presence there.  The legation building was completed in 1840-1841, and probably was the finest structure in Austin at the time. Dubois entertained dignitaries (such as were available) and worked with the government to bring French settlers to Texas.  After the capital was temporarily moved from Austin, the legation was abandoned. It was then occupied by the Catholic Bishop of the Diocese  Galveston.  Dr. Joseph W. Robertson later bought the estate where he and descendants lived 1940. In 1945, the State purchased the site and gave custody to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas who established the French Legation Museum in 1949. The DRT restored the legation building and grounds and opened the site to the public on this date in 1956.  It is the oldest house in Austin.

Ted Cruz has Anti-Dildo Vote Locked Up

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Ted Cruz (TP-Texas) formerly served as the Solicitor General of Texas under then Attorney General and Greg Abbott.  As SG, part of Cruz’s job was to defend Texas laws when they were attacked in court.  So Red is a bit sympathetic with the Junior Senator (words you won’t read very often), as the attorney’s job is to advocate for his client.  But the time Cruz worked to defend the so-called “Anti-Dildo” law provides some insight into the workings of the brilliant legal mind of Cruz.  In 2004, several Austin sex-toy stores and a retail distributor of such products challenged the Anti-Dildo law which prohibited the sale and promotion of supposedly obscene devices.  A violation of the law was punishable by a prison term of up to two years.  Since the suit attacked the constitutionality of the law, the Attorney General’s office weighed in and Cruz presented a forceful defense of Texas’ right to keep it citizens free from the pernicious influence of the dastardly dildo peddlers.  David Corn at Mother Jones has the full story.

 The brief insisted that Texas, in order to protect “public morals,” had  “police-power interests” in “discouraging prurient interests in sexual gratification, combating the commercial sale of sex, and protecting minors.” There was a  “government” interest, it maintained, in “discouraging…autonomous sex.” The brief compared the use of sex toys to “hiring a willing prostitute or engaging in consensual bigamy,” and it equated advertising these products with the commercial promotion of prostitution. In perhaps the most noticeable line of the brief, Cruz’s office declared, “There is no substantive-due-process right to stimulate one’s genitals for non-medical purposes unrelated to procreation or outside of an interpersonal relationship.” That is, the pursuit of such happiness had no constitutional standing. And the brief argued there was no “right to promote dildos, vibrators, and other obscene devices.” The plaintiffs, it noted, were “free to engage in unfettered noncommercial speech touting the uses of obscene devices,” but not speech designed to generate the sale of these items.

Fortunately, Cruz lost this legal battle and Texas was spared from the horrors of a thriving dildo black market.  But if you are a squarely in the anti-dildo column, you have found your candidate.

 

Today in Texas History – April 14

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From the Annals of the Museums–   In 1933, the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum opened in Canyon.  The PPHM claims to be the first state museum in Texas.   The museum first began to take shape when an educator named Hattie Anderson moved to Canyon to teach history at West Texas State Normal College.  She saw an opportunity to preserve the quickly vanishing history of the Llano Estacado.  By early 1921, Anderson and L.F. Sheffy (the head of the college’s history department) joined seven other faculty members and around thirty students to organize the Panhandle-Plains Historical Society.  Together they began to collect and preserve the human and natural history of the region. They began soliciting support for their efforts, in the form of society memberships.  By 1932, the group had enough funds to begin construction of Pioneer Hall still the main building for the museum.  The Art Deco limestone structure features fine decorative stonework and, on its façade, carvings and bas reliefs depicting Western themes as well as Panhandle-Plains flora and fauna. More than 75 famous West Texas cattle brands surround the entrance.

Red personally recommends the PPHM as the best historical museum in the State.  A must see if you visit Canyon and expect to spend at least a couple of hours touring the excellent exhibits.

Texas Rangers Investigating Sid Miller

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The Texas Tribune reports that the Texas Rangers are now investigating Texas Agriculture Commissioner and Tea Party Hero Sid Miller of Stephenville.  The Rangers are investigating two trips Miller took to Oklahoma and Mississippi that were charged to the State but appear to have been for personal reasons.  Miller traveled to Oklahoma for a “Jesus Shot” from a discredited doctor and claimed he was traveling to meet Oklahoma officials.  The Oklahomans have repeatedly stated they knew nothing about Miller’s trip.  Miller also traveled to Mississippi to take part in the National Dixie Rodeo and did very well by all accounts.  Miller claimed that he intended to meet with “agricultural officials” there but when the meeting fell through he reimbursed the State.  Miller’s claim was contradicted by his communications director Lucy Nashed who claimed the trip was always personal and mistakenly booked as being for State business.  Nashed resigned this week saying there “was a tremendous lack of communiction” at the Agriculture Department.

Sid, a word of advice from Red, when your communications director is complaining about a lack of communication, you have a problem.  And Sid, you’re making it way too easy.

Photo of Sid “Cupcake” Miller from http://www.mysanantonio.com

 

Poor Little Rich Kid Ethan Couch Headed to the Pokey – For Now

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There may be some small bit of justice for the victims of Ethan Couch – the so-called Affluenza teen who killed four and seriously injured two others in a drunk-driving crash in Fort Worth.  At the time of the  wreck, Couch has a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit – from drinking beer stolen from a Walmart.  At his juvenile trial, Couch’s defense team claimed that the 16 year-old was not to blame for his reckless actions because his parents were – well, bad parents.  Couch was apparently allowed to drive himself to school as early as age 13 and already had a nasty drinking habit by age 15.  The defense was probably correct about Couch’s worthless parents, but the nation was outraged when Couch avoided any detention time.  The outrage grew when Couch violated the conditions of his probation by drinking and then escaped to Mexico with mother Tonya to avoid further criminal sanctions.

Since being returned to Texas, Couch has remained in jail and today, a Texas judge finally held Couch accountable for his actions.  Couch appeared in regular court for the first time since he turned 19 on Monday and it did not go well for the young man.  State District Court Judge Wayne Salvant initially indicated that he would not immediately rule on how much longer Couch would spend in the Tarrant County jail.  Judge Salvant abruptly changed his mind after hearing an argument from prosecutors that Couch should be sentenced not to 120 days in jail for the crash, but to 180 days for each of four counts of intoxication manslaughter under a separate part of Texas code.

But before we praise Salvant too much for finally holding Couch truly accountable for his heinous actions, it must be noted that Salvant indicated that he may reconsider his ruling after further briefing from legal counsel.  Now if they would only put Tonya Couch away for a good long while . . .

The State of Texas Children

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The Center for Public Policy Priorities has issued its 2016 State of Texas Children report and it makes for some interesting reading about where our state is headed.  The Tea Party dominated Texas GOP leadership is likely to ignore any report from CPPP, but they do so at their peril.  Many of the facts are simply undeniable – except of course to our “head in the sand” elected officials.  The disservice Texas is doing to its most vulnerable kids will bear some unpleasant fruit.

Fifty percent of Texas kids are Hispanic/ Latino, 33 percent White, 11 percent Black, and 6 percent Asian, multiracial or some other race. Due to lower birth and immigration rates among White and Black Texans relative to Hispanic and Asian Texans, in 2050, the child population is projected to be 61 percent Hispanic, 22 percent White, 9 percent Black, and 8 percent Asian, multiracial or some other race.

One-third of Texas kids (nearly 2.4 million) live with one or more parents who immigrated to the U.S. However, 96 percent of all Texas kids are U.S. citizens.

One in four Texas children live in poverty, and poverty rates for Latino (33 percent) and Black children (32 percent) are nearly three times higher than they are for White (11 percent) and Asian children (12 percent).

Nineteen percent of Texas children live in “high-poverty” neighborhoods, and that share is growing. Thirty percent of Latino children, 23 percent of Black children, seven percent of Asian and four percent of White children live in high-poverty neighborhoods.

Child uninsured rates continue to improve for all racial and ethnic groups, but gaps still remain. Texas has one of the highest uninsured rates for Latino children (15 percent) and for children overall (11 percent).

Reflecting child population trends, Texas public school students are 52 percent Hispanic/Latino, 29 percent White, 13 percent Black/African- American and 6 percent Asian, multiracial or some other race.

Black and Latino students are underrepresented in Advanced Placement math, science and technology courses. Girls are particularly underrepresented in AP Computer Science.

Under any measure of high school completion, rates have improved for all students. However, barriers remain for Black and Hispanic students: 95 percent of Asian students, 93 percent of White students, 86 percent of Hispanic students, and 84 percent of Black students graduate from high school in four years.

Black and Hispanic students are more likely to attend high-poverty school districts. Forty-two percent of Hispanic students are enrolled in high-poverty school districts, compared to 6 percent of White students.

But rather than address real problems, our state leadership spends its time worried about gay marriage (Dan Patrick), fighting efforts to have more Texas children insured (Greg Abbott), suing the Federal government when not busy defending themselves in court (Ken Paxton), making sure that kids have access to donuts and deep fried food (Sid Miller), or just bloviating in general (Ted Cruz).

 

Today in Texas History – April 13

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From the Annals of Classical Piano –  In 1958, Van Cliburn won the first Tchaikovsky International Piano Contest in Moscow – a competition designed to promote Russian cultural superiority.  The victory propelled him to fame as the “Texan Who Conquered Russia” according to a Time magazine cover.  Cliburn was born in Shreveport, Louisiana but moved with his family to Kilgore in first grade.  His mother, a piano teacher, discovered his talent at a young age and Cliburn made his debut with the Houston Symphony Orchestra at age 12.  At 17, he began his studies at Julliard School in New York and was a rising star, but it was his win in Moscow at age 23 that made him an international phenomenon.

Max Frankel, the New York Times’ Moscow correspondent, heard that Russian audiences at the competition that were wildly enthusiastic about the pianist known as “Cleeburn.” As Frankel related in a 2008 interview, the young and handsome Cliburn was popular in Moscow “especially the young girls were going absolutely crazy about Van’s performances, heaping flowers on him, And there were long lines to get in, even longer than usual.” Frankel consulted, Mark Schubart, dean of the Juilliard School wondering if Cliburn was really “phenomenal, or is this just another case of Frank Sinatra bobby-soxers?” Schubart confirmed that Van Cliburn was “a hell of a musician”  and “well in line to win this thing if the Russians ever let him.”

And win is what he did, wowing audiences and the jurors by playing works by the Russians’ best-loved composers, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky.  The award had to be blessed by  Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who could not deny Cliburn’s victory and even eventually  befriended the talented Texan.