SOUTH TEXAS POVERTY & SOUTH TEXAS POLITICS: A SORDID STORY OF DECEPTION & ABUSE

The town where I live seems to take pride in billing itself as America's poorest city.  Indeed, if one is looking for poverty, it is here.  With 45% of the population living under the poverty line and more than 46% of children reckoned to be poverty stricken, this is a very poor place.

Government programs are big business here.  More than 36% of residents are recipients of food stamps and Medicaid.  The average income for a man runs around $21,000 per annum, while females do somewhat worse at $17,000.

For generations, this has been a one-party town, with the party of hand-outs dominating the courthouse and city/county politics.  How many times the word has gone out from the party bosses that voting the other way will mean drastic cuts in benefits is hard to say.  But, nevertheless, it is a time-proven and effective political strategy that works well with the under-educated and unsophisticated populace of south Texas.

During my almost a quarter century of having a home in south Texas, the same old political cabals have called for more and more public expenditures to mitigate the plight of the "pobrecitos." The predicament of the poor, however, seems never to be alleviated, while the advantage of what is in effect a veritable poverty industry, as always, goes to the established political machine and its various factions.

Meanwhile, the one-party conglomerate  continues to mire itself more deeply in corruption, and the list of indicted and convicted attorneys, judges, commissioners and politicos continues to grow.  The conviction and sentencing of the local district attorney for racketeering, for example,  is a blot which will take a time span of significant proportions to erase.

Local elections do well to attract 15% of registered voters, too many of whom are only too eager to sell their votes cheaply, in some instances for a platter of barbecued chicken and a beer.  Lately, federal law enforcement agents and Texas Rangers have been taking a closer look at the shenanigans at south Texas polling places.  Whether their efforts will appreciably change the regional  political complexion remains to be seen.

In many ways, the local culture is reminiscent of what one encounters south of the border, with the "ricos" doing quite well, while the "pobrecitos" amble along as they habitually have, with the difference being that the poor on this side of the river become more and more inured in a culture of welfare, victimhood and deprivation. In the interim, the politicians and decision-makers on local governing councils more often than not decide to swindle the taxpayers and treat themselves to the spoils of office.

The folly of one-party politics is plain to see. Not only does such a system bring bring on blight and the squandering of human resources, it invariably leads to the cheapening and debilitation of the wider body politic, which, in turn, is victimized by irresponsibility and spreading ignorance.  For certain, Detroit is not the sole example of governance by one party over generations, for that city's example is in the process of being replicated not only in south Texas but, I am sure, in too many other areas as well.

Deo Vindice!

May God bless Texas!

IS IT POSSIBLE FOR CONGRESS TO PLUNGE ANY LOWER?

In a time when the approval ratings for Congress have hit rock bottom and when the executive branch of government has presumed to take over the function of law-making, last night's Senate bull-session on global warming is the most extreme example of an ineffective institution fiddling while Rome burns.

Despite a still-floundering economy, an international crisis in the Ukraine, a Middle East policy in tatters, abundant evidence of nefarious deeds in the IRS to punish recalcitrant conservatives, an ill-conceived national health plan that promises to further bankrupt the country and former allies scampering to find security in new alliances, the U.S. Senate chose to devote an all-night session to prattle and blather about global warming.

To say that the ridiculous has met the vacuous and that they have combined to hold sway in the Senate is an understatement.  A cursory examination of global temperatures over the last 12 years reveals that they have held steady and even declined.  To maintain that global warming is a scientific concept immune to challenge is to beg the question, for in many respects the conclusion of the "warmers" appears to be more like a premise masquerading as a conclusion.  But, be that as it may, any effort to resurrect and pass Cap and Trade or any other such legislation would have little to no effect on CO2 and CFC emissions and the stratospheric ozone layer, as China, India and other emerging industrial powers will, come what may, continue to produce emissions of enormous proportions. This is not to say that Americans should not strive for a clean environment on the home front, but to harness our own economy to the doubtful dogma of global warming would be folly in the extreme.

And so the irresponsibility of Congress persists.  With a weak and toxic chief executive leading the charge, the ineffectual solons of the Senate choose to muddle along, further obscuring salient issues with more and more pablum for the masses.  May we soon awaken from this languishing nightmare of 5 years.

Deo Vindice!

May God bless Texas, and may the Lone Star State remain forever red!

THE UKRAINE: THE "B" TEAM AMATEURS ARE AT IT AGAIN

I once had a friend who was a journalist for Magyar TV (Hungarian TV) who was based in New York.  My friend was appalled by the amount of ignorance she encountered on the part of Americans concerning knowledge of the rest of the world.  To prove her point, she took to the streets of New York City with a camera man and interviewed passersby.  "Have you heard of Budapest?" she would ask.  Most had not.  In fact, most had not even heard of Hungary.

When citizens are uninformed, it is not surprising the type of leadership they place in power.  And, certainly, our present government must take the cake for boneheads and bloopers affecting foreign policy and how to proceed in a world in which challenges from egomaniacal power-seekers are commonplace.

The latest case in point, obviously, is the Ukraine. Once again, those who make our foreign policy have demonstrated that they lack essential knowledge and the tools to anticipate and respond proactively. A cursory examination of a map of eastern Europe reveals the strategic value of the Ukraine for Russia.  Keep in mind, too, that the Russian Federation under Vladimir Putin has embarked on a course of elevating itself by way of marketing its vast natural resources, including oil, natural gas and metals.  With western Europe showing itself to be more and more unable to do without Russian resources, the likelihood of any challenge from that quarter to Russian power moves would be unlikely. And, once again, the hapless folks who are charged with national security and foreign policy in Washington appear dismally unprepared for what is now taking place around the Ukraine and especially in the Crimean Peninsula.

 Russian territory between the Ukraine and central Asia is limited in size, and through this geography must pass major amounts of oil and gas.  Furthermore, the territory is key to Russian leverage in the Caucasus.  Looked at in this manner, that Russia would want to exercise influence in the Ukraine is nothing short of conspicuous.

Further strengthening Russian resolve  to act with authority and force in the region has been the American encouragement of former Soviet Union satellite nations to join NATO, thus depriving Russia of the buffer across the east European plain that these countries once provided. In addition, a recent American presence in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan has no doubt reawakened old Russian fears of American meddling in its backyard.  Also, the 21st century invasions of Georgia were precipitated by fears that American advisers were facilitating the passage of arms into Chechnya, a region which is absolutely linked to Russian notions of security.

In 1994, the Ukraine, Russia, the United States and Britain signed an agreement guaranteeing the territorial integrity of the Ukraine. In return, the Ukraine agreed to give up nuclear weapons.  But, now, with a recent history of 20 years of tactical moves from the West in the region, Russia may well feel constrained to restrict its recognition of the validity of that agreement, hence the hard line on the Ukraine.

And now, with a timid and weak president whose advisers on geopolitical matters are severely lacking in knowledge and experience, we find the U.S. once again in a position which will cause its friends and allies to question its commitment and resolve.  Somehow, I cannot help but think that the crisis at hand could have been anticipated and even avoided by having the right people at the helm in Washington.

Deo Vindice!

May God bless Texas and may the Lone Star State remain forever red!

U.S. GOVERNMENT'S WAR ON CHRISTIANS PICKS UP STEAM WITH SUCCESSFUL DOJ EFFORTS AGAINST ROMEIKE FAMILY

THE ROMEIKE FAMILY

My earliest ancestor to set foot on the shores of North America found his way to Virginia, fleeing Puritan excesses in England.  Like many Americans whose families fled to America seeking religious freedom, I have never doubted that my country should be a beacon of hope for those whose religious beliefs have caused them to experience discrimination in their countries of origin. Now, though, it has become crystal clear that any assumptions of this sort are no longer appropriate.

Germany does not permit youngsters to be home-schooled by their families.  In fact, families in Germany home-schooling their children run the risk of having their children taken away by the state.  For a minority of Christian families tutoring their children at home, German law has been a type of state-sanctioned persecution.

In 2008, the Romeikes, a German Christian family seeking an environment in which they could teach their children at home, were admitted to the United States.  However, with the advent of a new administration in 2009, their immigration status underwent a dramatic change.  Henceforth, the Romeikes would be hounded by the now inappropriately called Department of Justice, which sought to revoke the Romeike family's refugee status and to eventually return them to Germany.  Unfortunately, the Romeikes recently lost their appeal against the DOJ's action, and now face deportation.

This is a story that you will likely not encounter in most major media outlets, which now are in lockstep with a pagan culture and a government bent on uprooting traditional American values. With Christians facing persecution on a broad front throughout the world, it is outlandish that the Romeike family will now be forced out of a country that had once welcomed the persecuted of many stripes and persuasions.

Even more bizarre is the fact that refugee status is badly abused under present immigration law.  No doubt, had the Romeikes been Muslims seeking to immigrate from the Southern Hemisphere, their fate would have been quite different.  

The Romeike story augurs declining respect for people of faith.  For many Christians, the future looks bleak.  Nevertheless, it should be remembered that Christianity has a history of thriving in cultures of persecution and discrimination in which those of great conviction have risked life, limb and personal liberty in rising to the challenge.

Deo Vindice!

God bless Texas, and may the Lone Star State remain forever red!