POLITICAL ROUNDUP... FROM NUECES TO TIERRA DEL FUEGO

COMENTARIO:
POLITICAL ROUNDUP... FROM NUECES TO TIERRA DEL FUEGO

ISSUE 1:
Is the Nueces County Commissioners Court Becoming A Partisan Bully Pulpit for the Three MasKaChicle Republicans?

As of late the commissioners court her in Nueces County has been under fire and the target of a federal lawsuit for its views on redistricting. County Judge Loyd Neal and Commissioners Mike Pusley and Joe McComb have been -reportedly voting in lockstep on many issues that affect the citizens of Nueces county in partisan fashion with a Republican and Corporate and good ole boy agenda. In one recent interview on KTMV's South Texas Crossfire, Joe A. Gonzalez indicated that there had been voting on hiring lawyers that the City had shotdown as subpar yet Neal, Pusley, and McComb, the three amigos/gringos, hired them anyway and in fact appropriated at least 30,000 more dollars of the taxpayer money for the lawyers. Gonzalez also indicated that the redistricting issue and the advantage that Pusley sought to increase anglo and Republican votes in his area has been and will be bitterly fought by Pusley, McComb and Neal because of the decision courts have shown to keep a balance based upon the Mexican American population being underserved.

I mean honestly, Does Connie Scott know where Agua Dulce is or who the leaders in Jim Wells county are? Reportedly she was clueless as to John Lemon being Mayor of Alice! The alienation of the Latino vote because of the relentless charge for power by the Republicans is a dangerous game of Russian Roulette that the Latinos in Nueces County may answer with a candidate. It is whispered that one woman with bipartisan support and bicultural support may even challenge Pusley who is vulnerable to such an attack and is being resented by many anglos as well as Mexican Americans as being arrogant and out of touch. One consituent says: We see him shining a seat at BBQ Man off Navigation and 37 and on a Billboard more than we see him around here. I mean he makes 80,000 to work 8 hours a month and has another business. He's raking it in. If this was the French Revolution he'd be a candidate for being guillotined! He need's to go!"

This comes on the heels of their position on redistricting where Pusley led the charge for a closed and quick meeting and vote on advancing his agenda and making his precinct more anglo and more Republican. Is this race baiting at its worst? Are the three Republican Amigos blatantly forcing the hand of latino voters or keeping them in the dark? South Texas inquiring minds want to know. Is Joe McComb a “yes man” on key issues with his party and only paying lip service through a few votes – jestingly assumed “bones” -- to his Democratic Commissioner counterparts Gonzalez and Ortiz? There is the Freudian slip again: “Say it ain't so, Joe, say it ain't so!!!”

As for Commissioner Joe McComb who reportedly covets the Judgeship he lost at to Terry Shamsie in 2002 with the "Say it Aint so Joe" campaign on his alleged failure to pay sufficient taxes. He has been seen of late in tow with Commissioner Mike Pusley at lunches (BBQ man lunches) and hunched over in conspirational tones in reported attempts to isolate Commissioner Joe A. Gonzalez and Commissioner Oscar Ortiz, the two Democrats on the court.

Is it partisan politics that should govern or should bipartisan support rule the day? Should cronies and buddies receive juicy contracts such as Neal's old consultant friends for insurance? Many are now feasting on insurance contracts based upon their political leanings and who were once humble now are seen in 1000 dollar suits and chewing cigars at local high class bars such as Havana. Greed and corruption – how often do you find two words that go hand in hand and care must be taken to be transparent to avoid the look of impropriety.

Are the voters of Nueces County sickened by this Republican bullying enough to switch the tide to a Democratic overrun of candidates? Will the Democrats produce a candidate that can crush Pusley? Will McComb be next? No one's position is safe as the Solomonistas learned through the efforts of many politicos who thrashed them in primaries with their own candidates. Can the Republicans have the same problem this cycle because of over the top arrogance in governing how taxpayer dollars should be spent?

CAN THE DEMOCRATS UNITE WITH THE STUBBORN SOLOMONISTAS' DYING EMBERS CAUSING SEPARATION IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY? CAN THE SORE LOSERS BE SILENCED BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE?

Even the influential political lawyers with money and the media behind them such as Canales, Flores, Watts and Vela are whispered to feel unwelcome and a bankrupt party foolishly not inviting them to the table. The problems that plague the Democratic party are myriad. Yeah, myriadly magnified to the point that it might soon melt the very steel and annoys holding up the fort.

Chief among the problems is the lack of unity and efforts to reach out to other strong factions by the Solomistas and those that occupy the Democratic HQ (where is it located now anyway?) such as the Canales family who have not soon forgotten the wounds inflicted upon their daughter and socialite/attorney/ business woman/ and philanthropist Barbara Canales by Rene Rodriguez in 2002 and candidates led and managed by attorney Joe Flores which caused mass upsets in Democratic primaries in 2010, coupled with the strong Democratic leadership of Commissioner Joe A. Gonzalez (JAG) who also enjoys Republican support by giants such as Tony Lamantilla of L&F distributing, making JAG the patriarch of the Democratic party, and Filemon Vela, multimillionaire trial lawyer who has now chosen to run for Congress.

It is whispered that Vela is united with Watts and Flores to formulate a campaign and that Flores has been asked to run key Democratic campaigns in the Valley and Nueces County and tapped on the shoulder by powerbrokers in smokefilled rooms heavy with the stench of power. All of these factions have not been brought into the fold but have strong influences on the Latino voter. Yes, the leadership of the Nueces County Democratic party by Rose Harrison led to isolationism – via conscious or unconscious machinations -- and the licking of the proverbial wounds by Gloria Caceres and others who reportedly and secretly conspired to aid Republicans such as candidate for County Commissioner Gil Hernandez in the general elections against Democrat Joe A. Gonzalez!
Now, supposedly stalwart Democrats such as Rene Rodriguez and certain precinct chairs have hypocritically turned a blind eye to their own actions of helping Republicans and paying lipservice to the Democratic party and have come crawling back and want people to forget that he – yes, fencejumper Rodriguez -- aided 3 R campaigns. What Fil Vela did only to support his wife, Rodriguez did to help Anna Jimenez' embarrassment of a tenure as DA, the success of Angelica Hernandez, for District Judge who trounced the nicknamed (by rivals) “Maximum” Manuel Banales, and Hernandez is noted to have wide popularity and of course the darling of the Republicans, Amanda Torres for JP. Now Rodriguez desires everyone to have political amnesia and his political wife and supporters cry foul and demand and expect Democratic blind support. NOT!

This schizophrenic behavior has not been unnoticed by many many a faction: such as the Canales, Flores, Vela and JAG factions -- factions who see the taint of the dying embers of the Solomonista isolationists as counterproductive to the indispensable “Unity” that the times call for as well as the skunk not seeing its own stripe throughout the party. More hypocrisy by the "Avon ladies and student council girls" of the local Democratic HQ by illustrating a point with Juan Reyna, a prominent lawyer, who reached out in a bipartisan fashion in his campaign and who was fried at the stake at one point for his middle of the road approach and friendship with Connie Scott and Rose Vela, but now those that pointed their fingers are stepping down as precinct chairs and sheepishly saying, "Ok, Ok, we also have Republican friends..".

Again, ironically, Rene Rodriguez (who has sued this paper in the past for exercising its First Amendment rights and calling us “yellow” when he ran the dirtiest campaigns in the 90's) who's wife is a judicial incumbent on the Court of Appeals is asking for Democratic help when Rodriguez ran three (count them) – yes, three Republican campaigns in 2010. Reyna must only see this as hypocritical and bipolar because of the hypocritical tongue-lashing given to both Reyna and Filemon Vela for supporting his wife to switch to the Republican party in 2006. Reyna must now stand in bugeyed shock at the hypocritical antics of the Rodriguez factions.

Furthermore, it is whispered that Rodriguez wife pulled a political opponent because of her plotting against Rose Vela along with Gina Jimenez another judge on the court of appeals. This political playing with fire cost her dearly if that is true. Fil "Darth Vader" Vela (as his new, growing groupies screech at the top of their longs) was reportedly incensed and presto chango there was a candidate. Ironically again, it was Vela who was again the brains and armed with a hefty warchest stirred with the ever pulsing and heart and soul of the olla podrida of the Democratic party locally in the 90's – and it continued up to the year 2006 and left throwing up his hands with the antics and civil war mentality of the party. Then, as we witnessed in the past elections the branded “prodigal son” returned and attacked mercilessly and ruthlessly with what he felt was an annealed righteous indignation.
Apparently, the core democratic headquarters is perceived by many as the porcupine that wants a hug but wants to stab Canales, Flores, Watts, Vela, Reyna and other prominent lawyers and leaders and keep them away. How can the Democrats think they can win without money, power and influence and holding on to old and bitter wounds? Time will tell if they extract their collective heads from their nether regions and realize that unity and a bit of eating crow and swallowing pride and reaching out to these men is required.

A NEW PHENOMEN – Does thie word exists? Who cares, why linger pondering the banal details when the flow of words is protruding to cast ashes in the face of political hypocrats in both corners of the political sphere. The NEW PHENOMEN … MEXICAN AMERICANS BEING SWAYED BY TEA PARTY, REPUBLICANS AND INDEPENDENT FACTIONS WHILE BEING PUSHED AWAY BY THE NUECES COUNTY “CLICA” (clique) AT HQ WHO INVITE NO ONE OVER AND TREAT IT AS A SEWING CIRCLE OR TUPPERWARE PARTY…


More complications: Voter suppression and apathy is a real possibility and the extinction of the politiqueras in Robstown, except for Susie Luna of Grassroots Consultants, who now is bipartisan, is another factor that will affect the vote.

ET TU REPUBLICANS? ET TU?

Republicans are not “lilly white” either. The Greek tragedy of Connie Scott and Raul Torres spurred on by Todd Hunter setting them up for a fight has led to bitter feelings and showdowns about the State Rep spot. Torres, logically is the odd man out. Many whisper that if one plays with fire as a Hispanic in a non-Hispanic dominated party if you run or if you need backup. Only the informally crowned “darling” of the Republican party, Amanda Torres, is treated with Goddess-like care. “The virtual makeover and runway model looks and statuesque presence have many Republicans in awe and desiring her to make a congressional or senatorial run or a Supreme Court Justice run,” shared a key Republican activist. Judge Torres has had a meteoric rise while the other surnamed Torres, Raul, is being pushed aside as many forcast – prematurely or not.

This has made his handler and de facto rep Gene Seamen hopping mad and thus the Republicans who were unified in 2010 may not be so unified now. The veritable absence of Congressman Blake Farenthold and his off-the-wall comments on many votes have left many Republicans miffed and rolling their eyes as well.

THE CHESNEY FACTOR: A REPUBLICAN EMBARRASSMENT FROM THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE TO TODD HUNTER’S OFFICE, ALL FLEEING FROM "THE ELEPHANT MAN" OF NUECES COUNTY:
Finally, the antics and repeat mistakes of the once darling of the Republican party, now political leper, Brent Chesney, have also wounded the Republicans. One Republican leader speaking in anonymity spoke plainly and said:

"Brent is a disappointment to us all. He wanted to run for office for State Rep against Connie and was thrown the Court 5 guesito (bone), because we knew Terry Shamsie -- the Judge at the time -- was very vulnerable as were all the other Democratic judges including Marisela Saldana and Manuel Banales who were all ousted. But Brent's continued stupidity, laziness, and blatant lying about his lawyering record to the governor last summer have crucified him (Chesney reportedly lied on the application for the appointment to the 347th district court held by Missy Medary now by saying he tried 75 cases when in truth he reportedly had 75 hearings, as many trial lawyers know it takes years to amass 75 trials and requires being in constant litigation. Chesney according to our public service search handled many real esate transactions, a few divorces that were not contested, and no trials). Look Homero, Brent held the stake, the nails and hopped up on the political cross. Even Todd Hunter his former mentor is treating him like he is radioactive and dipped in ****. We all thought how much trouble can he cause in kitty court? Well there is a dead 88 year old woman and her family who don't agree and parents being denied lawyers when their kids are stripped away, and now this scandal where he is moonlighting doing real estate law to turn a buck. He also issues gag orders on the press and lawyers at a whim and has refused to step off cases even when it is clear he should. I mean the guy is just a plain embarrassment and a chink in the Republican armor. The guy should just resign and help us all or hide in a closet until after November. Brent won't listen to anyone and he is his worst enemy and has alienated so many people and crossed the wrong lawyers and powerbrokers that now he is through politically unless he can hold on to Court 5, which I hear he hates. The boy needs to be a lobbyist, not a judge. He's got the temperament to be lobbying in Austin, not sitting on a court in Corpus. Lord help us if he actually got on to the District Court where the death penalty and even more complex cases get tried.. thank God he didn't."

The reminder to the voters of Chesney's record and the support he received have not gone unnoticed and the headlines scream for justice in the Juvenile Court. Republicans all are running for cover and do not want to take credit for ungainly Brent Chesney.

CONCLUSION: The politics is definitely heating up and both sides face internal turmoil and external factors which may cause upheaval that will make it anyone's race. As in love, politics is unpredictable and treacherous. Stay tuned my dear readers, more to come....

Homero Villarreal