Hoochie Coochie

Today is President’s Day, a federal and state holiday. According to today’s Chron, city and county offices are open, while federal and state employees have the day off. There is no Early Voting in Person today. That is dumb. We are having a low turnout in the current primaries, so why do we close polling places on a holiday when some folks might have the time to go vote. The county, who runs the local elections, is not off today.  

You can’t argue with what State. Sen. Carol Alvarado wrote in an Op-Ed last month when she said, “Texas is not a voter friendly state.” 

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick doesn’t have his sh_t together. He certainly hasn’t thought through his latest proposal to destroy Texas’s public university system. If Patrick gets his way, which I doubt, it would have more of an adverse impact on communities like Austin, College Station and Lubbock, than on H-Town, if you get my drift. 

The San Antonio Express News E-Board took back their endorsement of Sarah Stogner for Railroad Commissioner because she put out a five second ad on Tiktok where she was riding a pump jack just wearing her panties and pasties. The E-Board’s sister E-Board from the Chron put out a thumbs up on Saturday on Stogner’s five second hoochie coochie ad here: 

We’re big fans of transparency, but one Republican candidate for Railroad Commission took that virtue to a whole new level. Oil and gas attorney Sarah Stogner, 37, decided her race against incumbent Wayne Christian wasn’t getting enough coverage, so she drummed up her own — minus the coverage part. For a short TikTok video, Stogner climbed atop a pump jack wearing nothing but pasties and panties, urging people to vote early and noting on Twitter: “They said I needed money … I have other assets.” The reaction has ranged from shock and shaming to a Twitter user asking “How many times can I vote?” Our sister paper, the San Antonio Express-News, rescinded its endorsement of Stogner, calling her ad “disgraceful.” Incidentally, we endorsed her fellow challenger Dawayne Tipton, who climbed the industry ladder from roughneck to upper management, but best we can tell, was fully clothed at the time. Count us among those less outraged by Stogner’s skin in the game than the lengths she felt she had to go to mount a challenge against an incumbent as problematic as Christian. From blaming last year’s deadly winter blackout on renewable energy to routinely raking in campaign contributions from the industry he’s supposed to be regulating, his tenure has been nakedly political. Stogner asks a good question in calling out the hypocrisy of those frowning on her perceived indecency: “Why do we get so upset as a state, as a nation, whatever, about sex?” she asked. “Let’s get angry about pollution and lying and stealing and evil.” Yes, let’s! We’ll take risqué any day over the risks of Christian’s permissive attitude toward flaring and global warming. We’ll take a raunchy campaign ad over dirty backroom dealing. And we’ll even take a candidate who’s willing to sell a glimpse of her body over an incumbent who happily sold his soul. 

Who says all E-Boards are created equal. 

My favorite African American White House correspondent is NBC’s Kristen Welker. Hey, Kristen moderated one of the two presidential debates in 2020 and was on her game that evening.  

No word on when the MLB lockout will end. 

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Bonehead Play

Sarah Stogner is a Christian conservative GOPer running for Texas Railroad Commission. She has the best line so far of the 2022 Texas political season here: 

They said I needed money. I have other assets. 

I subscribe to Texas Monthly and there is an online piece on her campaign tactics along with her video. I am reminded of the old line, “Smoke’em if you got them.” 

It is not even March, and it looks like we already have a winner for the 2022 Texas Political Bonehead Play of the Year. Congrats to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s reelection campaign. The campaign sent out mail ballot applications to 65 and older voters with the address of preprinted applications going to the Texas Secretary of State instead of the individual county election administrator offices. 

Rather than fessing up to this bonehead move, the Patrick campaign said that was their intention. Here is from Patrick spokesperson Allen Blakemore: 

“The decision to direct return mail to the Secretary of State (SOS), someone who is trusted and respected, gave voters an added layer of comfort.  

The SOS has always accepted ABBMs and quickly and efficiently routed them to the proper local offices. We believe that this will ensure that Blue County election officials are more likely to properly handle our ABBMs when they know they are being watched and monitored by the SOS.” 

This is what the Secretary of State’s spokesperson said: 

“Generally speaking, we request that voters do not mail, fax, or email completed applications for Ballot by Mail to the Secretary of State Office.” 

Up until this bonehead play, the SOS had a policy of not accepting applications. They are having to change course and forward them to election officers throughout the state. Again, from the SOS spokesperson: 

“It is not the voter’s fault if a third party put the incorrect return address on an ABBM, so we want to ensure voters are not adversely affected by that.” 

The Patrick campaign must have farmed this out to someone who doesn’t know the mail ballot process or Texas elections. Who in their right mind would think that the SOS has stored up mail ballot information for every voter in Texas? They don’t conduct the elections. The locals do. 

There also has to be some laziness on the part of the Patrick campaign. Nobody bothered to look at the template and noticed they were all being sent to the SOS rather than 254 election offices across the state? 

Allen didn’t even sound confident in his own response, a sure sign that they knew this was a bonehead play. 

I don’t have a problem with the SOS forwarding the applications to the proper authorities. I want everyone to have access to the ballot box. 

Here is the Trib story on this:Partisan tactic by Dan Patrick campaign delays thousands of Texans’ mail-in ballot requests | The Texas Tribune. 

The Chron E-Board takes aim this morning at the Democrats on the Harris County Commissioners Court for not naming a replacement for Judge Lesley Briones who announced over three months ago that she is running for Commissioner, Precinct 4. There really is no defense for not naming a replacement. They just invited the E-Board to slap them around and give them bad publicity. They are also responsible for giving Judge Briones bad publicity as she is running. 

Here is the E-Board take: Editorial: Why won’t Harris County commissioners name Lesley Briones’ replacement? (houstonchronicle.com) 

There are reports that 19 Austin police officers will be indicted for crimes related to how they handled the George Floyd protesters in 2020.  I am waiting to hear what is in the indictments before I say anything. Try waiting, please.

There are now four folks running for Mayor of H-Town. The Dean, Chris Hollins, Lee Kaplan, and Robin Williams. We still have a week of early voting in the primaries, a May uniform election for constitutional amendments, the primary runoffs, and the general election in November before we get to 2023. Got it? 

I must do a two today because I missed out yesterday. Best TV program about African Americans goes to “Roots.” In 1977, everybody watched it. Ratings through the sky. 37 Emmy nominations and won 9.  There were so many outstanding performances by African Americans, and I must say whites in the cast. John Amos, Levar Burton, Olivia Cole, Cicely Tyson, Leslie Uggams, Ben Vereen, Ed Asner, Sandy Duncan and Vic Morrow. My favorite African American performance from “Roots” goes to Louis Gossett, Jr. as “Fiddler.” He won an Emmy for that role. 

I am sure if “Roots” were done today, it would have a different look. African Americans would be directing most of the episodes. It would depict more violence. It was 1977, and it was groundbreaking.  

Yesterday, I listened to Vikki Carr “En Español Los Exitos De Hoy Y De Siempre (The Hits of Today and Always)” and “Roses in The Snow” by Emmylou Harris. 

Have a safe President’s Day weekend!

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Lockout

We have seen over the past decade a disturbing transformation of the GOP. Overt racism, white supremacy and book banning come to mind. Check this headline from the Chron online: 

We asked all 143 Texas GOP congressional candidates about Biden’s win. Only 13 call it legitimate. 

Now they have forsaken math. One and one is not two these days in the GOP. Scoreboard does not matter.  It would not surprise me if Ken Paxton were forced into a runoff, and he claims victory instead.

Your guess is as good as mine as to when they return to reality. 

Here is a question. I have driven by a few early voting locations. There are tons of signs at each one. Not a single sign catches your attention. They just remind drivers passing by that there is an election happening. There are 90 early voting locations in Harris County. If you are running countywide and want to put 5 signs at each location, that’s 450 signs. At $3 per sign, that’s $1,350. Plus making the effort to cover all 90 locations. Will voters notice that your signs are not up, and will it hurt your campaign? Just asking.

Commentary gets the AARP publications. You know who is on this month’s cover? How about Halle Berry. Halle Berry and AARP does not sound right. 

The Astros first spring training game is supposed to be in nine days. I wonder if they are going to play with minor leaguers. I don’t know if they will start the season on March 31. For the season to start on time, I am thinking a deal between the players and owners must be made by the first week in March. 

The other thing is this. Will the team sign Carlos Correa?  

Play ball! 

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A Love Story

This is one of many reasons I subscribe to the Houston Chronicle. The love story that covered the entire front of the Star section in the Chron hard copy on Saint Valentine’s Day. It was well done with photos. Here is how it starts:  

Marquitta Parker and Elisabeth Pabst aren’t exactly high school sweethearts. Though, technically, that’s where their love story began — in the halls of Lamar High School. 

Back in 2009, they ran in the same social circles but never really spoke. 

Then Pabst, who is two years Parker’s senior, graduated and set off for Baylor University in Waco. Parker received her associate’s degree from Houston Community College. She rarely, if ever, thought about Pabst — until four years ago, when a familiar name popped into her direct messages folder on Instagram. 

“I’d posted a picture, and she commented something cheeky, asking if I were in a relationship,” Parker recalls. “I said, ‘No, it didn’t work out.’ But I was very dry because I wasn’t looking for anything. Liz never let the conversation end.” 

They exchanged phone numbers and were soon talking all day, every day. 

“People who know me would say I’m very persistent,” Pabst explains. “I had a gut feeling. Marquitta was very intriguing to me, there was something special about her.” 

The weeks after Thanksgiving 2017, while Pabst lived in Washington, D.C., were spent texting and on FaceTime. When she returned home for the Christmas holidays, Parker made an unexpected move. 

“I don’t know what came over me, but I invited Liz to meet my whole family,” Parker says. “Every single person loved her, and that’s saying a lot.” 

In many ways, the two young women are opposites. Pabst, 28, is more outgoing, the type to pursue exactly what she wants. And typically, what she wants is dessert. Parker, 26, favors savory foods and is more reserved. It takes awhile for her to warm up. 

For their first date, the couple saw a movie, then went to House of Pies’ Upper Kirby location. Pabst ordered her favorite slice, Texas fudge pecan pie with ice cream, while Parker ate a late-night breakfast. 

“I was so nervous,” Parker says. “Then, after the first 10 minutes, we were talking the entire night.” 

When they met each other’s families, Pabst was in for a little surprise — she hadn’t realized that her crush’s parents were former Houston Mayor Annise Parker and former first lady Kathy Hubbard. 

“I didn’t even know she had two moms,” Pabst says with a laugh. “But I walked in there cool, calm and collected. Her family really enjoys playing games like UpWords and charades, so we all sat around the table, just playing games.” 

Here is the entire read: Former Houston mayor’s daughter marries longtime girlfriend in historic Montrose backyard (houstonchronicle.com). 

It is such a lovely story. I have not seen Mayor Parker since the start of the pandemic, over a couple of years ago. She must be so proud. 

Royko sent me this on voting on Saint Valentine’s Day:  

My lovely and gracious wife and I voted at the Jersey Village location. 

Interesting that the US Postal Service delivered your ballots with a single forever stamp, which was insufficient postage. 

From what I understand, the Post Office makes some good money during elections with all the mail that campaigns send. The last thing they want to be is Grinches who return your mail ballot over two bits. Just saying. 

I must do a two today because I missed out yesterday. My two favorite African American Cabinet members are Vice President Kamala Harris – yes, she counts as a member of the President’s Cabinet, and Eric Holder, Attorney General under President Barack Obama. They were the first African Americans in those positions. They are key positions, and both VP Harris and AG Holder generate so much hate from GOPers – a sign that they are doing a great job.

Spring Training was scheduled to start today. Thanks to the MLB owners and their lockout, it is not happening. Your guess is as good as mine as to when the season will get underway.

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A Love First

I noticed yesterday on social media there were a lot of takes on sweet Valentines voting early and gushy stuff like that. Couples were voting early together and equating it with a romantic event.  The Dean put out a Valentine’s Day take from West Gray with his lovely daughter Whitney. It got me to thinking and so I checked. Yesterday was the first time ever we in Texas had voted early on Valentine’s Day. Nice, so I tweeted it. 

Unless the Texas Legislature changes the election calendar, it will only happen if Election Day falls on March 1 in a non-Leap Year. The primary was on March 1 in 2016, but that was a Leap Year and Valentine’s Day was on a Sunday, the day before early voting began. Now you know.  

The folks from the Harris County Elections Administrator’s Office called me and my Dad yesterday to let us know our ballot carrier envelope was lacking ID info. I asked them if we could provide the info over the phone, and they said nope. They said they were putting in the mail yesterday our ballot that was still sealed in the inner envelope and they hadn’t opened it and they were including a new carrier envelope with the area highlighted where the ID info should be written in. I am calling them back today to see if I can open the inner envelope to make sure it is my ballot and then I will seal it back with glue or something.  

Good for the elections folks for working on this. 

I am up to 24 mail pieces that have landed in my mailbox since the beginning of the year. Yes, I do keep them and toss them later. 

Yesterday, I listened to “Blue Kentucky Girl” by Emmylou Harris and “Come on Over” by Olivia Newton-John. 

Let’s see. What were we doing a year ago today? I don’t want to think about it. 

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Woody Strode

Early Voting in Person for the party primaries in Texas begins today. I counted just over 20 mailers that I have received since the beginning of the year. 

From the I Did Not Know That Department, I had the pregame on yesterday and NBC Sports was doing a feature on African Americans who first integrated college football in 1939 and actor Woody Strode was one of the first at UCLA along with Baseball Hall of Fame great Jackie Robinson. I did not know that about Woody Strode who left us in 1994. I only knew of him as an actor. He had a memorable role in “The Professionals,” along with Claudia Cardinale, Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Jack Palance and Robert Ryan. He was also in “Spartacus” where he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.  He was in “Once Upon a Time in the West” as one of the gunslingers sent to kill “Harmonica” played by Charles Bronson and gets gunned down at the train station. 

Another informative pre-game piece was Steve Kornacki explaining your chances of winning on the 100 square game betting board. You know, the ones you can get in on at your neighborhood watering hole or the office, where the numbers 0 through 9 horizontally and vertically are assigned randomly after all 100 squares are sold. You have four chances to win – after the first three quarters and the final score. 

I was entertained last night. Outstanding game. Rip roaring halftime show. Some good ads. 

The National Anthem by Mickey Guyton was strong. 

The Rock, well, rocked the intro of the game. 

The Jurassic Park trailer was a great start. That will likely be the flick that gets me back into a theater this summer. 

These are the ads that are worthy of mention. 

The Toyota paralympic ad. 

The BMW electric car with Arnold and Salma. 

Telemundo World Cup goooooooaaaaaallll! 

The sloth and other animals with the dropped bags of Doritos and Cheetos. 

“Meadow”, err Jamie Lynn Sigler paying homage to “The Sopranos” in the Chevy Silverado electric truck. 

Michelob Ultra with Serena Williams, Steve Buscemi and Peyton Manning at the bowling alley. 

Toyota Tundra and the three Joneses – Leslie, Rashida and Tommy Lee and Nick Jonas. 

The NFL halftime ad with the kids and the little NFL players including Payton and Peyton. 

Liquid Death water which had me confused at first – so it worked. 

Google Pixel 6 which addressed taking pictures of darker skinned folks. 

Kia electric car with the Robo Dog. 

HEB with George Strait as an astronaut who had the munchies. 

Amazon’s Alexa with Scarlett and her hubby Colin that I mentioned last week. 

The Sam’s Club VIP with Kevin Hart who ran across a shopper holding a bag of Siete chips in front of the Siete products shelves.  (Google it.) 

I watched the halftime show. The performers brought their top shelf game. There was a lot of energy. One of the best halftimes shows. Someone will have to explain to Commentary why they had to perform in life size doll houses.  

The game was great. I felt good for the Rams fans and bad for the Bengals fans.  It came down to the last minute. 

Since you asked, my spread last night included smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, red onions, salami, cheddar cheese, guacamole made in my kitchen, grapes, blueberries, green olives, bread, crackers, chips and mixed nuts. 

My favorite town for African American professional coaching or managerial opportunities goes to H-Town. The Astros, Rockets and Texans are all currently being coached or managed by African Americans. That’s cool. Can any other city say this? 

Some of the words on the little conversational heart candy these days are “TEXT ME,” “DM ME,” “GOAT,” UR GREAT,” and “BESTIE” 

Have a nice Saint Valentine’s Day. 

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MFers and A-Holes

Motherfuckers and assholes. Commentary is talking about the GOP legislators who voted for the Texas voter suppression bill last year. You guys know I don’t use profanity on Commentary. I don’t consider arsehole profanity. Motherfuckers and assholes are profanity and a well-deserved description in this instance. I hope they all go to hell. 

I didn’t know until I read the Trib piece yesterday that you had to include ID information on your mail ballot carrier envelope.  When I saw the story, I thought it was shoddy editing and that they were still writing about the mail ballot applications.   

I went and found the instruction sheet that came with your mail ballot. It is written in small print that ID information is required.  I thought I was as informed as anyone. Nope.  I saw plenty of stories about ID information that was required for mail ballot applications. I don’t think I ever saw a story on the mail ballot itself. 

It would have been nice if the Harris County Elections Administrator folks had included a dayglow pink slip of paper with huge font saying “NEW LAW! ID INFORMATION REQUIRED AS WELL AS SIGNATURE!” 

This is over the top. It was already too much to include the new information on the mail ballot application. We get our ballot and must include this again? 

I am trying to figure out how two voters – me and my Dad – who never miss an election are caught up in this voter integrity thing. 

Those GOP legislators who voted for this are motherfuckers and assholes. 

Now I must spend time trying to figure out this mess. 

Here is the Trib piece: New Texas voting rules cause rejection of hundreds of mail-in ballots | The Texas Tribune. 

One of the best African American #txlege lobbyists is Crystal Brown who used to be Crystal Ford. Very smart and sharp. I always enjoy my conversations with Crystal.

There are three guys who have attended in person every Super Bowl game. Best I can say is I have watched every one of them on TV, now the flat screen. I think. I don’t have a favorite in the Super Bowl this weekend. Well, maybe the Bengals, so all those H-Town folks who bought a mattress from Mattress Mack can get their money back. I just want to make sure I have a good grub spread, an interesting game, and some ads I can put out takes about Monday morning.  

Have a safe Super Bowl weekend. 

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Political?

Sorry for the delay. Something odd came up that is election related to the upcoming primary and I am trying to get an update. 

I read somewhere yesterday that there is a poll saying that 70% of Americans are resigned to living with COVID-19. I don’t even know what that means.  

Why do a bunch of GOP elected officials and right-wing GOP nut jobs give a rat’s arse about vaccine mandates and Canadian truckers? 

Why is the GOP infighting over January 6, 2021?  

I stuck my mail ballot and my Dad’s in the mailbox yesterday at the post office in Baytown. I then read where a 78-cent stamp was required. It didn’t say so on the envelope so all it got was a Forever stamp. 

In today’s neighborhood section of the hard copy of the Chron, Kandy Kaye Horn who is running for Texas governor against the arsehole Greg Abbott has a full-page ad. One of her four campaign bullets is “Ready to Legalize Marijuana.” Now that’s my kind of GOP candidate.  

I saw this story on the “Today” website: 

A 12-year-old swimmer was briefly disqualified from a competition in Wisconsin this week for wearing a homemade Black Lives Matter swimsuit, her mother said. 

Sarah Lyons, of Duluth, Minnesota, told NBC News her sixth-grade daughter Leidy Gellona was inspired to iron the words “Black Lives Matter” onto a black swimsuit after the two discussed the death of Amir Locke, a 22-year-old Black man fatally shot last week by Minneapolis police during a no-knock warrant. 

Leidy proudly wore the swimsuit on Sunday during a competition sponsored by the Duluth YMCA in nearby Superior, Wisconsin. That’s when a race official determined Leidy’s swimsuit was political and against USA Swimming’s rules, according to Lyons. 

Leidy was the only Black competitor at the meet, Lyons said. 

Lyons said that, although she was personally angry and sad, she let her daughter decide whether to change swim suits to stay in the competition. 

“She said, ‘Mom, I’m not taking this suit off,’” Lyons said. “I don’t think either one of us ever thought that she was just going to change her suit. Knowing her, I knew she was going to stand true.” 

Lyons added: “That was like a piece of armor for her. I am so proud of her.” 

Lyons said the race official told her Leidy’s swimsuit was political, but she argued otherwise. 

“I said it’s not political. This is not a political statement. Don’t read it as an organization. Read it as a person saying their life matters.” 

Lyons, who is a diversity officer at a college, contacted local NAACP officials and a human rights officer, she said. 

Classie Dudley, president of the Duluth branch of the NAACP, told NBC News she called the local media and gathered about 20 more people with allied groups who went to the swim meet and advocated on behalf of Leidy. 

Lyons and Dudley said that officials at the meet then tried to say it was not about the message on the swimsuit, rather that Leidy’s one-piece did not meet the logo standards. 

But when the YMCA’s vice-president showed up, Dudley said, officials quickly overturned Leidy’s disqualification. 

“It was 10 minutes and we got the disqualification reversed,” Dudley said. 

And while some of the hundreds in attendance came up to the young swimmer and said they were sorry for what she was going through, Dudley said, she was disheartened because none of them fought for Leidy. 

Here is the entire story: Black Girl nearly Disqualified from Swim Meet Over ‘Black Lives Matter’ Suit (today.com). 

I don’t know. It seems like anything could be political. After all, a pandemic became political.

My favorite African American actor is Denzel Washington. 

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Jury Duty

My pal Miya Shay from Channel 13 news tweeted this morning a must-see interview with H-Town mayoral candidate Chris Hollins by news anchor Gina Gaston. Here it is: https://abc13.com/amp/houston-mayor-mayoral-candidate-chris-hollins-2023-election/11544288/. 

I have been following the Democratic primary race in Senate District 15 between The Dean and Molly Cook. The Dean gets hit a time or three on social media for not answering questions at forums. Fair enough.  

Team Hollins should have done a way better job of getting him prepped up for this interview. He sure did dodge a bunch of questions. On crime, on the firefighter mess, on vaccine mandates, just to name a few, he clearly avoided answering the questions. I know it is early, but this really wasn’t a good way to start off the campaign. These issues will be front and center in the mayoral race. He was not prepared. Not a good look. Just saying. 

Nobody Commentary knows likes jury duty. We dread when we get the envelope in the mail that says jury summons. A couple of weeks ago, I got one in the mail. I opened it up looking for the date and time I was supposed to show up. It is usually front and center and in a huge font. Nope. I had to go online and fill out a bunch of stuff and I still don’t know when and where I am supposed to show up. 

They gave you the option to call for your jury service. Nope. Are they crazy. I don’t have time to wait on hold for this. Just put the notice in the envelope and I will show up. 

We ought to be doing online voter registration. We go online to pay bills, do banking, shopping, renewing driver’s licenses. Online jury duty in Harris County isn’t working. They made it way more complicated than it should be. Just stick the summons with the date and time in the GD envelope. 

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo got a solid endorsement from the Chron E-Board today. 

My favorite African American TV commentator/analyst is Laura Coates. 

Yesterday, I listened to “Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town” album by Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton’s “Greatest Hits.” 

I want to thank the few folks who provided me info so I could informatively fill out my Harris County Democratic Party primary ballot. It probably took me an hour and a half to get it done. Better than standing in line. 

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39 Races

Commentary will for sure be one of the most knowledgeable voters in the 2022 Harris County Democratic Party Primary. I got my mail ballot on Saturday, and it looks like there are 39 competitive races on my ballot. I am familiar with some of the races, I have asked friends for their recommendations, I have received unsolicited takes from good sources, and I am doing a bit of research. You can do that with a mail ballot.  The rest of you guys that go vote in person early or on election day – good luck. 

Former Interim Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins announced yesterday that he is running for H-Town Mayor next year.  The Dean announced late last year that he is also running.  Commentary will be supporting my good friend The Dean. 

Here is part of the Hollins statement that is in the Chron: 

“Our next mayor will lead Houston at a defining moment in its history. The pandemic changed our world overnight, and we as a city have to deal with that change. We can’t go back. I am offering my leadership and experience to propel Houston forward.” 

Here is the Chron article: Former Harris County clerk Chris Hollins announces run for Houston mayor (houstonchronicle.com). 

Here is another part of his statement from the Trib: 

“Our community at large cannot thrive unless we’re safe and, just as important, we feel safe in our city. So whether that means addressing issues of crime, flooding, housing or the pandemic, Houstonians have to be able to trust that our mayor is committed to protecting residents and to fostering a safe community.” 

Here is the Trib article: Former Harris County elections chief running for Houston mayor | The Texas Tribune. 

I don’t want city government to be reinvented. Commentary just wants my green bin to be picked up on time. I don’t want it sitting out there for a couple of days. I want the next mayor and firefighters not to be at each other’s throat.  I want an HPD that is solving crimes and getting bad guys off the streets.  I want streets that you can drive on, parks that are clean and flooding reduced.   

The story on the Hollins announcement in the Chron is 1,086 words long. I checked on The Dean’s announcement article from the Chron – 704 words. 

Let’s see how much money Hollins has in his campaign bank account when the next campaign report is due on July 15. 

I am sure most folks have seen this. Here is from the Chron: 

A Harris County Precinct 5 sergeant accused County Judge Lina Hidalgo of being disruptive at a funeral for a deputy earlier this week. 

Sgt. Roy Guinn in a video posted to YouTube by the Michael Berry Show said Hidalgo was standing in the wrong place during an outdoor procession and refused to move when he asked her. Guinn also said Hidalgo also disrupted the proceedings when she attempted to speak with Constable Ted Heap, Guinn’s boss. 

Here is the entire read: Constable deputy accuses Lina Hidalgo of ‘disrespect’ at deputy’s funeral (houstonchronicle.com). 

Folks like Lt. Dan Patrick and other GOPers went after Judge Hidalgo on this. It’s sad that they try to score political points using the funeral of a slain deputy constable.  Hey, but that is your GOP these days.  They gave up any sense of decency a few election cycles ago. 

What they don’t get is what is on full display.  Judge Hidalgo gets treated differently than former County Judges Ed Emmett and Robert Eckles because she is a Latina and an immigrant.  What they also don’t get is this line of attack just riles up and emboldens the Judge’s younger female supporters, who will now donate another $50 or $100 to her campaign and put in another few days of block walking. 

Remember, we are Harris County, not Hood County. Dumb move. 

I have been checking out the Super Bowl ads that are shown on “Today” or you can catch them online. By far, the best one is the one I saw yesterday with Scarlett Johansson and her hubby Colin Jost for Amazon’s Alexa. It is funny and well done. 

My favorite African American female athlete is Serena Williams. 

I mentioned last week that I now have a record player and my leadoff disc was “Déjà Vu” by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. I try to listen to a couple of albums a day unless I am in Baytown. So far, I have played the songs from the flick “Welcome to L.A.” mostly sung by Richard Baskin and David Carradine, The Carpenters’ “Singles,” “Divine Miss M” by Bette Midler, “San Antonio Rose” by Willie Nelson and Ray Price, and Glen Campbell’s “Greatest Hits.” 

I guess I am kind of catching up with my movies. Last night I saw “Money Monster.” It was a film directed by Jodie Foster that starred Julia Roberts and George Clooney. It is about a guy who takes hostage a cable news financial program on live TV.   

I don’t have much to say about the new head coach for the Texans. The Chron’s John McClain and Brian T. Smith have good takes on the hiring today.

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