Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 42, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 11, 2013 Page: 3 of 64
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Co-Publishers
Mary Henkel Judson
& Murray Judson
Editor
Mary Henkel Judson
Port Aransas South Jetty
Opinion
Member
Texas Press Association
South Texas Press Association
Texas Gulf Coast Press Association
National Newspaper Association
Thursday, July 11,2013 3 A
Importance
of lieut. gov.
So far,
three credible
mm politicians
ill #e plan to run
MVE for lieutenant
IcNEELY governor in
mm 2014 - even
though the current occupant, Republican
David Dewhurst, says hes running again.
All three of the challengers have served
in the Texas Senate - over which the lieu-
tenant governor presides. They are Land
Commissioner Jerry Patterson, 67; Agricul-
ture Commissioner Todd Staples, 50; and
current Sen. Dan Patrick of Houston, 63.
All are Republicans like Dewhurst, so this
contest will be in the Republican primary
next March - assuming that the primary
elections aren’t postponed, as they were in
2012.
Why do they want a job that pays the
same as a state legislator - $7,200 a year?
What’s the appeal?
Well, the Texas lieutenant governor is the
most powerful such official in the country.
He appoints Senate committees and their
chairs; controls the Senate’s agenda, by
deciding whom to recognize on the floor;
co-chairs the Legislative Budget Board,
which writes the rough draft of the biennial
budget; and chooses the other four senators
to sit on the House-Senate LBB. He can
have a lot of influence over the budget.
And, if something happens to the
governor, the lieutenant governor moves
up. That’s happened four times in the last
century, listed below.
Dewhurst has scared off most potential
challengers with his personal fortune, said
to exceed $200 million. He has shown he
can self-finance his races.
But Dewhurst, 68, was upset in the 2012
Republican primary runoff by upstart Tea
Party favorite Ted Cruz. He finally found
out what the Beatles meant in their song,
“Money Can’t Buy Me Love.”
The three challengers consider Dewhurst
damaged goods, and will take their chances.
All four must win or leave elective office.
Patterson and Staples are leaving statewide
offices to run.
Patrick drew just a two-year Senate term
this year; senators drew for two- or four-
year terms to return to staggered four-year
terms after all ran in 2012 following redis-
tricting. Had he drawn a four-year term, he
could run, lose, and still be senator. But by
running for lieutenant governor, he’s giving
up his senate seat.
All four candidates are trying to best the
others in appealing to the far right. They
obviously consider this crucial to winning
the primary. And, given the failure of Dem-
ocrats to win a statewide race since 1994,
they presume winning the GOP nomination
means they’ll win the general election in
November.
For Patterson, it’s an attempt at payback
to Dewhurst, who out-spent and out-polled
him by 10 percent for the GOP nomination
for land commissioner in 1998.
When Dewhurst ran for lieutenant gov-
ernor in 2002, Patterson made another try.
He beat Rep. Kenn George, R-Dallas, by 13
percent in the primary.
Patrick, who owns talk radio stations
in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, and
is probably the senate’s most outspokenly
conservative member, is trying to spread his
influence statewide.
It also represents his pique at Dewhurst,
who saw a filibuster and gallery meltdown
block the abortion bill that Dewhurst had
asked for. Patrick had endorsed Dewhurst
in the U.S. Senate race over Cruz, and De-
whurst appointed him to chair the Senate
Education Committee this year.
For Staples, it’s just the usual feeling of
lesser statewide officeholders: they want to
move up.
A caution: Most of the lieutenant gover-
nor’s powers over the Senate are granted by
its rules. If Patrick wins, and the Senate re-
mains at 12 Democrats and 19 Republicans,
there’s always a chance that a coalition of
the Democrats and four Republicans could
coalesce, and greatly weaken the powers the
lieutenant governor now enjoys.
Texas Lieutenant Governors Who Filled
Governor Vacancy.... The four in the last
century, plus a fifth asterisk, were:
• William P. Hobby Sr., Aug. 4,1917. Gov.
James A. “Pa” Ferguson resigned during an
impeachment trial. Hobby won another two-
year term before retiring.
• Coke Stevenson, Aug. 4,1941. Gov.W.
Lee “Pappy” O’Daniel won a special election
to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. Stevenson
won two more two-year terms.
• Allan Shivers, July 11,1949. Gov. Beau-
ford Jester died of a heart attack. Shivers then
won three two-year terms, making the seven
and a half years the longest-serving Texas
governor in history.
• Rick Perry, Dec. 21,2000. Gov. George
W. Bush resigned after the U.S. Supreme
Court confirmed his election as president.
Perry has won three more four-year terms,
added to the two years remaining in Bush’s
term, making him by far the longest-serving
Texas governor.
• Lt. Gov. Preston Smith moved up to
be governor in 1969, succeeding Gov. John
Connally. But he didn’t become governor
because of impeachment, or a special U.S.
Senate election, or a death, or someone be-
coming president. He actually won the 1968
election.
Contact McNeely at davemcneelyl 11@
gmail.com or (512) 458-2963.
* .
Ill
iJImilW
dft least they tried....
Courtesy Debra Whiddon
Traffic at ‘tipping point’
Mary
Henkel
Judson
As during
Spring Break,
SandFest and
the Memorial
Day holiday
weekend, the
Fourth of July
holiday saw
traffic of enormous proportions. Epic might
be too strong a word, but the streets were
pretty much at capacity.
That’s great for business, but the downside
was that this time it came with an unusual
number of traffic accidents. One, unfortu-
nately, involved two people well-known in
this community - Pam and Pappy Greene.
We wish them both speedy recoveries,
however the truth is that it’s going to take a
while. Considering what could have been the
outcome, they were, indeed, fortunate. Pam
has insurance, Pappy doesn’t. Do the math.
Please keep them in your prayers.
The location where the accident happened
- in front of Whataburger on Alister Street
- was an accident waiting to happen. I’m
sorry it did. A word of advice: When going
to Whataburger, approach it from the south,
and when leaving, don’t turn left, especially
on “can’t turn left” weekends.
After Spring Break, the city council talked
about the traffic and vowed to do what they
could to alleviate the congestion. What has
been done since then, but we’ll keep an eye
on that.
I’m not a traffic engineer, so I’m not sure
what can be done other than to widen the
Island Road (State Hwy. 361) from Avenue
G to Beach Access Road 1 (that expansion
should go all the way to Park Road 22). But
something needs to be done.
I shudder to think what the number of
accidents might be if we didn’t have the (rel-
atively) new traffic light at the Island Road
and Access Road 1A.
Certainly the completion of 11th Street
will help, and, as was mentioned at the city
council’s meeting in April, it may be time to
revisit the idea of an additional beach access
road. I’m not one to rush to consult con-
sultants, but a talk with a really good traffic
engineer may be in order.
Parking is another issue that should be
explored by the city, even if it involves part-
nering with private enterprise.
The last thing I want to see is Port Aransas
paved like a parking lot, but if something can
be done to provide “screened” or off-street
parking for vehicles that provides easy walk-
ing access to restaurants and shops it seems
that would help reduce vehicular traffic and
encourage foot traffic.
And the golf carts - ya gotta love ‘em, but
I know they are annoying when you get be-
hind one going 15 or 20 mph and you need
to get to work on time. We exacerbate the
situation when we pass a slow-moving golf
cart (guilty!).
It’s also scary as the devil when you see
one on the Island Road. I can’t imagine why
anyone would choose to drive a golf cart
on the highway. Makes no sense. But it also
makes no sense that someone would allow
her 10-year-old kid to drive a golf cart in
the kind of traffic we had over the Fourth of
July holiday. It makes no sense that anyone
would allow their young children to ride in
a golf cart without a seat belt in that kind of
traffic (or under any circumstances). But it
all happens.
Might golf cart/bike lanes be a solution? I
don’t know - I’m not a traffic engineer.
If the last Spring Break, SandFest, Me-
morial Day and Fourth of July didn’t send a
message, then I don’t know what will.
We need to address traffic flow, parking
and golf carts. Now.
Mary Henkel Judson is editor and co-pub-
lisher of the South Jetty. Contact her at south-
jetty@centurytel.net, (361) 749-5131 orP.O.
Box 1117, Port Aransas, TX 78373.
Letters to the Editor
both the pro-slavery and the anti-slavery
folks would enjoy. In Huckleberry Finn, one
of the main characters was “N... Jim.” Jim
was a slave and Huck’s close friend. When
Jim sought to escape to freedom, Huck as-
sisted him. The readers on both sides of the
slavery issue found themselves hoping that
Jim would succeed in his quest for freedom.
This was Mark Twain’s intention. He was
generating sympathy for the slave.
In visiting Twain’s Connecticut home,
I was surprised to learn that Twain’s next
door neighbor was none other than Harriett
Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom’s
Cabin. Twain and Stowe worked together
in their efforts against slavery. The books of
both authors contained the “N” word. But
whereas Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a
blatant attack against slavery, Twain’s works
were more subtle, trying to open the eyes of
readers who weren’t thinking about slavery
one way or the other.
Stowe’s works are honored in our schools.
Twain’s are not. What asinine foolishness.
This is only one of many examples of how
politically correct insanity has robbed the
younger generation of a good education
in favor of political extremism. God have
mercy on us!
Steve Casey
Stonewall, La.
Take positive action
Ah Roxy,
Please don’t pick on Lindsay (Letters to
the editor June 20 and 27). She was a student
at the University of Texas Marine Science
Institute Summer Science program in June.
Students spent a week learning about issues
such as marine debris, invasive plants and
animals, endangered species and climate
change.
We then asked them to express their
concerns by writing to an elected official or
a letter to the editor. She was writing about
what she saw, and while her use of the word
“locals” hit a nerve, maybe we locals need
to get together and figure out some better
solutions. There are movements to pass a
bottle bill in Texas and to limit plastic bags.
Why not join Keep Port Aransas Beautiful
and bring your best ideas!
By the way, yes, all of the students defi-
nitely did pick up numerous bags of trash
and took home bright yellow reusable trash
bags, courtesy of the Port Aransas Chamber
of Commerce-Tourist Bureau.
And to (editor) Mary Judson (South Jetty
column July 4), there are plenty of exciting
classes in science these days. We have two
nationally recognized science teachers in our
area - Cliff Strain in Flour Bluff (a resident
of Port Aransas) and Martha McLeod in
Fulton - and plenty of innovative teaching in
our own PAISD. Don’t forget all the activities
atUTMSI!
Julie Findley
Port Aransas
‘PC’ gone too far
As most Americans find the scandal built
around something Paula Deen said over two
decades ago to be hypocritical foolishness, I
am reminded of one of the “classic” examples
of this kind of politically correct hogwash.
A few days ago, I was talking to a recent
high school graduate and asked her what she
knew about Mark Twain. She had heard the
name but that was it.
Several years ago, Mark Twain s books
were removed from many school libraries
because he used the “N” word. No one both-
ered to mention that Twain was a lifelong
abolitionist who actively spoke out for the
rights of the black man.
Twain was very subtle in using his writ-
ings to fight slavery. He wrote stories that
(c) 2011 TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
Thou shalt not steal!
We have been coming to Port Aransas for
24 years and have been property owners for
seven wonderful years, and were saddened
to have our beach shelter stolen (along with
one 35-year old beach chair!) sometime be-
tween 5:30 p.m. July 5 and 7 a.m. on July 6.
We had set up our spot between Mile
Marker 18 and 19 on the morning of July 4
along with many other shelters, and were
shocked that ours was gone! We did call the
Port Aransas police to report the theft and
were treated so kindly and courteously, de-
spite this being such a busy holiday time, as
well as realizing we should not be so trusting
to leave up a shelter with no identification
marked on it! We are so thankful for the
great Port Aransas police and, although we
doubt that the thieves have the intelligence
to read a newspaper, here is a message for
them: Thou shalt not steal!
Linda and Bob Gibson
San Antonio and Port Aransas
Sign up for Free News Alerts
WWW.PORTASOUTHJETTY.COM
Islamists not
ready for
democracy
The military
coup that ousted
Egyptian Presi-
dent Mohamed
Morsi marks
another failure
in U.S. foreign
policy over
several adminis-
trations, which
have erroneously
promoted the notion that American-style
democracy in Islamic lands will produce a
nation more like ours.
The Founders wrote a Constitution.
When properly read and obeyed, it guards
against pure democracy and makes ‘we the
people” subject to laws that cannot be abol-
ished by popular vote. Benjamin Franklin
properly called what the Founders wrought
a “Republic.” Representative government
would guard against the passions of a major-
ity. No such safeguards apply in Egypt, or for
that matter throughout most of the Islamic
world.
George W. Bush famously said that
freedom beats in every human heart. To
paraphrase Bill Clinton, it depends on the
meaning of freedom.
Definitions are important. To a radical
Islamist, Sharia law defines freedom. Con-
stitutions guaranteeing equal rights for all,
including religious minorities like Coptic
Christians in Egypt, multiple parties and
free speech are mostly absent from societies
where Islamists rule. And so majorities,
often followed by the mob, and then the
army, rule.
Secretary of State John Kerry spent most
of his recent visit to the Middle East focus-
ing on the establishment of a Palestinian
state. This failed policy is a sideshow and
irrelevant to the turmoil throughout the
region. The Obama administration is calling
for an “inclusive” political process in Egypt,
which would include a role for the Muslim
Brotherhood. But the Muslim Brotherhood’s
radical religious outlook and earthly agenda
are the problem, not the solution. Why
should the United States expect a different
government if a different “brother” is elect-
ed, or if Morsi is somehow re-instated?
How can Egypt have a stable government
when the Brotherhood claims to be doing
the will of God at the same time the military
says it carried out God’s will by removing
Morsi and secularists say they don’t want
Islamists governing Egypt?
Writing in The UK Daily Telegraph,
Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator, says
the Arab world needs capitalism, more than
democracy. He suggests that Western aid to
Egypt be conditioned upon property rights.
Throughout the Arab world, he writes, bu-
reaucracy and corruption keep many people
from starting businesses without paying
costly bribes: “...under Hosni Mubarak, for
example, opening a small bakery in Cairo
took more than 500 days of bureaucracy. To
open a business in Egypt means dealing with
29 government agencies. The same story
is true throughout the region: The average
Arab needs to present four dozen docu-
ments and endure two years of red tape to
become the legal owner of land or business.
If you don’t have the time or money for this,
you are condemned to life in the black mar-
ket: No matter how good you are, you will
never trade your way out of poverty.”
The right to own property was fundamen-
tal to America’s founding. In the beginning,
only white male property owners were
allowed to vote. Discriminatory, yes, but the
point about the importance of being invest-
ed in the new nation by literally owning a
piece of it was thought to be a fundamental
component of citizenship.
American policy in the Middle East has
failed over many decades because of false
assumptions, especially when it comes to
Israel. While often treating that tiny land as
a weed that ought to be dug up, rather than
a flower in the desert to be nourished, U.S.
policy has focused on placating Arabs and
Muslims, many of whom wish to destroy
Israel and America.
Perhaps now that the United States is
rapidly headed toward energy independence
(enhanced if the opposition to the Keystone
pipeline and fracking can be overcome), this
and future administrations won’t feel the
need to bow to Middle East dictators and
will push a “re-set” button that has a better
chance at succeeding than the one that for
too long has been stuck and inoperative.
Contact Cal Thomas at Tribune Media
Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114,
Buffalo, N.Y. 14207, or e-mail him at tmsedi-
tors@tribune.com.
Letters to the Editor
Deadline is Noon Monday
Unsigned Letters will not be published.
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required. Limit 300 words.
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telephone numbers where the writer may be
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30 days period • letters endorsing or opposing
political candidates are political advertising and
should be taken to the advertising department •
letters endorsing or opposing issues on ballots
will not be published in the last two editions before
the election • all letters are subject to editing •
letters of complaint about private businesses
will be forwarded to the business and will not
be published • “thank you” letters are classified
advertising and should go to the classified ad
department
SOUTHJETTY@CENTURYTEL.NET OR
P.O. Box 1117
Port Aransas, TX 78373
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Judson, Mary Henkel. Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 42, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 11, 2013, newspaper, July 11, 2013; Port Aransas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth505890/m1/3/?q=architectural+drawings: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Ellis Memorial Library.