Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 24, 2004 Page: 3 of 32
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Murray and Mary Judson
Co-Publishers
Mary Judson
Editor
Phone (361) 749-5131 E-maii: southjetty(s>centurytel.net
Port Aransas South Jetty
Opinion
Texas politics
Dave
McNeely
Okay, Democrats
what comes next?
A t itc » ana <!«*«■
• •» • * v*t • vv v» u ?
convention that
begins in Houston
today(Thursday, June
17), that’s the princi-
pal question for the
party that dominat-
ed Texas politics for
more than a century.
Can they reverse
the Red State Repub-
lican status for Texas
presidentially - here
since 1980 - either in
this decade or next?
That question will be paramount as the
Democrats party, work to cheer each other
up, caucus, choose delegates to go to Boston
in July to ratify Sen. John Kerry as their presi-
dential candidate, and applaud his running
mate - possibly North Carolina U.S. Sen. John
Edwards, who is scheduled to speak here.
As recently as 1983, the Democrats held
every statewide office, except for Republican
U.S. Sen. John Tower. The Democrats also
had large majorities in the Texas House and
Senate, and every statewide judgeship.
Today they hold none of those. No U.S.
senators, no other statewide officials, nada.
The Republicans have their first majorities
in both houses of the Legislature since just
after the Civil War.
And Democrats face losing several congres-
sional seats this November, in new districts
rammed through by Republican Gov. Rick Perry
and the new Republican legislative majority.
In contrast with the Republicans in 1983,
the Democrats arc better off in some respects.
Even after some of their probable losses in
November congressional races, Democrats
will have more than the five members of
Congress the Republicans had in 1983, or the
five (of 31) state senators, or the 36 (of 150)
House members. And because of thousands
of county officials, Democratic officeholders
still outnumber Republicans.
But the Republicans in 1983 had one big
thing the Democrats don’t in 2004: a presi-
dent. Ronald Reagan as president for eight
years, and George Bush for four more, helped
put Texas into the Republican column to the
extent it is today.
It is entirely conceivable that the Texas
Democrats could see a Democrat in the White
House after 2004. But even if that happens,
Texan George W. Bush seeking re-election to
the presidency this year greatly reduces the
chances for Democrats to make any major
gains this year.
The Democratic presidential (or vice-
presidential) candidate will come to Texas
between now and November only to tweak
President Bush’s tail in his home state, or to
raise money - most of it to be spent in other
battleground states.
However, look for the Democrats to put
the best face on things; with their team in the
cellar, they’ll call it a rebuilding year.
Topics for discussion here include:
* Is Republican Gov. Rick Perry so unpopular
that the Democrats can win his job in 2006 -
not to mention some other statewide offices?
* Will the organizational and fund-raising
energy unleashed over the Internet by defeated
Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean
continue into 2004 and beyond in Texas?
* Can Hispanics that even gubernatorial
candidate Tony Sanchez couldn’t get to vote in
2002 ever awake — especially in time for close
congressional contests this year, and statewide
elections next year? If so, will more Hispanics
awake as Democrats than Republicans?
No answers yet. But those are the questions.
Contact McNeely at 512/445-3644 or
dmcneely@statesman.com.
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Monday for inclusion in the follow-
ing Thursday’s edition.
1
MSk
It’s all a matter of attitude
At a dinner party in February (it’s so hot
I had to think cold thoughts), I had occasion
to chat with a gentleman who is a sort of
ombudsman for a large financial institution.
He said his job is to tell customers “yes”.
That surprises them, he told me, because
by the time they work their way through the
system and get to him, all they have heard
is ‘‘no’’.
It’s all in the attitude. When customers or
clients ask a business if they do a specific task
or service, too often the answer is “no”.
If businesses adopt the practice of telling
customers what they CAN do, rather than
what they CAN NOT do, we all can move
forward - maybe even cheerfully.
This is not to say businesses should engage
in deceptive practices. It
is, instead, to say that
businesses should engage
in the art of listening so
they understand their
customers’ needs so that,
while they may not be
able to do exactly what
the customer requests,
they may be able to help
the customer achieve his
or her goals.
The same is true of bu-
reaucracies - which have
cornered the market when
it comes to rules.
If you have bureaucrats interpreting rules in
Mary
Henkel
Judson
, > 4 ' Vir-' 4P
We peaceable Americans
I’m delighted to have my son Don working
part time at the radio station as a controls
operator. He pushes the buttons that put us
talking folks on the air - another source of
income for him and his wife. But it also gives
me a chance to visit with him more often.
He’s in the after-dinner speaking business as
well as playing drums for a couple of bands,
working for a recording company and teaching
tennis. The kid does spread himself about.
During lunch break we were talking about
his band work. I asked him how often fights
break out in their various audiences. He could
not recall ever experiencing a fight at the vari-
ous nightspots at which they play. I found that
surprising. I used to follow the Jesse James
and all the Boys Band, a
country music group that
used to perform daily on
this radio station. They
played all the dance halls in
Central Texas and beyond.
I frequently traveled with
them to plug some crazy
records I once made. And
it was very seldom that we
didn’t witness fistfights at
the dance halls.
During the war you
never questioned if there
would be a fight or two or three. The ques-
tion was: WHEN the fight would start. The
Cactus
Pryor
fondness of fistfights continued on after the
war. Guess we got our dander up and just
couldn’t quit cold turkey.
Not just in the dance halls, but also in the
football stadiums. Fistfights came with kick-
offs. And you never got to see them unless
they were next to you because everyone in the
stadium would stand up to see the fight they
couldn’t see for everybody standing up.
T hat combative tendency in public places
seems to have tempered down. Does that in-
dicate that we Americans are becoming more
placid and less combative? I like to think so.
Or is it that simple fistfights are too archaic
in these days of sophisticated weaponry? I
wonder.
Wm Zl H 11
................ fluff1 m
Teens out of control
Parents, it’s 10 p.m. Do you know where
your children are? If you don’t, they could be
out causing havoc around town. Since school
has let out, dozens of beer cans and bottles
have been strewn around the elementary and
middle schools, as well as paint cans and a
pipe. Over $100 of damage was inflicted on
the elementary garden structures on the night
of Sunday, June 20.
It is trespassing to be on school grounds at
night. The police are patrolling the grounds.
If parents cannot control their teenagers,
perhaps the town needs a curfew. I am
disgusted.
Julie Findley
Port Aransas
Special garden
For the past five years, students and teach-
ers of the H.G. Olsen Elementary School
have enjoyed the reading garden - an oasis
of flowers, plants, tables and benches and a
beautiful gazebo. Many people, young and old,
have worked to make it a special place.
Now, vandals have repeatedly damaged
it, but Sunday night was the worst. The big
banana tree with its stalk of bananas was
pulled down, pond plants were thrown out
- but the most heartbreaking was the deliber-
ate destruction of the gazebo. What kind of
person takes pleasure in destruction?
1 hope whoever has done this can be found
out and made to repair the damage. I just
didn’t think we had such people in Port
Aransas.
Caroline Kinney
Port Aransas
Taxes breaking the bank
I read with interest Howard Pharr’s letter
in the South Jetty, May 27, regarding “no state
income tax." A couple of years ago I would
have endorsed Pharr’s letter 100 percent.
However, much has changed since Pharr lived
in Texas, and the taxing authority is about
to “break the backs” of the property owners,
especially the residential taxpayers.
Our property tax rates are some of the
highest in the nation, and the insurance rates
in Nueces County are among the highest in
Texas, if not the highest. They are almost
double the rates in Dallas County.
Pharr is certainly correct in his assertion
that “no amount of money is ever enough,”
and this is evidenced by my personal experi-
ence. My property taxes in Port Aransas,
have increased a whopping 276 percent in just
three years. Should there be any doubt of this,
here are the numbers: 2001, $2,412; 2002,
$3,686; 2003, $3,833; and 2004, $6664.
There is no question in my mind that
should this continue there will be a “taxpayer’s
revolt” much like California’s Proposition 1 3
several years ago. We must find a way of shar-
ing the cost of government with the general
population, not just the property owners. As
of now, I see no better way than a state income
tax or a sales tax that is shared by everyone
living in Texas and enjoying the benefits of
this great state.
Joe Wiggins
Dallas and Port Aransas
Preview what’s coming out in the
see the Classified word ads, or place an ad online www.portasouthjetty.com
Steve
Martaindale
the strictest sense, little progress other than
“staying inside the lines” will be made. But, if
you have bureaucrats who listen and come to
understand the purpose and goals of a specif ic
request, there is a good chance that, working
within the system but “thinking outside the
box”, there is a way to reach that goal.
It’s a matter of attitude. Does a business
want to serve itself or its customers? Does
a bureaucracy want to serve the bureau-
cratic machine or the people it was created
to serve?
It’s certainly easier to go by the book and say
“no”, but we are better served by businesses
and bureaucrats that say, “Yes, let me see what
I can do to help you.”
It’s all in the attitude.
Member:
South Texas Press Association
Texas Gulf Coast Press Association
Texas Press Association
National Newspaper Association
Thursday, June 24, 2004 3A
A Texas voice
Pondering the
nearing big 5-oh
I ' h 9 t I i n a
with neigh-
bors yesterday,
Larry told of a
friend mark-
ing his 50th
birthday.
Apparently,
there were
the standard
black decora-
tions and gag
gifts, some of
which Larry
had left over from his 50th birthday a few
years ago.
I tried to keep an eye on Leah for her reac-
tion because I pass that mid-century mark this
fall and I’m not sure I trust her to treat the
event tastefully. Actually, it’s not her I worry
about so much as our numerous over-the-50th-
hill friends who might influence her.
I have no recourse against those people,
but Leah won’t cross that age line for another
couple of years and the only compassion she
will see from me will be a reflection of what
I get from her this fall. And she knows it.
Unless she’s banking on me forgetting it in
my old age.
As Larry and Sandy finished their story,
Leah mentioned the fact that my 50th is com-
ing up and made some threats about similarly
abusing me. I’m currently taking them as idle
words because she did not make that mistake
with the 30th and 40th birthdays.
But it’s not too early to consider just how
I should observe the day. President Bush the
former recently turned 80 and marked it by
making a parachute jump. Tina, another friend,
did the same thing several years ago. 1 believe
it was on her 29th (cough, cough) birthday.
I celebrated crossing the most recent mile-
stone - my 40th - by taking a trip to Six Flags
Over Texas with the family and some in-laws.
The kids declared it a great idea and I thought
it sent the appropriate message that one does
not get too old to have fun.
I did not mention to anyone then that I got
a little light headed going through the double-
looped Shock Wave roller eoaster for lear they
wouldn’t let me continue riding.
Making plans
What to do for the 50th? 1 don’t believe the
day will involve jumping out of an airplane,
but there should be something more in line
with how old I feel than with how people
think a 50-year-old should feel.
A light went on in my aging brain: Ask the
experts. I know the readers of this column
are accustomed to having a good time, to
living life to the fullest, to laughing at the
threats of advancing age. And I know that a
good number of you are already card-carrying
members of the AARP.
So you tell me your ideas of how a person
should/could celebrate 50 years of living. Tell
me what you plan to do or what you hope to
do on your 50th birthday, or any birthday, for
that matter. Tell me what you have done or
what other people you know have done.
A quick Internet search turned up nu-
merous references to folks doing something
special to mark their 50th. One guy did the
parachuting thing, jumping 50 times. A wom-
an scaled Mount Whitney. Another woman
posed topless for some magazine. A fellow ran
a double marathon - 54 miles.
Al Gore was still vice president when he
turned 50 and he spent the day volunteering
with Habitat for Humanity. That’s the price
one navs for being a politician aiming for the
White House.
I read that actress Tyne Daly shaved her
head and allowed her hair to grow anew as a
sign of rebirth. That’s just plain strange.
Some woman gave $50,000 to a hospital
center already named after her. A man threw
a lavish ski party for 5,000 people. Another
fellow, a Scottish businessman, hired a Boe-
ing 747 to fly 200 friends to Cyprus for a
three-day party that included performances
by Rod Stewart, Tom Jones and Earth, Wind
and Fire. Do l have to say that all these ideas
are impractical for me?
So, hit me with your best ideas, dear reader.
Write me at steve@ATexasVoice.com or drop a
note addressed to P.O. Box 918, Port Aransas,
TX 78373.
Maybe we’ll come up with something we
can invite everyone to.
Steve Martaindale is a self-syndicated
columnist. Write him at stei’e@ATexasVoice.
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Judson, Mary. Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 24, 2004, newspaper, June 24, 2004; Port Aransas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth662972/m1/3/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Ellis Memorial Library.