El Paso Politics

I can't believe I now have to turn around and defend Gary Gandara. I feel like I need to shower just writing this post - but what is right is right.  And what is wrong, is wrong.  And there appears to be a lot of wrong floating around SISD Trustee Paul Garcia since his election to the Socorro ISD Board of Trustees.  A couple of days ago I had to write a rumor-killer blog about someone running around telling people in the valley that I was running Gary Gandara's campaign. I was being cool and didn't say who it was that was spreading that rumor - even though I confronted the person that was spreading it.  The person that was spreading that rumor was none other than Trustee Paul Garcia. Turns out - Trustee Paul Garcia is behind a pretty elaborate effort to dislodge his colleague from the Board.  Let me stop and explain that in almost every single district in El Paso County - incumbents stay away from the races of their colleagues. Even if they support their colleag...

Right-wing conservative nut Pedro "Conservative Anthony" Aguero appears to be caught on video inside the capitol building on Insurrection Day, the day thousands of Republican Trump supporters committed sedition against the United States of America.  Some of you might be wondering why its a big deal that Aguero was caught on tape inside because he actually said he had gone inside.  Well there are a lot of reasons - chief among them being the fact that you need know what to believe out of Aguero because he brags a lot, but rarely lives up to his own hype.  Which is funny because he calls himself an "independent journalist".  He's not a journalist. He's not a news source. He's a biased conservative and is not affiliated with an actual news site. In fact, a little over a week ago he was kicked out of an event at the border by officials because they called him out on not actually having press credentials. He has something he made with his picture and the name...

I know.  I haven't been blogging. I've been busy, but I'll try to be better about blogging more. There really is a lot going on, I just got a lot of plates in the air right now.  I didn't think I'd ever actually have to clear up a rumor like this but apparently I do. You have to be a really special kind of stupid to believe this particular rumor but some people apparently do, so I actually have to say this shit out loud but here goes: No, I am not now - nor have I ever been - running a campaign for Gary Gandara.  I don't know how this got started but enough people have mentioned it to me that it is no longer a punchline for a smart ass remark from me.  Do you people not read the shit I've written for the last, oh I don't know, DECADE about the Gandara clan?  They are their own narco-corrido.  That family put a stain on lower valley politics that will literally take generations to undo. I have many, many flaws as a human being - put I don't involve my...

Many of us saw the current crazy of the Republican Party start to poke its head out from their KKK hoods back in the Tea Party days. After Obama won two elections in a row, many in the Republican Party knew that they could no longer afford to continue to contract in numbers. They realized that they could no longer be a whites-only country club party.  But that effort didn't last long. They ditched the effort to attract new people fairly quickly, which is why you always see shots of the same few token minorities that show up to their conventions. They are pretty bold about things now, and they went in the opposite direction. Now they actually have white nationalists, confederates, overt racists, and covens of gringas calling themselves "Border Blondes" making up their leadership. There was actually a time that the GOP made an effort to keep their weird fucking uncles hidden in the basement in an effort to hide their crazy.  Now, the inmates are running the asylum.  Rather ...

Rather than readying themselves for a fight in the midterms/gubernatorial cycle, the El Paso GOP apparently thinks their time and energy is better spent fighting with one another. Just kidding, no amount of money or organizing could make the El Paso GOP competitive in any partisan race.  But nonetheless, the civil war of personalities has escalated to the point of Seeberger retaining an attorney. Multiple members of the El Paso GOP provided me copies of a Cease and Desist Letter that has recently been filed.  What practical impact does it make? None, its pretty much Seeberger trying to flex his muscles. The letter basically says that he wants Ray Baca and the County Executive Committee of the El Paso Republican Party to stop referring to Ray Baca as the Party Chair and to basically undo anything they have done so for.  He's giving him a few days to do it - or else.  Not exactly clear on what exactly the what else is, but you can pretty much try to sue anyone for anyt...

Fabens ISD Board President and long-time community leader "Coach" Rey Sepulveda has passed away after a fight with cancer.  Coach, as he was affectionately known around Fabens, was a long-time advocate for a range of issues in Fabens including education.  I had a chance to sit and talk with him when he was a candidate for House District 75 and was challenging Mary Gonzalez for her seat.  I met him at a Whataburger in the valley and we had lunch and talked for about two hours. He understood exactly what he was up against. He knew he wasn't likely to win and that she basically had every advantage possible. But he didn't back down and stayed in the race despite the odds.  You gotta admire someone who knows the fight in front of them, knows they don't have the resources to win, but is willing to stand on principle for what they care about.  I remember him as jovial, with an infectious laugh and a strong handshake. But my biggest takeaway from Coach was his commitmen...

So the Monday Night Massacre turned out to be pretty funny. And just about every ReTrumplican in El Paso from Fabens to Canutillo is upset that I aired their dirty laundry. You know for a blog that "nobody reads", they sure get bent out of shape and quote it chapter and verse, don't they? I feel like Republicans think I'm Sancho or something. They deny me in public, but late at night, when no one is looking, they come looking for Bid Daddy LionStar on the DL.  There was some confusion in the local twitterverse about what faction ended up on the winning side of everything the other night.  The local Republicans that took part in the Monday Night Massacre are trying to pretend that the Party isn't a giant desmadre and that they all came out united. You should know better than to believe people like the Surrats at this point. The local GOP is anything but united and Michael Surrat must have had a few too many of his nuts in his mouth if he thinks for one second that ...