Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Aaron Pena's latest tale of woe

If you're Latino in South Texas and driving without current registration and insurance, wearing a Greg Abbott T-shirt still isn't going to help.

Even a Democrat who switched to the GOP should have been smart enough to see this coming.

Aaron Peña was pulled over in Robstown, outside of Corpus Christi, for expired license plates. After being questioned by local police officers as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, Robstown police impounded his vehicle and wrote him a ticket for lacking proof of automobile insurance, a charge Mr. Peña disputes.

“I don’t mind that they pulled me over,” said Peña, a Republican from Edinburg. “I don’t mind that they gave me a ticket. I do mind with great personal offense that they treated me like a drug dealer and accused me of lying.”

Peña was driving a 2001 Dodge pickup he said he had purchased within the previous two weeks. He had planned to drive it home to Edinburg so his son could take it with him when he starts college. Peña had expected to address the vehicle’s expired license plate once he got to South Texas. He had considered the possibility that the plates might get him pulled over but figured he would, if needed, explain to a police officer the situation and risk getting a ticket.

While driving down U.S. Highway 77, Peña was pulled over in Robstown. A Robstown police officer directed him to get out of his pickup. Peña complied. He was wearing dress pants and dress shoes and a campaign T-shirt for Attorney General Greg Abbott, who just kicked off his gubernatorial campaign. Peña had introduced Abbott at a campaign event earlier in the week.

Just had to emphasize that.

Within minutes of Peña getting out of his vehicle, he noticed that the two Robstown officers had been joined by at least two other officers. They were not in uniform, but Peña said he could tell they were with the Department of Homeland Security by the badges they wore on chains around their necks. A police spokesman confirmed that the men were with ICE.

“There was a point where I sensed that I was surrounded,” Peña said. “I asked if this was bigger than a traffic stop. One of them says ‘You tell me.’”

"Ha Ha Ha! Look, it's a Mexican Republican!"

We've talked much about Pena here over the years -- his sneaking down the alley to a strategy meeting with Tom Craddick (wearing a jogging suit, baseball cap pulled low) in 2007, his shenanigans during the 2008 campaign where he showed up at events as a supporter of both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, his flip-flop from D to R in 2010, the eventual demise of his political career. It hasn't all been harsh; I wrote something nice in 2009, when he was still a Dem and introduced some legislation protecting bloggers.

But it strains credibility -- as if Aaron Pena still has any left among people who process thought -- that these words would exit his piehole.

“They assumed I was guilty, and they expected me to prove that I was innocent,” Peña said.

Welcome to South Texas, Rep. Pena. Now you can go home. Hope you learned something from this experience about how your former constituents live their lives every day.

Perhaps you'll be better known among LEOs by posting more Twitpics like this.


No, I think that likely heightens suspicions.

Update: Another Two Cents.

Monday, July 22, 2013

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance sends condolences to the family and friends of legendary White House reporter Helen Thomas as it brings you this week's blog post roundup.

Off the Kuff discusses the status of abortion litigation as pro-choice forces in Texas prepare to file suit over Texas' harmful new law.

Horwitz at Texpatriate covers the current state of municipal elections in Houston.

Can Texas Democrats win in 2014 if they focus on turning out women of all demographics to the polls? PDiddie at Brains and Eggs says 'no, but'...

WCNews at Eye on Williamson makes the case: Why Wendy Davis must run for Governor of Texas in 2014.

Texas Leftist observes that campaign season has swung into high gear for Houston, as city council members debate the true cost of 380 deals.

===============

And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

CultureMap Houston was on the scene of the dueling protests of Trayvon Martin supporters and their opponents in River Oaks yesterday.

Half Empty says that the Republican War on Women really isn't about women.

Bluedaze delicately points out that one fracking well test does not indicate that all fracking wells are safe.

The Bayou has the news that Texas judges and district attorneys got a raise from the Lege.

Egberto Willies interviewed one of the supporters of HB-2 (the abortion restrictions bill Rick Perry signed into law last week) and came away a little concerned.

And lastly, Hair Balls reports on the new amusement park going up outside Houston that will have a Giant Texas theme.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Chris Hedges: America is a tinderbox

This 18 minutes is going to upset a few people.



OK, a lot of people. If you happen to be one of those people, you might want to go back to watching Dancing with the Stars or something.

Update
: Transcript.