On Saturday, September 23, 2006, I was watching “Es Tu Capital” [“It is your Capital”] hosted by Antonio Aguillen of Univision. This show is in Spanish and it has a focus on city, state and federal issues every Saturday morning. It is basically the Univision “Meet the Press” of San Antonio and South Texas.

At approximately 9:50 a.m., host Antonio Aguillen asked his two guests in the civil rights movement if it were true that the detention and processing centers in South Texas for illegal aliens were essentially “Soviet style Gulags” for workers who were crossing the border.  One of his guests agreed with Mr. Aguillen and went further by stating that they were closer to “German concentration camps.” INCREDIBLE!!!

Picture Of Warehouse In Auschwitz Full Of Clothing And Shoes

A warehouse full of shoes and clothing confiscated from the prisoners and deportees gassed upon their arrival. The Germans shipped these goods to Germany. (After January 1945)

Did Antonio Aguillen stop his guest at this point? No. He let the guest go on and on. It is pathetic that the Hispanic media is allowing guests to compare processing centers for those who have violated the national sovereignty of the United States to “Soviet style gulags” and “concentration camps” where millions of Russians, Jews, political prisoners, gypsies and other Europeans were murdered with amazing efficiency.

Soviet Gulag Prisoners Laying Train Tracks From 1927-1953

It is estimated that close to 50 million people were killed in concentration camps and gulags. Is that occurring in South Texas? Of course not!!

Why is the Spanish media allowing this nonsense to broadcast to thousands and thousands of Spanish speaking viewers? It is simple. This is my personal opinion.

• They want to scare immigrants and Spanish speaking viewers. The message: “If you are caught by the border patrol, you will be taken to a German style concentration camp or a gulag. We all know what happens there. Oh, by the way, show up for our march for immigration rights on this date.” 
• This is an outrage. These processing centers are set up to identify and process those who have entered our country illegally. They go through the system and they get sent back to their country of origin. This happens every day.
• The Univision Corporation makes it clear at the end of the broadcast that the views of the guests do not reflect their own personal and corporate views. That is fine, but they do have a responsibility not to allow their paid hosts to use their own left-leaning political bias to imply to viewers that processing centers are “concentration camps” or “Soviet style gulags.”
• This is irresponsible for a major and well-respected channel like Univision.

What can you do? Please contact Ray Rodriguez of Univision. He is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Univision in Los Angeles. Mr. Rodriguez really does care what you think. His staff takes these comments very seriously. PLEASE take 2 minutes to send him a short and nice note.

Ray Rodriguez can be contacted at RRodriguez@univision.net 

Please let him know that is wrong for Antonio Aguillen of San Antonio, Texas, to imply to his viewers that processing centers in South Texas are “Soviet style Gulags.” This is an insult to the United States border patrol and the National Guard. 

Beyond that, it trivializes the millions who were murdered in the real gulags and concentrations camps over 50 years ago.
 

Look at this headline: 

Bush ready to OK border barrier by Charles Hurt/The Washington Times, September 22, 2006

President Bush will sign the bill to construct 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border if it is approved by the Senate, the White House said, as Congress continued yesterday drafting more legislation to combat illegal immigration.

Washington Times Article

Compare it to this speech segment: 

123rd Commencement Address to U.T. Graduates in Austin, Texas: “La Musica Por Dentro” by The U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza

Speech segment:

“Simply building walls does not speak America to me. I know we can be both a welcoming society and a secure and lawful one.”

Original Source: The Alcalde Magazine, July/August 2006 Edition (Texas EXES Magazine)

Commentary by Joe Solis/South Texas Republicans: 

What gives? 

Why does the President of the United States and his Ambassador to Mexico have different points of view on building fences to enhance border security? Is Ambassador Garza saying that President Bush “does not speak America” to him because he is personally opposed to fences? 

More bad news about U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza

Source:  Rumbo Newspaper (San Antonio) 9/15/06 edition.

Headline: Narcoviolencia: Epidemia Que Azota Mexico

(Translation: Narcoviolence: The Epidemic that Beats up Mexico)

The article in Spanish makes some very strong statements: 

The drug trade is growing at a 20% rate per year. Officials in the state of Michoacan now claim that the only way to hold off the narco-violence is to replace the entire police force in their state. The cartels of the 90s have reorganized and there are now two mega-cartels that have major influence in some states and they continue to fight of over control of other ones.

Here is a list of drug related murders in Mexico since 9/5/2006:

States in Mexico and numbers:

Sinaloa: 363; Michoacan: 349; Tamaulipas: 349; Guerrero: 100; Baja California: 85. 

Murders in 2005: 1,520 or 4.1 per day

Murders in 2006: 1,385 or 5.3 per day
 

Here is my suggestion for Ambassador Garza: Why don’t you spend less time sitting on higher education committees in Texas and more time finding ways of dealing with this out-of-control drug trade violence in Mexico? This cartel violence is bound to spread into South Texas soon. That is why you are there. 

For the record: The ambassador did give an encouraging speech before a recent conference in Mexico City. 

Ambassador's Speech

They are “feel good” remarks, but they fail to address the issue of mega drug cartels that continue to engulf the entire nation of Mexico.  

All of us know it is time for a new Ambassador to Mexico. 
 

Please Join The Republican Business Women Of Bexar County At Their October Meeting

Honored Guest Speaker: U.S. Senator John Cornyn

Date: Thursday, Oct 12, 2006

Time: 11:00 a.m. (lunch 11:30 a.m.)

Location: San Antonio Country Club

Cost: $17.00

Please make reservations by Oct. 9, 2006 with Dee Brame at 210-493-5512 or email deeb@satx.rr.com.
 

Please join the Republican Club of Comal County on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. at the Guadalupe Valley Telecommunications Cooperative, 36101 FM 3159 New Braunfels, Texas.

Speaker: Nathan Macias, Republican Candidate 73rd District.

Please join the Republican Club of Comal County on Tuesday, October 31, 2006, 7:00 p.m. at the Guadalupe Valley Telecommunications Cooperative, 36101 FM 3159, New Braunfels, Texas.

Cost: FREE

Speaker: Congressmen Lamar Smith

Contact: Tom or Naila Goodro, Membership Co-Chairs Republican Club of Comal County 830-438-5012
 

What: Ronald Reagan Conservative Society 2006 “Remembering Ronald Reagan” Dinner & Dance

When: Saturday October 14th

Time: VIP Reception at 5:30 p.m., Dinner at 7:30 p.m., Dance with Texas Singer-Songwriter Arleen Nicastro at 9:00 p.m.

Where: Westin Park Central Hotel (75/635/Coit Area)

Table Sponsorships Available:

$5,000 Presidential, $2,500 Cabinet, $1,750 Senate, $1,500 Congressional

Limited Individual Tickets Available: $100 each, on-line purchases available at:

www.reagansociety.org/ticketorders.htm
 

Invites you to the

2006 AMERICAN DREAM AWARD LUNCHEON

Honoring

The Honorable Greg Abbott

Attorney General, State of Texas

&

The Honorable Ted Cruz

Solicitor General, State of Texas

2006 Rising Star Awardee

Friday, September 29, 2006

11:30am

Austin, Texas

Ticket Price:  $50 per person

For more information or to RSVP please contact Suzanne Bellsnyder,

512-804-1106, suzanne@haprogressinstitute.org

The Hispanic Alliance for Progress (HAP) is a platform for policy, advocacy, development and delivery of innovative solutions targeting underserved Hispanics. HAP seeks to improve the lives of Hispanics by ensuring access to the economic mainstream, while reinforcing the traditional value systems of the Hispanic culture, and the opportunity to achieve the American Dream. HAP is a 501 (c) (3) organization. 

Texas Headquarters Address

111 Congress Avenue, Suite 400 - Austin, Texas 78701

Phone: 512-391-3852
 

Alamo City Republican Women, Joe Solis/South Texas Republicans and Quico Canseco are hosting our first ever “Meet the Judges” buffet breakfast featuring one of our favorite jurists at the Bexar County Courthouse- 150th District Court Judge Janet Littlejohn.

This is our 8th FREE and “Open to the Public” event in support of our judges during this 2006 election season. No other political action committees in South Texas are providing this kind of grassroots support of our judges. We encourage you to get involved this year.

PLEASE come out and support our judges this election season.  

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!

Location: Golden Corral, 9451 IH-10 West, San Antonio, Texas 78230 (210-690-3642)

Time: 8:30am– 10:00am (Remarks:  9:30am)
 

Date: October 2nd (Monday)

Time: 6:30-8:00pm

Cost: FREE

Location: Crowne Plaza San Antonio Airport Hotel; 1111 NE Loop 410 in San Antonio, Texas; 210-331-5307

The Crown Plaza Website

Sponsorships Available:

Platinum: $250
Gold:  $150
Silver:  $75
Bronze: $25

R.S.V.P. Today:  Schuylar Crist
<skyskyrider@hotmail.com>

As a Senior Fellow of the Heritage Foundation, Peter Brookes’ primary responsibility is to communicate Heritage’s stance on foreign policy and national security affairs through media appearances, interviews, ongoing research and speaking engagements. He is also a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Commission.

In addition, he is a weekly columnist on foreign policy, defense and trade issues for America’s 6th largest paper, the New York Post. Brookes’ column also appears regularly in the Boston Herald, Orange County Register, Japan's Daily Yomiuri, Taiwan's China Post, Townhall.com, RealClearPolitics.com, and Military.com. He frequently appears on TV and radio including FOX, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, NPR and BBC. During 2005-2006, Brookes hosted The Brookes Report on WMET 1160 radio in Washington, D.C. He is the author of A Devil's Triangle: Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction and Rogue States.

Brookes served in the George W. Bush administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Affairs, where he was responsible for the development, planning, guidance and oversight of U .S. security and defense policy for 38 countries and 5 bilateral defense alliances in the Asia-Pacific region. He was a principal drafter of the 2000 GOP foreign policy platform at the Republican convention in Philadelphia and subsequently supported the Bush Department of Defense Transition Team. In 2004, he served on the Bush campaign's foreign policy and veterans’ advisory boards.

Prior to joining the Bush administration, Brookes worked as a Professional Staff Member with the Republican staff of the Committee on International Relations in the U.S. House of Representatives focusing on East and South Asian affairs. He also served with the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, focusing on global political affairs, arms control, and weapons proliferation. Just prior to his CIA service, he worked on international economic issues for the State Department at the United Nations, and in the private sector in the defense industry.

He has a distinguished military background in the U.S. Navy, including active duty in tours in Panama and Japan during the Cold War and in support of military operations in Iraq/Kuwait (Desert Storm); Haiti (Restore Democracy); and Bosnia (Joint Endeavor) as a reservist. He has over 1300 flight hours aboard Navy EP-3 aircraft, flying reconnaissance missions in East Asia and the Persian Gulf. He is currently a Commander in the Naval Reserves.

He is a frequent public speaker and has testified before both the Senate and House of Representatives on foreign policy, defense and intelligence issues.

Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization, is a research and educational institute - a think tank - whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.

Note From Schuylar Crist of South Texas Republicans:

I want to express my sincere thanks to you, the supporters of South Texas Republicans. For without you, I would not have been able to attend the Foreign Policy Communications training in Washington, D.C. last May. It was there where I met Mr. Brookes when he came to speak to our group. Shortly thereafter, I was able to correspond with Mr. Brookes via e-mail and invite him to speak to our Rough Riders of Bexar County group.
 

Save the Date: October 4th (Wednesday)

Time: 6pm-8pm (Remarks at 6:45pm)

Location: Mamacita's Mexican Restaurant 8030 I-10W in San Antonio

Hosted by Alamo City Republican Women, Joe Solis/South Texas Republicans, & Quico Canseco.

Justice Karen Angelini has served as a judge on the Fourth Court of Appeals since 1997 when she was appointed by then-Governor George W. Bush to fill a vacancy on the Court. In her nine and one-half years of service on the Court, Justice Angelini has served the court with honor, integrity and fairness, authoring more than 1300 legal opinions in both civil and criminal cases. The civil cases involve all areas of law, including personal injury, family, probate, real estate, and contracts. The criminal cases include all felony and misdemeanor cases from the 32-county district, with the exception of death penalty capital murder cases. The cases the Court decides are vitally important not only to the parties involved but also to the citizens of the district and the State of Texas.

http://www.justicekarenangelini.com/index.html
 

Get ready for a wonderful opportunity to have breakfast tacos with Judge Tim Johnson, County Court at Law, #5. This will be an exciting networking opportunity for those in the business community.

Date:  October 5th

Time: 7:30am-9:00am

Location: Mama Margie's/9950 I-10H at Wurzbach

Info at www.votejudgejohnson.com.

Did you know that there are only 2 Republicans and 10 Democrats in the Bexar County Courts of Law system? 

Hosted by Alamo City Republican Women, Joe Solis/South Texas Republicans, & Quico Canseco.
 

We are proud to announce that South Texas Republicans will be hosting a small business breakfast summit featuring Marialyn Barnard in the next few weeks. This event will be FREE and open to small business owners and citizens interested in small business issues in Bexar County.

SAVE THE DATE: OCTOBER 10th!! 

The 225th District Court is a civil trial court that represents all who live in Bexar County. It is one of thirteen civil district courts in Bexar County. There are a total of twenty-five district courts in Bexar County. Each district court represents everyone in Bexar County. Twelve of the district courts handle only criminal cases.

The 225th District Court, like the other twelve civil district courts in Bexar County, handles cases involving the following:
• Families
• Small Businesses
• Homeowners
• Employees and Employers
• Nursing Homes
• Health Care
• Automobile Accidents
• Business Damages
• Taxes
• Contracts
• Eminent Domain
• Municipal Issues
• Oil and Gas
• Complex Business Litigation.

The 225th is a trial court. In fact, it is the highest level of trial court in the Texas Court System. There are jury trials and non-jury trials in the 225th District Court. Non-jury trials are tried before the judge only. In both jury and non-jury trials it is critical that the judge have good knowledge and experience in applying the rules of evidence and procedure fairly in every type of case, no matter who the parties are and no matter how complex the litigation might be.

Most cases never go to trial, but many do. Although the parties file the cases in court, they often settle their cases before the trial date. However, many times there are pre-trial hearings before the judge that are necessary for the preparation of the trial or for the settlement of the case. Pre-trial hearings are common in many cases, and can be very helpful in giving the parties involved the necessary information for working toward a reasonable and fair resolution of their case. Understanding the rules of discovery and the rules of evidence and procedure as applied to the variety of different types of cases is critical to the fair and impartial application of the law for everyone who comes before the court.

It is important to have a jurist with the broad base of experience necessary to handle the wide variety of cases that come before the court. Marialyn Barnard is the only candidate for the 225th District Court who meets those criteria.

http://marialynbarnard.com/index.html

Event details will be provided in our upcoming newsletter.

Hosted by Alamo City Republican Women, Joe Solis/ South Texas Republicans, & Quico Canseco
 

Please join the Alamo City Republican Women and surrounding areas on

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

11:00am - 1:30pm at the Oak Hills Country Club, 5403, Fredericksburg Road

Guest of Honor: The First Lady of Texas, Anita Perry.

Cost: $20.00 RESERVATIONS REQUIRED.  Men are welcome at all events.

Space is limited. Deadline for Reservations Noon, Friday, October 20th.

Contact: Carolyn 493-6210 or Barbara 342-5482

OR Email reservations to: Reservations@ACRWomen.org

ALL E-MAILS MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: your full name and phone number.
 

This is a series by an anonymous political insider in Bexar County. The views of this author do not represent the views of South Texas Republicans. 

September is almost gone and a pending implosion in the ranks of the Bexar County Democratic Party is about to erupt. Word is that certain party activists accuse the Party Chair of acting like a dictator, hiding money, throwing temper tantrums and censoring one of the Democratic organizations for not kowtowing to her every whim. The Party Chair in turn accuses her detractors of deliberately undermining her authority. Accusations are flying on both sides of the controversy. A classic case of, “he said, she said.”

What is worse, there has been at least one resignation from a committee with possibly more to follow, featuring more than one in-your-face screaming match to include street language only a sailor could appreciate and discontent everywhere. Must be election time again

Apparently, the infamous Barrio Precinct Chairs are at it again by making trouble for everyone. It seems Party Chair Carla Vela is fueling their disdain for her and making it easy to attack her on all fronts.

Rumors of litigation are also on the controversy du jour. Will it never end? As long as there is more than one Democrat in the room, it is not likely.

Perhaps a deep breath or two and some humility might go along way on both sides. The problem is that many Democrats in the crossfire must choose sides even if they disagree with both sides. That does not bode well for the November election.

On top of that, other party activists are railing about the fact that the political consultants are running the candidates campaigns and not the Party itself. It seems that everybody is in charge and nobody is in charge.

Also being talked about is the so-called truce among the five or six Democratic candidates who are still running against Henry the “Horrible,” in the 23rd District. It seems that not all the candidates are living up to the terms of endearment for each other, as promised.

Subtle accusations of past indiscretions on the part of at least two candidates with an assortment of problems are beginning to surface. I wonder which candidate will be the first to be revealed to have a sordid past.

But then again, the Republican congressional representative is no saint either. Democrats are whispering that they plan to attack Henry the “Horrible” on his past indiscretions as well. It is floating around that Democrats will go after him on those specific accusations. It looks like the 23rd brouhaha is getting personal. You can expect it to get nasty.

Then there is Republican Judge Rene Diaz who was recently accused of plagiarizing a Democratic Judge on questions submitted to the bar about how they conduct their court. In his defense, according to the local newspaper which published the original story, he did change his answers and offer to pay for the rebinding of the book that the Bar publishes on judges.

Two weeks ago, I apologized for some inaccurate information that I passed along as fact on Judge Diaz. I believed he crashed a Democratic event without invitation. 

The truth was that he received an invite to the event and told he could speak. My information of his attendance at the meeting turned out to be only half-right. Maybe the Judge ought to do the same, own up to his mistake, apologize and move on. I am just posing the suggestion to him.

Now that former Governor Ann Richards has been laid to rest, maybe some local politicians on both sides can learn from her self-depracating humor and compassion for her beliefs and not be so negative to fellow elected leaders.

Again, I quote the misunderstood criminal and part time philosopher Rodney King, “Can’t we all just get along?” We will be asking for a long time, “Where is Ann when we need her?”

Let us move on to the Kinkster for a moment. If Friedman wins the governor’s race, his first order of business should theoretically be to legalize pot, so his good friend Willie Nelson, who he wants on his staff, will not spend his revitalized celebrity in jail.

Maybe Willie ought to serve as the official poster boy for the legalization of marijuana. However, then again, weirder things have happened.

Finally, I ask the question, “What about Beauty and the Beast?” Of course, I am talking about Probate Judge Tom Rickoff vs. contender Barbie Sharf-Zeldes.

You know Tom Rickhoff. He is the one with two sons who participated in speed racing and were not charged. He's also the guy with those black and gold signs that remind us of vampires every time he is on the ballot.

Here is a guy who has moved up the political ladder to the Fourth Court of Appeals and then down a few rungs to probate court. Word is “Beast” is attacking “Beauty” in public and on the air waves, claiming she has no trial experience.

Sounds like he needs to join the “testosterone twins” on the other side of the political coin. Since the twins are running for the 4th Court and he was on the 4th Court, he fits in well. He should join them and become one of the “testosterone triplets.”

Either that or the new rendition of the three stooges! Personally, he reminds me of Curly, but with hair. Only time will tell.

That is the moderate viewpoint. I AM the "Republicrat"!