Like many I watched the president’s State of the Union speech last Tuesday night and as I expected (we are in an election season), it was mostly a political campaign speech that no one believes will ever become fact. However, there was a portion that if the ideal was one that I could believe President Obama could possibly accept, he would have my vote.
He said:
“I’m a Democrat, but I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed: That government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more.”
Unfortunately, it is doubtful that any of the current candidates would be able to let the folks make their own decisions and mistakes.
At this time when public adversaries are telling us why we should entrust them with the stewardship of our future, politicians are stirring up the muck in hopes of showing themselves as being not that bad. Even the best have vastly different motivations than we “huddled masses” do, and even if their motivations were more altruistic they would still be influenced by the ideas of what is good for one is good for all. That just ain’t true!
Many brilliant thinkers have expounded on politicians to every end, and suggested why we have the messes we do. Mark Twain said, “Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.”
Comedian P.J. O’Rourke also accurately focused on the issue when he said: “The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work and then they get elected and prove it.”
Still we will continue to elect the person who is not as bad as the others!
There are many, many more witnesses who will ask to be heard in the court of public opinion before the election.
What I would like, however, is for government officials to at the least do what they admit they are doing.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is remarkably good at the medical part of its job of helping our creator maintain the body that we screw up with wars and poor maintenance. The surgeons, doctors, pharmacologists and other medical professionals are superb. The mere fact that I am still alive is proof enough.
Locally, the Harlingen VA clinic is quite good and getting better with the addition of its new facility next door and the inclusion of a home for a number of outpatient professions such as dermatology and rheumatology which, as it happens, fit my needs.
My only bugaboo is the time it takes to pick up medications at the facility. From the time the script is issued it can take two hours or more, and that is when you get there when the facility opens its doors at 8 a.m.
In their defense, though, on more than one occasion a manager has approached me to tell me the steps they are taking to resolve the problems.
The other problem is more insidious. They seem unable to accurately maintain any kind of billing and accounting system; perhaps they should contract out to Blue Cross to help them.
As those who follow my column know, I was hospitalized recently at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Houston for some very serious surgery that may or may not have resulted from my military service.
I recently became aware that when the VA got around to billing me, it does not first bill Medicare as is required of other hospitals, though it attributes an amount of the bill to Medicare. The bill is then forwarded to a second insurance company that in my case is a secondary, high-option Blue Cross plan (not a supplementary carrier). Blue Cross correctly identifies that it is not liable for the Medicare amount and pays the rest. It properly sends me notice that I am not liable for any further payment.
The VA then determines that because I do not have a serviceconnected disability and am not financially wanting, it bills me for the Medicare amount.
If any of you have received hospital care you know that we are all required by law to contribute to Medicare, and it is normally required to be the first payer for hospital services. This is the current government health plan!
Since the VA does not or cannot bill another part of the government, it expects me to pay the very large sum that Medicare (that I am required by law to subscribe to) normally would pay.
In my case the medical conditions are such that the VA team are uniquely qualified and experienced in caring for. I can only hope that the VA can determine that when a veteran of wartime service, in the theater of operations, cannot be shown to have been directly fired upon or sprayed with the dangerous chemicals that officials have agreed were used, can still be treated by them at a cost no more than would be charged by a civilian hospital.
Now that our local clinic also provides the follow-up services I require, I might be spared a trip to Houston for follow-up treatment.

We now have a peek at what our political leaders and potential political leaders are like, and to be candid I am certainly less than happy with any of them, from the highest in the land to our local community.
The best choice available will be the best of the poor choices.
One reason that sticks out is that the best candidates have jobs (not necessarily political) that they are successful at. They cannot take a two-, four- or six-year vacation and stay competent during that vacation.
One of the things Gov. Rick Perry has advanced is to limit the activity of Congress to part time. It seems to work here in Texas as well as full-time legislatures work anywhere else. I think the idea has considerable merit.
It is advanced that the legislators of this branch would be nearly crippled in their ability to understand complex issues and act on them. It appears that only the sponsor and some of the leaders in any legislature have more than a nodding understanding. In the last terms Congress did not even have the bills to read; many bills were cumbersome and compiled especially to make them difficult to understand. It makes more opportunity to focus benefits on friends.
Why not require each bill to be clear, concise and understandable so that it can be published for the public to read and give their representative their thoughts on the issue? Then the representative would spend the voting part of the term and the end of the term. The public would have a better view of the legislator’s response to the wishes of the constituency.
It is also asserted that when legislators are absent from Washington most of the year, government employees and lobbyists, neither of whom are elected, would lobby the elected administrator every day to carry out the “people’s” work. I really don’t see a change.
If the legislator is present with his or her constituency, the votes would be better understood and reflect the folks’ desires.
The big issue is, whom do we recruit?
We need individuals who have the sense of duty and understand bureaucracy. My first choice would be someone has served successfully in the military, a senior enlisted or former officer. Those individuals would certainly understand how the bureaucratic system works and how to secure support for the needs of the unit he or she belongs to.
What better experience could you have? As an alternative perhaps we could find a mom who has successfully raised some children.
The training gained there is current and incomparable. Experience in making and keeping to a budget as well as the costs you must pay when one stretches those credit reserves is very much on point.
Perhaps we need to put up signs like those of just a few years ago: “We need you.”
I have been following the sad issue of the shooting death of Jaime Gonzalez Jr. and my heart goes out to his family in their time of sadness and perplexity. I can also easily understand the shock and overpowering drive to reach out and seek redress for the loss that can never truly be satisfied.
I can also easily understand that horrible sick feeling in the pit of the stomach that the officers might have felt when a life is taken, no matter what the circumstance. In both cases those feelings might never go away and could require lengthy counseling.
I have a little insight, as I spent a career in the military and law enforcement. I am also a dad and worry continuously about both my children who live far away.
In this case it appears that the officers were confronted with a young man brandishing what appeared to be a Glock semiautomatic, 9mm handgun, but turned out to be a pellet pistol. Those also could be very dangerous.
The officers appeared to take extraordinary risks in giving the young man several opportunities to drop the weapon and diminish the risk to the children and teachers on campus and themselves.
A whirlwind of thoughts and alternatives were probably swirling in the minds of the officers. The worst case, just as we have seen on TV, always comes to the forefront. Were the young man to have taken the officers’ delayed action as weakness, and he were to start firing all of the potentially fourteen shots, the officers could lose their lives as could as numerous children and staff.
My heart also goes out to those officers who delayed taking action until hope of a resolution was lost to them. Surely, they had younger brothers or children that weighed heavily.
I hope that for all concerned this horrible experience can be put to rest so that all those involved can have the time to deal with their grief.

I would like to wish you all a very healthy and prosperous New Year. Let us all take the coming election choices seriously in hopes our chosen candidates do not contribute in making the situation worse.
Many of our neighbors seem to be deeply concerned with their perceptions of the candidates. More than 2 million voters have left both the Democratic and Republican parties since the last presidential election, and the number of independent voters continues to grow. A USA Today analysis of state voter registration statistics shows registered Democrats have declined in 25 of the 28 states that register voters by party. Republicans dipped in 21 states, and independents increased in 18 states. In eight of the “swing” states, Democrats’ registration is down by 800,000 and Republicans’ by 350,000. Independents have gained 325,000.
It is quite apparent that a large portion of the voters are very concerned with their traditional voting choices and have had their confidence in our leadership severely shaken. My confidences in the political leadership at all levels in all three main parties, Libertarian, Republican and Democrat, are in serious doubt.
Worse yet, I see very few leaders in training with much promise.
Most of the leaders in those labeled as Republicans or Democrats are mostly “Demopublican” or Repubocrat” big-government types who are pushing us toward an economic meltdown that continues to chip away at our freedoms. They portend to get us into never-ending undeclared wars just so they look like they are strong and are needed to preserve the freedoms we are losing daily.
This consumption of our resources pushes ever closer to that of a welfare state. We can look down the road in our past to the “lost Jamestown Colony” of historic colonial times. That is what awaits us.
Our citizens do not need to be controlled and legislated into automatons that just support the politicos.
Consider the recent controls that the administration wants to establish by controlling medicine. They seem to have a vision of a world ruled by the government with a law to determine how every one must live and uses taxation to control this.
When someone is successful they limit how profitable that individual can be by raising the tax outrageously rather than allowing the profits to be reinvested and provide for newer and more efficient products that would require better jobs for others to make them.
Our new leaders need to evolve a movement into a small-government party.
Americans are seeing a lot in common by comparing the Republicans and Democrats of today with the evolving lack of popularity of Sears and Kmart; the same old products and displays just doesn’t attract the more sophisticated customer anymore.
We have evolved and need to motivate a new segment of citizen leader similar to the Eisenhowers and Kennedys just following the world wars.
There are young heroes who have the passion and motivation to be the nation’s saviors. They are just returning from the battlefield.
All they need is to have those passions and leadership skills that have been honed on the field of battle translated into the language of politics, and then to be motivated to develop a concept of a leaner, more efficient government that would be similar to that of the parttime government that our founders envisioned.
What we do not need are more politicos creating more and more government to support them.
In the coming election I will be looking for candidates who will do the least harm and allow us to keep more of our hard-earned wages or profits that can be reinvested in newer and better products.
We need to encourage more Michael Dells, who build and market better and more affordable products by starting from a garage and marketing directly. Those products then motivate others to build and market supporting products, but only if they can use profits to expand and evolve.
A greedy government that goes into debt in order to create more needs for government services is counterproductive and only creates more folks who are merely slaves to the government charity. We need a new way of envisioning government and our recently liberated military folks are just the kind we need to build a new kind of more efficient government

I was sitting at at my desk wondering where new honest political leaders can be found. The experience many have is that those that we hear about in public service are doing things we don’t approve of, are corrupt or just don’t get elected after spending substantial sums of money.
All of those things are unattractive and the job is not stable and does not provide a consistent income over a period. Let’s face it: That kind of public service just does not assure a stable income.
We still need to identify future political leaders and provide the technical information needed to research the requirements of the elected office and how to become knowledgeable about it.
Let us remember that our forefathers designed the process as a part-time job. It was thought that anyone who could maintain his household and his business or estate could become a congressman or other elected official.
It was also thought that the legislative process would be a parttime job if the legislators were honest and serious about the work at hand. The folks here in Texas believed that also and made it stick. Things work very well with a parttime legislature. Perhaps the U.S. Congress would do a better job were it a part-time one, as perceived by our forefathers.
One of our own is currently running, and for the first time in many tries he has hit his stride and is holding a spot near the top of those Republicans in the race.
In my mind Ron Paul is a libertarian. I met him on June 10, 2006, at the Texas State Libertarian Convention. He gave me an autographed copy of the Constitution of the United States, prefaced with remarks, as he often does when he meets someone.
Of particular meaning to me was the following:
“The Constitution and those who have sworn to uphold it are not perfect, and it’s understandable that abuse occurs. But it shouldn’t be acceptable.
“Without meticulous adherence to the principle of the rule of law, minor infractions become commonplace and the Constitution loses all meaning.” — Ron Paul.
It seems that for the first time in many years large numbers are concerned about the weakening of the Constitution by Congress and the administration, and Congressman Paul is running very well according the various news reports. Currently he is approaching the point of the most popular candidate in the Republican field, where in the past he rarely reached polling in excess of 10 percent.
In the last few years the libertarians have been searching for new folks to run in elections for the first time. They would assign professional political advisers to help them prepare. Only a few accepted the challenge.
Perhaps the reluctance was engendered by an affiliation with the apparent “third-best” party.
I think the concept is still good and would like to see a group of folks who are interested in politics to mentor young people and prepare them for political office. In order to see some success, I suspect the political ideals would have to be varied with some Democrats, Republicans and independents providing the guidance.
I would like to see a place where interested young people, or just people young at heart, could come together to share their ideas and learn how the political system works and then become involved in it.
I have participated as a Democrat, a Republican and most recently as a Libertarian. I have seen good ideas and troublesome ones as well in all three political views.
I would like to hear from anyone who agrees that there is room for an independent group to help aspiring politicians reach their goals. I would like to participate working toward a goal of “love for liberty,” as referred to in Dr. Paul’s comments:
“Without a renewed love for liberty and confidence in its results, it will be difficult if not impossible to restore once again the rule of law under the Constitution.” We are blessed to have a group of young people who that have earned the opportunity and the right to help mold the future of our country. Our returning warriors should have a part in determining what the future of our country should look like. Perhaps there are others who would like to get together a help them solidify their ideals into a real future for the meaning of the Constitution and the improvement of the administration of our homeland.

As I begin these thoughts it is Thanksgiving Day and I can smell all the goodies cooking in the kitchen. You can be sure I will give thanks for my family and those good friends who have remained true over the years, even during the rough spots.
I have lived in Brownsville longer than I have anywhere else in my adult life, and have developed a deep affinity for the place and the surroundings that give the place its character.
For quite some time I have been troubled with the problems in our neighbor Mexico, and the migration of its citizens that has resulted.
How do we define what is happening? Is it just a collection of unlawful activities? Certainly if you only focus on the happenings one at a time related to the traditional administration, that might well be the case.
What if we look at it as if the country were more distant and we had not developed such a close relationship? Might we consider what’s happening as a revolution by another major local force?
Further, might we then determine politically whether or not we can support the existing government or the revolutionaries? Then we as a nation would offer the afflicted residents assistance, or even the opportunity to move to the United States.
The vastness of the conflict in Mexico seems to encompass the entire nation and deeply affects how it operates. The conflict has created a debate over whether a major part of a nation has the right to grow and market certain agricultural products that have an astronomical market around the world, or should it be deemed an illegitimate enterprise worthy of the full force of our military to stop and assist in re-institutionalizing a legitimate government.
The question isn’t so easy to resolve, as the production and use of the product seems to be broadly assimilated in Mexico. Were the inter-producer conflicts settled we might not take as much notice.
What do we do, then, as neighbors? Can we determine what another nation produces? We as a matter of international diplomacy don’t seem to take as much interest in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan or India, which also produce the same or similar products.
The issue really seems at the moment to really be the migration of Mexican nationals, and their apparent ease in getting here.
If we have determined that some of the residents are distressed, then they should be offered the opportunities we offer others in similar situations. Certainly, temporary residence here should be a normal procedure until conditions there have been determined and the problems addressed.
We all should consider the circumstances of the Mexican nationals who have arrived in the United States and are not violating U.S. laws. Once we consider their circumstances, we should make our choices known in the coming elections. Not only can you vote, but you can also financially support the candidate who most agrees with your conscience, and write to the candidates and the current elected officials and let them all know how you feel.
My political leanings are basically conservative and would include the strict enforcement of immigration requirements. But I also served overseas in the military and after having lived for a time outside the United States during conflict, I tend to consider the folks who are just people trying to survive from day to day. Most do not have the power to change their circumstances and I believe they deserve real consideration.
I have worked in the enforcement of customs and immigration law; the agency I worked for then no longer exists. We were not allowed to make policy distinctions regarding any individuals. An agency with broader mandates and powers now is charged with the responsibilities. I don’t know if it is any more efficient, but I can’t make those distinctions in authorities either.
The power starts with the people and is made known with the vote.
Next year we elect a new batch of Congress members as well as the president. You can let them know how you feel with your votes.

You never realize how much you miss home until you aren’t there and the ‘stuff’ that you don’t realize you don’t have just isn’t there.
I am home now after having lived out of my laptop for three-plus months and my neglected home computer doesn’t have any of the new stuff.
The process of leaving reminded me of the things I like least about the government: the bureaucratic paperwork and red tape.
The discharge took some time and not every document was complete when we needed them, but finally all was finished and we were off to Hobby airport to catch a Southwest flight home. The security folks did their job thoroughly but did not overdo it either. The Southwest people were very courteous and got me to Brownsville in good shape.
Now I am home and I am anxious to go out and see what I have missed. I was anxious to get out and try out my new motorized wheelchair.
I soon discovered something was missing.
Sidewalks were missing! I can understand that in a small subdivision, but in a moderate-sized city it can be dangerous.
Even in front of schools and at nearby intersections there are no sidewalks, even though there are two schools near Price and Paredes Line roads, which are very busy. I also wonder why there is no police presence during lunch periods and at the beginning and end of school to slow down young drivers’ route away from schools to the nearby drive, eateries or the H-E-B.
I would like to see sidewalks from the corner of Price Road and Paredes Line out to the expressway and north to Ruben Torres Boulevard. I would then be able to get some groceries without calling the city transport that has a lift to load my wheelchair. I tried to use the sidewalks that were there, but found that every time I came to a driveway the sharp difference in the surface level made the sidewalks unusable. Perhaps a few usable sidewalks leading to the walking-jogging trail would make considerably more of Brownsville available.
A city this large should have safe thoroughfares to the main points in the community, especially where children walk to and from school.
Nov. 11 was Veterans Day and was more important to me than usual. I spent the last several months with vets from a variety of wars while I was in the Michael Debakey Veterans Hospital in Houston.
Many of the patients there might never leave because of their infirmities; many don’t have families or the facilities they need at home.
The Department of Veterans Affairs does its best to help with the facilities for the vet returning home from the hospital. In my case they provided just what I needed to make a home habitable for a double amputee.
If the community could become pedestrian-friendly with sidewalks, more of the vendors would become accessible. It would also provide a safer way to move around the community.
I remember a young man who was struck by a car when he tried to reach Valley Baptist Medical Center for wound care. He came through it with relatively minor damage, but his very expensive power wheelchair was a total loss. This might not have happened with adequate sidewalks.
As my memories jump to my service in the military and the public abuse that faced my fellow veterans returning from the Vietnam conflict (which did not reach the status of a war), I looked around for a group of vets who have experiences like mine. There was only one, and believe it or not it had the “honor” of carrying the name American Viet-Nam Veterans Chapter 1. I suspect there are other groups of ’Nam survivors, but in our newspaper it was the only one listed.
I have belonged to a variety of other very good veterans organizations but never seemed to quite fit in. It might just have been my interest in different issues and goals, but nevertheless I didn’t feel comfortable.
I wish Jesse Reyes well in providing a home and a group of people wit similar memories and needs for those of us who were lucky enough to return from ’Nam.
My Veterans Day was great as I slept in my own bed, in my own house and was able to share it with my family nearby.
While I benefited substantially from the medical treatment I received in Houston, and the guidance I received from the VA Clinic in Houston, it is a shame that the large veterans’ community in the Rio Grande Valley must travel hundreds of miles to a VA hospital. I believe the recovery would be quicker and more comfortable if the family could be nearby and share in it. I know that if my family were able to visit me every day, I would not have been as lonely so far from home, and I expect the transition back home would have been smoother.

As I sit here watching game six of the World Series, I am considering a new life back home. I understand that I have progressed well enough to be able to go home as early as next week.
I am so fortunate to have been allowed to enter the DeBakey Veterans Administration Hospital in Houston, and again I must thank Dr. Manoj Gogia of the VA clinic in Harlingen for taking a precious Saturday to call and get me an appointment there the following week. He is a uniquely caring and competent representative of the medical staff. Thanks again.
That idea, the prospect I have been praying for, leaves me with a number of concerns. Many I suppose other amputees, especially so many of my fellow veterans, have felt before me.
I am sensitized because the hospital that performed the lifesaving surgery is a veterans hospital. I lived and shared many concerns, hopes, fears and in some cases terrors I felt regarding the loss of one or more limbs.
Now, I will be returning to my family and the community I have made my home for many years. I have some other concerns and doubts about once again interacting with my family, friends and acquaintances. These I expect will go away with just a little time and experience. However, they could be life-shattering to a young serviceman returning from the fields of battle, full of doubt about how his sweetheart will feel about him or how his family and friends will; perhaps they treat him as cross to be borne!
Our returning hero, though, is most likely to have become accomplished with his new prostheses or trained extensively in how to return and live comfortably in his home circumstances.
I am fortunate in that I have been retired from my primary occupation for a number of years and many of my normal activities of today can still be accomplished, though others that require more travel will pose many issues that will be difficult to overcome.
Still, I, like my fellow returning vets, will wonder whether those who are trying so hard to help are just condescending because of the missing limbs they see. They might have the idea that he is something less than a man and they want to demonstrate superiority over him.
That might be far from reality, but sometimes the fears and selfdoubt can be amplified to the level of reasonable expectation.
Remember, the place our returning veteran is coming home from is a world of norms with rules and dangers vastly different than home and very difficult to understand unless you have been there and done that.
I have heard some tell me that having a friend, who has “been there” to talk to “about waking up with nightmares and then feeling that you are still there,” saved his sanity.
Others might need help, if they start abusing to alcohol or other substances trying to ease that hurt that just doesn’t go away.
That abuse can quickly turn our hero into a criminal with just a few convictions for substance abuse. Remember that only three convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol can result in a 10-year jail sentence. Also consider the result if our vet comes to see the policeman as the enemy and resist forcefully. It could be a catastrophe.
Over the next few months the last troops are scheduled to return from Iraq, and some may even feel they were failures if they perceive they didn’t have the confidence of our president and are being recalled just for a political show.
A little additional time with a “friend” who has been there and done that, like a Vietnam vet, might just be the right match.
As a last thought, let us consider the vast numbers of people from other countries that are not exactly friendly to the United States.
Further, let us consider who precisely are the actual rulers of Mexico. Does the elected, representative government actually rule that country? Could the masses of undocumented people entering the United States be considered an attack, not by violent means but political ones? Do not the drug czars wield enough political and actual power to be considered the real power and authority? Just for a moment suppose that the cartel in Mexico, having extended power into the Southwestern United States similar to the way they have in Mexico, and we determined to eradicate the cartels by force of arms and entered Mexico to accomplish this. We will have an even larger number of highly trained soldiers who might think they are failures for not completing their mission in Iraq. Might an adventurous administration send forces to the Southwest United States and advance on northern Mexico to loosen the cartels’ hold on the area? Who then would be the actual political and real power in Mexico? Though such an eventuality is not viable, could it happen? Are there circumstances in which that the Mexican people would encourage such an adventure?

I am again writing from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston and can report that my health is improving rapidly and I am getting used to being somewhat shorter than before. The staff here is working hard to provide me with the skills necessary to live a real life as a double amputee.
Though I knew some friends I served with in Vietnam who had learned to live (not just survive) with the loss of limbs, I definitely could not comprehend what it meant personally, especially to the view each of us holds as a “man.”
Somehow the first picture I had of myself was as half a man, as I couldn’t do some things and needed help to do others. Now I see it as just another set of skills I must learn to get the job done, whatever it might be. I don’t think I would have these views had I not served in the military and gone on to other jobs and careers during my 66 years.
Like many others who are away and whose hearts are still in the Rio Grande Valley, I stay connected with an Internet subscription to The Herald, and like many others I am following with interest the activities related to the establishing a new congressional district in the Valley, so that our large and growing region would have a real voice in our future.
I was originally heartened because when I evaluated the potential Republican and Democratic votes, the balance seemed to only favor the liberal side of the scale by one vote. That alone would provide a more balanced representation, merely because of the influence the polls would have on the direction of the public activity of the resulting representative.
I hope the political machinations will permit the courts to establish a district similar to the one originally planned. It appeared that it would genuinely represent the Lower Rio Grande Valley region.
Up until now the Corpus Christi area has been speaking for us in Washington, much to our expense. I would hope that those with influence would advocate such an outcome in the halls of power that could still influence the powers that be.
At any event there will be an election next year that will include the office of Congress member. Currently our representative resides in Corpus Christi. However competent he might be, he is still influenced in his choices and disciplines by his hometown, which has many issues and industries that compete with our area. Just consider if there were choices that relate to resources or licenses in the area of immigration, Customs and Border Enforcement issues, the maritime industry, oil businesses or beach resorts and gaming.
We could never be sure that our interests would receive the most effective representation for resources that compete with the interests in Corpus, regardless of the effectiveness of our representative.
Whatever the outcome, we are still faced with electing an effective representative to Congress, we hope with strong ties to the Valley.
As is well known, my political views are a realistic version of conservative. I have voted for Democratic candidates as well as Libertarians and Republicans, but have supported Libertarian candidates.
In the coming congressional election I am told that Republicans Rusty Faulk and Adela Garza have expressed interest in casting their hats into the ring to run should there be a new district, and that the Democrats are planning a very aggressive campaign in any event, in order to recover the very valuable and influential office of congressional representative for the region.
My spies have also told me that Libertarian Ed Mishou, who ran for the congressional seat in the last election (with considerable support from a number of tea party idealists), has hinted to close friends that he would consider returning to the Republican Party, if invited, to run for the new seat as well. Were that to happen I might consider returning to the Republican fold myself. Until then, the ideals stated in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution need active defenders. To this date the Libertarians are the only real political party that, as a part of their organizational plan, advances those traditional values. Needless to say, due to my health problems I have had to reduce my personal activity with the Libertarians, but fortunately I am still able to demonstrate my interest through an honorary title. As the deadline for candidates to file draw closer, a group of Democrats have filed a complaint in court against the creation of the new district, which could not possibly be more balanced politically. I fully expect that the new district as proposed would give a new life for the residents of the Lower Rio Grande Valley.