Various Thoughts On A Friday

There's been a big furor over the latest idiotic and racist statements from the now former radio personality, Don Imus. Of course he's claiming he's not a racist - he just made a terrible mistake. Nonsense! The statement he made on nation-wide radio and TV speaks for itself.

Imus supporters would have you believe this is an isolated incident that he's being crucified for. That also is nonsense. This guy has been a slimeball for many years. I certainly won't be sorry to see him disappear from the airwaves.

But one of the most ridiculous stories on the Imus affair was on the LA Times website yesterday. It said the Democrats have lost a valuable resource by Imus being kicked off the airwaves - that he gave them a place to appeal to white males in this country. That is a ridiculous statement, and little more than an attempt to smear the Democratic Party. I'm sure Democrats can do just fine without Imus and his ilk.

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I have not remarked before about the TYC affair. Others have covered it very well - sites like Capitol Annex & Grits for Breakfast. But the Texas Senate has now proposed a couple of changes that I really think are needed and will help the agency to fulfill its mission.

First, they are proposing to cut the age of offenders committed to the agency. TYC would no longer accept 19 and 20 year olds as they currently do. This is a very good change. Like it or not, 19 and 20 year olds are adults, and are not likely to be helped by the youth-oriented programs of the Youth Commission.

Second, they propose to separate younger and non-violent offenders from the older and more violent offenders. This is another good change. Back in the seventies and eighties, the Youth Commission did this. I don't know why they changed the policy, but it will be good to get back to it.

Finally, let me say this. There are thousands of decent hard-working people working for the Texas Youth Commission, who are doing their best to protect and rehabilitate the young offenders committed to their care. Abusers must be flushed from the system, and changes need to be made to the system, but people should take care not to demonize the thousands of decent and innocent workers in the system. Most of these workers are happy to see changes are finally being made.

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Ten more American soldiers were killed over the last weekend in Iraq. Yesterday, a bomb blast went off inside the Iraqi Parliament, and insurgents blew up a bridge inside Baghdad. A few days ago, the most popular Shiite leader (Al-Sadr) called on his followers to attack American soldiers.

Is there anyone besides Bush, Cheney and McCain that thinks this new "troop surge" is accomplishing anything other than destroying our own military capabilities? How many more will have to die before our leaders come to their senses and bring our troops back home?

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I applaud the recent move by the University of Texas to honor two great Americans. By this Fall, they will be unveiling a statue on campus of Cesar Chavez. They are also in the process of choosing a likeness of Barbara Jordan, which will then also be made into a statue for the campus.

They couldn't have chosen two more worthy people to honor. These are the kind of American heroes I would like my children to emulate.