A Brief Commentary Concerning Free Speech

     Please forgive my putting into the record my most sincere feelings about interrupting a public assembly in order to make a private point.  People of much presumption, little knowledge, high credentials, and arrogantly proud in their ignorance love to spoil the fun of others in order to prove their own false sense of superiority.

    What it included below is a copy of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.   Beneath that is El Gringo Viejo's visceral jumping upon the rotted bones of people who feel the need to disturb the peace so as to remind those they leave behind how superior their values are to the speaker's miserable intellectual or moral positions

     We engaged briefly in a bit of a dialogue on something called Facebook.    The second speaker noted that the people who walked out apparently had the right of free speech, those who disapproved of the malcontents do not have such a right.  Typical leftism. 

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. 

David Christian Newton Pitiful little people, so full of themselves. In knowing nothing and understanding less, it behooves them to stain any ceremony that, it a more noble time, belonged to all who were in attendance. It is my sincerest hope that their iniquity plants a crop that will result in a harvest of misery in their personal lives.

Strick Lee Blunt You need to delete your middle name, You sound nothing like one.

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Donald Boice They can learn from their mistake. They should apologize to the University of Notre Dame and Vice President Pence, in writing. I don't agree that they had the "right" to protest at a Catholic Graduation ceremony and with VIP Pence invited to speak. Free will comes with responsibilities.

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David Christian Newton Strick Lee Blunt The name is from English ancestors, and my father's mother was Esther Lee Christian, 1870 - 1936. As a practicing traditional Episcopalian, it would be my character to endure a (Sir Edmund) Hillary speech in which she talks about how much lying is going on all of a sudden. In spite of the preposterousness of the statement in her address to the Wellesley commencement, I certainly would not have gotten up to leave, "in order to make a greater point". It would be incumbent upon any gentleman to endure and refrain from comment. As an American, a Texan, and a veteran who is honourably discharged, I shall err in my faith when defending my principles, and I shall at times err in my citizenship while defending my Faith. It is the condition of humanity in general, and certainly mine, due to our imperfections. I shall defer from changing either my Christian names or my surnames. By the way, your meritless condescension is neither original nor well reasoned....it is around number 2,159 so far this year from holier-than-thou types telling me that I am not entitled to a name I did not choose. Checkmate.

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A Request from Within the Family - The San Patricio Battalion in the Mexican War.....

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          Writing, talking, and thinking about the events of San Jacinto and the Alamo occupy much time for many Texans.   And, as one continues with the exploration of events in Texas, from long before the aforementioned events up to and including the present times, it is clear that Texas and its position between two complex nations will forever be a geographical and cultural zone of interest.

     Various people have asked for my thoughts and notions about the issue of the San Patricio Battalion, a military unit that drew fame and notoriety during the Mexican American War of 1846 -  1848.  Most recently, my consuegro (the father-in-law of my daughter) has asked what might be  my analysis of the military group that drew recognition, admiration, ire, bad press, and bitterness from the various sides in that War.

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Definition:

     The Battalion of Saint Patrick or La Batallon de San Patricio....it is the same thing.   There was not one that was American and the other Mexican.   Sometimes that explanation is given.

     The Battalion was composed of a "Motley Crew".   Gentlemen adventurers, ruffians, Irish Nationalists, bandits, impromptu conscripts, prisoners, Irish Republicans always ready for a fight for Irish dignity,  and others from Spain, England, France, Italy, the United States, Scotland, and various points in-between.   Just before the War with Mexico broke out, the conscription of soldiers began in ernest, and the same system of "recruitment" would be practiced by the Union side during the War Between the States fifteen years later.

     Jails provided some of the recruits.  Others came off newly arriving ships from Liverpool, England and Londonderry, Eire, "volunteers" who were lingering in the saloons along the wharves a little too long, and regular "Micks" already involved in the American experience were recruited or impressed into the service....but not the Navy....it was for the Army.
     Some historians believe that there was some "foreshadowing" involved in the fact that this began in 1845.  It was thought by some students of the War with Mexico that the fix was already in.  Texas would agree to subjugation to the American Union, in exchange for protection by the Americans against the ever present menace of a more powerful Mexico.   This writer does not buy into this assessment beyond about 1 or 2 per cent.

     Speculation and the standing back and, intellectually saying,"....and on the other hand it could have been..." in my not-so-humble opinion is not a worthwhile investment of the time allotted to this life.   The Americans knew that the Texans had been terribly lucky in their defence of their "Republic", taking advantage of a ridiculous breach of military order by a commander, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna,  who had at great loss to his own countrymen had almost destroyed the Texas military and means to resist.  All of that success was wasted by positioning his Army, essentially, with its throat exposed and its back up against a deep swamp. 

     The second incursion by the Mexican General Adrian Woll in the early autumn of 1842, six years after San Jacinto, proved that the Texans could bluster, and they could fight, but that they could not withstand a serious military en force.   The old saying "dulce bellum inexpertis" (war is sweet to the inexperienced) was very much in play.

     In any regard, the Americans were not going to dash dandily into the theatre of War with the Mexicans.   They would declare a War, and they would use a complicated, four front attack approach, and they would bring overwhelming numbers against the more well-fortified Mexican forces.  Size matters, and in a real war, numbers matter, so stuffing uniforms with warm bodies was of utmost necessity.   Therefore, there was heavy "recruiting" among the Irish.
      This does not detract from the number of Americanised people of Irish ancestry, and those Irish-Americans who actually freely joined the military effort in those days.   As best one can calculate, it seems as if the numbers of those two  categories was about equal, meaning there were a lot of Irish who were drawn to the romance, the excitement, the expression of Americanism, and the emotional rush of "going to War for a noble cause".

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Arrival in Texas:

Lancers and Infantry of the Mexican
Army of the period

      Most of the infantry, artillery, and cavalry that was deployed in the Northern Theatre was delivered to La Bahia de Corpus Christi (to-day known as Nueces Bay), where the Nueces River empties into the Gulf of Mexico.  From there the army under General Taylor, organised and finished drilling and mastering their weapons, and proceeded south after negotiations broke down between Mexican and American diplomats.  It was all posturing, because in this writer's estimation, both sides really wanted to teach the other side a real lesson.
     This does not mean that the War was totally approved by either side, but both sides were generally and in their majority, in favour of War.  Loading up the ranks with "deplorables" like the Irish (American Military) and dusky Indians from Civil Defense / National Guard units (Mexican Military) was a solution in order to placate the effete and comfortable middle and upper classes in both countries.   However, it must be pointed out that many of the soldiers, especially in the professional ranks, on both sides, from fine and / or established families, saw the War as an opportunity to gain fame as an heroic personality and as a patriot to his flag and nation.

     The soldiers at Corpus Christi generally welcomed the chance to be on the move and not hang around in a smelly, hot, humid, and sand-flea consumed place.   The Mexicans, with the arrival of General Mariano Arista arriving in Matamoros (the extreme northeastern-most corner of Mexico) with well-trained troops, artillery, and the dreaded cavalry-lancers felt  they could carry the day. 

     There were a series of engagements and battles.   The Mexican forces, patrolling the north side of the Rio Bravo (Grande) encountered an American scouting cavalry column that apparently thought they were in a comic opera or something, because they were in no way prepared for combat.  The Mexicans engaged and with both numbers and skill in their favour, they essentially destroyed the reconnaissance column, leaving 17 dead.  The Mexican force had four or five wounded.
     A couple of days later the American Congress declared war on Mexico, because "....American blood had been shed on American soil."  General (Old Rough and Ready) Taylor initiated hostilities with the main body of the Mexican forces.  The bulk of the Mexican Army, and all of their artillery was on the south side of the Rio Grande, but a sizable group was on the north side.   The first major engagement was a victory of the field for the Americans,  and Taylor's forces could celebrate success at the first major engagement, the Battle of Palo Alto on the 8th of March, 1846.   The next day, Taylor followed up with another rebuke of Mexican forces, this time at the Resaca de las Palmas, (resaca being a word meaning abandoned river bend channel).

Above:  Ireland Forever,  Below: the image of Saint Patrick
with his bishop's staff, expelling the snake.  This
was the banner of the San Patricio Battalion. 

     The War was on.  Arista regrouped and began a steady withdrawal, essentially following the Rio Bravo (Grande) to the due west.  His commander, General Pedro de Ampudia had already determined that he would draw the Americans into the badlands for 200 miles, and keep them away from the centre of the country.

   Sparsely populated, full of snakes, thorns, and normally dry (except during floods), the stretch of land ahead was none too hospitable. 

Each army kept contact, one with the other.  Butthere was another problem for the Americans.

     As they pushed forward, they knew that more Mexican troops with better supplies would be forming.  Whether Linares (to the southwest and the route Ampudia and Arista were sure Taylor would take, or more to the due west towards Monterrey and then Saltillo (much worse for the Americans), each day would increase the advantage for the home team.  And one of the big reasons was going to occur after a week's march towards the setting sun.

The luck of the Irish:
     It was during this cat and mouse process as both armies moved to the west that supposedly a Roman Catholic priest moved among the American troops, surreptitiously....at night....and began to plant the seeds of defection from the American army among principally the Irish soldiers.  This occurred at a significant community, essentially the centre of a large ranch named Hacienda de San Pedro y San Pablo, now known as General Bravo.   Between there and another community, an actual city by the name of San Felipe de China, this priest possibly working with other clerics tried to convince as many of the Irish soldiers to either desert the American army and go home, or desert and join the Mexican army.
     There was some success, because of a deserter by the name of John Riley, who had left the American army and crossed into Mexico just before the Declaration of War.  He had preceded the Army and perhaps even colluded with the "unknown priest" who moved among the Irish soldiers during the advance into Mexico.   So even while the American army was entertaining the locals with their songs and marching and trying to do "goodwill outreach" among the native population, fewer and fewer troops were reporting at Reveille in the morning and most of the missing  were  Irish conscripts.
     This was not good news to Gen. Zachary Taylor, because about a fifth of the entire army had been left behind at Camargo, a community on the Rio Grande and the Rio San Juan, and more or less mid-way to Monterrey from Matamoros.  Those troops had come down with severe dysentery, quite probably a "stomach flu" and could not travel due to their illness and subsequent weakness.   True enough, reinforcements were coming in, but Taylor and his officers were facing superior numbers, increasingly better trained enemy soldiers, greater distance from supply sources, and the problem of Irish deserters actually going over to the enemy as well.

Commemorative Plaque
with the names of those members of
the Batallon de San Patricio who
were hanged for treason by the
American command.
Some 150 were killed in action, and
another 200 received other punishments,
including the dreaded "D" brand,  The
Batallon de San Patricio total number
is estimated to be around 700.   That
leaves about 400 who most probably
remained in Mexico and made families.

     By the time the American forces had made the mistake of going towards Monterrey instead of Linares (actually both choices had many disadvantages), there were 200 "foreigners", ninety per cent of whom were Irish who had defected to the enemy.   They had been formed into a two-company infantry unit, named the Batallon de San Patricio, although their forte' was artillery.   Due to that fact, the Mexican command found artillery for them and it was used with extreme effectiveness at the Battle of the Bishop's Palace on the west side of Monterrey, and during the defence of the Ciudadela Fortress and Quartermaster Headquarters more in the centre of Monterrey.
     It was during those confrontations that each side learned the full mettle of the other.  Each side lost 600 dead during four days of constant combat and manoeuvers.  The Mexicans appreciated their foreign allies, and the Americans hated the dirty deserters.   It would be that way until the end of the war.

     The Batallon de San Patricio served up to and including the final, pointless battle at Churubusco outside of Puebla, serving under Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, ending on 20 August 1847.....several days after the formal cessation of hostilities.   It was calculated that the Americans had lost 12,800 dead in the conflict, many of them from illness while the Mexican losses were thought to have been nearly 20,000, perhaps half being in combat.   It has been presented by some as a "theatrical war" with lots of highly festooned and decorated soldiers and officers, much shooting and noise, but little combat.  Such, lamentably, was not the case.   There were two or three occasions that the Mexicans could have won the war, and they failed to take advantage of each opportunity.
     For instance, when Gen. Winfield (Old Fuss 'n Feathers) was nearing Puebla, the last big city before Mexico City, the Mexican Congress was arguing about points of procedural order about things that had nothing to do with the defence of the Republic.

There will more about all of this in the next couple of days.
El Gringo Viejo

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A Pair of Simple Pictures Sent from Our Quinta Tesoro de la Sierra Madre - edited with additions

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    This morning our neighbour, the owner of the Hacienda de la Vega, the operation immediately contiguous to the Quinta's property and Alvaro, our majordomo, conspired to send my boss here in Texas a Mother's Day gift.  We include it below:

It should be pointed out that the greenery in front of this

picture immediately above is albacar (basil) and is about

ready for transplanting into a bed we have been preparing.

    While I am quick to take credit and to assign blame, it must be admitted that this project is Alvaro's and it is done, pretty much, in order to shame the women of our Ejido de Francisco I. Madero (in a good humoured way).....who pass by the Quinta with some frequency to see if their flowering arrangements are attracting as many hummingbirds as are our semi-disciplined gardens.

     We have, to be sure, become pretty fair "combat gardeners", with the justification being a supply of limes, grapefruit, avocados, guayabas, edible cactus, and spices.   Our efforts are principally directed to attracting birds, especially hummingbirds.  And as I am quick to say, "What they do not eat...we eat."

     Please enjoy.  We have (Alvaro has) nine "masetas" (terra cotta flower pots) with these lilies, related to the Turkestan Onion, I believe, and locally called "Pirotecnico" or "Explosion" (Fireworks or Explosion). 

HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY TO ALL.   Diana received hers via cybermail.   And I do the cooking when I am up here.   I just let Diana do all the work.

El Gringo Viejo

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Be careful when you wish for something

     Not long ago, during the time of massive celebrations for my birthday  (the Pope had to land in Corpus Christi because the airports in McAllen and Harlingen...even Reynosa...had run out of space for all the arriving dignitaries), I had asked my family to consider as appropriate gifts, considering the magnitude of my importance, for either a fully restored Karmann Ghia Volkswagen, 1973 model, in either red or white.  

     Barring that, I indicated that a back-up power plant for the Quinta Tesoro de la Sierra Madre would be appreciated.  I even indicated that it would not be held against anybody if they got together and bought both of those relatively humble gifts.

Red and White Karmann Ghia

     Apparently there was a minor failure in communication.  Only one of my relatives sent anything.   It was a Karmann Ghia Volkswagen, but instead of red or white, it came in red and white.   Perhaps I should be more specific in the future, because I know they really want to give the  old geezer everything he wants.   Does anyone know the number for 911?  I'm toying with an elder-abuse complaint.....  

     At least my children were good enough to provide me with a new home, and my own personal ball and chain.  Perhaps I should really give thanks for the many blessings that I have.  To-morrow they are going take me out to eat.....I think it's breakfast at a donut place....something about Dunking.....

More later.

El Gringo Viejo

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Comey - Democrat Schizophrenic Syndrome: The new norm in American politics

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     The issues circulating around the Comey firing make a bit of sense.  The head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) made an announcement during the past Summer, a rather long and rambling statement actually, that left the viewers and listeners a bit subdued and confused.    On the one hand he painted up a picture of a thoroughly corrupt, arrogant, narcissistic personality who continued in her new office as Secretary of State very much as she had during her life since Wellesley.   And, on the other hand, he declared that there was no way she could be prosecuted.

     The immediate past Director of the FBI informed the American public that he had determined that no reasonable prosecutor would take the case of the ex-Secretary and then candidate for the Presidency of the United States because the transgressions she had committed, all the laws she had broken, all the rules she had shattered by her hubris did not reveal "an intent" to break the law.  It did display poor judgement and gross mismanagement, but not criminality, so therefore, according to James Comey, no prosecutor would prosecute, no grand jury would find, no judge would permit any process against that poor woman.  In other words, Comey became not only the Director of the FBI but also a Special Prosecutor and Grand Jury in and unto himself.

     Why did the Director of the FBI give a "no-bill" to HRH-HR concerning her obviously felonious behaviour?  Perhaps he forgot the two main axioms concerning legal proceedings against the Clintons Crime Syndicate.

      (a)    No crime committed in the past can be prosecuted against the Clintons.  Only crimes that have not been committed and that occur in the future can be prosecuted.

      (b)     The Fort Marcy Park Award for Participation Trophy

     One minor problem on the way to the shopping centre:   FBI Directors do not determine whom or what should be prosecuted.  Special prosecutors and Federal District Attorneys determine whom and why to prosecute. 

     "Progressives", conservatives, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Left, and Right were stunned.   No orange jump-suit.   No songs on Rush's show about "Try to Remember".  And, equally, no snotty nose-in-the-air statements about how HRH-HR was "vindicated".   After all, they could point out, she did kill Ovambo Bon Alibaba and she did catch that horrible person who made all those pornographic videos about Mohammed.   Just think of all those miles she flew! 

(please simply click on the Youtube screen face for 'free song')

     The former first lady, US Senator from New York, Secretary of State, and now soon to be nominee of the Partido Revolucionario del los Pobres y los Elites got back onto her magic skate-board, and figured that she was ready to have a fitting session with Gucci concerning how many diamonds, emeralds, and other jewels  were to be fixed into her platinum crown.

     Then, suddenly, without even receiving previous  permission from HRH-HR, the head of the FBI comes forward, without announcement, and says that he has reason to re-open the case of her various supposed transgressions against the sensibilities of the law.   It is less than two weeks before the General National Elections.

   

   The Director of the FBI interjects himself to say that he is re-openning the case of HRH - HR, her body-man HUMA, and that the case now included Carlos Danger, who is under investigation for attempting to lure minor females (ages 13 - 15) into acts of a lewd and lascivious nature.   It is a return to his previous predatory activities conducted under the pseudonym of United States Representative from New York, Anthony Wiener (D - NY).   It turns out that Carlos Danger has HUMA's transmission  of HRH's  Secret service e-mail system that have not suffered being beaten with hammers and Clorox on his private lap-top.   These, of course,  would have been serious felonies were they to have been  committed by a Deplorable.

      A person really cannot make this stuff up.

     During these days, because of a couple of  fellows,  Julian Assange and Bradley Manning, are dumping, or assisting in some way, with the flow of information ostensibly from Russia concerning activities of the Obama White House and the activities of the US Department of State, the Clinton Foundation, and all nature of "The Swamp"personalities and issues.
     Finally, during the remainder of the campaign period and then culminating on the night of the election, 8 November 2016, HRH-HR carries the Peoples' Republic of California three times over, but manages to lose the rest of the United States.  From that time until this, Trump derangement syndrome and Democrat Schizophrenic Syndrome have swept a significant portion of the electorate.

     EXAMPLE?  -  United State Representative Maxine Waters (D - California) says that Trump should be impeached for firing Comey.  When asked if HRH-HR would be guilty of an impeachable offense should she have, after being elected, fired Comey....the Honourable Mdm. Maxine declares that HRH-HR would have been justified, whereas Trump was not justified in his dismissal of the Director Mr. Comey. 
     The fact is, everyone wanted to boot Comey.  The exception?  A minority of barnacle-like bureaucrat FBI employees who enjoyed the lethargy, the malingering, the sense of self-importance of carrying a real live policeman's badge and drawing a salary about equal to the gross national product of  one-tenth of the world's poorest countries.
     Another two-thirds of the body of employees really had little or no use for Director Comey and his weepy, self-reflectonalysis of himself, and his trials with the messes created by dogs and politicians who commit hundreds upon thousands of felonies and yet "need" to skate.  Perhaps "stuff" should be made of sterner ambition.
     During Mr. Comey's tenure,  he was careful to avoid conducting very necessary investigations of the Internal Revenue Service division of the Department of Treasury,   the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives division of the Department of Justice.   And in so doing he planted that fateful seed that reap't the whirlwind.

Bali Hai

     We are living in precarious times.   The Citizens' Committees are just a few block away, straightening the cast-posts of the guillotines.   All who pay taxes need to find places where the lighter boats can pick us up along the coasts during the nighttime hours and take us to Bali Hai (or equivalent).

More later.
El Gringo Viejo

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An open letter to the one intellectual Radio Station in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas.....

Sergio, 

     We have been listening to the Brietbart Report with considerable interest.  I tune you all in down at my place outside of Ciudad Victoria....and can generally pick up Rush, etc. during the day without much difficulty.  You are familiar with me because occasionally I have tried to report some of my own impressions about what is going on down there, using you as my table of reference.

     First (and I think you already know this), the word Casino (or casino) when you were a child in Reynosa was meant to be a "fine house" (in the Italian, passing into the Spanish) and had reference, in Northern Mexico especially, as a salon of celebration....to be engaged for a reception (weddings, wakes, anniversaries, etc).   They were not gambling and schmoozing places as they are now configured.  Two of the really elegant old Casinos, of course, are (1) the Gran Casino adjacent to the Cathedral in downtown-most Monterrey, Nuevo Leon and also (2) a smaller but very elegant place built during the Porfiriato (1888) in Linares, Nuevo Leon.  Both are still very much in service....for the "Uppers" and their celebrations.

     The problem is that the cucarachas and people of lower order and intent have purloined the word "Casino" rather much as have the porno-purveyors who style a hoochi-coochi, topless dancer saloon as a "gentlemen's club".   You have seen the opening scenes from Around the World in 80 Days, when David Niven is found at a stuffy, staid, heavy furniture, 1 pound sterling cigars, and butlers, and absolute quiet and dignified encounter and debate...etc.etc.  That is a gentlemen's club, as you know.

     You might be waiting for me to take objection to your reporter from Brietbart, but there is no real objection.  He is accurate in terms of tactics and his analysis of the overall picture, including the "power response" to this new episode of violence.   I have certain very small differences and slightly different sociological angles and a bit of a different place from which to view the situation in Tamaulipas.

     My reason for writing is to declare that Francisco Xavier Garcia Cabeza de Vaca has been extremely "hands-on"  concerning this pandilla / cartel thing.  It is a dangerous thing that he is doing, but he is doing it anyway.   My little place, the Quinta Tesoro de la Sierra Madre, is about 22 miles north-northwest of Ciudad Victoria.   The Governor's influence has shown beginning immediately after his inauguration.  The little secondary highway that connects our place with the capital of the State of Tamaulipas underwent a complete renovation.....almost 40 kilometers (25 miles) of a little country lane with a total traffic count of well below 1,000 for 24 hours.....and now the highway has been brought up to nearly Texas standards.

Francisco Javier Cabeza de Vaca

     For the first time in five years, we have had a State Police patrol come through the Ejido Francisco I. Madero.  We even had an officer come to our front gate....arriving in a convoy of three partially armoured  conversion pick-ups, smartly maintained, two with rear-mounted, belt-fed machine guns.   There were 12 deputies in helmets and military style garb.  He came up to my gate and asked about the whereabouts of  Person X.   That person had an arrest warrant pending, and I had to admit that I did not know the formal names of many of the people in our little community.  Our manager came up and suggested that he might know the lady and gave the officer directions to a probable place of residence.  The lead-officer seemed appreciative, ordered his personnel to retrace and off they went.  It turns out they were serving two civil court notices and two criminal warrants.   It has been a long while since we have seen that activity out here,  "in the middle of Nowhere".

     Finally, it is easy to hear the people who complain.  But the proof of my words are the facts that I have people coming to my place for the "day - trip" and the "parrillada"  for which we are famous during the week-ends.   This activity dried up from 2011 - 2015.   Now it necessary for people to make reservations two or three weeks in advance.   I have even had Mexican clients spending the required three nights minimum...and milling around in our remote area at all hours, for the first time in the past  four years.    Also, consider that my neighbours, the owners of the Hacienda de la Vega have invested 22,000,000 pesos  (a little over 1,000,000 American dollars), during the past year replanting their hacienda (finca) with an exotic type of lime, where once they had produced Valencia Oranges (those trees were 80 years old, and very tired).  This has been going on since the degradations of the Gulf and Zeta groups several years back.  They (the 'cartels') have never truly recovered.  It is one of the reasons we had so many CentroAmericanos come up the year before last, because they could come up by bus without having to deal with the cartels or even the police.  Now they are not coming up because of Trump.

     The purpose of all of this overload of words,  is simply to point out that I speak with  the "la gente" in an area that is / was in the "mera panza de la bestia"  and the people still have their "cuernos" (Cabeza de Vaca) decals on their vehicles, and house windows, and fences.  My last conversation there was with Alvaro and me having shrimp cocktails at Dona Modesta's Seafood Parlour at the Estacion de Santa Engracia.  Everyone there was 110% agreement amongst all that Garcia - Cabeza de Vaca was doing everything a governor can do and even more.  It is forgiven that he might be overweighting the deployment of military might into Reynosa, because as they say, "He comes from McAllen."   But we must remember.....Reynosa is the largest city in Tamaulipas.   The Governor is as popular as Pena-Nieto is unpopular.   That is my reading....confused by the fact that I actually am a resident there, a property owner there, and the extension of a family that has had a commercial and social presence in Mexico since the 1880s.    And yes, perhaps because I am a Republican and the Partido de Accion Nacional in Mexico is the correlative of the Republican Party of the United States, perhaps I am disposed to support my first-cousin in politics.   But, in this matter,  I am sure and certain.

(Please click on the first linkage in blue to visit our little place on the banks of the Rio Corona.   For right-wing, semi-deranged commentary and analysis of Mexican, Texian, and American history and other matters, click onto the privatouring.blogspot.com linkage.)

EL GRINGO VIEJO

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