PRESS RELEASE:

LIBERTY COUNTY JUVENILE PROBATION’S

2010 COMMUNITY AWARENESS AND DRUG PREVENTION SEMINAR

COMMUNITY-WIDE EVENT

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

CLEVELAND, Texas- (August 21, 2010)- Anthony Scott, Liberty County Chief Juvenile Probation Officer/Director and the Juvenile Probation Department will sponsor a FREE Community Awareness and Drug Prevention Seminar. This is an important educational seminar that will raise the community and parents’ awareness of the trends of adolescent drug use as well as other unhealthy behaviors that affect the positive growth and development of adolescents. Our hope is that the knowledge of prevention theories and strategies offered at this seminar will strengthen individuals, families, community leaders, and support systems. Seminar will target parents; guardians; and children and teens ages 10 and up.

The seminar is scheduled for Saturday, August 21, 2010, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Southside Primary School, 303 Fort Worth, Cleveland, Texas 77327. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. A light breakfast and afternoon snack will be provided.

Several representatives from law enforcement; probation; and local, state, and federal agencies will provide educational presentations. The presentations will focus on topics such as, but not limited to:

Cyper-Bullying, Social Networks/Media, Sexting, and Harassment - Common Drugs Used Among Teens - Substance Abuse Prevention – Educational Resources – Colleges to Careers/College & Career Advisement - Community Services – Decision Making – Teen Violence and Teen Pregnancy – Self-Esteem and Gang Involvement

Contact Information:

For more information, please contact Kelly Semien, Liberty County Juvenile Probation, at (936) 336-4550 or semienkelly@aol.com

Dr. Anita Wright, Inspiring Hope Education and Training, at (832) 527-0154 or anita.wright@sbcglobal.net

Event in collaboration with Inspiring Hope Education and Training.

Event location made possible by the Cleveland Independent School District.

COMING: Candidate stories...

Liberty County Judge, 75th Judicial District Court...

Liberty County Judge

COMING: Candidate background files

Liberty County Judge, 75th Judicial District Court...
Will the real Judge, Carol "Rusty" Hight please stand up!

Liberty County Judge, County Judge Presiding...
Smoke and mirrors!

Liberty County Judge, County Court at Law...
Indignant entitlement!

Yes, where there is smoke, there is FIRE...

Your Loyal Opposition

Dear Editor,

I am writing this to Whom It May Concern among the local Democratic Party faithful and sending this cry for help to your conservative website because quite frankly our party has turned into a leaderless party that is just sitting around waiting for the sky to fall the rest of the way. I know a lot of us read your site. I know those who have helped us in the past have become an embarrassment and seem to be preparing to jump ship and start acting like they were open to a Republican dominated local government from the beginning.

Here is the deal. Just when I thought we had found our savior, things went bad. No I am not talking about Barack Obama. I mean a local savior, not the one we have in Washington D.C. I mean Elizabeth Beausoliel. Just when Beausoliel, the former Liberty County Democratic Party County Chairman and Campaign guru in Rusty Hight’s election to the 75th District Court Judgeship was, in my mind, primed and ready to rid our party of the neutering and embarrassing leadership of John and Nancy Archer, she gets caught stealing mail in the courthouse, etc. and embarrasses us all over again. So much for the Beausoliels.

We have now had ten years of a handful of local Republicans slowly and methodically taking advantage of our own inept leadership. Ten years ago they had nothing but some people talking about change. We should have ignored them as courteously as we could. Instead our leadership has been big on trying to use their power to try and destroy these people and not big at all at doing the right thing. We don’t need any more strong arm type leaders. We don’t need any more spinmeisters. We need a good honest smart thick-skinned Democrat to replace the leadership we have now. We need someone to promote what our party is all about.

So as bizarre as it may seem I am hoping you will allow me to put the word out on your website. A good strong two party system makes this country strong and it will make this county strong too.


Thanks for any fair treatment you are able to find your way to give me,

Your Loyal Opposition

Liberty County, 75th District Court- Let's make a deal Wednesdays...

Most people here in Liberty County don’t know it, but the cat will now be out of the bag for anyone reading this article. On Wednesdays in the Liberty County courthouse if you are interested you can watch a live alternate version of the popular game show “Let’s Make A Deal”. Yes, it is true- the devil is in the details...

There are several differences in the Liberty County version however. First thing anyone who chooses to go will notice that the deals are made in the 75th District Court rather than a studio in Burbank, California. The second thing any longtime fan of the original show will notice is that instead of the iconic Monty Hall, Liberty County has Rusty Hight cutting the deals.

But the difference in the host and the location is not what makes Wednesdays worth noting. Observers will notice that the deals are cut on much different terms when Hight is in charge. First this deal making skips the three doors. There is no excitement for the audience. No cheering for door number one or door number three. No trading door number two for a big box that ends up having three flat tires in it. The deals are cut behind closed doors. And they are all wonderful. What 75th District Court Judge Rusty Hight gives away is just as toe tingling and just as worthy of a loud whooping jump up and down scream to some of the people appearing in orange jumpsuits and shackles before him as all of the clowns that dressed up to get on Monty Hall’s television show. You see what Hight is giving away doesn’t come from money generated by a television show. On Wednesdays, the days when the least people are in the courtroom, Hight gives away bargain basement sentences.

Hight gives away light sentences and he has even been known to suspend someone’s probation after sentencing them the day before in front of a much larger crowd in the courtroom on Tuesday.

You see Wednesdays are days that Rusty Hight gets to play Monty Hall, or some might say Santa Claus or even God. We encourage people that are at home on Wednesday mornings to turn their televisions off and go watch child molesters and drug dealers receive whatever door Judge Hight has chosen to give them.

Be sure and note who the attorneys for the criminals are so that you can follow the money in future stories. And if you get a chance to come on other days be sure and notice how on rare occasions, Hight does his version of Judge Roy Bean and tries to hang one of his political or personal enemies with a tough judgment against them.

The things that have gone on in this courtroom during Hight’s tenure would make an interesting reality show. Unfortunately, the reality of this Judge’s decisions leave us all vulnerable. People are subject to not only his willingness to use the law to punish innocent people, we are subject to the criminals he let’s back out on the streets.

Obama's Focus: Bowling and Golf, then the Economy Stupid?

By all accounts Barack Obama is probably the worst bowler to live in the White House in the last fifty years (President's wives and children excluded). His reaction to the public reporting of his lack of bowling ability was to practice, practice, practice – until it is reported that he is now an average bowler. And then the press was encouraged to emphasize his basketball skills.

At that point all Americans should have hoped that the President focused on the nation’s business during work hours and his family during off hours. That is not what has happened, but you would have to hunt to find out the truth. The liberal media has chosen to report that Obama has “vacationed” less than half as much as President Bush, which is a scandalous deception in itself. President Bush’s trips to Texas were to a ranch that was equipped to carry on business as usual. The media’s surveillance of the Bush ranch and all reports from insiders indicate that, with the exception of occasional bike rides or brush clearing, Bush was all about the people’s business while at the ranch.

On the other hand, the liberal media has chosen not to count nearly fifty day trips by Obama to go golfing. Barack Obama has played a remarkable number of rounds of golf since becoming president, easily outpacing his predecessor and headed for what could be an unbeatable record. With the excursions lasting on average at least five hours, the president has devoted a total of more than 200 hours to golf, not counting time spent on the White House putting green. That’s the equivalent of twenty five eight-hour work days, or five work weeks spent smacking golf balls around.

Of course with Bush the reports of his golf outings were used to help deride him as a callow and lazy rich boy. We now know it did not take Bush long to decide it was not appropriate for him to play golf when people’s children were fighting overseas in a war he was responsible for prosecuting. So he didn’t play again.

With Obama however, it is best to remember the bowling disability we all learned about early in his administration. Unfortunately, Obama’s lack of golfing skills are taking longer to overcome. And despite wars he is responsible for prosecuting and the tragedy in the gulf, the three putting and the slicing continue. Perhaps it would all stop if the media would report his daily activities the same as they reported his predecessor’s.

Since the April 20 explosion that killed 11 rig workers and started the Gulf oil spill, Obama has teed up seven times, according to White House Dossier’s count. This includes back to back sessions April 23 and 24 while on vacation at the Grove Park Resort & Spa in Asheville, NC, just days after the crisis began.

From a period stretching from April 3 to May 22 of this year, the president went golfing eight of nine weekends. WOULD YOUR WIFE LET YOU DO THAT?? WOULD YOU LET YOUR HUSBAND? Michelle, what gives?

While on the course, Obama, for the most part, likes to keep it nice and light, often playing with a youngish crowd. No deep discussions of policy on the links. Emphatically not invited for the most part are members of Congress or senior White House aides. In other words, it ain’t no work trip…

Perhaps in order to make him earn his paycheck, we should bite the bullet and hire Tiger Woods to help him get his golf game up to the level of his bowling. Perhaps then both men could quit behaving like spoiled brats and join the grown up world.

Democrats run but they cant hide...

Texas Democrats can run but they cannot hide from what their party is doing in Washington. Liberty County Democratic officials and candidates can disagree with Nancy Pelosi and they can say they did not vote for Barack Obama. Or they can do as they have for years and wink at certain voters and whisper they are really a conservative, but they were free to announce they were switching parties when Obama was elected. They have been free to publicly denounce the policies of their party.

No such denouncements have been reported. No more party switching has been announced. This is their party and their support of it is all voters can conclude about their stance on the issues.

Therefore when Republicans take the stance that unemployment payments should not be funded by printing more money and extending the national debt and Obama’s Chicago-style political sharks twist and pervert the effort to stop runaway spending into making anyone who wants Congress to cut cost elsewhere to pay for the benefits sound cold and heartless – that is a product of Democrats like Liberty County’s candidates and their officials supporting runaway spending policies.

When Obama and company twist the idea of securing the border and not allowing anyone to cut in line and get in front of those who have not violated immigration laws into making anyone that is not for some form of amnesty program sound cold and heartless – that is a product of Democrats like the folks right here in our county. Their work in the party strengthens a political machine that promotes near borderless policies as a national policy. It rewards a person who snuck into this country illegally by allowing him to be in front of the millions of people who have filed the correct papers and are awaiting their turn.

When Democrats insist on announcing dates we will pull out of Iraq and out of Afghanistan and give terrorists a heads up on our plans and when they use our current economic struggles to run the public debt up in unprecedented fashion and when they set up a mandatory insurance scheme that effectively raises taxes – that is all stuff those who actively build the local Democratic party help to perpetuate on the rest of us.

Please find below a list of only one of the many political lies we have been told – we will call them “inconsistencies”:

Team Obama’s intellectual inconsistencies on unemployment insurance:

1.The Obama Administration has previously supported offsetting the cost of extended UI benefits. In support of the November 2009 law (H.R. 3548) which offset $2 B of unemployment insurance spending, Team Obama’s Statement of Ad. But ministration Policy said: “The Administration supports the fiscally responsible approach to expanding unemployment benefits embodied in the bill.” At the time the unemployment rate was 9.8%, higher than it is now.

2.The President attacked Republicans for opposing deficit-increasing unemployment insurance extensions while supporting deficit-increasing extensions of tax relief. But the President has proposed extending much of that same tax relief without any offset.

3.The President attacked Republicans for opposing extensions of UI benefits, while the Senate Republican Leader has explicitly supported such an extension on Sunday. The actual dispute is instead over whether the costs should be offset.

4.White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs argued the bill should be passed without offsets to avoid legislative delay. But as a reporter’s question suggests below, that delay results from a disagreement between the two parties, and either side could have instantly resolved it by conceding on the offset dispute. The delay is the result of both sides prioritizing the budget offset question over immediate action.

Bad Experience Shouldn’t Attract Voters

If asked, many voters would probably tell pollsters that they could care less about the love lives of the two candidates for the 75th District Court Judge. But we can see from polls in other elections that many do care about the private lives of potential officeholders. In the case of this particular race, it may be difficult for either candidate to win by being negative about the other. In fact, if the race turns ugly and voters get tired of the nastiness they may say who cares if Mark Morefield doesn’t have a certificate showing he is married to the woman he has been devoted to and has successfully raised a child with for many years, or who cares about how unfaithful sitting judge Rusty Hight has been in his marriage?

The deciding factor in this election may all come down to experience. As voters consider these men’s abilities as attorneys, we may all have differing opinions. For those who are not friends of Hight or Morefield, I would encourage you to have a conversation with both. My experience has been that one man seems to know more about the law and to rely on the law more than his own opinion, but you may have a different opinion. Close friends of these two men will undoubtedly have talking points and try to persuade people to vote for their buddy, but rest assured none of us will necessarily have the advantages that these buddies will have in the courtroom if their guy is elected. Sometimes friends will highlight the positives of their guy and beef up or make up the negatives. For instance, if someone comes up to you campaigning for Hight, I doubt they will mention when he got caught and reprimanded for cheating in a case several years back, and I doubt people campaigning for Morefield will underscore the fact that he has less experience on the bench. No experience in fact.

But since Judge Hight’s experience will be what most would say is his biggest advantage (perhaps his only one), in the coming weeks, Liberty Dispatch will review that experience. Rather than hope every voter talks to both candidates and comes to the same conclusion we did about Morefield being much more knowledgeable about the law and how to apply it justly, we will attempt to inform the voters and give them a chance to voice some feedback concerning the experience Hight has. We believe voters will be pleased that Morefield doesn’t have the same kind of experience.

With an informed electorate, we should all be hopeful that bad experience will not attract voters. To change Liberty County and make it better, we will have to be willing to put people with less experience in office and relieve from duty those whose experience is negative.

IF HE WINS, WE LOSE

If nothing else in Liberty County politics is obvious, the changing trend toward voting more for the conservatism we have seen in Austin and away from voting for the liberalism of the Democratic Party and Barack Obama is now prevalent among our citizens. That could mean we continue to elect more Republicans. It could mean voters recognize the corruption and the good ole boy network we have had for years and we are tired of it and we are not going to take it anymore.

But for those of us that fall in any of the above categories, we need to realize in order to make significant strides toward what we consider positive change, one thing must happen. To stop the liberals, the Democrats, the corruption, the good ole boys, or whatever name someone wants to use, they must not have a pipeline to continue their dominance in the courthouse. This will not necessarily happen by electing different clerks or a different county judge or a different commissioner. To put it simply, if Democrats continue to be able to target specific cases and run them through Democratic Judge Rusty Hight's court, they will continue to do what they have done in spite of all the other changes voters have mandated.

There are two district courts in Liberty County. The 253rd District Court race was settled in the primary and voters gave longtime Judge Chap Cain nearly 70% of their votes. Judge Cain has been known for many years as a conservative law in order Judge, but this election his desire to disassociate himself from the economic and legal/policy decisions of Barack Obama caused him to switch parties. His appearance on the Republican Party primary ticket was met with overwhelming acceptance by voters who agreed with his sentiment.

But voters must be aware that Judge Cain's opponent in that Republican primary race was hand picked and promoted by District Judge Rusty Hight who currently sits on the bench of the 75th District Court. Hight failed in his attempt to defeat Judge Cain with a candidate of his own choosing, but that is not the end of the shenanigans going on under and around the black robes of this Judge. Hight's connections in the local Republican Party are now legendary among those who keep up with local politics. But voters became aware of and rejected Hight's father-in-law and his bid to maintain his status as the Republican Party Chairman. Liberty Dispatch and concerned voters were more than concerned when Hight's father-in-law, Lester Wisegerber consistently told voters that "it doesn't matter whether a candidate is a Democrat or Republican". When the only person in the county that was elected to promote Republicans started promoting non-partisanship, voters for the first time in the history of the county ousted an incumbent Republican Party Chairman and Hight is now left unexpectedly going into this election without his family connection on the other side to help out.

Some Hight supporters may have counted on another dirty trick that was played using inside connections. But they must have been more than disappointed when they woke up one morning to Liberty Dispatch's breaking news about another crime in the courthouse. News about someone stealing mail and trying to influence voters to vote for Hight's candidate for District Judge rather than Judge Cain must have shocked any Hight supporters hoping to hear breaking news that would help their side win. Soon it will be revealed this report was about former Democratic Party Chairman Elizabeth Beausoliel's attempt to sling mud on Judge Cain. Speculation ended when videos revealed Beausoliel was in possession of mail stolen from the courthouse mailroom. The public still awaits the results of an FBI investigation which will reveal any other individuals involved in this scandal and will show a lame attempt to falsely accuse Cain of accepting a campaign contribution that went over the legal limit. Beausoliel has been Rusty Hight's campaign manager in the past (though we can all guess that her name will now not appear in his campaign literature).

Nevertheless, it remains to be seen what the closest friends of Wisegerber that continue to work in the Republican party will do to help Rusty Hight gain re-election. Will they support the change the voters have indicated they want or will they be subversive and be traitors to the party they have sworn to support and tell people to vote for Hight? Will they help re-elect the one person that can continue business as usual in our courthouse? It remains to be seen.

Murmuring and whispering campaigns about the morality of Hight's opponent have been the weapon of choice by Hight supporters thus far. A poor choice of political tactics for people that support someone who lives in the proverbial glass house. This kind of campaign will be met with facts and a much more open and honest discussion about the morality topic Hight supporters have chosen. Liberty Dispatch has investigated both candidates and will soon post the details of some of what has been uncovered. But for now we want to reassure anyone who wants to vote for change that is being subjected to the nasty mudslinging Hight whispering campaign. In a morality comparison, you don't want to choose Rusty Hight.

If Hight wins, we all lose.

Liberty Dispatch Supporter

Obama Family Cook Named Policy Adviser

In a comical move even for a czar-happy president who has rewarded dozens of cronies with distinguished titles, the White House has named the Obama’s personal Chicago cook as “Senior Policy Adviser for Healthy Food Initiatives.”

It’s no joke, even though is sounds like a bad one. The Chicago chef’s rapid ascension, reported this week by a conservative Washington D.C. newspaper, has been kept under the radar for the last month. Sam Kass went from being a 20-something, Windy City gourmet cook—privately paid by the Obama’s to feed them—to big-time White House adviser in a matter of months.

In between, Michelle Obama made Kass a “Food Initiative Coordinator” for her new healthy nutrition program which is supposed to eliminate childhood obesity within a generation, especially in the nation’s inner cities. The First Lady claims that childhood obesity is a threat to national security and a crisis equivalent to AIDS and youth violence.

Because it’s such a dire situation, she has convinced her husband’s administration to spend $400 million a year to bring “healthy foods” to low-income neighborhoods and $10 billion to revise a decades-old federal measure that already feeds tens of millions of poor children at school for free.

This culinary revolution no doubt requires a trusted senior policy adviser—like Kass—who is an expert in healthy cuisine. The First Lady refers to her cook as a “partner in crime” and says it’s “just pretty powerful” to see what started out as talk in her South Side Chicago kitchen turn into a major initiative that “hopefully will change the way we think as a country.”

Makes you wonder what Kass, who also doubles as a White House chef, has been putting in the Obama’s food all these years. Incidentally, the “most transparent administration” in history doesn’t want Americans to know how much the famous family cook earns. Although he’s an important administration wonk, Kass’s salary is excluded in the Annual Report to Congress on White House Staff because he’s considered “residence staff” and those salaries don’t need to be disclosed.

By: Judicial Watch

Senator, Tommy Williams Appointment

Senator Tommy Williams Named Chairman, Senate Transportation & Homeland Security Committee

AUSTIN - State Senator Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands) was named the new chairman of the Senate Transportation & Homeland Security Committee today by Lt. Governor David Dewhurst. The Transportation & Homeland Security Committee handles long-term funding for transportation infrastructure, highway safety, security of our state and emergency measures.

"As the Texas Department of Transportation begins the process of solving significant organizational and fiscal challenges, the Texas Senate requires a leader who will continue to keep our transportation infrastructure on track and our state moving forward," said Lt. Governor Dewhurst. "Senator Williams is a strong advocate for reducing congestion on our roadways by ensuring dependable revenues to construct and expand new highways and build a world-class transportation system."

"It's very important we continue to improve our infrastructure and protect our citizens," said Williams. "I am humbled by the confidence the Lt. Governor has placed in me. We have hard work ahead of us, and I am ready to begin," stated Williams.

Senator Williams represents Senate District 4 covering all or portions of Jefferson, Orange, Chambers, Liberty, Harris and Montgomery Counties. Williams is a member of the Texas Senate Select Committee on Redistricting and also serves a member of the Finance, Education, International Relations & Trade Committees and the State Preservation Board.

Eight more states and DC, up in smoke...

Along with the fourteen states already with medical marijuana/private use laws on the books, eight more states are set to legalize the medical/personal use of marijuana.

Alaska | California | Colorado | District of Columbia | Hawaii | Maine | Maryland | Michigan | Montana | Nevada | New Jersey | New Mexico | Oregon | Rhode Island | Vermont | Washington

8 States and DC with Pending Legislation or Ballot Measures to Legalize Medical Marijuana
(as of July 12, 2010)

1. Arizona	2. District of Columbia	3. Illinois	4. Massachusetts	5. New York
6. North Carolina	7. Ohio	8. Pennsylvania	9. South Dakota

As of this date, the federal government claims that marijuana is not medicine and in Gonzales v. Raich (2005), the United States Supreme Court held that the federal government has the constitutional authority to prohibit marijuana for all purposes. Thus, federal law enforcement officials may prosecute medical marijuana patients, even if they grow their own medicine and even if they reside in a state where medical marijuana use is protected under state law. The Court indicated that Congress and the Food and Drug Administration should work to resolve this issue.

Penalties for Marijuana Use or Possession in Texas:

To date, because the state of Texas does not legally view marijuana as a medicinal drug, any individual found in possession will be charged on a criminal platform. Debate about the benefits and pitfalls of the drug have been in progress for quite some time, and articles for and against reforming the laws can be seen in popular newspapers often.

Possession of less than 2 oz*	Class B Misdemeanor	Penalties include incarceration for a period of up to 180 days with a fine of $2,000
Possession of between 2 oz and 4 oz*	Class A Misdemeanor	Penalties include incarceration for a period of up to 1 year with a fine of $4,000
Possession of between 4 oz and 1 lb*	State Jail Felony	Penalties include incarceration for a period of 180 days to 2 years, with a fine of $10,000
Possession of between 1 lb and 5 lbs	State Jail Felony	Penalties include incarceration for a period of 180 days to 2 years, with a fine of $10,000
Possession of between 5 lbs and 50 lbs	Felony of the Third Degree	Penalties include incarceration for a period of 2 to 10 years with a fine of $10,000
Possession of between 50 lbs and 2,000 lbs	Felony of the Second Degree	Penalties include incarceration for a period of 2 to 20 years with a fine of $10,000
Possession of greater than 2,000 lbs	Felony	Penalties include incarceration for a period of 5 to 99 years with a fine of $50,000

Republican meeting highlights including recognition of Marine, Gunny Jorgensen

The Liberty County Republicans held a general meeting on 07/06/2010. In attendance were Party Chairman, Andy McCreight, and candidates Craig McNair, Tommy Chambers, Monty Odum, Donna Brown and Paulette Williams.

General party business and finances were discussed. Since Andy McCreight's victory over Lester Ray Wisegerber in the County Chairman's race, Republicans are slowly reviewing the past financial statements and future goals as they begin to prioritize their goals. During the last meeting, the Executive Committee voted to continue paying for the headquarters through the November election. Nothing further was said about the leasing and sub-leasing of the party headquarters building or the initial fees involved in the process.

A motion brought by Ray Akins to acknowledge the hard work for the party by “Gunny” Jorgensen was passed with Dennis Odell seconding the motion. Gunny will be given a plaque that commemorates his years of service.

The Liberty County Republican Party voted unanimously to recognize and honor this longtime and hard working member. Gunny Jorgenson's fellow marine, T.B. Boyd, spoke eloquently about his patriotic and distinguished friend and the contributions Gunny has made to the country and to the Republican party. As an example of Gunny's dedication to the community, T.B. pointed out that "even while running for office, Gunny put everything on hold while he and Ray Akins spent months informing the county and campaigning against the proposed water district. Gunny believed that his first duty was to help stop the higher taxes and the loss of control of our water that the new district would cause - so he put his own ambitions off until he and Ray had mounted a sufficient campaign."

After T.B. Boyd, a former county chairman talked about Gunny's sense of duty and his thoroughness in the way he approached his duties as a precinct chairman. "Some of the volunteers who have just started to help in the last five or six years may not know much about our history, but it is people like Gunny and T. B. that ultimately built the base of this party and they will always be a big part in any success that it has. It is people like these men who have made this country great. It has been an honor to work with them."

The rest of the Republican meeting was dedicated to precinct chairman training.

DEMOCRATS LOOKING FOR THE "CROSS YOUR FINGER" VOTES TO WIN

How many people reading this would enjoy finding someone who is not a yellow dog Democrat that voted for Barack Obama and asking them how they feel about their vote now that we have had a year and a half of his leadership?

Thinking back on that election I doubt many Texans were all that pumped up about a President John McCain either. But I really would like to ask those voters who normally don't vote for wild-eyed liberals with little or no political experience what they were thinking when they cast a vote for Barack Hussein Obama. Did they close their eyes and cross their fingers as they bubbled his name?

We have a Governor's race coming up that in some ways reminds me of the OBama-McCain race. An experienced conservative Republican Governor Rick Perry vs a liberal Democrat former Mayor of Houston Bill White (who has never run for statewide office.) I sure hope we don't have a repeat from those who voted for Obama. I can understand a Democrat supporting their party voting for Obama (or Bill White), but the wishful votes Obama received from Independants and Republicans is perplexing. Will Bill White, Obama's candidate running for Governor of Texas, experience the same phenomena?

We can all agree Obama is a better speaker than John McCain and that he had less baggage. But anyone who has gone almost nowhere or done much of anything but "organize" the neighborhoods of Chicago is going to have less baggage than someone like McCain. As weary as some of us were of McCain, we saw the type of baggage the inexperienced Obama had and we refused to be drawn into the "promise of hope" campaign.

Bill White has tried to manage his image from day one as he sought to become Mayor of Houston a few years back. He has promoted himself while his party has pointed out every possible negative Perry has. But White's chance of winning in Texas is based on the same kind of thing. Are some voters just tired of Perry and are willing to disregard all of the self promoting silliness White did as Mayor and elect some reinforcements for Obama? Are some voters sold on the "message of hope" we were all suppose to get when we saw Mayor Bill Bill with his bike helmet on riding through the streets of Houston? Are we so sick of politicians and full of desire for change that we will hand over our vote and send to Austin someone who is in agreement with the man we hope to endure and survive in Washington DC?

We should all still have hope and a belief that "yes, we can" restore America. But it won't be by crossing our fingers and allowing these people to wear us down so much we are willing to try the liberal policies that have failed all over the world. Our hope should be that we are now determined to vote against everyone in this party that seeks to change those things that have made this country great. It is time for Liberty County to let our voice be heard across this great state and all of the way in Washington. We will not support this Democratic party any more in any way.

Liberty Texas Police Department, Questionable Policing

Headline: Liberty Police arrest suspect for July 4, 2009 murder

"Thursday afternoon, LPD Officer Rolando Aguilar spotted Alberto Sanchez driving a silver Dodge pickup truck in the area of Main and Myrtle in Liberty.

Aguilar thought the driver of the truck matched a description from a recent assault case.

Aguilar turned around and tried to catch up to the truck to see if he could stop it and identify the driver. Aguilar successfully stopped the truck on Kentucky St., just south of Grand Ave., at 7:20 p.m.

As Aguilar approached the truck, the driver and two females exited the vehicle. The driver then fled on foot into the neighborhood.

After a short foot chase, Aguilar and assisting LPD Officer Mike Prado found the driver behind a house in the 2400 block of Grand Ave." (Courtesy HCN)

Question: What kind of police department allows a known and identified murderer to reside and operate in the community?

Answer: The Liberty Texas Police Department

MISUSING THE CONSERVATIVE LABEL

With the words "double-dip inflation" and "super recession" swirling around every news report, I guess it is typical of people politicking to use the current economic woes to try and sell the voters in this town on their vision of the future. The word "conservative" is popular among most taxpayers as the nation elected a President who is acting like an unsupervised teenager with a credit card at Christmas time. I guess that is how "WE" - the people who live here and have lived here all of our lives - are left watching as our schools and our current school leaders have no money for needed in our district.

Without any sales pitch by either side, it would be interesting to have a poll that included all of our residents and learn how many citizens here in Liberty favor paying for a full service hospital or would rather have more of a triage-like emergency clinic. With several fine hospitals less than a thirty minute ambulance ride away and the addition of excellent urgent care clinics in this area, it seems to many of us that a fully staffed and equipped hospital is an unneeded expense and a poor use of tax money. We would like to use that magic word "conservative" here and would more than enjoy a practical discussion about having a facility nearby for emergencies. We would love to settle that issue because we believe common sense would prevail. Conservatives would prevail. Deciding whether or not an emergency clinic should be privately owned or not may not be as easy to predict - conservatives may not win this argument wth voters. But as it stands now, our hopital district tax and the "benefits" to the community are typical of a very liberal wasteful tax and spend community and an honest conversation and an elecion where everyone votes would kill the hospital district..

The politicking by many of the same people that have us pumping money into a dead-on-arrival hospital has resulted in misusing the word and the ideas behind conservatism. The success these big spenders have had in stopping our school leaders from having any funds to repair and improve our schools can not be looked at as "conservative". It would however have been "conservative" if some of these same people when they were younger would have used their power, position, and influence to have budgeted for school maintenance and repairs and improvements (and to have been responsible enough to monitor the funding). That kind of planning and oversight would ave been nice!

But what is "conservative" NOW ? And if all residents were polled and they all saw the conditions of the administration building and other items listed as school district needs in the recent bond issue - would they opt to keep dumping money and continue to salvage the old or finance what the district needs are.

Let's put this on a personal level to decide what we think is "conservative" - or better than that, what we think is wise. For the sake of an example, let's consider what we would advise a man that has decided to marry someone and after the wedding move into her house. Let's say she has several young children. Their father is out of the picture now but the decisions he made for years have continued to effect the well being of the children. He slowly fell behind in house repairs. And he made some improvements, but didn't keep up with the needs of a growing family in this area either. What should the newlywed do? It is his responsibility now. Should the three children all continue o live in one small room intended for babies? Should he keep patching the roof and repairing the damage the leaks cause?

A "conservative" is not simply someone who says "no" to spending money. A "conservative" approach to this situation would involve a cost/benefit analysis. If the man can refinance at an interest rate that allows him to provide a house for these children that is more functional and if the cost of this is ultimately less in a year to year analysis than repeatedly paying for expensive repairs... then a "conservative" solution to this problem is borrowing money and fixing the house.

It is pure unadulterated politics to label this new Superintendent or her school board as if they are tax and spend liberals. Cynthia Lusignola, like the man in the example, has children she is responsible for. She was not here and did not create the current circumstances. Who cares about her politics. She assembled a group of people to begin discussion on how to approach our current problems. She invited the pubic to weigh in. They had no known opposition and proceeded to the ballot.

The only question we are left with after a low turn out rejection of the bond issue is what do we do now? True conservatives may not appreciate what we have to deal with now, but we shouldn't want to sink money into a building that will cost more to continue (over time)to repair than to build a new one. Conservatives should help Dr. Lusignola solve this problem by fixing the problem by spending money as wisely as possible.

The young people in a community with wonderful hospitals nearby in all directions, should still be concerned that emergency facilities are available for the elderly and those who are involved in an emergency. And our elderly should be concerned we have great schools.