rock jock
Member
Our local civic association had a slate of candidates running for everything from sheriff to DA to county commissioner to state rep tonight. I listened intensely to all the candidates give their spiel and answer questions. I even filmed the entire thing. On the whole, what a debacle. I don't know if I was more disappointed by the total lack of intelligence/forethought from the audience's written questions or the political double-speak of most of the candidates. I ended up talking with several after the forum, and even got into a very heated discussion with my local county commissioner over some actions he took against me this past year. I called him on his own ignorance of the very regulations he helped pass and on the hypocrisy of contradictory statements he had made to me personally and to the media. At one point, I literally thought we were going to fisticuffs, with the current sheriff only a few feet away engaged in another, unrelated discussion but still keeping a watchful eye on us. Discretion was the better part of valor in that case. What an arrogant a**!
I spent about 30 minutes speaking with a candidate for DA (former assistant DA and fourth generation SE Texan who has many judges and politicians in his own family tree) who after hearing me argue and listening to me rant about the local good ole' boy network, agreed with me that this part of Texas has more than its fair share of crooked politicians, shady deals, nepotism, and general lack of professionalism at all levels of county and city govt. I am so frustrated with politics in general and this area in particular.
Next up was the Democrat candidate for state rep, who introduced himself and with a smarmy smile asked if he could get a copy of my video, or least a mpeg of his debate with the incumbent Republican because he thought he had caught him in a lie. I didn't want to tell him that I had no desire to help a socialist who only minutes before had railed against the evil pharmaceutical industry for having the gall to actually make a profit and then waxed poetically about why we needed to pump billions more into the state public education budget, you know, "for the children". Ugghh!!!
My one highlight of the evening was talking with the former sheriff (and current candidate to once again take the office) about his view on signing off on a Class 3 form. He stated that, while he has no problem with law-abiding individuals owning machineguns, he feared liability for signing a form because, in his words, "that would be en endorsement" of the applicant. I spent five minutes explaining to him that the LEO signoff was not in any was an endorsement, but rather a acknowledgement that the applicant had no local warrants or other legal instruments outstanding against him/her that would prohibit ownership of a firearm. Keep in mind that this guy was sheriff for 16 years before he lost four years ago, and was a longtime LEO before that. He admitted that he did not in fact know that, and if that was in fact true and I could demonstrate that, he would be happy to sign off if he took office.
I spent about 30 minutes speaking with a candidate for DA (former assistant DA and fourth generation SE Texan who has many judges and politicians in his own family tree) who after hearing me argue and listening to me rant about the local good ole' boy network, agreed with me that this part of Texas has more than its fair share of crooked politicians, shady deals, nepotism, and general lack of professionalism at all levels of county and city govt. I am so frustrated with politics in general and this area in particular.
Next up was the Democrat candidate for state rep, who introduced himself and with a smarmy smile asked if he could get a copy of my video, or least a mpeg of his debate with the incumbent Republican because he thought he had caught him in a lie. I didn't want to tell him that I had no desire to help a socialist who only minutes before had railed against the evil pharmaceutical industry for having the gall to actually make a profit and then waxed poetically about why we needed to pump billions more into the state public education budget, you know, "for the children". Ugghh!!!
My one highlight of the evening was talking with the former sheriff (and current candidate to once again take the office) about his view on signing off on a Class 3 form. He stated that, while he has no problem with law-abiding individuals owning machineguns, he feared liability for signing a form because, in his words, "that would be en endorsement" of the applicant. I spent five minutes explaining to him that the LEO signoff was not in any was an endorsement, but rather a acknowledgement that the applicant had no local warrants or other legal instruments outstanding against him/her that would prohibit ownership of a firearm. Keep in mind that this guy was sheriff for 16 years before he lost four years ago, and was a longtime LEO before that. He admitted that he did not in fact know that, and if that was in fact true and I could demonstrate that, he would be happy to sign off if he took office.