AMERIQUE:


A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: It is the unspoken statistic, but it is as real as anything to do with the lingering U.S. war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to the military, 1,800 American servicemen have killed themselves since the initial invasion of Baghdad. That is in addition to the more than 4,000 who died in battle. This week, families of the soldiers who committed suicide asked President Barack Obama to change the government policy of not forwarding letters of appreciation to mothers and fathers of these servicemen. By week's end, the White House had reversed the policy and agreed that such letters are needed, as well... - Eduardo Paz-Martinez, Editor of The Tribune

Thursday, August 12, 2010

NOTHING GOOD ON TV: City Fades Its Long-Running Cable Novela To Black...

By LESTER CANTU
Special to The Tribune

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - It was always the local, low-rent novela most residents here ignored - those long and energy-sapping meetings at City Hall, the ones where the mayor and his coterie of comfortable commissioners sailed through heady issues such as the menace of plastic bags, the headaches born from massage parlor shenanigans, the bitch of stray dogs and, for a little salsa, the rage engendering that anti-immigrant law roiling Arizona.

Really, the only interesting frames came when the citizenry rose to speak in the Public Comments moment of the Brownsville City Commission meetings. Well, no more. Because, now, city leaders, said to be wary of lawsuits, have put an end to televising that part of their meetings. It wasn't unanimous agreement on the often at-odds commission, but it was a done deal - the character actors that filled the cable channel airtime would no longer see themselves addressing the commission, no longer working on scripts that gave them the best lines, the best digs, the best of Chicanoe literature-in-a-hurry.

According to City Attorney Mark Sossi, Brownsville was risking a lawsuit when these speakers lashed-out at non-elected officials, which is a common practice in the Hispanic culture.

Besides, it was also said, the City of McAllen does not televise its Public Comments time. And Harlingen does not televise its meetings at all. So, what the...

Said one regular speaker, identified as Fernando Ruiz: "We don’t live in McAllen, and McAllen doesn’t have a Fernando Ruiz." Well, yeah, that is true. There is only one Fernando Ruiz, like this Fernando, in the entire Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

About the move, City Commissioner Melissa A. Zamora, credited as the proponent of the anti-Arizona law resolution earlier this summer, said this: "If we’re going to televise our meetings, I personally feel it’s poor form to turn off the cameras during public comment. Yes, there are times when misinformation is said by public commenters, and there are times when we get yelled at. It comes with the territory when one becomes a public servant. But there are also times when legitimate issues are brought before us that the community should be made aware of..."

Sossi, meanwhile, acknowledged that the Citizens Blackout was his idea. He said something about people rising to address the commission on faraway issues such as rampant starvation in Africa, and he also bemoaned the fact that many of the residents who arrived to speak usually "ignored" the mayor, when he spoke.

And, oh, sure, we can't have the mayor being ignored. No, no, no. Nuclear war could break out. The goofy international bridge linking lonely Brownsville to renegade Matamoros might be taken-over by cruel, women-beating, drug-dealing thugs while Fernando Ruiz is speaking. A giant, bulbous black spider might descend on the city at just the wrong portion of the Brownsville City Commission meeting. Mr. Amigo could show-up, and then what? Some famous Mexican composer no one knew lived in Rancho Viejo might arrive and start singing, international celebrities like that.

Gimme the remote...
- 30 -

[EDITOR'S NOTE:...Writer Lester Cantu is the former owner of The Valdez Brothers Tire Shop in Brownsville...]

9 comments:

Mary Lou said...

Alcatraz, this ghost writers are beginning to make me wonder, do they truly exist?? I noticed your last foot note, why would anyone think Levi Johnston would be Palins son in law.
He is like Ralphy, (Levi that is,} a high school drop out, he was working as an electrician's helper.
Ralphy is a former cop, probably spent all his life on the beat and never went past Corporal, a typical La Movida bar patron, with a belly the size of a watermelon.

Louisa said...

Mr. Editor: on your side bar you write the "fable writer Ron Mexico," is that goofy looking guy in the pink outfit 2 size smaller than his frame really Ron Mexico???

Patrick Alcatraz said...

LUISA:..Ralphy seems to be real, although who knows? Ron Mexico has died and we simply cannot be so crass as to discuss his fashion. We hope you understand. Ralphy tells us he has flown to Miami. What takes him there he did not say... - Editor

Mary L. said...

Mr. Editor, do you think the low lifes that hang at the Movida bar, are going to miss ralphy, they are probably glad his gone, Hello!!, all he does is bum beer and chips. Not to mention dancing with the hefty women that patronize those places. A real low life.

Patrick Alcatraz said...

MARY L:...La Movida Bar exists for a reason. What that reason is only God knows... - Editor

Luisa said...

Mr. Editor: I would like to dedicate a song, to my good friend Ralphy, I think it is called: "Thank God your are Gone," I think that is the name, and it is sung by a country and western singer.
I know he is going to appreciate the song. Asta la vista Ralphy.

MsGibby said...

To Luisa, the singer is Roy Clark and the song is "Thank God and Greyhound You're Gone" and a pretty good tune it is.

Patrick Alcatraz said...

Mary Lou/Ms Gibby:...Found the song. Poor quality, but there it is. Enjoy... - Editor

MLT said...

Thanks for the dedication, I hope ralphy listens to the words. Glad to read Eliot is back at work. Nothing personal against all the writers at your blog, but Mr. Elcomedor writes very well.
Well, they all write good to.