I'm really proud of our newest paper in the Valley. It's an independent paper called "The Paper" of South Texas. I was introduced to the paper by David Robledo one of the paper's investigative reporters. He showed me and other members of the South Texas political community the first edition at the last gathering of the "Tripa Club." This newspaper he told me was going to be a no-holds-barred independent newspaper that did real investigative reporting on all issues no matter how sensitive. Fellow blogger (Valley In Exile) and former Monitor editor, Mack Harrision is part of the team. Political and social commentary in the form of cartoons are provided by Ramon Ramirez. A number of other contributing writers also participate.
True to the word David gave me, the second edition of the newspaper came out with an investigative report on the problem of vote-harvesters or as we call them here on the border, "politiqueras." The story entitled "Politiqueras Still At War For Elderly Vote" is well worth reading. What this proved to me is that the folks over at The Paper were really serious in that their second edition has actual endorsements from their editorial board. That was refreshing and proved to me that these folks were not going to take the easy road. Look, because of the serious and personal nature of South Texas politics, the safer bet would be to stay away from endorsements, this is dangerous and uncharted territory.
Agree or disagree with the endorsements you gotta admire their courage in taking a stand. After all we are all involved in the marketplace of ideas. If you don't agree, then speak up, engage, make your point of view known. Here are their endorsements as they appeared in their second edition:
92nd Judicial District Court
Ricardo Rodriguez, Jr.
Criminal District Attorney
Alma R. Garza
Hidalgo County Judge
Ramon Garcia
County Clerk
Balde Morales
County Commissioner, Pct. 2
Tito Palacios
County Commissioner, Pct. 4
Don Medina
Justice of the Peace
Jesus Morales and Rosa Trevino
Okay folks, I know not everybody agrees with the endorsements. The power of blogging is that you can give immediate feedback. Hit the comment button and give us your two cents if you want to join in the discussion.
13 comments:
What about district clerk? Are they gonna leave us hanging?
Shaine, they decided that voters should make up their own minds between Hinojosa and Mendoza. But they did not endorse.
When they put the second edition online, I will link up the endorsement page.
There's no comparison between Laura and Robert. Laura runs circles around him.
your freudian slip is showing. There's a third candidate. :D
Who's pulling the strings on this paper? No way it can be independent and "investigative" as it reports to be with the advertisers it has. To begin with, no investigation whatsoever was made on the endorsements. Secondly, I know the old man from Elsa, he still climbs up trees to cut branches after a storm. His mind is as sharp as a whistle. And, he wants to kick the reporter's but. Get rid of your advertisements, till then, it sucks!!!!!
Wow. This kind of commentary reeks of the same incorrigible reasoning that landed Mr. EE School Board President in the tank. Too bad such juvenile thinking does not mature into better people, but remain stagnant in folks like the "old man."
Another bashing idiot! Donate some cash that way they won't advertise. All papers sell ads, that doesn't subtract from their credibility.
I'm still voting for Omar!!!
The choice on who to vote for in the Hidalgo County District Clerk's race is easy - LAURA HINOJOSA. She is by far the more qualified candidate. She's educated, a teacher, a mother, invovled in the community, honest. She represents good government and is doing it for the right reason. She's the kind of candidate we wish we had more of. Mr. Rep. its obvious "The Paper" didn't do their homework.
I met Laura during the campaign.
When I found out she was Congressman Hinojosa's daughter, I thought the same as many. "Daddy's girls running on name recognition." I've been proven wrong.
She's very humble and the one thing I can tell you about her is that she puts herself forward.
She is at (almost)every event, at every party, shakes every hand and even stood outside the elections office shaking hands. (Where was Omar?)
This is the type of person we need. Someone dependable who will put their face forward for us.
Laura is a good friend who will do a fine job if elected.
I am with you rep, it is good that this new paper took a stand, and for the most part, agree or at least do not dispute their endorsements. And I hope the paper does well b/c the Monitor sure could use the competition. But to call David Robledo an investigative reporter is stretching it. It is known that David is a political "hitman" who often will, for a fee, dig up dirt or write against the opponent of a political candidate who pays his extortion...er, "fee". For this new papers sake and its credibility, I hope they look into his questionable "investigative" tactics.
Exactly, Thank You!
With the endorsements that were made, "INVESTIGATIVE" is the last word to describe this paper. I know of one race where the decision not to endorse "highly" questions the integrity of this paper from it's inception. I picked up a bunch of them to use on the floor of my parrot's cage, the puppies dog house & underneath the cat litter box. When's the next issue coming out?
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