Does Advertising Gaffe Have Anything Nothing To Do With Politics?

This picture is for those who haven't seen one of these two signs off of I-10 and are wondering what the bloggers are talking about lately.

The conversation started when David K wrote about the flag on Silvestre Reyes' two billboards of off I-10. As you can see the flag seems to be backwards. As everybody knows the flag is supposed to be with the stars to the left. David K had mentioned some advertising guidelines that had been broken only to make Jaime Abeytia accuse him of falsifying the regulations to prove his point.

This should have been an argument about advertising and not about politics....

BUT.........

It has somehow been twisted into an attack on the Congressman by his supporters and in return his they have attacked the Congressman's opponents. What do they have to do with the lack of attention to detail of the people who made the billboard? I posted a comment on my own post saying it would happen.

"Let's see how long it takes Jaime to mention Tim Besco or Tim Collins on this one. We all know they had nothing to do with the whole flag SNAFU.."

But if we want to get political about it......let's look at the sign a little closer. Where is the disclaimer that is supposed to be printed "very clearly" on the bottom of the billboard? It is nowhere to be found. It is my understanding that Tim Besco was fined for not having it on his billboards. It was most likely pointed out by the Congressman's staffers or supporters. Where are their fingers now? The Congressman better set a little money aside for this blunder.

My Opinion


In all seriousness, I don't think this backwards billboard is an indicator of the Congressman's ability and should not  keep you from voting for the Congressman..........

What should keep you from voting for the Congressman is his inability to represent us in Washington. Its time we look the other way on the Congressman and vote him out of office!!!!!

The Problem With Voting For The Guy With The Spanish Last Name

I got into an on air discussion with my buddy on the left, Jaime Abeytia, about straight ticket voting. I told him that El Pasoans have a tendency to vote either straight ticket or vote for the guy with the Spanish last name.

They look at a ballot that has two names. Not knowing a darn thing about either candidates, realistically who follows Judicial races? The voter sees an Anglo last name and a Spanish sounding last name. Eight to nine out of ten times an El Pasoan will vote for the Spanish last name.

Several of you might be saying: What is wrong with that?

I'll make this short and sweet.

Si Uno Vota Simplemente Por La Raza...........
Nos Sale Otro Como Barraza!!!!!

I'll translate for the non Spanish Speakers.


If someone votes simply on the bases of race, we will get another one like Barraza.

This is referring to Judge Manuel Barraza who is currently serving time in a federal prison after being arrested and eventually convicted for taking bribes and asking for sexual favors for favorable rulings. But of coarse it doesn't rhyme in English as it does in Spanish.

Manuel Barraza defeated Judge Don Minton in 2008. He was arrested and charged after being on the bench for only three months. Barraza's campaign pushed the fact that he had over 30 years of experience as a defense lawyer when he ran. Look at him now. I bet he wishes he had gotten himself a better defense lawyer.

So make sure you vote for the right candidate. Don't vote straight ticket and don't take it for granted that the man or women is going to do a better job because he or she is of Hispanic or Latino descent.

As a Latino I would love to see more Latinos, who could better represent us get elected. But at the same time I hate to see a low life like Manuel Barraza ride the race card and make us all look bad. 

Keep Good Judges In Office; Keep Judge Antcliff in the 168th!!!!!!

Setting the Record Straight

No, I'm not saying Antcliff's opponent will be arrested and sent to prison like Barraza. What I am saying is that this Judicial race is very similar to the one between Barraza and Minton. You have a sitting Judge, who is Anglo,  who has  a proven track record and  has been appointed to several courts by the Governor. Then you have a lawyer, with no judicial experience, has a Spanish sounding last name and has no reason to run against the current judge. Except for the fact that he is a Democrat in a Democrat dominated county and if El Paso keeps doing what it has traditionally done, he has a very good chance of doing it. So don't get your panties in a wad and say that I promised that a Judicial candidate would end up in prison if elected.

Governor Rick Perry Sends A Message To The LNRC

Governor Rick Perry was in El Paso today at an event hosted by the El Paso Republican Party at the Community College Administration Building that drew a crowd of over 350 people. The Governor talked about the importance of getting out to vote and reminded everyone that today was the last day of early voting.

I was able to follow the Governor around as he shook hands with everyone in the crowd and as he took questions from the local media. He took a few seconds out of his busy schedule to record this message for the LNRC just before he and his staffers left.

Off camera Governor Perry told me to tell Jaime Abeytia, who has accused the Governor of lying to Latinos on his blog by posting a video that was previously recorded and posted on other mediums, that today was the last day of early voting but that Jaime could still do the right thing and vote for him on Tuesday, November 2nd.

And that's no lie!

The El Paso LNRC's Go Out And Vote Initiative

The El Paso LNRC does not endorse or condone the actions of any group no matter what party affiliation that tells Latinos not to vote. In fact, the El Paso LNRC launched it's Go Out and Vote initiative directed at the Latino community on October 26, 2010 to directly combat the ads of the conservative group in Nevada urging Latinos not to vote. The controversial ads by the group were taken off the air and banned nation wide by the Univision Network . The El Paso LNRC, whose motto is Engage, Empower, Educate & Elect, purchased air time on 5 local Univison Radio affiliates in both English and in Spanish  to encourage all Latinos to go out and vote. The script for the ads had to be approved by the network to make sure it aligned with the networks new Voting Initiative.

The political ads stressed the importance of  Latinos going out to vote and reminded Latinos that their vote was their voice that needed to be heard.

The El Paso LNRC is also using the internet and print to get its message across. Yard signs can be seen springing up around the city encouraging Latinos to vote for their values and not necessarily for the party that traditionally has not aligned with all of their beliefs.

The El Paso LNRC has only been around since February of this year but the group has worked very hard to make a small yet noticeable difference in the community. The group has hosted elected officials like Lt. Governor David Dewhurst and Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman. They have been on the host committee for Karl Rove, participated in events with Governor Rick Perry, Senator John Cornyn and Dr. Timothy Roth just to name a few. The El Paso LNRC has taken on issues at the local, state and national level while fielding both compliments and complaints from the media and political pundits.

The group promises to keep working hard to bridge the gap between the Latino community and the Republican party way after these elections are over.

The El Paso LNRC was the first chapter to be chartered in the state of Texas and has the largest membership. While groups tend to come and go with elections, the El Paso LNRC already has its eyes set on the 2012 Presidential Elections and hopes to raise its membership numbers while raising political awareness.

For more information go to www.elpasolnrc.com

The Flag-Gate Controversy; Congressman Reyes Knows Better

What the heck, I figured I would jump into this discussion. David K and Jaime Abeytia have been going back and forth on their Blogs and Facebook about Congressman Reyes' billboard that depicts an American Flag flying backwards. 

In defending the Congressman Jaime mentions his military experience and claims that the flag was printed that way to show some sort of forward motion like in the Army's uniform. David K claims that there are certain rules in advertising that govern the way an American Flag is depicted in print Advertising and that it should have never been printed that way.

If any of you know either of the two you know that they will be at it for a while because neither likes to be wrong.

David K has returned to being an antagonizer since his failed campaign for County Commissioner and Jaime is a huge Reyes supporter who will back his candidate no matter what. Good for him, but he is wrong on this one. He is such a strong supporter that he is claiming  David K is making up some fake advertising rules to prove his point.

I take David K's side on this one. It has nothing to do with party affiliation, in fact David K is in limbo on that right now since he has rejected the local Republican Party and has just recently said that the Tea Party movement is dead. I'm not sure what his next move will be. maybe I'll ask Jaime since they are so close.

If anything its more of a Marine vs. Soldier thing. Marines didn't wear backwards flags on their uniforms so I don't agree with the logic behind it.. Jaime is going to come back with "but they wore their name on their butts", referring to Marines wearing name tapes on every part of their uniform to include one on the rear right pocket of their trousers. It's an on going argument between Marines and Soldiers that will never die.

"The image is a representation of a flag, its not actually Old Glory Herself. We never took cues from ad agencies when I wore the uniform and to the best of my knowledge, neither does congress." Jaime Abeytia via Facebook

First of all, any picture, drawing or symbol of the Flag represents Old Glory and should be given the proper respect. Second Congress doesn't take cues from ad agencies but they do follow the orders of how to properly display and pay respect to the American Flag. In fact here is a picture of  Congressman Reyes properly following those orders.

I have yet to see any Congressman wear an American Flag lapel pin showing the flag going "forward". I would just cut my losses and move on if I was Jaime. Sometime you need to know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. And if you ask me, the cards are stacked against Jaime and the Congressman.

Promoting Republicans and Securing Our Borders, So Much For Unity 2010 Campaign.

In a highly disputed race for District 78, a rematch of the 2008election, both Dee Margo and incumbent Joe Moody are flooding all the mediums with political ads in attempt to get voters out to the polls.

The ad that caught my attention, besides the one the one that I was in, was the one where Joe Moody uses a couple Conservative talking points and even promotes a Republican Candidate. No way! He sure did.

In his ad Moody promotes Lt. Governor David Dewhurst who is actually running for re-election against DemocratIC nominee Linda Chavez-Thomson. I wonder how Mrs. Chavez-Thomson feels about that? So much for the whole Unity 2010 Campaign. I guess at this point it is every man or women for themselves. Sorry Linda.

Moody also goes on and says that he pledged to fight corruption two years ago. Two things. How can a State Representative fight corruption? Maybe by not participating in it or telling people not to participate in corruption is the most he could really do. But then again I could be wrong. Won't be the first, or the last time. I am human. Second, is it really a good idea to try to ride the coat tails of the FBI in the Public Corruption Case that has drug on for several years and has netted several indictments of local Democrats. This would be a good time to ditch the Unity Campaign. The Campaign got many of those who were indicted elected in the past. El Paso needs to realize that. Do we want more of the same? (Yes, I know. They are innocent until proven guilty, but I also know some are getting paid while they sit at home being investigated.)

But what really made me take a double take was what happened five seconds into the ad. Moody says he also pledged to keep the border community safe. Yet the graphics on the screen say "Secure Borders". Those are the dreaded words that normally cause liberals to start screaming things like Racist, Xenophobe, Anti-Immigrant, Anti-Mexican-Latino-Chicano-Moreno and are closely followed by some sort of protest. Why didn't that happen here. Why isn't BNHR (Border Network for Certain Human Rights) on the radio saying Moody is the devil? Because he is the Democrat and that is supposed to be the party of "La Gente".

Does Moody think that he can get away with literally saying one thing but hinting at another to get people to vote for him. Does he think that people are dumb enough not to catch it? Maybe I'm the only one who did. But here is the video just in case you missed it.

Haggerty Brothers Continue To Help The Community

I was driving up Sunland Park Drive yesterday and saw Commissioner Dan Haggerty and his brother former State Representative Pat Haggerty waving signs for Dan's re-election campaign.

So I grabbed a sign and joined them. It was a windy day and holding up the signs was quite a challenge. People passed by, honked their horns and for the most part waved with all five fingers extended on their hands.

I always enjoy talking to Dan. I always come out having learned a little something and sore from laughing at his straight forward conversation.

Talking to Dan and Pat made me realize that they almost had been in politics longer than I had been alive. Another thing I learned is that these to guys are two down to earth, do what needs to be done kind of guys.

As we were talking and waving Pat noticed a older model mini van that was having problems at the red light. Cars were honking at the young man to move out of the way but his vehicle would not start. Pat looked at me and Dan and said "come on boys lets help this guy."

Dan didn't hesitate. He put his signs down, walked into the very busy intersection of Mesa and Sundland Park and started to push. The young man didn't speak any English so I translated. Even though he didn't understand Dan or Pat, he new they had to be some sort of important people that dropped what they were doing to lend a helping hand.

We pushed that early 90's mini van up, when I say up I literally mean up, Mesa into a parking lot and out of harms way. The young man was very thankful telling us "Gracias, Muchas Gracias" over and over again. Dan and Pat didn't tell him who they were.

They just simply said "Your Welcome" and went back to their signs.

I bet you that young man would have never guessed that a former State Representative and a County Commissioner were the ones who helped him push his van.

So if anybody tries to ask "What have the Haggerty's done for us lately"

I can show them the shoes that I ruined helping the Haggerty's push that young man's vehicle out of the way because I know the Haggerty's will not want to take credit for what they did.

That's just the kind of guys they are.

I may have not broken bread with the brothers, but at least I can say that I pushed a broken down vehicle with them.