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10/21/02   How Preposterous!

That said, I was quite shocked at how poorly prepared Kirk was for the debate.  I know he never does his homework, but he's usually quite glib and gets by with platitudes and back-slapping, but this was statewide television.  There is no way I am going to believe that his campaign people have not been coaching and schooling him for this debate.

Listening to the debate on the radio, Kirk sounded awkward and uncertain several times.  A friend who saw the debate says he continually reviewed his notes and looked very uncomfortable.  Wasn't this where Kirk was supposed to just blow Cornyn away with his charm and quick wit?  I will give him this -- I did not hear Kirk use one word of profanity.  That must have been the hardest part of the debate for him.

Oh, that's what happened.  His handlers spent so much time training him to speak without cursing that they forgot to get him to memorize a few facts.

It's easy for someone who has been mired in local politics to be a little fuzzy on world leaders and events.  But, Kirk was even clueless about the Social Security Trust Fund -- it doesn't exist.  Social Security recipients are not drawing back what they contributed in the past, they are drawing off what young people are contributing today.  The money current recipients contributed was distributed to past recipients.  Many current recipients have already far exceeded in distributions what they ever contributed.   

Why is Kirk opposed to allowing young people to invest part of their Social Security taxes in interest bearing accounts, like Treasury Bonds -- not the stock market?  Does he not know the difference?  He certainly made a killing off those stock options his wife held in that Hicks company.   Remember what he said when the DMN finally got around to reporting on those stock options the Kirk's held while Kirk was negotiating a Bad Deal for Dallas citizens with Tom Hicks and Ross Perot, Jr.?  He said he and the Mrs. did not have the kind of money it would take to exercise the stock options.  We said he could borrow the money and sell them at a huge profit.  That's just what Con Jerk and the Mrs. did.

So, why would Kirk object to young working people being able to save for their future rather than treating them like indentured serfs to current Social Security recipients?   That "scare the old folks" stuff just doesn't work anymore.   Someone forget to tell Con Jerk the tune he is playing has been recorded by so many politicians it no longer has shock value.

Why didn't his "people" better coach him?

It is a shameful day in America when someone as shallow and misinformed as Ron Kirk would be a candidate for the U.S. Senate.  It's more frightening that someone as untrustworthy as Ron Kirk would be seeking a Senate seat or that anyone would want him in that office.  Don't forget Ron Kirk is such a stranger to integrity that he was out in Amarillo to testify for Old Al Lipscomb, when he knew two scum bags had testified to giving bribes to Old Al to get his support.  It was on Kirk's way back from that testimonial when he was being interviewed at Love Field by Bud Gillett and told a passer by "You go to hell!" when the guy said "You're next, Kirk".  

Kirk has never once condemned Al Lipscomb for taking bribes and subsequently causing great harm to Dallas area cabdrivers (many of whom are African-American) and my Bachman/Northwest Highway community.

When it became general knowledge (due to courtroom testimony in Old Al's trial) that a high-ranking police officer (can you spell "Bolton") assisted Old Al in eliminating police enforcement in NW Highway sex clubs, Ron Kirk shut down all efforts to investigate Bolton's involvement.  He will claim it was the decision of Ted Benavides, but our City MisManager would never have crossed Kirk over that mess in a million years.

Ron Kirk could have told the City MisManager to fire Bolton, and it would have happened before the fake drug busts hit the fan and Bolton responded with his outrageous gun show.  But, Con Jerk covered for Chief Bolton.  There are many folks in my part of town who are firmly convinced that Bolton has pictures.

Here we are less than a year after Kirk resigned as Mayor, less than a month since the council voted to raise our taxes to cover a $95 million shortfall caused by all those big-ticket rabbit trails Kirk was always racing down to distract Dallas citizens from the reality of what was coming.

Here we are in a city that is flat broke, with deplorable streets and neglected infrastructure and raggedy parks and public facilities and a Downtown struggling to compete with the Perot/Hicks Victory project that Kirk championed.

Here we are in Dallas facing millions in lawsuits from all those illegally jailed Mexican nationals and the potential of even more millions due to police and firefighters when their case gets re-tried.

And Ron Kirk is out there claiming he left Dallas more prosperous than when he took office!  Even for Ron Kirk, that was one amazing piece of lying gall.

Granted, this is the guy who mailed out brochures showing sailboats in a big lake in the Trinity River.  That was a big lie, which he readily admitted afterwards.   Any lie he told during the arena debates (and he told a bunch of lies during those debates) pales in comparison to his claiming he left Dallas more prosperous than when he took office.

Saturday evening, some guy claiming to be with NARAL (Abortion Rights) called wanting to talk with me about the Senate race.  I have donated to NARAL in the past and am probably on a million related lists.  I asked him "What is NARAL?" even though I already knew.  He laughed and said "Mam, I have no idea!"  I laughed and said "That must be why you are calling me on behalf of the Ron Kirk campaign."  He didn't get the joke, and said that's what he was doing.  Then, I really laughed and hung up! 

Here's an e-mail to Avi Adelman (a lifelong Democrat who does not want a crook representing his party):

Without commenting on the grammatical content, or the issue of whether Avi Adelman can be "inane" at times or "insane" at other times, how can anyone who has lived in Dallas under Ron Kirk's reign of terror but still supports Ron Kirk consider himself to be a "progressive"?  Ron Kirk stifled dissent and input from progressives.  Kirk ridiculed people who were against the Trinity River project.  Kirk ridiculed the people in East Dallas who fought to keep Tennyson Park as public park for all Dallas residents and called them "tree huggers".  

I have lived in Dallas most of my life (except high school in Lewisville and college in Denton).  There are few people who will ever give as much to this city as Avi Adelman.   Ron Kirk never did anything in Dallas that he wasn't paid by someone to do.  The Democrat who sent that nasty note to Avi Adelman has funny logic and must not remember what was said by Democrat House Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill Jr.:  

"All politics is local."  

Seems to me, Mr. O'Neill would approve of a local activist like Avi Adelman.  That's him on the right, the little snuggler.  Allen Gwinn and I were just along for the ride.

But back to the debate -- 

Young people who are considering a vote for Kirk should think about what he said Friday night.  He does not want to give you the right to plan for your future.  He wants you to be more bogged down in a system that doesn't work.  

The fellow who was so nasty to Avi, must keep his reading to our parochial daily, the .  That's the only way he could think Ron Kirk won the debate Friday night or that Avi is "inane" if he disagrees.

Even Kirk's biggest fan Carl Jillian said he was off the mark most of the night.  Of course, you have to read an out-of-state paper to find that quote.

Debates seen key to Senate in Texas By Hugh Aynesworth  THE WASHINGTON TIMES

DALLAS ? Ron Kirk, a former Dallas mayor and a Democrat, is banking on two debates in the next five days to pull him close enough to win Republican Phil Gramm's seat in the U.S. Senate.    . . .    Mr. Kirk, the first black to run for a Senate seat from Texas, consistently has trailed his Republican opponent John Cornyn in the polls ? but only by a narrow margin, often fewer than five percentage points.      But with fewer than three weeks before the election, Mr. Kirk's campaign advisers expect he can make up the difference with nonstop campaigning and his charismatic personality.  . . .  Cal Jillson, a political expert at Southern Methodist University, said that Mr. Cornyn seemed "deliberate" in the candidates' televised debate Friday night, but Mr. Kirk "looked a little out of control occasionally."  . . .For Mr. Kirk, the good news is that few believe he could actually "lose" a debate.  . . . the Democratic challenger has a reputation among voters and the Texas news media for effective speaking skills and a flamboyant style. . . .  Allen Saxe, a political science professor at the University of Texas in Arlington, said he has been surprised that the Cornyn campaign has not scrutinized Mr. Kirk's record more as mayor of Dallas.  "He left the city in rather a bad way financially," Mr. Saxe said.

Now, that's an understatement!

The DMN's own poll shows Kirk is in trouble.  He has no where to go to get the votes to close Cornyn's 10 point lead.  Some of my Democrat buddies tell me Kirk is strong in the Valley with Hispanics.  My friends in the Valley tell me somebody must be smoking funny cigarettes (the illegal ones) if they think Kirk has a following among Valley Hispanics.  Here in Dallas, the yard signs are pretty telling.  

Survey says GOP entries lead big; But News poll indicates undecideds could trim double-digit advantages 10/20/2002 By WAYNE SLATER / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN ? Republicans seeking the state's top offices hold double-digit leads over their Democratic opponents, but undecided voters still could narrow the gap with less than three weeks until Election Day.     Gov. Rick Perry is favored by 50 percent of likely voters over Laredo businessman Tony Sanchez, who's backed by 35 percent in the latest poll by The Dallas Morning News.     In the Senate race, Republican John Cornyn leads former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk by 10 percentage points.  .  .  ."It's a good time to be a Republican running for office in Texas," pollster Micheline Blum said.     "What's happened in Texas is that almost half of all likely voters think of themselves now as Republicans," she said. "So you can't win anymore with just the Democrats and a chunk of the independents."     Part of the Democratic political blueprint is to boost turnout among minority voters with a historic ticket.  . . . Dream strategy fizzles    Ms. Blum and colleague Julie Weprin said their survey suggests little evidence that the so-called dream team ticket has kindled sufficient enthusiasm to offset its lagging support among whites. . . .  She said Mr. Kirk is doing far better among blacks than Hispanics.     "The problem is there isn't a black-Hispanic coalition," she said. "He's not getting anywhere near as much of the Hispanic vote as one might have expected or that he needs to get."     If the undecided voters cast their ballots overwhelmingly for Democrats, the margins would narrow for Mr. Sanchez and Mr. Kirk. But there still wouldn't be enough votes to win without a record-breaking turnout among minorities, the pollsters said. . . .  the pollsters said the Cornyn lead is sizable but not insurmountable for Mr. Kirk. Still, they said, "Mr. Cornyn gets 81 percent of those who said they were Republicans ? and he doesn't need much else." . . .

What is so amazing is the absolute contempt for Hispanics for any politician to think they vote as a monolithic block.  Seems to me we just had an election in Dallas where the Black leadership tried to pretend they had an alliance with Hispanics.  The candidate they backed is not our Mayor now.  The Hispanic community is not monolithic.  It is not just Mexican-American, but among Mexican-American Hispanics, there is not unanimity either.  There is a real clash among new immigrants and Tejanos (who are English only or bi-lingual with an English preference).  Kirk has not endeared himself with either group.  He may be assured of getting all the "harvested" mail-in ballots from Joe Thug May and his gang, but Joe Thug and his gang did not keep Laura Miller from winning with  55%. 

Dallas voters know who is responsible for our current financial desperation.  It's Ron Kirk.  Dallas voters sent Ron Kirk a message last February when we elected Laura Miller after all that Kirk did to sway things against her.  Tim O'Neil was right that "all politics is local".  

We don't want Kirk doing to the country what he did to Dallas.

Dallas prosperous?   - - and Ron Kirk has a sailboat he wants to sell so you can be the first on that fresh water Trinity Lake. 

Preposterous!