Ay Dios, The Politics (and Politicos) of South Texas

Has it really been 4 years since I last posted on this blog? Hijuesu (or Ahijuesu) (or ay huesu) (or quien sabe)? I guess the primary reason that I can't believe that I stopped blogging is because there is so much good material from which to choose in South Texas. A quick rundown of things that have happened since I've been down here in the RGV again (since 2008): Cameron County DA Armando Villalobos gets 13 years in prison for corruption. His cohorts include State District Court Judge Abel Limas (6 years) and attorney Abel Marchan who committed suicide after having been convicted. I don't question whether these were good men before all of this mess. I don't know them but I think the number of people that they had standing by them shows that they were good people in general. They just did something very wrong. Closer to home in Hidalgo County everyone knows what The Panama Unit did. This all leads me to my point. Our mágico valle deserves better. No es por nada pero da vergüenza. I'm ashamed that we have to be associated with this because we deserve better. The raza that I grew up with works hard y también le gusta pachangiar. We give respect pero lo pedimos también. I love seeing that our judges, mayors, state elected officials, police chiefs, etc. are casi Chicanos or hispanics, but I hate seeing them fall - and fall hard they do. I'd like to say that it's as easy as going to the polls and voting good people in. It's not. We vote good people in and bad things happen. Somehow we need to teach ourselves again that we are good people. Not just good people - great people. We are humble and proud. We can be quiet and loud. Pero por dios we need to walk a straighter line. I only write about my culture because that's what I know. I understand that corruption or bad acts is not culturally or ethnically specific. Corruption does not distinguish between socio economic status or region of the country. I'm not crazy man Attorney General and Republican Gubernatorial Greg Abbott thinking that there's no hope for us down here (referring to the RGV as "third world"). Corruption is possible everywhere and in everything - so I guess we need to do better as human beings - but again, I challenge my local community to do better as people who share a common culture (the valley).