Mexican Drug Cartel Violence

Reviewing the Texas State and Local Government – From the Inside Out blog, a recent post discussed the negative effects of the violence coming from Mexico and spilling over the US – Mexico border into Texas. The blog author chose a very relevant, yet sometimes neglected issue. The recent surge of violence coming from drug cartels in Mexico into Texas and other US – Mexico border states is highlighted in the blog as well as a discussion of what a possible solution could or should be.

The author appears to have written the blog as an attempt to call upon Texas citizens to take personal action against the Mexican violence – claiming, “Without it, we may all soon be a third world country.” The author did a great job of informing the reader of the problems the state of Texas faces, as well as a personal response that is, for the most part, free of overwhelming bias. Although the author mentions that the United States government has shown a lack of participation in this issue, the solution offered is one that is fairly reasonable, supported by evidence, and could most likely be agreed upon by most Texas citizens – that Texans need to find a solution themselves if the federal government cannot or will not provide assistance at this time. The author claims that the US government has not helped in the fight against Mexican drug violence, but leaves the reader believing that the US government has simply chosen not to help. The author should have supported this with evidence, as well as provided information as to why the US government may not be able to support Texas at this time.

Overall, the blog post was very effective in getting the reader’s attention as well as providing some motivation for Texas citizens to take some action. The violence coming from the Mexican drug cartels is devastating to both Texas and Mexico, and working against these cartels is fundamentally important to most people – even if they don’t have the resources to do so. A very well written and informative post.

Seperation of State and Religion

In a recent blog I discussed the changes going on within the Texas State Board of Education and the problems of separating strong religious beliefs from the school systems. This details a legitimate problem in Texas, as well as the rest of the United States, with separating church and state. Recently the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) has been discussing a revision of curriculum, potentially removing a “liberal bias” within school textbooks and curriculum. Replacing this “leftist ideal” would remove such figures as Ted Kennedy and Cesar Chavez and add subjects such the National Rifle Association and focus more on the “conservative resurgence of the 1980’s and 1990’s.” Also being debated is if Christianity should get more attention in the new curriculum.

The United States was founded by a group of people seeking religious freedom, and to give this idea integrity the separation of state and church was included in the United States Constitution. Through the years, especially in southern states, this line has been blurred and seems to be coming about in a direct way with the recent SBOE discussions. This issue infiltrates other cultural aspects of Texas life in ways such as the gay-marriage debate, and even in immigration issues. The idea that Americans are “Anglo-Christians” has not only raised heated debate in Texas, but breached the integrity of the “American Dream” – that America is a place where anyone can come regardless of age, race, or creed and fulfill their happiness.

Embracing this idea that Americans are people of all different backgrounds and beliefs, in my opinion, builds a stronger nation. As mentioned in Texas Politics, pluralism, which says that “competing interests balance each other,” is essential to a strong government, and I think that this can be applied also to cultures in the United States – accepting different people builds a stronger government and nation. With the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States in 2008 and litigation with gay-marriage rights (hey, it’s a start), the country has made significant progress in confronting the stubborn and closed-minded ideas that are all too pervasive in the American culture.

With that being said, it is time for Texas to follow the lead of the rest of the nation and make a change in their perspective of a nation. The discussions in the SBOE are the forefront of this debate in Texas (although some claim it has nothing to do with religion) and I hope that the best interest of the state and the citizens is put first and not biased ideas about what people think is “right.” I understand that this argument in itself could be seen as “leftist” or even borderline religious, and aside from my feelings about how people should treat one another with acceptance, love and respect, I feel that our state will continue to be crippled if the separation of church and state continues to be blurred but that it would flourish if we make a stand here – but hey, I might have just learned this all in school.

Update on Texas State Board of Education

I posted earlier about the issues around the Texas State Board of Education - here is some more information from another blog concerning the subject.

Overcrowding in Texas Prison System

In an interesting blog on Grits for Breakfast, the issue of the Texas prison and jail system is analyzed. Commenting on a story in the Fort Worth Star Telegram, the author comments on some important information left out of the report. Most noticeable to the author is the fact that most counties “now receive more inmates back into their communities than they send to TDCJ” because of a full prison system. The author then goes on to list several statistics about the percentages of people within the prison system who fall under different offense categories such as drug-related offenses, robbery, and violent offenders. Another issue addressed in this blog is counties “underutilizing” the Texas SAFP program which is a drug treatment program.


Addressing the citizens of Texans on the issue of the full prison system in Texas, the author uses a lot of statistical information to get across to the reader that some changes in the way criminals are handled according to their crimes needs to be addressed. Although this is a “left leaning” blog, the author does a great job of showing very little bias throughout the article. If there is any bias to be seen at all, it is in the author’s view of how criminals should be handled, which is scarcely, if at all, found in the article. The author’s blog is very interesting information, but there does not seem to be much logic or an overall statement to the argument, it just appears to be an overview of the newspaper article referenced to in the post. Essentially, the author using data speaks for itself, and very little commentary is given.


Personally, the most striking evidence in this blog post is the low statistics on the amount of drug offenders sent for drug treatment at the SAFP programs. As discussed in another blog, the treatment of criminals is the most sure-fire way to make sure that overcrowding in Texas prisons starts to become resolved. We wonder why there are so many repeat drug offenders showing up in prisons (36.5% of parole revocations)? Understanding that a majority of these people have a disease, and all that some of them need is some help, would be beneficial to everyone involved – especially citizens of Texas. It would reduce the amount of repeat drug offenders, help with the overcrowding of the prisons, and add people that contribute to society and Texas communities. Having “unused SAFP beds” is unacceptable to me. As it appears was the blog author’s strategy in the summary of the article – the statistics speak for themselves.