DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE: Arrests, human trafficking, Texas lawmakers stealing free speech – when will common sense go viral again?

At least once a day my mind goes to the fact that Planet Earth: The United States Edition is most definitely an embarrassing reality show to entertain a higher form of life.

Remember that statement “The inmates are running the asylum?”

Of course, I’d never insinuate such a thing here.

But there’s plenty of evidence that something is very wrong.

The anger is where it begins; voters, politicians, drivers, workers, our youth – and the list goes on.

From the most positive timeline, let me say there’s beauty in all this too. The happy people. They don’t get much publicity though, since the inmates are much more newsworthy.

Let’s take a quick peek at national news.

There are the possible arrests of three New Jersey Democrats; Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez and LaMonica McIver.

And the actual arrest of Newark, NJ’s Mayor Ras Baraka. He was arrested last week after repeated warnings for trespassing on a New Jersey ICE facility. 

It was said the three members of Congress stormed the facility’s gate.

Spoiler alert: the body cam footage is convincing; it looked violent.

Even if these lawmakers had been from the Oversight Committee (and they were not) – come on, Americans aren’t stupid.

The story goes these visiting lawmakers were not allowed the site visit they requested.

I guess Baraka wasn’t allowed to visit either.

Another spoiler alert; it seems our dear friend Mr. Baraka is running in the New Jersey primary for governor. Like FBI guru Kash Patel said to a congressperson during a recent congressional hearing, “the cameras are outside.”

Indeed, those cameras are always lurking. For those trying to get some press, there’s certainly always an angle these days, even if it involves getting arrested.

After all, Baraka said “We didn’t do anything.”

That body cam footage – ouch!

Can someone give me the definition of “not doing anything” because I am fairly sure the scuffle caught on body cam would have been called a violent brawl back when I was young.

Come to think of it, I believe it probably would have been called a brawl even as recently as January 6 back a few years. In fact, from the footage I saw from that January day, this New Jersey fracas seemed a lot more violent.

I saw a number of clips of the scuffle from New Jersey, but surprisingly not one news outlet I could find aired the video of the scuffle. See if you can find it.

I don’t think it’s okay for politicians to throw their weight around. I DO think it’d be nice if someday the politicians that are voted into office have an inkling of the class and respect necessary to represent their constituents with honor.

It starts with being the calm in the storm – not the one causing the storm.

I mean hey politicians, is it worth fighting with ICE agents – the ones on the front line – for MS-13 gang members, alleged killers, and child rapists? Is that what you think you’re sitting in office for and, spending taxpayer’s dollars.

Can I drink what you’re drinking – because it must be some really good stuff.

And sidenote: the entire protest at the New Jersey ICE facility began due to permitting issues.

And in other news, did you see the footage from the Kilmar Abrego Garcia (who is never leaving El Salvador) Tennessee traffic stop back in 2022?

I am so embarrassed for the politician who did not do his Kilmar research before the “Margarita Incident.”

And it was those darn reporters who dug up the footage of Garcia’s body cam footage from his reported human trafficking days.

A Tennessee Highway Patrol officer stopped Garcia for speeding, and noticed there were eight people in the vehicle. It was a very long drive – and there was no luggage.

Suspicious, but thank goodness they all did have a toothbrush and toothpaste.

Garcia said he was taking the eight to work in Missouri. He confirmed he lived in Maryland, and someone also mentioned there were ties to Houston.

Since cops do seem to have that incredible power of figuring things out (gee, could it be because they see it so often these days), it was determined Garcia was “hauling the people for money.”

For 10 minutes, part of the video from the incident was muted. Fox News said, “Joe Biden’s FBI advised police do nothing.”

Highway Patrol also called Biden’s ICE, but they never showed up.

And as we all know – the rest is history.

And finally, let’s go Texas stateside down to Austin.

I’m just going to say the red people have been making some freshman moves lately – and they aren’t freshman.

I’m a bit appalled that former speaker of the house down Austin way Republican Dade Phelan (yes, Beaumont and Port Arthur I’m talking to you) – decided he wanted to see political memes criminalized.

Not a good look for anyone in Austin representing either side of the aisle who believes in the First Amendment.

Critics say Phelan’s HB366 criminalizing cartoon memes is a bit of a step.

No kidding.

It does kind of reek of something I’m not going to say aloud here. If you do your research, you can draw your own conclusions.

Of course, I am throwing out a big thank you to my own Ellis County district’s Brian Harrison who has stood up recently for the side of common sense on a few issues. I’m just not sure why others aren’t standing beside him – at least those in the red group.

Even so, HB366 passed out of the House and is now in the Texas senate and possibly on to the governor’s desk.

Harrison is correct when he says, “Instead of using the precious time left in session to abolish or even lower property taxes, last week the Texas House voted to criminalize political memes. This is an assault on the First Amendment and an absolute disgrace to the state of Texas. Texans deserve real leadership who will stop growing government and will put their liberty first.”

The bill does seem preposterous, but apparently Phelan is all about ending the use of artificial intelligence to mislead voters.

My question to all Texans sitting pretty in Austin in your “voted in seat,” what else are Texans being misled about if we’re going to get all hot and bothered about cartoons?

Rep. Nate Schatzline (R-Fort Worth) said of HB366: “So we know that this bill is going to be abused to put people in jail for political speech. Is it your intent to limit grassroots organizations from criticizing their elected officials?”

Phelan’s opponent last May, David Covey, said on X he believed regarding HB366: “Dade Phelan is wasting time on a personal vendetta against me instead of working to cut taxes and protect Texans.”

Covey pointed out Phelan won by 366 votes against him and named his “anti-free speech bill HB366.”

Should we be alarmed here in Texas?

It begins somewhere, doesn’t it?

At this point, I’m still trying to figure out if this whole mess in Texas and around the country comes down to money, power, selfishness, or perhaps a mental situation that apparently involved a reality shift that I forgot to buy my ticket for so… I’m still waiting for common sense to go viral again.

For all of you waiting with me, we’ve got this!

Rita Cook is a freelance writer for The Ellis County Press. She can be reached at rcook13@earthlink.net.