For those of you unaware, McAllen, Texas is down along the Rio Grande Valley, just inland from Brownsville. Check out the standard blue/red map by county to see how blue it is. It's close to the border of Mexico. (Check
Willacy County for 2008, the Valley trends heavily blue.) See how 2000 went, for example.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/vote2004/countymap2000.htm
Per jj's comment on sweep and copy: I'll summarize parts of the story here.
What is hilarious is that the judge handing out the indictment just got out from under a year's worth of investigations into his skulduggery, to include extortion charges. He beat the rap, but he lost the Democratic primary in March. He was due to leave office at the end of this year, due to that loss. Judge Angel Guerra (Angel War in English, funnily enough) is throwing a tantrum on the way out of the office -- perhaps.
South Texas politics: ya gotta love the insanity. It gets more amusing.
The case will be presented to Judge Manuel Bañales of Corpus Christi, which is in a different county, Nueces, and a different district. (FWIW: Bañales was the judge who dismissed the charges against Guerra. ) The local district judge, Midgalia Lopez of the 197th district, Court, recused herself. She would have heard the case near McAllen, but is one of the indictees under War Angel's pen. On top of that, State Senator Eddie Lucio is among the indictees. His lawyer suggests that War Angel is trying to settle scores before he leaves office.
Ya think?
Trying to link this all to the De la Rosa case regarding the Raymondville prison is, IMO, a stretch. As jj says, we shall see.
FWIW, none of this should be confused with the events in Kenedy County, and Sarita, Texas, which is where VP Cheney went lawyer hunting a while back. That's in the barren wasteland between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande, not quite halfway to Brownsville.
The circus has come back to town, so we ought to thank Judge Guerra for his entertaining last acts in office. Last year, when his office was raided, he apparently camped outside his office with in a trailer with a horse, three goats and a rooster. Muchas Gracias, Judge, and vaya con Dios, for the amusement you have given us all.
DR
