ustxtxb_obs_1990_07_13_50_00004-00000_000.pdf

Texas has almost nothing to do with criminal justice. In the political novel Palabras Mayores, Luis Spota’s protagonist, a cabinet member who is unexpectedly designated to become Mexico’s next president, is disturbed the first time his limousine arrives with its windows darkly tinted. As the car moves through the streets of Mexico City, the candidate briefly lowers a window. “I can’t see the people,” he says to his driver. It’s a fairly accessible metaphor and the reader understands that reality, for Spota’s protagonist, will never again be quite the same. After two days on stage, with their own larger-than-life images reflected in the video screen above them, I wonder about those candidates. Perhaps Wes Gilbreath believes that he died for his country. And maybe Rob Mosbacher has come to see himself as the outsider, poised to run a Ronald Reagan campaign against government. And the most handsome man on the Republican ticket it could be that he can no longer tell where he ends and the Marlboro Man begins. Outside of the convention hall on Saturday afternoon, in the honest Texas sunlight that illuminated Commerce Street, I walked toward the parking lot. Like the members of the press corps and the hired hands who move the walls around, I understood where one reality ended and another began. I said, “Hey, Bo Jackson.” L.D. On the Electronic Hustings LOUIS DUBOSE Wes Gilbreath: Died For His Country Complete remarks of Wes Gilbreath, candidate for land commissioner. I am Wes Gilbreath and I want to be your land commissioner. And you know the land commissioner presides over 22 million acres of state-owned land, most of that dedicated to generating revenue for our permanent school fund. I believe you know we had a problem recently in Austin, relative to insufficient funds to educate our children. Now, I want to let you know that we have a problem in that area, and that problem is Garry Mauro. We want to solve that situation for our children. We want to preserve the land that our forefathers handed down to us. I want to be a portion of that solution. I want you to be a portion of that solution. You can be. And I can be on November the fifth. I’m like you. I’ve worked hard. I’ve raised a family. Raised my children. Sent `em to school. Took a small investment into a successful enterprise. I need your commitment and I need your vote for a change. I encourage you to vote. To vote for the citizens of Texas who cannot vote the children. You can be a portion of this solution. This is our land. We fought for it. We died for it. And we’re not going to let anyone give it away. I appreciate the opportunity to visit with you today. Time is short, may God bless you. Thank you. RADIO STATION DOCUMENTS GILBREATH’S GAY BASHING IN BRENHAM Even the faithful at the Republican convention might consider Gilbreath something of a rogue elephant if they heard the comments that he made before the Republican Club of Brenham a week after the convention. In his speech to the Brenham group, which was reported by KWHI/KTTX of Brenham, Gilbreath suggested that he will purge the land office ranks of gays, and that those gays who are open about their sexual preference will be in greatest danger if he is elected. Gilbreath framed it as a family issue, saying that he wanted to make the agency safe for his grandchildren. “I plan on taking my grandchildren up there into that office, and getting them acquainted with it. And the first one of those guys I see hitting on my grandchildren, I may consider getting rid of them [the guy] right there,” Gilbreath said. Gilbreath’s characterization of one land office employee as a “professed homosexual” was specific enough to identify the target of his criticism as one of two or three land office employees. Gilbreath warned that gays who work for the state should keep their sexual preference confidential or risk termination. “If they can keep it clean and keep it personal and not let me know that we’ve gotta keep the restrooms locked up and so forth, that’s one thing.” Gilbreath said that his opposition to homosexuality is personal and religious in nature. “That’s [homosexuality] appalling to me and an abomination to God,” Gilbreath told. Brenham Republicans and at least one radio reporter. LOUIS DUBOSE Clayton Williams: Has Heart Trouble Excerpted remarks of Clayton Williams, GOP nominee for governor. You know, the greatness of Texas isn’t just a state of mind, it’s a state of heart. People praise the land we walk on and the sky we walk under, but nothing is better than the heart of a Texan. Especially when it reaches out to the heart of another Texan. Our hearts reach out today to every Texan who has felt the pain and suffering caused by drug abuse; to every child who can’t get a quality education, to every worker who can’t get a job, to every African-American, AsianAmerican, and Hispanic who’ve had their dreams trampled by prejudice and bigotry. Texans wear our hearts on our sleeves. So, let those who would threaten or harm our children be warned: We know where to draw the line. Let the criminals and the drug dealers be warned: We Texas Republicans have drawn the line. to Let anyone who would harm or abuse a child understand this: When we catch you, you’re history. If you steal from a neighbor, attack a woman, rob a store or preach hate, we won’t allow .you to run loose. … Thank you very much. God bless Texas. God bless you all. 4 JULY 13, 1990