The following are personal opinions. A registered Democrat since 1968, I follow the principles of the secular government established by the United States Constitution in 1776, whose Bill of Rights guarantees freedoms and protection of the individual. I am deeply hopeful fellow voters will not be seduced by their emotions or depart from rational thinking when electing officials. Americans must recognize offenses that degrade free intelligence, such as the negative, misleading and dishonest commercials currently saturating printed, mail, cable and Internet media.
Congressional District 28 Representative Henry Cuellar seems a good man from a very decent family. I would not remonstrate the positive things he has done in Congress to help Laredoans. However, I implore the Representative to cease using publicists who degrade his image by making wearisomely misleading assertions to debase or belittle his political runoff opponent, Jessica Cisneros. These political ads reflect an uncouthness expected from the likes of Marjorie Greene, Lauren Boebert or Ted Cruz, but not from a dignified Laredoan.
I have met Ms. Cisneros on occasion and perceive her as an intelligent, humble, hardworking graduate of the University of Texas School of Law. Cuellar’s hired mouthpieces resort to pernicious language to disparage the young immigration attorney; utilize insultingly malicious terms popularized by the extremely divisive, immoral, inept, egocentric, misogynistic, unintelligent, and deceitful man who occupied the White House from 2017 to 2020. History will judge such grievous remarks as abhorrent to human intelligence and decency. Why does Mr. Cuellar allow grossly negative advertising to erode his honor? Public statements that his opponent would be bad for Laredo cannot stand up to honest scrutiny. Claiming that he has contributed much to our district is undeniable, but saying Ms. Cisneros has done nothing for Laredoans is derogatorily facetious and violates common sense since she’s not been elected to office yet!
Politics is historically a “blood sport.” Cuellar’s runoff campaign ads seem aimed at nescient audiences. If Henry intends to reach a serious, mature audience, he should refrain from using allegations deemed spiteful by respectable citizens, in particular that his opponent would be bad for Laredo, cost Border Patrol jobs, and the obnoxiously backsliding “defund the police” nonsense stemming from Republican rant. The Federal Government actively seeks recruits to increase law enforcement along our border. I proudly support many students who, during my thirty-eight years as post-secondary faculty, elected to join LPD, DPS, WCSO, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, TDC, TSA, FBI, DEA and other agencies. Choosing law enforcement careers is honorable and I expect they abide by their sworn code of conduct to “serve and protect.”
I am not a single-issue voter. However, I have three college-educated sisters, four college-educated nieces, plus one niece mother of two, all independent thinkers and autonomously equal American citizens. Yet Cuellar was the only Democratic Congressman to vote with Republicans against the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) because he followed his conscience as a Catholic, something he has averred more than once. One mailout asserts he favors women’s rights. This is falsely hypocritical, reminiscent of Vladimir Putin who, supported by the Russian Orthodox Patriarch, impiously crossing himself in church on Easter Sunday while ordering his troops to commit genocidal atrocities in Ukraine. Sanctimoniously portraying religiosity is the common lip-service tactic used by politicians to endear themselves with voters. A majority of Laredoans may be nominally Catholic, but not all constituents adhere reverently to religious tenets. Being Catholic or Christian is not objectionable as long as you don’t use it to enact law. The notion that one must adopt religious thinking to be considered American is wrong-headed and unconscionably offensive. First century Roman statesman and philosopher Seneca the Younger quipped an opinion still very appropriate today, “Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.”
If one is going to be an earnest, grownup politician addressing a mature, educated audience, one should remember the First Amendment and use intelligence to protect ALL citizens’ reproductive health care. It’s fine if your religious faith informs how YOU should live, but your understanding of a god shouldn’t have the power to dictate how OTHER people must live. That’s the difference between a democracy and an autocratic theocracy. Organized religions have abominable histories of misogynistic and patriarchal control, inculcating fear and guilt to control their “flocks” and to keep women subservient. The WHPA would regard women equal to men, but Cuellar’s “Catholic conscience” dictated otherwise. Women voters should keep this in mind. A woman’s decision concerning pregnancy should and must be a private medical situation between her and her physician. Most politicians know little of medicine or science and historically adhere to what St. Augustine designated in the fourth century as “libido dominante,” the lust or addiction to possess power over other human beings.
Peace,
Carlos Valle Jr.
