March 14, 2019 500 AM
Dear editor, I have great respect for our duly elected members of Marfa and Presidio County offices. I’m sure it takes a lot to gain the support of the community, who put such faith in your ability to do your job well on our behalf. But as a new resident to Marfa, I think it’s time I better understand the dynamics going on between my sheriff and what seems like every other elected official. The tension is pretty apparent, most recently, in the front-page article last week about Marfa City Attorney Teresa Todd. Sheriff Dominguez seems to have already convicted her in his mind, according to a couple of his quotes in the paper, also making it clear that she got unfair, preferential treatment. No opinion offered by the Sheriff, just an odd statement of fact, I suppose. He says she did receive treatment no one else would have received. Then the interesting article in the same paper where the Sheriff enlists the support of all of us citizens to join him financially in his crime fighting duties. Now that was a very polite solicitation of support. I’d like to invite Sheriff Dominguez to come visit with me at my pharmacy here in Marfa and help me understand if every locally elected person is really no good, bad for the community, law breaker, or what. And if it’s only the non-office-holding citizens of town that are due respect and polite treatment. I’m new here, Sheriff. This could really help me understand Marfa better. Bob Fast, Prescription Shop Marfa
Dear editor, Teresa Todd can be given credit for stopping to help the people that flagged her down on the highway! But, after she knew that the girl was in trouble, she did everything wrong. She failed to call for an ambulance! Both Marfa and Fort Davis have very good ambulance services, but she chose to break the law and started to transport them, knowing it was breaking the law. If I had done this, she would have stood before a judge demanding I be put in jail! She did not call for help for the girl, but was calling to try and protect herself for breaking the law. Okay, she was transporting them, so why did she not call for an ambulance to meet her on the highway to help the girl? She has a lot to answer for. Charles H. Bergmann Fort Davis
Dear editor, Our nation is a nation of laws and disagreeing about one law does not render it null and void. Believing it right to shield a family member from arrest or prosecution after committing a crime may seem like the good, Christian thing to do, but it is a violation of the law. Is violating the law under the guise of being a Good Samaritan a defense from prosecution? So what is a Good Samaritan? Webster’s defines it as, “a person who gratuitously gives help or sympathy to those in distress”. Distress is defined as “great pain or sorrow; acute mental or physical suffering; affliction; trouble.” How is this applied when it comes to rendering aid? There is a Good Samaritan Law that protects a person from legal liability when providing good faith emergency and non-emergency medical services to a person unless their acts constitute wanton misconduct. If a person comes upon an accident or someone in distress needing medical attention he or she can load the injured in a car, drive away and thus delay medical attention. Another person may contact 911 and have EMS on the scene to provide immediate medical attention. Could the first course of action be construed as “wanton misconduct”? Tragically, over the years Border Patrol Agents have encountered the bodies of many individuals who have died of dehydration and exposure. Border Patrol Sectors now have agents who are state certified EMTs equipped to respond to medical emergencies in an effort to prevent such tragedies. “Intense dehydration and exposure” are serious conditions that require immediate treatment. While we all have our opinions on immigration, we should all be of one opinion that the safety and welfare of an individual takes top priority, regardless of their citizenship. If the distressed person is in the country illegally, weighing the risk of deportation against their physical well-being should leave but one option. In many cases, time is critical and providing immediate medical assistance is the best course of action. So, what is a Good Samaritan? Terry Norman Marfa
Dear editor, We thank the City of Marfa for its recent award of HOT grant money for our upcoming Blackwell Block Party and Community Art Spark on Saturday, April 27. We are especially gratified to the HOT Grants Committee for their support and Chair Deirdre Hisler’s recognition that our event and historic walking tour project are “an interpretation of the cultural significance of the makeup of Marfa.” Although this event does not yet put as many “heads in beds” as others, we do feel that everyone who visits Marfa benefits from the preservation of our unique borderland heritage inherent in the work of the Blackwell School Alliance. We also thank the Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation for their consistent support for our work. And we thank individuals and businesses who have already stepped up to help make the event a success. You still have time to donate, and we thank you in advance. We hope to see you on April
27. Gretel Enck, Blackwell School Alliance President Marfa
Dear editor, The current “debate” on next year’s proposed music festival to be held in Presidio County is both serious and comical. So with a nod to Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man (1962 Film Soundtrack). here is a short rewrite of “Ya Got Trouble.” If you don’t know the song, check it out at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI_Oe-jtgdIYa Got Trouble [HAROLD] Friend, either you’re closing your eyes To a situation you do not wish to acknowledge Or you are not aware of the caliber of disaster indicated By the presence of a music festival in your community Well, ya got trouble, my friend, right here I say, trouble right here in Marfa City The first big step on the road To the depths of deg-ra-day-schun-I say, first, songs from a pad Then beer from a bottle! An’ the next thing ya know Your son and daughters is a trollin’ for meth In a pitch-back suit And list’nin to some big out-a-town artist Hearin’ them tell about the outside world and such Not a wholesome beer swilling labor day festival, no! But a festival where they set down and groove! Ya’ll got trouble, folks! Right here in Marfa City Trouble with a capital “C” And that rhymes with “3” and that stands for greed! I’m gonna be perfectly frank Would ya like to know what goes at these events? while your youngins are listening to music, Working as interns, Staffing the event, Associating? One fine night, they will be leaving the festival Headin’ for the dance at the local club! Libertine men and Scarlet women! And Rag-time, shameless music That’ll grab your son, your daughter With the arms of a jungle animal instinct! Mass-steria! Friends, Corporate music fests is trouble
[PEOPLE] Oh, we got trouble [HAROLD] Right here in Marfa City! [PEOPLE] Right here in Marfa City! [HAROLD] With a capital “C” And that rhymes with “3” And that stands for greedScott May Marfa
Dear editor, Mission Accomplished Do we fully appreciate the intentional cruelty of “Zero Tolerance” separating children from parents seeking legal asylum at our Southern border? The government claims to have lost tract of more than a thousand children and deny responsibility for reuniting them or bearing the costs! Have you likewise experienced flashbacks of humanity’s race to the bottom of the Barrel of Evil? Racist policies; designed by Trump’s White Supremacist wretchedness, Stephen Miller and advanced by former AG Jeff Sessions, is America’s shame. Nazi Germany targeted Jews, Slavs, Gypsies, non-whites, and those with special needs deemed unworthy of sharing the planet’s oxygen with the Aryans. Is advancing such misbegotten notions what Americans want our country to be known for? Thoughts and Prayers The nation passed the 1 year anniversary of Florida’s Douglas High School shooting recently with appeals for commonsense firearm regulations. What a difference two generations makes given the carnage! My high school principal would command: “Start cheering or you’ll return to your home rooms and classes will begin immediately!” at Friday assemblies before Saturday football games. Today’s tormented students could only hope to hear his exhortations in lieu of memories seared in blood having experienced the carnage of ‘that particular day’ stemming from an uber-rigid belief valuing the 2nd Amendment more than life itself,. If unwilling to stand with them, please keep any “thoughts and prayers” to yourself! It’s clear your heart’s not in it. Rev. Barry Abraham Zavah Alpine, TX
Dear editor, Rex Redden would have your readers believe that I am a diehard Democrat. Not true! I once voted for a Republican. Has the world turned upside down? Are the virtues we were taught as children no longer relevant? We were told not to lie, to tell the truth, to be fair in our dealings with others, and to reach out to our fellow human beings in need as a measure of Christian charity. Now it seems that compulsive lying doesn’t matter because people will vote for you anyway, that truth is not truth, that refusing to pay the people you hire the money due to them is the sign of an astute businessman, and that an act of compassion in offering assistance to a mother and her children adrift on a dark highway at night is a just cause for arrest because the mother and children are not citizens of the U.S.A. A federal judge tells us that a 10-year crime spree in defrauding the American people and in acting as an asset of foreign adversaries is otherwise the sign of an admirable life. A rewarding life, yes. An admirable life, no, not in my Book of Virtues. And by the way, wasn’t that book authored by a Republican humanist who served as Education Secretary several administrations ago?
Joel Gormley Alpine
Dear editor, “The hallmark of a civilized society is measured by how it treats its people and those within its borders.” This quote is from federal Judge Dana Sabraw in a legal opinion March 8 admonishing the Trump administration for its treatment of immigrants. To determine if we actually believe Judge Sabraw’s comments it seems worthwhile to note that synonyms for “civilized” are: enlightened, educated, advanced, developed and cultured. Conversely, antonyms are: uncivilized and barbaric. And barbaric seems like an appropriate description of the current treatment of brown-skinned asylum seekers. Referring again to the above quote, should it not apply to the elderly, poor, and infirm among us? Is there anything “enlightened” about attempts to take away health insurance, reduce or eliminate programs like Medicaid or food stamps for those who need them most? Is this “The hallmark of a civilized society?” Once upon a time I would have relied on religious leaders like Billy Graham to lead the opposition to many of the current administration’s policies, but now we only have people like Graham’s son, Franklin, who seem motivated to do nothing but suck up to the most unprincipled president (and congress) of my lifetime. Meanwhile, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” (Quote from Edmund Burke.)
Fred Gossien Terlingua
Dear editor, Aahh, my Democrat Party Presidential candidates. We got a gringo that wants to be a Mexican. A gringa that wants to be an Indian. An old white goat that wants to be Castro. A black woman that wants to be Hugo Chavez. One muslim lady is an outright racist. Loca Cortez is just plain ignorant. Now all we need is rotten Clinton to join the fray. Boy, is Trump going to have fun in the 2020 election. This is going to be the best election ever. As ol’ Jackie Gleason used to say, “How sweet it is.”
David Dominguez Marfa
