Congressman Blake Farenthold
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. Last week our nation faced several terrible tragedies. After the police shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge Louisiana and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights Minnesota five police officers - Brent Thompson Patrick Zamarripa Michael Krol Lorne Ahrens and Michael Smith - were shot at what started out as a peaceful protest in Dallas.
The news stations went into a feeding frenzy on these stories. I was standing in the Cannon Rotunda in Washington DC on Thursday about to give an interview on MSNBC about FBI Director James Comeys decision not to recommend prosecuting Hillary Clinton for her mishandling of classified documents. The interview was supposed to start at 3 p.m. EST but was pushed back by a 30-minute set of stories and commentary about Sterling and Castile.
As I was listening to the emotionally charged story through my earpiece I commented to the MSNBC cameraman: Wow. This is a well-produced compelling piece." It had all the drama and passion of a primetime police show or Hollywood movie. That was the longtime broadcaster and Radio Television Film major in me talking. It wasnt the congressman in me and I shouldnt have said it. I was encouraging bad behavior.
While I understand better than most the medias need to get compelling news out quickly journalists (and elected officials) also have a responsibility not to make the situation worse. In the minutes and hours after a tragedy we simply dont have all the facts. Emotions are already running high. The furor is fueled by the fact everyone has a TV camera in his or her cell phone but even a camera doesnt always capture the whole truth. Sometimes the camera isnt rolling soon enough or it might not have the right angle. They do however provide powerful images that move people to action… and that action is not always peaceful. In the heat of the moment it is often easy to forget that two wrongs dont make a right.
We must always be looking for a way to right wrongs and a way to make our society better while fighting injustice. Thats why we have rights laid out in the Constitution that are a peaceful way to improve our nation. These include the right to peaceably assemble to petition the government for a redress of our grievances and to communicate freely with freedom of the press. We have an open court system on both the state and federal level to adjudicate disputes even disputes with the government. We must not however let our passions get the better of us and seek revenge through violence.
To help us avoid more tragedies the news media commentators members of Congress and the public need to tamp down the emotional rhetoric and look for solutions for our problems within the framework the Founding Fathers laid out for us.
I plan on following these stories over the coming weeks and possibly months to see what we can learn and what needs to be done to improve relations between the community and police to make everyone feel safer. In the meantime Im going to pray for the victims the communities involved and our nation. I invite you to do the same
My Annual Corpus Christi Veterans Summit
On Saturday I hosted my annual Corpus Christi veterans summit at Del Mar College. The summit provides local veterans as well as those who care for and provide assistance to them the opportunity to visit with dozens of organizations offering services to veterans.
Attendees heard a powerful keynote address from veteran and war hero Congressman Steve Russell of Oklahoma. Steve retired from the Army as a Lt. Colonel where he served as an Army Ranger and commanded the team responsible for the capture of Saddam Hussein. During his speech he spoke about his experiences working to capture Saddam the teamwork it required and how veterans can continue to serve their community.
The summit also featured a series of breakout sessions where experts discussed how to access veteran education benefits healthcare benefits how to file a veteran claim with the VA and an overview of the Corpus Christi veteran center.
My Red Tape Cutters were also there to explain how they can help when folks are having problems dealing with government agencies like the VA.
I enjoyed the opportunity to meet face to face with local veterans and hear firsthand how theyre doing and how I can help.
I will be holding another Veterans Summit in Victoria July 23 at the Victoria College Emerging Technology Complex To find out more about the Victoria summit please click here or call my Victoria office at (361) 894-6446.
