Okay, last time I had us on the road to the pleasant city of San Marcos, Texas, which is a ways south of us here in Georgetown. As you’ll recall, we were on our way there to see “The Mermaid Festival.”
But...I ought to warn you about something. This particular entry in the Martha Plus Michael Chronicles isn’t going to be as happy as some. I will be back to my normal cheerful self next time. However, right at the moment, I have to be just a little grim.
About the photos: Two today. First, just something silly. I’m still playing around with Phot0shop’s new image generation tool. This is a picture I took of the city of Austin while we were out on a boat a while back (it was a river/lake cruise organized to celebrate our granddaughter’s graduation for nursery school). Then, I thought I’d throw in a sea-monster just to give it some spice.
That’s because, on that day, as we were heading down the highway to San Marcos...I had some faint misgivings.
Here’s why. Both of our cars...and Martha’s particularly (and that was the one we were in)...have bumper stickers on them. We both, for instance, have “Beto” stickers. Now, Beto, in turn, is short for “Beto O'Rourke,” who is a middle of the road Democratic political figure. He’s a nice guy, from all reports, (I’ve never actually met him), and I think he’s a good moderate...and I like moderate policies. The Golden Mean is my motto.
However, Texas is a pretty red state. And we’ve gotten, now and then, into some trouble because of those bumper stickers. Plus, you may recall, when I was block walking for Beto, which was when he was running for Governor (he didn’t win, but we fought the good fight), I actually had some fairly serious incidents. You’ll recall that I began carrying pepper spray...which I’d never done before, even when I was living or working in genuinely dangerous areas.
I never had to use the spray, and I no longer feel the need to carry it, but there were a few times when I feared it might have been really necessary.
Well, San Marcos has had a few incidents that sort of concerned me. Specifically, in the 2020 election, there was a rather nasty situation that actually made it into the national news.
Here’s the story: in October 2020, a Biden campaign bus was traveling near San Marcos on its way to a rally in Austin. Aboard were various Democrats and their supporters. Out of nowhere, there appeared a “Trump Train,” that is a number of trucks and cars filled with (reportedly armed) Trump supporters, who then attempted to intimidate and harass the people on the bus. I gather the situation got very grave, indeed, and there was a real chance that someone was going to be hurt or even killed.
So, the people on the bus dialed 911 and asked for help from the San Marcos police. I think, if we were in a similar situation, we’d all do the same, regardless of our political leanings.
Except...the San Marcos police chose not to respond. According to reports, the San Marcos police laughed at the people on the bus, didn’t respond to the 911 call, and refused to send police to escort them to safety.
Eventually, the bus did make it out of danger, but no thanks to the San Marcos police.
Understand, I don’t mean to demonize the Right. I don’t mean to demonize the Police. I fully understand the Right, Left, and Center have all historically resorted to violence...they shouldn’t but they have. And I fully understand that the Police can misunderstand situations and make mistakes just like the rest of us.
But in this case, I think, we have a serious case of dereliction of duty. When the police, or any authority, chooses not to enforce the law...does not keep the peace...and does so for whatever motive, political or otherwise...
Well, that’s dangerous. It could be deadly.
And I thought of all these things as we drove to San Marcos.
Leaping ahead, I’m happy to report that we had a wonderful time. Everyone was very nice to us. What police I saw or met, and there were a lot of them about, keeping order at the parade, were professional, friendly, and helpful. I liked them.
Still...
Now and then I did wonder, when I encountered one on the street, or on the road, “Were you there? On that day? Were you one of the officers who elected not to go?
“And more importantly, if you knew that my politics were different than yours...and you saw me being beaten up by, say, three stalwart klansmen, or, for that matter, gang members...
What would do? Would you help me?
“Or simply leave me to my fate?”
It didn’t make for peaceful thinking.
But...anyway, next time, I’ll be back to my usual cheerfulness. And I’ll bring you tales of mermaids, and crowds, and the marvelous Ralph...
Texas’ most famous, and most accomplished, and most amphibious...
Pig.
Second, and just because I like the photo, here’s a picture of Martha outside the Blanton art museum in Austin.
Footnotes:
The Truck Train Incident of 2020 was recently resolved in court, with San Marcos admitting no wrong-doing, but paying $175,000 to some of the passengers on the bus, and the department promising to give its officers “training” in the proper handling of such incidents.
Meanwhile, the incident itself and the court case afterwards have been covered thoroughly in the news media. Some of the most recent articles include:
1. “911 transcripts filed in updated “Trump Train” lawsuit reveal San Marcos police refused to send escort to Biden bus,” by Kate McGee, The Texas Tribune Oct. 29, 2021, https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/29/trump-train-texas-highway-crash-police/
2. “San Marcos forced to pay $175,000 to Wendy Davis, other Democrats after “Trump Train” incident,” by Kate McGee, The Texas Tribune, Oct. 18, 2023, Updated: Oct. 19, 2023. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/10/17/trump-train-san-marcos-lawsuit-settlement/
3. “Texas city settles lawsuit over police response to Trump supporters surrounding Biden bus in 2020,” NBCDFW, Published October 19, 2023, Updated on October 19, 2023 at 10:58 am, https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/texas-city-settles-lawsuit-over-police-response-to-trump-supporters-surrounding-biden-bus-in-2020/3364716/
4. “Lawsuit: City Of San Marcos Refused Escort To Protect Biden Campaign Bus,” CBS News, Texas, October 30, 2021 / 4:08 PM CDT, https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/lawsuit-city-of-san-marcos-refused-escort-to-protect-biden-campaign-bus/
5. “'Trump train': City of San Marcos, supporters of Biden's 2020 campaign bus reach settlement,” By John Krinjak, Fox Austin, Published October 18, 2023. https://www.fox7austin.com/news/trump-train-city-of-san-marcos-supporters-of-bidens-2020-campaign-bus-reach-settlement
Copyright©2024 Michael Jay Tucker
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