Greg_Groogan's Blog

“I don't believe my role is to replace the verdict of a jury with my own," - George W. Bush on why he signed death warrants for 152 inmates as governor of Texas, quoted in his book “A Charge to Keep.”

 While the dust is settling on the president's decision to commute Scooter Libby's prision sentence this 8-year-old quote from George W.  regenerated the bad taste in my mouth.

 Funny thing about the record - it just doesn't go away.

 What do you think ? 

 

 

The Immigration deal cratered under the weight of  what  many  citizens saw as 12 million free rides for those whose first encounter with America involved breaking it's law.

But that doesn't mean everything in the legislative package should be kicked to the curb. There appears to be consensus on both sides of the aisle and on most main streets that beefing up the Border Patrol will be more than worth a billion or two.

30 Thousand new agents won't stop illegal entries - but it can certainly plug holes where the flow of undocumented humanity from the south is currently gushing through. That's not to mention denting more deeply the steady onslaught of narcotics smuggled daily across the border.

The Mexican government reports MORE people now leave for the U.S. every year - many of them permenantly - then die in that country. Northern migration in excess of national mortality.

So who should fill these new border enforcement ranks ? Why not give immediate and continuing preference to those who've already put their life on the line in what many still see as a war on terror. Hundreds of thousands of veterans will return from the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. Skilled, motivated, experienced and deeply committed men and women whom taxpayers have already invested billions training.

Many of these soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines will decide to leave the military but not their commitment to country and security.

As Border Patrol Agents these returning veterans represent a genuine and potentially powerful pool of law enforcers. The nations leadership has an opportunity. Whether it is exploited or squandered could offer yet another litmus test for the get-tough rhetoric that's become standard fare from those we've elected.

  

 

 

  

 

 

Your news stories that is.

 Here's how it is. I'm what they call a "long format type" which means my pieces usually run around two and a half or three minutes. Most other reporters are limited to about 1:30 give or take a few seconds.

Sure, more story telling time allows me to delve deeper, illuminate personalities more fully and showcase, to some extent, a more descriptive, albeit less economic, style of writing. Added length also allows my gifted photographers and editors to incorporate a greater degree of  image and sound - what I call pure oxygen - into the lifeblood of the  tale.

When it's done right - the reporting finds a home in the memory and conversations of our viewers.

When it doesn't - many react with a slight movement of the thumb on their remote control... and they are gone.

That's why fewer and fewer newsroom decision makers are willing to take the risk.

Better to populate newscasts with dozens of  short, snappy stories - that way if a viewer gets an itchy remote finger on one item they may just stick around for the next rapid fire offering. 

A little about alot - a headline service with limited ability to relay any substantial understanding.

Consultants argue that's what a majority of  viewers prefer.. and when money is on the line - businesses tend to give consumers what they WANT as opposed to what they NEED. 

I'm grateful to my news director and station manager for the opportunity they offer me - the Risk they take regularly and willingly in pursuit of a story, well told.   

How do you stand ? Are you willing to kick to the curb a half dozen thirty second items in exchange for storytelling which seeks to resonate beyond - who, what, where, when and why ?

 

 

 

 

  

 

Sunday morning - what some have called the most segregated hour in America.

 A time when citizens in this country gather to worship - often with  people that look pretty much like themselves. Many, over the generations, have found comfort in this sameness and shared experience.

This past Sunday I thought about this oft repeated observation as I sat among my congregation at  St. Thomas More Catholic Church. There before my eyes was an absolute contradiction of  the national norm.

 Certainly, there were caucasions like myself - but their numbers  were more than matched by a collection of faces reflecting the world in which I live and work . I saw  first generation African immigrants born in places like Nigeria, but now making homes and lives in  Houston.  I saw Hispanic families whose roots run south to Mexico, El Salvador and Nicaragua. I saw worshippers with cultural ties to the Phillipines and Vietnam. And I saw Black Americans whose ancestors had celebrated mass in and around hurricane ravaged New Orleans for the past three centuries.

 It was, I thought with satisfaction, the most INTEGRATED hour of my life, spent  surrounded by folks bound by a faith which transcends the earthly differences with which humans divide and sub-divide.

 Comfort - redefined.

  

  

  

 

I read a couple years ago that the average American kid will badger his parents up to 60 times for the same concession before the "no" turns to a "YES" in what amounts to an attrition-driven fold by weary mothers and fathers. Those same Moms and Dads hearken back to their own childhoods recalling a stricter, less permissive time when "No meant NO, no arguing, no whining". And yet the widespread cave-in-to-kids continues. Rationalized as an expression of love or more pragmatically as a path to temporary peace through appeasement. Many even resort to material "bribes" or less cynically the promise of "rewards" as a new millennium parenting tactic to persuade children to do what they are told. Experts say kids on the receiving end of this practice often adopt an attitude of "entitlement" and develop a habit of negotiating pay-offs for everything from acceptable grades to decent behavior. So lets hear it - Have American parents gone soft to the detriment of their children ? Or are "rewards" just a reflection of the adult world they will one day enter, a daily competition where solid performance is answered with material gain ? I'm looking to explore this issue in a Fox in Focus segment and would welcome folks willing to share their experiences.

I was reminded of this popular warning this past Sunday at church when I noticed a young fellow sitting next to me sporting a nice polo-style shirt emblazoned with the logo of the now dead-and-buried accounting firm ARTHUR ANDERSEN.

In the wake of the massive greed driven scandal it was clearly the kind of gear  that was relegated to either the back of the closet, the dust rag pile or offered on ebay as a collector's item. Only a masochist or a principled 'we were innocent and I don't care what you think"' type would actually wear the stuff on the streets of Houston.

BUT...A few years have passed. Ken Lay's dead. Jeff Skilling, Andrew Fastow and a handful of others are doing time. Many of the rank and file casualties have found new work and just want to forget.

It begs the question....Is it time to give folks a free pass to sentimentally sport their Enron and Arthur gear ?

Should we even care what they came to represent ? Some may perceive the infamous corporate logos with a degree of resentment equal to that felt by those offended by the confederate stars & bars or even the nazi swastika. 

It's often said wounds heal with time. Has this one ? 

They say he committed to sign it, but now backers of HB1919 say Governor Rick Perry is sending out indications he may destroy with his veto pen the biggest step forward for Texas kids with Autism in years.

HB1919 as passed by the legislature lays the foundation for forcing reluctant health insurance companies to cover a whole range of therapies advocates contend are critical for kids with autism, especially those in the critical brain development years between ages two and five.

Access to these therapies - the experts contend - could spell the difference between a young person developing into an independent, employed adult or continuing a steady spiral into life-long dependence at a multi-million dollar eventual cost to taxpayers.

So - Governor Rick Perry has a fairly simple choice - either become a hero to the financially strapped families of the thousands of kids challenged by autism ....or succumb to the influence and arguements of those forces looking to minimize the services available to these incredibly vulnerable young people.

Good or Greed - It may just be that simple. 

 

 

 

Just when it looked like families with kids challenged by autism would walk away from the legislative session empty handed - Lawmakers managed to deliver in the clutch what looks like an enormous step forward in a fight that effects one out of every 150 children.

 With three hours to spare HB1919 cleared both chambers. Aboard the bill an amendment re-defining autism in the Texas Insurance Code. In the past this crippling condition has been labeled a serious "mental" or behavorial ailment. As far as Health Insurers were concerned that excluded from coverage a whole host of  treatments and therapies those battling autism consider crucial. With the stroke of his pen Governor Rick Perry will change all that.

When it comes to a child's hyper-critical developmental  years between the ages of three and five - Autism will soon be defined as "medical neurobiological " condition.

What does this mean ? Well, at the very least children in desperate need of early intervention can count on health insurers paying for a whole host of therapies including applied behavorial analysis - a strategy thats produced tremendous outcomes for thousands of kids.

In Texas desperate parents now and in the past have literally impoverished themselves providing these therapies out of pocket - Monday in Austin, Big Insurance was apparently  forced  to step up to the plate.

Okay folks, how big a deal is this ? I want to hear from those who know this ground-breaking legislation well  and hear questions and concerns from those who don't. 

 

 

  

  

As I follow developments in the final weeks of the Texas Legislative session I am reminded of the six odd years I spent covering the making and unmaking of  Lone Star law.

One very passionate debate that sticks in my mind from the early and mid- 90's involved the eventual passage of whats come to be known as the CONCEALED CARRY LAW.

I remember clearly the horrifying scenarios painted on the floor of the Texas senate. Gun play on every corner, thousands of disputes settled with high caliber weapons instead of words, a blood bath.

Didn't happen. Not even close. Instead what rings far more true are the words of concealed carry propnents - licensed handgun owners are not the folks to be feared.

 

 

 

 

They've spent a million dollars and they'd spend twenty times more if they had it. Hilda and Jeff Bowen are at war - a fight that's unlikely to end as long as they draw breath. There son Patrick's autism is certainly the enemy, but it's an enemy that's gathered allies.

Health insurance companies hiding behind cryptic definitions and enabled by a legion of shiny-shoed lobbyists continue to shirk the responsibility of paying for critical services. It appears they'd prefer to stockpile profits then help those on the spectrum reach their potential and their parents avoid bankruptcy.

 

Hilda Bowen looked me square in the eye and asked "Why is it people who get AIDS by sharing needles and people who choose to smoke and get lung cancer are fully covered and kids with autism are not ?"

Where is the justice ? Where are the Lawmakers who promised to provide it ?

If the Autism bills all die in this budget surplus year - there will be a reckoning.

Faces and names will be offered to attach the blame. That's my job.

 

 

We are a fortunate country. Many of us can scrape together three or four grand each summer to provide a special experience for those we treasure - our children.

I recently profiled a pair of talented Houston area teens who've been accepted at Idol CAMP in Westfield, Mass.

Neither of their widowed Moms is wealthy, but what they lack in means, they more than make up for with love.

Both see the Idol Camp experience in the healthiest possible way. An opprtunity to polish talent, expand personal skills,
meet kids from all over the country and gain a good bit more insight into what it takes to be a professional entertainer.

Neither has any illusions that attendance will offer their beloved daughters any "shortcut" to the Hollywood Idol spotlight.

They just want them to learn ...and have fun doing it.

So lets hear it - Idol Camp - Waste of Cash or incredible opportunity ?

Soon our examination of  special needs issues will reach the six month mark. 

More than two dozen reports and it seems like we've just scratched the surface.

 Allegations have surfaced just this week of a new intimidation tool employed by school districts. Some, we are told, are calling Child Protective Services and lodging baseless complaints against parents in a bid to get them to back-off their efforts to gain more educational services for their kids.

  Another tactic of intimidation comes from attorneys representing school districts. Some have threatened to lodge formal complaints against special needs advocates for what they claim is "the unauthorized and unlicensed practice of law."

 What should be done ? Can anything be done ? Lawmakers in Austin have been given the opportunity this session to make meaningful change.  Are they failing Special Needs families ?

 

 

  

It happens everyday in Texas. Legal hardball aimed squarely at the parents of special needs kids. These are Moms and Dads just trying to stop their children from being shortchanged by school districts who claim to be too financially hard pressed to deliver the specialized instruction and services these children need. 

Instead many of these professed educators confer with attorneys, draw a legal line in the sand and begin waging a battle of attrition against parents who push too hard. The bitter  irony is that families brave enough to  engage in these regulatory and legal marathons are fought by lawyers paid with the parents OWN tax dollars.

How bad does it get ? Dripping Springs I.S.D. rejected an offer to settle with the parents of Lathom Yeaman. They asked for $25,000 - enough money to pay a private school to do the job the public school refused to do. The school district said no - and proceeded to spend $400,000 on attorneys fees to stifle the Yeaman's efforts to get their son the "free and appropriate" education he's entitled to by law.

Does that seem fair ? Does that sound like good stewardship of public dollars ? Does that, at it's core, do right by a boy challenged with autism, attention deficit and dyslexia ?

Karen Yeaman says "it's about power and money and the law firms that control and run the school districts."

 

 

 

 

 

Tough time dealing with the kids today ? Driving you a little crazy, wearing you down ? Take a deep breath and imagine Liz and George Hooker's world. At the center of their life -three beloved daughters without the ability to see or hear. Add a beautiful eleven year who far too often is relegated to a footnote in this family's day - and you may begin to understand just how fortunate most of us are.

The last thing the Hookers want is our pity...but they can use our help. I've asked them to join this blog to answer any of your questions.

I will say simply that I am humbled by all they do for Emma, Sophie, Zoe and Sarah.

 

Black and white - that's how polar opposites in this crucial debate see the issue of educating our most challenged and vulnerable.  

Absolutley convinced they're doing right by the disabled in accordance with federal law, Public school leaders scoff at parents who come to the table with their own heartfelt definition of what an "appropriate" education could and should be for their child. When the response is indifference, intimidation and the promise of legal battle, I believe they are wrong.

Advocates for those with special needs who insist on blanket demonizing of  school districts with which they have battled without recognition of worthy efforts and satisfied parents appear to suffer from the same myopia - unwilling and perhaps unable to appreciate merit where it's deserved.

For five months here at Fox 26 we have chronicled the anguish of parents of those with special needs when Houston area schools failed them.

Is it not our duty, our responsibility to offer accounts from those who believe they've been fully and compassionately served ?

 Some have suggested the time for fairness and balance in this debate has long past.

I disagree.