Wendy, Leticia attract educators; Abbott aims lower
You can tell a lot about political candidates by the people who are attracted to them. Some candidates attract the cream of the crop, while others appeal more to the dregs at the bottom of the barrel.
Educators, some of the most respected people in Texas, have been eager throughout this long campaign season to meet and have their photos taken with Wendy Davis and Leticia Van de Putte. The two legitimate pro-education candidates have welcomed the support educators have given their campaigns.
Greg Abbott, meanwhile, has gotten more attention for attracting the dregs to his campaign events. Early on, you may recall, he campaigned with the disgraced rocker Ted Nugent, best known these days for shilling for the NRA, promoting hatred toward the president of the United States and trying to live down (although not very much) an admitted fondness for under-age girls.
Since then, Abbott has tried to keep his distance from Nugent. But guess who showed up at a recent campaign event and had his picture taken with Abbott? None other than a convicted felon and “citizen militia” leader who, a few days later, was arrested on federal weapons charges.
Kevin Lyndel “K.C.” Massey chatted with Abbott at a campaign event in Brownsville on Oct. 16, according to the San Antonio Express-News. The story is linked below, accompanied by a photo of the pair, Abbott smiling and Massey dressed in combat fatigues adorned with an Abbott campaign sticker
Massey was sentenced to five years in prison for felony burglary in Dallas in 1988, which resulted in his probation being revoked from a 1985 arrest on another burglary charge, the Express-News reported.
Four days after Massey had his photo taken with Abbott, he was arrested by federal agents on federal weapons charges. The newspaper said agents found in his hotel room an AK-47 with six loaded magazines, a loaded handgun, a ballistic helmet and an ammunition box filled with what agents suspected was ammonium nitrate, the substance used in the Oklahoma City bombing.
Federal law prohibits a convicted felon from carrying firearms. And, this armed felon has been “patrolling” the border, endangering peaceful, law-abiding people.
A campaign spokesperson said Abbott had no idea who Massey was but would not clearly and forcefully repudiate the law-breaker and the potential violence he could have caused. Three months ago, Abbott personally had refused to denounce these militia groups. Yes, you can tell a lot about political candidates by the people they attract, especially when a candidate does nothing to discourage the attraction and promotes policies, such as militias providing “border security,” that actually encourage it.