By Jerry "Kid Lonas" McHale
I was standing in the Denny's parking lot along the frontage road when Carlos Elizondo, looking slim and drawn, surprised me from behind.
"You can write anything about me, but leave my wife and children out of your stories," he said in a stern manner.
"What are you talking about?"
"You know what I'm talking about. You wrote it."
"I write all the time. I don't remember much after I post."
"You wrote about my wife!"
I have been in this situation many times. I'm going through the dusty catalogs in my mind trying to recall a piece, but I can't remember a comment I may have made about his wife.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Carlos."
"You wrote about my wife and conjugal visits!"
I immediately remembered the photo I published of him and his wife. The headline above the picture was mas o menos: SHERIFF LUCIO ALLOWS ELIZONDO AND HIS WIFE CONJUGAL VISITS!!!
"That was a joke. Don't you appreciate humor?"
"I'm warning you," he spat aggressively. "I don't want you to write anything about my wife and children."
"I'll write any damn thing I want!" I countered as I turned my body perpendicularly to him in case he threw a punch.
"You've been warned," he said as he stamped away.
If a person doesn't want his or her family in the spotlight, then stay out of politics. His conduct as a public official has been much more embarrassing to his wife than anything I could pen. Besides, as a BISD trustee he has attempted to use his position for the benefit of his wife and children. He was part of the conspiracy that demoted Mary Solis as principal at Veterans Memorial High School because she wouldn't do his bidding. With his shady Matamoros background, he believes he can bully anyone he wants because he has influence.
"You have free speech," opined Justo Leyes, The McHale Report's legal expert. "And he or any of his family members can sue you if they feel they have been defamed. But he is already in enough hot water with his multiple indictments without adding terroristic threats to his less-than-impressive resume. His warnings could be construed as an insinuation to do you bodily harm. Violence has already claimed his father and his brother. Does he perceive violence a way of doing business on the border?"
I perceive Carlos Elizondo as a cornered rat. And cornered rats are dangerous.