Keeping Your Eye on the Ball?

Break out your favorite over-the-counter analgesic.
The Brazoria County Detention Center has another problem.
As usual, it's someone else's fault.

In the latest example, the feds are pulling their prisoners out. Something about the county not meeting the standards.

Sheriff's Candidate Charles Wagner says outgoing Sheriff Joe King was handling the problem while he was out campaigning. King says, in effect, it's not our fault.

Sheriff's Candidate Mike Merkel isn't saying anything. You can almost hear him reminding himself, every 5 minutes, "Gotta stay on message. A POSITIVE message. Not a NEGATIVE message. Wonder if I should start wearing a cowboy hat?"

The man has campaign discipline! But it's no good for campaign copy, we're here to tell ya!

Before the problem with the fed prisoners, the county jail intercom system didn't work.
Been a problem a long time. State says fix it. Not our fault, says the county. Contractor's fault. Intercoms still a problem.

It all reminds of us of the time when the county managed to get itself portrayed in the worldwide media as that place in Texas where they made the prisoners crawl around naked on the floor and the German shepherd was bitin' the heck outta that skinny dude's ankle.

Whoa, not our fault, said the county. Prisoners smokin' dope. Gotta take control. Dang Missouri convicts. Dog bite not that bad. BUT VIDEOTAPE REAL, REAL BAD!

Back then we called Chief Deputy Charles Wagner, who's always the guy at the S.O. you call when the caca hits the fan, and we asked him (paraphrasing here), "So, Charlie, the officers were making a training tape?"

He said (paraphrasing here) in a refreshing moment of candor, " If they were, it was a training tape on WHAT NOT TO DO."

Word.

And still, things at the jail keep going wrong.

Does Wags have his eye on the ball? Does the county? Does the sheriff's department? Tell us, please. We try to remember, and take to hear, that uur little neighbor boy advised that his DARE officer told his classroom that Wags is the right man for the job cause he keeps his "eye on the ball."

Indeed.