Then there were four - in what was once considered a cakewalk for reelection, Sylvester Turner now finds himself in a tough race with three formidable opponents. The most recent addition, Councilman Dwight Boykins, came with the significant endorsement of the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association.

Add to the fact that the wheels continue to come off the Turner administration and this race is becoming a battle as to who gets into the December runoff.

Tony Buzbee, Bill King, and Dwight Boykins individually would be a challenge for the embattled Mayor, with three opponents in the race the question is, will he even make the runoff?

Despite claims to manipulated statistics, the homeless problems in Texas are accelerating. You don't have to believe what you hear; you can look with your own eyes with tents popping up regularly and the number of homeless soliciting on our streets growing.

One thing not talked about is the basic dignity of going to the bathroom. In our last TCR we featured a photo of human waste near Jones Hall downtown and it got us at TCR thinking, where do the homeless go to the bathroom? Based on recent news stories out of Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles it is kind of like how dogs go, but without the clean-up.

And what does this cause? In Los Angeles, where third world diseases are reemerging like typhus, hepatitis A, tuberculosis, and bubonic plague, and the city leadership has no answers. LA is also experiencing a breakdown in the sanitation department as mountains of trash, much from the homeless, is left to rot and grow along with the rodents who come with it.

So let's talk ideas to help alleviate the crisis. Sanisette is a French invention managed by the private sector that solves one big problem, where to go to the bathroom.

Here is a picture of what we are talking about:

The Sanisette contains a toilet behind a door that opens when a button is pressed and when a user enters the toilet, the door closes to provide privacy. After the user has finished using the toilet, they exit and the door closes again. A wash cycle that begins inside the toilet, and the toilet fixture itself is scrubbed and disinfected automatically. After about sixty seconds, the toilet is again ready for use.

Sanisettes are usually configured to open the door after a preset period (typically 15 minutes) to discourage vagrancy. The door cannot be opened from the outside unless the Sanisette is available.

The city of Paris rents Sanisettes from a subcontractor for about $1,350.00 per month per unit. Paris pays $15,000.00 per unit per year to operate the Sanisettes.

Why don't we adopt this best practice idea?

We all have tolerated the real crisis at the Southern border and it's getting worse. Since Congress, led by Democrats, have failed to help clean up the mess that is our immigration laws, President Trump needed to do something.

To his credit, he did and so far, so good. Here is what Ambassador Coqui, the Ambassador from Mexico to the U.S. said about the agreement:

"As a result of these discussions, the United States and Mexico commit to a Mexican enforcement surge. Mexico will take unprecedented steps to increase enforcement to curb irregular migration, to include the deployment of its National Guard throughout Mexico, giving priority to its southern border. Mexico is also taking decisive action to dismantle human smuggling and trafficking organizations as well as their illicit financial and transportation networks."

Let's give credit where it is due. President Trump, you have done well here.

For the Trump critics, the Never Trumpers and hostile Democrats, let's take a deep breath and be objective.

You would have to give the President credit - unemployment is at historic lows and our economic news is very good. Beyond that, he passed tax reform, reduced burdensome government regulations, has appointed conservative judges to balance our courts, he helped defeat Islamic State, and he moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.

Not a bad record given an uncooperative Congress, and meddling left-wing judges who have put constant roadblocks in the way of President Trump.

Since 1979, U.S.-Iran relations have been frayed to say the least. The overthrow of the Shah, a sort of U.S. ally, by the radical Islamic clerics was followed by the Iran hostage crisis which ultimately lost Jimmy Carter the White House.

Iran, under the Ayatollahs is the number one sponsor of state terrorism. Among the groups they sponsor are Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hana in Gaza, the Taliban in Afghanistan, and radical militias in Iraq, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen, and the Gulf.

Through surrogates using Iran supplied weapons provided Iraqi insurgents explosively forward penetrators (EFP's) "roadside bombs" and .50 caliber sniper rifles in Iraq used to kill and maim Americans. Before that in 1996, Iran supplied the weapons to attack the Khobar Towers lodging U.S. soldiers with a loss of 19 U.S. military personnel.

In 2015-16, President Obama agreed to give away the store, among other things: Over 207 members of an alleged procurement network supplying Iran with U.S. made microelectronics with applications of surface-to-air, cruise missiles and satellites. Obama shut down the advanced investigation breaking up an international illegal drugs ring run by Hezbollah. Obama gave Iran $11.9 billion, of that amount, $1.7 billion in cash in Euros, Swiss Francs, and other currencies at the same time American hostages in Iran were released which many called a ransom.

The Obama deal was a joke in that it did not deal with terrorism, missile proliferation, and was full of loopholes. As a result, an emboldened Iran is a bigger problem than ever.

President Trump correctly canceled the deal since President Obama never bothered to get Senate confirmation of the treaty because he couldn't.

The present crisis is related to Iranian attacks on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, which now threatens freedom of navigation.

The U.S. needs to protect freedom of navigation and by demonstrating resolve to deny Iran their terrorist goals. If it means military force, we need to back tough language with tough action.

Red, White, and Blue featuring TCR Editor Gary Polland on Fridays at 7:30 pm on Houston Public Media TV 8, replaying Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on Channel 8, Monday at 11:30 pm on Channel 8.2 and on the web at www.houstonpublicmedia.org.

Red, White, and Blue will return after the current pledge drive. Previous shows are available for streaming at Houston Public Media.

Gary Polland is a long-time conservative and Republican spokesman, fund-raiser, and leader who completed three terms as the Harris County Republican Chairman. During his three terms, Gary was described as the most successful county Chairman in America by Human Events - The National Conservative Weekly. He is in his twenty-second year of editing a newsletter dealing with key conservative and Republican issues. The last eighteen years he has edited Texas Conservative Review. As a public service for the last 16 years, Gary has published election guides for the GOP primary, general elections and city elections, all with the purpose of assisting conservative candidates. Gary is also in his 18th year of co-hosting Red, White and Blue on Houston Public Media TV 8 PBS Houston, longest running political talk show in Texas history. Gary serves on the Board of Directors of American Values, a national pro-family, pro-faith, conservative organization supporting the unity of the American people around the vision of our founding fathers and dedicated to reminding the public of the conservative principles fundamental to the survival of our nation. Gary is a practicing attorney and strategic consultant. He can be reached at (713) 621-6335.