DAGO, ERNIE ON TODAY'S CHARACTER CONVALESCENCE LIST

By Juan Montoya
They're not two of our favorite people, but they are, as we said, people.
We have learned that former city and county commissioner Ernie Hernandez and Republican

anti-immigrant gadfly Dagoberto Barrera are on the mend.
Those who have read this blog know that there is no love lost between Ernie and us or for that matter between Dago and ourselves.
Nonetheless, it takes all kinds to make this mix, and we wish them well.
Hernandez, who has been the prime beneficiary of the vote-harvesting machine operated by wife Norma and abetted by daughter Erin Garcia, went in for a gall bladder (la visicula) operation and ended up getting a triple heard bypass when the surgeons discovered that he was bien tapado. Instead of a minor surgical procedure to remove an unnecessary organ, they went in and went around the blockages in an inherently dangerous operation. We hear he is recovering as we speak.
Dago, on the other hand, was diagnosed with a serious kidney complications that point toward the existence of a cancerous growth there. We hear that – like the aliens he criticizes so much –  Dago had to seek succor and comfort past the Sariata checkpoint in Houston.
You've seen Barrera. He is wont to stand on the corner of Price Road and the freeway frontage road draped in an American flag outfit. When the public comment at city commission meetings was aired on the public channel, Dago would be one of a few outspoken commenters who would take the commissioners to task for raising taxes or other fees to city residents.
Knowing both of these gents, they will probably be sidelined for only a short while until they get their second breath and then assail the rest of us again with their particular style of attacks.
These are not the only local characters who have gone under the knife lately. Former city commissioner and school district trustee Pat Lehman also got a triple bypass within the last six months and is now healthy and spright tooling around town in his gray Mercedes. And Mario Villarreal, a former navigation district commissioner got a quadruple bypass and had to be physically restrained when – before 10 days were up – he was back in his offices at Seventh and Levee. Can't keep those old guys still.
Anyway, there is no respect for anyone around the coffee table over at Isabella's Cafe.
In Lehman's case, the wags say  that they took a 15 percent portion of the veins from Pat's legs and spliced them on his ticker. And in Ernie's case they said that his predilection for the BBQ plates from his new business might have clogged his arteries.
In Dago's case, they say that his kidney's could not handle the vile produced by his liver when he railed against taxes, illegal aliens and food stamps recipients.
We wish them all a speedy and continuing recovery.