Reality TV star mixes elephant, politics
(by John Brodigan, “Progressive Conservatism” executive producer with a PhD in Blogonomics)
Have you ever read a story that sounded a little bit off, and then realized it was on a parody site like The Onion? Like this morning, a buddy of mine sent me and article about Terrell Owens blaming his poor game on Drew Bledsoe, the Offensive Line, Hamid Karzai, NASA, and Samsung. It had me going at first, then I said to myself, “Self, this is obviously from The Onion.”
About an hour ago, your friend and mine Mark, the Bon Jovi to my Sambora and the Dr. Dre to my Snoop Doggy Dogg, called to tell me about how a Republican Congressional candidate, who was a contestant on The Apprentice, marched an elephant and a six-piece mariachi band across the Mexican border to make a point about border security. I laughed, and then I said to myself, “Self, this is obviously from The Onion.”
That’s when I hopped on the computer to read a few articles on the ol’ Associated Press. Folks, it’s days like this that make me thank God for the blogosphere.
BROWNSVILLE, Texas – A Pennsylvania congressional candidate and former reality TV star used an elephant and a six-piece mariachi band for an elaborate political stunt designed to make a point about border security.
Raj Peter Bhakta, who was “fired” by Donald Trump on “The Apprentice” two years ago, paraded an elephant and the band through the water near the mouth of the Rio Grande along the Texas-Mexico border Tuesday.
“The elephant never made landfall into Mexico, but I tell you something, he could have made 15 laps back and forth, but no one showed up,” Bhakta, a Republican, told The Brownsville Herald.
Bhakta, who favors construction of a fence along the border, said he was in Brownsville to raise money with friends when he saw half a dozen men swimming under one of the international bridges. Circus producer James Plunkett said he was hired for the photo shoot and provided three elephants.
Plunkett said his crew entered the Boca Chica beach area in Texas and remained for about an hour. The Border Patrol alerted the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and the elephants were detained and sprayed for ticks then released, the newspaper reported Wednesday.
Bhakta is challenging Democratic freshman Rep. Allyson Schwartz for her congressional seat.
The 
