Texas!

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Texas!

What a place!

I love it!

I don’t care that there are Texans who are not so fond of me, my politics or my religion, I still love this state and I count them among my brethren.  I used to love the U.S. in the same way but over the  years the government and the people as a whole have become so corrupt and selfish I can’t feel the same way.  I don’t hate it.  I just don’t like what it has become and feel little loyalty to the current collection of knuckleheads who hold office there now.

I honor America for the good it has done and the nobility that threads through time.  There’s been some nasty stuff, some heartless and cruel actions, but up until a couple decades ago the U.S. was more good than bad.  At least I think so.  The tables have turned, though.

Texas is far from perfect, of course.  But as a people I do not believe we have gone over the edge or even approached it.  Our biggest problem is the too-influential talking  heads in right wing politics and religion who do not live in Texas but whose words and ideas have been blasted into local communities and almost brainwashed the religious conservatives.  What we need to do is cut the line at the river.  We need to shut those voices up, get them out of our head, and get back to being Texans again.

Texas State Capitol

A couple weeks ago some real dingbats showed up on the steps of the capitol in Austin calling for session.  News said around 200, not exactly a massive demonstration.  One guy, a candidate for governor named Larry Kilgore, pointed to the U.S. flag flying over the capitol and said he hated it and the U.S. government.  What a horrible thing to say.  How can he say such a thing when his and my fathers, grand fathers, countless relatives fought and died under that flag?  That government, corrupt as it is these days, has kept us safe through the years and allowed us one of the highest standards of living in the world.

Other people had things just as terrible to say.  Some were religious radicals whose idea of a free Texas is a “Christian” Texas where anybody who does not follow their brand of judeo-christian law is hung.  That would mean me, since I am Buddhist.

I dream of a free and independent Texas.  I always have.  I do not, however, hate the U.S. nor the government.  Neither do I hate the people who run it.  I do hate what they’ve done to it and what it has become.  I hate war and am completely opposed to our participation in it.  I opposed entry into Iraq and Afghanistan and am very disappointed and frustrated that this nation supports it.

Read my letter to the Lufkin Daily News!

The level of corporate corruption in Washington D.C. has reached incredible proportions.  I do not believe it is redeemable.  But I object to a half-cocked, lame brain effort to secede that is sure to do little more than get a couple hundred people arrested and imprisoned and could even lead to federal troops on Texas highways and roaming Texas cities.  No, that’s not what must happen.

Texans must close ranks and decide what is best for Texas and work for that within the framework of statehood.  The fact is that most of the ties that bind Texas to the U.S. are green, as in money links.  The Federal Government has no jurisdiction within Texas to regulate things such as schools, highways, etc.  It controls through money.  It says, “here’s a billion dollars.  If you want it, do this, this and this.”  Texas, of course, takes the money to the bank and legislators in Austin write laws to fit the requirements.  Thus the first thing Texas has to do is cut the purse strings and stand on its own, financially.

The next thing is that we must cut ties with out of state organizations that bring corruption and corrupt ideas to our people.  No matter how good or right someone might sound, is what they’re saying good for Texas?  In most cased it is not.  What news anchor or network really gives a damn about Texans?  None.  Cut them off.  Rebuild Texas networks.  We’re too big and to strong not to have our own version of everything, from TV networks and news to everything else.  Draw a line.  Live Texas, listen Texas, watch Texas, be Texan.

We have to stop hating each other for our differing views.  Of course we disagree.  No group of people can ever agree.  But we can choose how we disagree.  If we truly believe in Democracy then we must learn to work within its framework to settle our differences.  So many arguments and so much hatred bubbles up from arguments over the U.S. Bill of Rights.  But we as Texans can and should find ways to settle questions before we get that far.   We can, if we’ll stop getting angry at each other.

Remember the Alamo!

What we need to have is Texas for Texans.  Let the other states go their own way.  Don’t fret over the union.  Work within the parameters of statehood but turn to each other to build a state that stands strong and healthy.  Let the other 49 do as they wish.

If we don’t, the cause of Texas that began with the Alamo will end in betrayal by this generation of Texans.  It will be a shameful day for us all.

We need to stop getting all freaky over being a red state or blue state.  We’re neither.

We’re the Lone Star State!

Remember the Alamo.  All hail Texas!

Days of life

There are people who faithfully write on their blog day after day even though like this one the words are rarely viewed by other souls.  Bless them for their perseverance.  At times I loose enthusiasm for the daily keyboard calamity of this blog and sometimes even life itself.  But I always recover.

August.  What is it?  The end of summer?  The last hurah?  It’s just one more event, a record of passing time, thirty-one days when everything in the universe passes away and is renewed.  And having let it go by without writing anything on this blog I’m trying to hard so I’ll quit.

There are no excuses anyway.  I don’t believe in excuses.  There may be reasons but there are never excuses.  If we make the right choices soon enough everything works well.  Sometimes the choices are blind choices and we should not be faulted for making the wrong decision at those times but still the option of choice renders excuses invalid.

So there is no excuse for my not being as diligent as those who write every day.  I just didn’t.  That is it.  I was tired of thinking.  I am still tired of thinking but thinking is what I do whether I like it or not.  Now that I have endured the month of August, moved one more step towards oblivion, raised the number of years on this planet to 52 and counting, I shall return to writing for a time.

I have been busy.  I’ve worked around the house, done all my housework, watched over the kids, and built a few things.  I installed a new washer/dryer combo… a stack set with a front load washer, very nice and going to cost us.  I also moved my writing desk to my enclosed back porch.  Just yesterday I made screens for the windows so I can let the fresh air in this fall.  Before the cold gets here I’ll have a wood heater of some kind beside me.  The brick hearth has been down since last fall.

September is going to be another busy month.  I have all kinds of projects on my agenda.  We’re remodeling the kids’ bathroom, I have a patio out back to create from blocks, I’m fixing up a garden area out front, and we have a good deal of cleanup that needs tending to.  This is besides my daily chores that every good housekeeper has to do: washing clothes, floors, fixing dinner, etc..  So if I’m not here everyday you’ll just have to deal with it.

Now I’m off to get my kids lunch.  Starting tomorrow they’ll be in school.  The birds will chirp, the sky will be blue, life will move on but Daddy will be sad because the constant companionship of my little people will not be available any longer.

Time to go, now.  I have work to do.  Don’t stay gone too long because sooner or later I’ll be back!