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!

You Be The Judge – Update

After some consideration I chose to write another letter to the editor in place of the “over the top” version the editor rejected.  When I sent it in the editor returned an email saying, “much better.”  I knew then the second version would print.  It did.

You can find the second version here:

http://www.lufkindailynews.com/opin/content/news/opinion/stories/2009/02/08/letter_gresham.html

If you can’t get this link to work enter a comment and I’ll post the letter here.

As I wrote back and told the editor, we should be very glad we still have a free press in this country and especially that newspapers run the “Letters” column.  Unlike the multitudinous emails TV news quotes (carefully picked from countless thousands) letters to the editor are unique in their ability to reach a community since they are not drowned out in the crowd nor are merely a flash on a screen for a few seconds but remain as a part of a print paper and an online archive forever.  That Americans can still send letters to the editor and get them published is one reason America is still a great country!

Interdependence Day

Today is Independence Day. Our newspaper carried this editorial:

EDITORIAL: Celebrate freedom by reading the Declaration of Independence

The link goes to a quote of a portion of the Declaration. The words are inspiring. The tension in the room squeezing the hearts of all who stood beside the table prepared to sign is palpable within the document’s words. Those men knew what they were doing. They were not stupid.