You want to secede? Be my guest.
I have lived in Texas for 10 years. Admittedly, I know some people who moved here much more recently that have embraced the Lone Star State. They love the winters and likely didn’t have a good Tex-Mex restaurant in their old hometown. I do hear a few comments about how friendly people are down here. While I’m happy for those folks, I just don’t get it.
A few days ago, I met a lady from my hometown of Chicago at a grocery store in lovely Flower Mound, TX. We talked about our mutual love of the Cubs and raved about how well they’re playing. Then, we turned to the inevitable subject of whether we miss Chicago. We both agreed that Chicago is a wonderful city, and that we miss the people, the food, and our beloved baseball team. She moved here five years ago to be closer to her daughter. I asked if she feels like a Texan. “No, I will never be a Texan. In fact, I’ll never catch myself saying y’all. I still say you guys.”
I’ve been here twice as long as she has, and I don’t consider myself a Texan. I never will. I know what you’re thinking. “Why don’t you just move your ass out of here, you damn Yankee?” Well, I can’t say it hasn’t been discussed, but financially it isn’t an option. Let me explain why I feel the way I do.
I’ll get to politics, since that’s what this blog is all about, but before I do, allow me to talk about the obsession some people have with this state. Every day, my son recites two pledges. One to the United States and one to the state of Texas. He then heads into his Texas History class. I may be wrong, but I don’t know of any other state that has its own pledge and history class. It seems to me that the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America and United States History includes Texas, right? I know plenty of people in this state would love to see Texas become an independent country, but it hasn’t happened yet.
“Native Texan”. You see a lot of those bumper stickers on a lot of pickup trucks around here. Again, I don’t recall seeing “Native Virginian” or “Native Oregonian” when I’ve visited those states. I guess I can’t blame them be being proud, but there’s an ideology that goes along with that boast that makes me, shall we say, uncomfortable.
More often than not, the people with that bumper sticker have other bumper stickers. One you won’t see is “Hillary 2016”, but you will see plenty of NRA or Trump stickers. The majority of folks who are native Texans are also native Republicans. These are the people who repeatedly vote for crooks like Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick and our esteemed Attorney General, Ken Paxton. He would be the guy facing federal securities fraud charges.
They’re also the folks who proudly fly the Texas state flag, and in some cases the confederate flag, from their trucks. They hug their guns before going to sleep and are convinced they might need those guns when President Obama invades Dallas.
They consider themselves among the most patriotic Americans you’ll find, but many would like nothing more than to see Texas secede from the Union. There’s a lady who works at a grocery store across the street from our house. She has two bumper stickers on her minivan. One reads “Secede”, while the other is “Not a liberal!”. I’m sure that didn’t stop her from paying tribute to our fallen troops on Memorial Day, and she’ll likely love those fireworks on July 4.
The biggest reason I’m no fan of Texas is the food. The pizza sucks, you can’t find a good hot dog down here and those native Texans don’t even know what Italian Beef is. That said, if Portillo’s ever opens down here, it might make everything I’ve just written moot.
Speaking of Memorial Day
My father served in Europe during World War 2. He was a weapons repair specialist. It’s funny. When I was a kid, I used to give him a hard time about watching war movies because he had lived it. So, what did I watch today? A four-hour long documentary about World War 2.
He made it home from the war in good shape, but many of his friends didn’t. I despise war, as most normal people do, but I have great respect for those who served or currently serve. They deserve our sincere gratitude.
By the way, my oldest brother, Mark, served in the Navy many moons ago. He didn’t see any action, but he looked pretty good in his uniform.