It seems as if some of Vladimir Putin’s boys want to join in the fun at the Texas-Mexico border and especially hope to give Comrade Grigory Abbottov (we know him as Gov. Greg Abbott) moral support in any quest to separate Texas from the rest of the United States.
Russian lawmaker Sergey Mironov has offered his assistance with any civil war efforts the state might undertake.
There was no specific promise of shipments of AK-47s in the various published reports of Mironov’s offer but, really, I think we have plenty already stockpiled in gun cabinets across the state.
At least one Russian government official is ready to give Texas aid and comfort if we decided to become a breakaway nation.
What Mironov did promise was that Texas would have Russia’s full support if we decided to make the Lone Star state the “People’s Republic of Texas.” I must admit the suggested new title does have a certain ring to it, but it is an acquired taste I have not yet come to enjoy.
Mironov said The People’s Republic of Texas would be quickly recognized by Russia as a member of the world nations with a seat in the United Nations, if we so desired.
You may think all of this is foolish nonsense and I am inclined to agree but — Mironov was serious, as are the various in-state groups that promote “Texit.” As has been previously noted, civil war has been tried before with poor results.
Abbott’s reading of history may have had the rebel forces winning back in 1865 because he is definitely a revisionist. Surely, cooler minds will prevail, though it won’t happen if we rely on Republicans to calm down their supporters.
So far, Republican governors in every state where there is one, have thrown their support to Abbott, as have various attorneys general, lieutenant governors, state, U.S. representatives, and U.S. Senators
These people, who purport themselves to be adults, will bear a share of the blame if things get out of hand at the border. That could happen and the whole world’s watching.
Also on its way to the border is the presumptively named “God’s Army,” a caravan of truckers who hope to deliver a message they also support Abbott. No word on whether there will be any Russian drivers in the group. Breaker, Breaker One-Nine, Smokey’s on your tail.
Meanwhile the adversaries — it’s Texas vs. Feds — are lined up against one another in little Eagle Pass, which has heretofore been a fairly quiet town, but no more.
I wonder what Eagle Pass citizens fear most, migrants, legal or illegal, who are passing through their town, or the possibility that they are going to be felled by a random flying bullet if shooting starts.
When this is all done, and lawmakers declare the matter “solved,” it is almost a guarantee that Eagle Pass is still going to be a mess and none of the agencies, or even God’s Army, is going to be around to help clean it up.
Not that we are anywhere near to solving anything. Republicans have the deal they originally said they wanted, but now refuse to approve because they had rather have confusion reign and make the Democrats look bad.
One could blame Donald Trump (for just about anything), but the real culprits are those who bow and scrape to his wishes. It’s enough to make you long for those days when the controlling forces within the Republican Party were just wrong and not actually tending toward evil.
———
A winner of the Pulitzer Prize once explained to me that, “all good work is done in opposition to management.” He wasn’t very popular among the supervisory crowd but he did much “good work” while still working.
That thought occurred to me as I read a story about a Texas teacher (who shall not be named) in a school district (which shall not be named) who maintains a shelf of books that the state would like banned from school libraries.
If the teacher is ever discovered she will almost certainly be fired and, even if she doesn’t lose her job, she will become a target for loonies who will vilify her mercilessly.
According to PEN America, Texas schools have banned more books than in any other state. This is not a category that we can point to with pride for being in first place.
It is optimistic, though, that there are courageous people out there who are willing to do the right thing, even if our representatives in the state house rarely exhibit any courage at all.
In this case, the teacher became energized when she heard then-State Rep. Matt Krause had produced a list of 850 books he demanded to be banned because they might make some students feel, “discomfort, guilt, anguish.” (Krause, by the way, has now been diminished to running for a county commissioner’s seat. Sheesh.)
Dang. A Bible might make some students feel uncomfortable, guilty, or anguished. Are we going to take those out of school libraries? I don’t think so.
This teacher found others who agreed with her, and they chipped in to help with the book purchases because, you know, teachers don’t make that much money.
In the end, they could not afford all 850 banned books, so the teacher gave the list to a student and asked him to choose titles from the list that sounded interested. He did so and the teacher turned over her credit card.
Giving your credit card to a student is plenty courageous, all by itself.
As of this writing, the bookshelf has not been discovered and students are still able to get a full education. I don’t have much faith that the secret shelf will forever remain a secret, however. The more students who use it, the more likely it is to be discovered by “management.”
Still, if that doesn’t make you feel good about education, I don’t know what will. A teacher who stands up for the dissemination of knowledge. What a wonderful world. I wish there was a way to make a shelf of banned books available to every student in every school in the state.
Alas, courage is in too short supply and good sense in the legislature is even rarer.