Is this the Republican platform for 1922?

The Texas Republican Party just held its convention where delegates voted on the official party platform for 1922.

Wait, wait, that’s wrong, it must have been 1822, right?

Oh, pshaw, you know I’m only joshin’. Texas was just a Mexican colony in 1822 and the few white people who were here were dadgum illegal aliens and not really wanted by Mexicans, but they let them stay without building a wall.

A hundred years later, Texas had gone through a number of changes, transforming into an independent nation, to a U.S. state, to that traitorous bunch known as the Confederate States of America and, finally, back to a U.S. state. If the Republicans have their way, we’re headed toward becoming a nation once again.

In 1922, the Ku Klux Klan was ascendent in East Texas, particularly the Tyler-Longview-Marshall area where parades of 10,000 men were not uncommon.

Then, it must be noted for fairness, those marches were full of Democrats, not Republicans. It was Democrats back then who wanted to deny voting to certain people in just about any way they could.

How the worm turns over the years.

The parties have changed, the white robes are gone as are the most overt forms of racism, but plenty remains, including the desire to do everything possible to prevent those who might vote “the wrong way” from voting at all.

 It will be said that the Texas Republican Party platform of 2022 — as draconian as it is — does not matter because no one pays attention to it, anyway, least of all those who are running for office.

Texas Republicans have always pushed the envelope of electoral insanity, so why should we care about the latest round of ridiculousness?

Unfortunately, it matters. Republicans run this state and have for decades. What they want is going to happen and the only hope are those Republicans who, in spite of everything, really don’t want to end democracy as we know it. They must be willing to stand up and vote “no” when the most outrageous bills are voted upon.

This is not as easy as it might seem. Just ask State Rep. Dan Crenshaw a staunch conservative who was harassed by a minor right-wing commentator and his brood during the convention.

The commentator may have, oh, tens of listeners, but he can still raise a ruckus, say foolish things, and make life uncomfortable. This is likely to be the loser’s biggest claim to fame, and he’s not going away easily.

It will be much more difficult for Crenshaw and others to stand up to those who have a louder voice, including a former president who would be happy to find a way to run someone against Crenshaw and others.

We will see just how much fortitude these Republicans have. I am not optimistic.

Back to the convention, Republicans supported repealing things like the Voting Rights Act, ending the ability of the governor to declare an emergency that might do anything to stop people from going anywhere they wish or closing any businesses, creating a “state electoral college” that would give county electors the right to elect state officers, thus ending the popular vote, repealing the Endangered Species Act, only allowing bonds if 20 percent of the voters cast ballots, and defunding about half of the federal cabinet positions.

My personal looney favorite in the platform suggests that there is a God-given right to own a gun. That must be from the Book of Reservations.

It goes on and on and will never stop. If we granted Republicans their every goofy wish, they would only want more, more, more.

This is, admittedly, the way a democracy works, those with the votes get to do what they want, and Republicans have had the votes for a very long time in Texas and especially in East Texas. This is much as it was in the ’50s and ’60s when Democrats controlled everything and for a time, many Republicans, just sort of gave up.

Just as now, we had some bad governors during that time because there was no decent opposition and crooks got elected, just as now.

I don’t know how we break the cycle of bad governance in this state other than we try to convince people to vote. I’ve found that it is not even easy to get people to register to vote much less make it to the polls.

The few times I’ve tried to act as a registrar, the people have told me that their vote won’t matter, that nothing is going to change, anyway.

It’s true that voting does not guarantee change but I promise that not voting guarantees that nothing will change for the better.

East Texas is particularly dismal for voter turnout in most cases. Where people are voting more, particularly in urban areas, things have begun to change. It is possible, even if it isn’t easy and if the Republican platform has anything to say about it, change will never be easy.

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