Scattershooting

On Lauren Boebert, Beto’s polls, and real needs in East Texas

Driving to Northern Colorado from East Texas, the fastest route takes you through western edge of the state’s Third Congressional District, represented in Congress by Lauren Boebert.

Yes, that Lauren Boebert.

You might not know it, just passing through, except that every few miles her campaign signs announce that “This is Boebert Country.” The signs come complete with photo of Boebert, hand on hips, I suppose attempting to look provocative.

It sort of ruins an otherwise scenic drive through the foothills, but at least most of “Boebert” Country is on Colorado’s Western Slope. In fact, her massive district takes in the entire western part of the state, which is a way a deducing that there aren’t all that many people there.

Most of the voters in that district do own guns, as does Boebert, and rumor is that she can shoot the wings off an endangered butterfly at 200 yards. Boebert’s governing skills may suck but as long as she’s a gun-toting Christian Nationalist, she’s going to be strong in Western Colorado.

At least Boebert, unlike her idol in Mar a Lago has said she will accept the results of the election win or lose. That right there makes her more “presidential” than our previous president.

We feel the pain here in East Texas. After all, the transition from Gohmert to Boebert is only a few letters and mostly these two think just alike.

One good thing is that, though they both speak really loudly about the same kinds of crazy things, they are legislatively inert.

Nuts of a sort don’t fall too far from the tree.

***

The polls for the Texas governor’s race don’t look quite like we might have wished for at this point. Gov. Greg Abbott is holding close to an advantage of 8 percentage points over challenger Beto O’Rourke..

The debate between Abbott and O’Rourke was not the game-changer that many were hoping for. The formerat was one that favored Abbott, without a live audience and with closely enforced time limits.

The good news about the debate is that, despite his advantages, Abbott was not capable of scoring any direct hits on Beto either.

Poll numbers, no matter what they show, don’t mean that this race it lost. The polls will feature a lot of first-time voters that the polls may not be capturing their opinions well. I don’t think the polls are necessarily wrong as far as they go, but they aren’t telling the whole story.

In the 2016 presidential race, the polls showing Hillary Clinton winning were dreadfully wrong. Part of the reason for that is that pollsters were contacting likely voters — those who had voted before. They weren’t counting on all the first-time voters coming out just because of Trump.

Have pollsters fixed their formulas? The answer to that may not be known until late on election day and only then if most registered voters get to the polls.

Stay at home only if you want another four years of Abbott.

***

You may already be aware, but some of your neighbors are hurting — badly. If you don’t realize this, you aren’t paying enough attention and it is high time you begin to do so.

Here are some stories I know, a few from personal knowledge and others that have been related to me from trusted friends.

A family of three struggling to keep food on the table. The parents are the antithesis of lazy. They are willing to work hard when work is available. They have tried any number of ways to supplement their income, but it is not easy to do in the rural areas of East Texas where opportunities are few. They have support from parents and churches. They are not alone.

It is not enough, and I must ask myself why these people — or anyone, really —must struggle to have enough food to survive. The food thrown away, just behind the Pine Curtain, is enough to feed all of East Texas.

Instead, we make believe that offering all those who need it a subsistence diet is some sort of scandal, that someone might get some oatmeal, rice, or cheap white bread that they “don’t deserve.”

If you don’t believe in government handouts, fine, then help must come from private citizens. If you don’t believe this is your problem, you are dead wrong and you will pay for it in the long run.

Then there is a young woman who doesn’t feel like a young woman and want to change her identity to a male. I’m certain some of you think this is wrong, to which I say, “So what?”

You don’t get the opportunity to run the lives of other people as you see fit, and they don’t get to run yours. Be thankful for both things.

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