God Blessed Texas, by Martha Thomases – Brilliant Disguise | @MDWorld
June 29, 2013 Martha Thomases 9 Comments
Why does anyone with a choice live in Texas? This last week has vividly illustrated all the reasons I would resist such a fate with every fiber of my being (which is a lot, because I put Benefiber in my morning coffee).
On Tuesday, when the Supreme Court struck down one of the key clauses of the Voting Rights Act, Texas acted within two hours to restrict access to its polls.
So, if I’m not white in Texas, I can be asked for my papers before I can vote.
That same day, Wendy Davis successfully filibustered against a restrictive abortion law. Her success was inspirational, but will most likely be short-lived. Governor Perry is expected to start the process over as soon as possible.
Mike Gold has already illustrated the rank stupidity of some of the law’s proponents. He missed my personal favorite. The law requires women’s health clinics to have doctors with privileges at a local hospital and to upgrade their facilities so that they might be classified as “ambulatory surgical centers.” According to at least one Republican (and I apologize for not being able to find the link, but since I can’t remember his name, I can’t Google him, so I can’t find out his name), this is to protect women’s health. I can only fear for the men of Texas, who are able to get vasectomies on an out-patient basis. Their lawmakers don’t care about those un-upgraded facilities.
So, if I’m a woman in Texas, the government considers me too stupid to be able to judge my local health-care options. And if I’m a man in Texas, nobody in the statehouse cares about my balls.
If I’m queer, the government considers my relationships to be less than those of my straight colleagues. I can’t get married. I do not have equal protection under the law. There are 13 states where my marriage is recognized by the statehouse (and now 50 states where my marriage is recognized by the federal government). Why wouldn’t I choose to live in one of those?
If I’m a parent of a school-aged child and I live in Texas, my child’s education is restricted by the same ridiculous state government in the way it purchases textbooks. Rather than striving for books with the most recent discoveries, the most proven pedagogy, in Texas they worry about what is most conservative and politically correct. There have been times when they have looked for books that will actively discourage students from being curious.
If I’m starting a business, I don’t want to be in Texas. The people applying for jobs have been educated with those horrid textbooks. Hardly the cream of the employable crop.
There are lots of states that don’t, at this time, allow marriage equality. There are lots of states that use the same textbooks as they use in Texas. There are lots of states that restrict women’s access to health care. I don’t want to live in them, either. But none of them — not even Kansas — has the same toxic mix.
As Americans, we often have a choice of where we want to live. And we should make this choice with the knowledge that, with freedom comes great responsibility. Which we should use to fight back against those who would take it away.
Media Goddess Martha Thomases also wouldn’t live in Florida, Utah and definitely not Arizona. To the best of her ability, she also doesn’t vacation there.
Mike Gold
June 29, 2013 - 7:37 am
On the other hand, Texas has great barbecue.
johanna Hall
June 29, 2013 - 8:19 am
Also the climate is unbearable. (I mean the weather, although the cultural climate may be bad too).
Janis Joplin may be the best thing to come out of Texas in our lifetimes…..and she couldn’t wait to leave there.
Pennie
June 29, 2013 - 5:26 pm
What Johanna said.
Howard Cruse
June 30, 2013 - 4:58 am
A friend of mine whose career took him to Texas many decades ago once told me, “Texas isn’t as ‘red’ a state as people think” — suggesting that the full story isn’t told by the dunderheadedness of its dominant political class. I can relate to his observation, since the same can be said about my own home state of Alabama. When I think of inspiring Texans I’ve known — like some great teachers I’ve had — and some inspiring Texans I’ve known ABOUT — like Ann Richards, Molly Ivins, and most recently Wendy Davis — I’m reminded of how many vibrant political outliers can exist unnoticed in seemingly benighted cultures, struggling to empower the besieged forces of sanity against all odds.
Howard Cruse
June 30, 2013 - 4:59 am
Postscript: But I know EXACTLY how you feel in light of recent abuses, Martha. :<)
George Haberberger
June 30, 2013 - 4:02 pm
Why does anyone with a choice live in Texas?
That’s a very good question since elected officials like Wendy Davis seem intent on thwarting the will of the people she represents.
Regardless of the media storm praising her as an inspiration to the downtrodden common folk, she did in fact stop a vote on a bill that would have passed 19-10. How could that be the case if she represented the people of Texas?
A ban on abortions after 20 weeks is favored by all Americans 48% to 44%. Davis also obstructed the will of American women, who support a ban on abortion after 20 weeks at a higher percentage than men, 50% to 44%. In the state she claims to represent, 62% of Texans favor a ban on abortions after 20 weeks.
A few months ago the right and left were aghast at the horrible conditions revealed in the Kermit Gosnell case. This bill, as Martha says, would have required “women’s health clinics to have doctors with privileges at a local hospital and to upgrade their facilities”. This is a rare instance of the left finding something they do not want to regulate.
Wendy Davis does not stand for the people of Texas and she does not stand for the most vulnerable. She stands for the most vocal.
Mike Gold
June 30, 2013 - 4:07 pm
“That’s a very good question since elected officials like Wendy Davis seem intent on thwarting the will of the people she represents.”
Does that also apply to the Congresspeople of both parties who thwart the will of their constituents when they vote against gun owner background checks — you know, when they represent a district that is, oh, 75% to 90% in favor of them?
George Haberberger
June 30, 2013 - 5:08 pm
“Does that also apply to the Congresspeople of both parties who thwart the will of their constituents when they vote against gun owner background checks — you know, when they represent a district that is, oh, 75% to 90% in favor of them?”
Yes. The gun lobby is as bad as the abortion lobby.
Whitney
July 1, 2013 - 1:54 pm
Irony: The Supreme Court struck down that provision of the Voting Rights Act allowing special scrutiny over southern states because it was based on what was said to be obsolete information.
Thank you, Texas, for giving us a new data point.