{"id":57865,"date":"2024-12-12T00:04:59","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T00:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/?p=57865"},"modified":"2024-12-12T00:04:59","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T00:04:59","slug":"texas-politics-work-in-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/?p=57865","title":{"rendered":"Texas politics: work in progress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I get asked fairly frequently how I like living in Texas, given that I am not a native Texan, but one who has lived here for most of my life.<\/p>\n

The question usually is steeped in politics, in that the state has gone through a dramatic transformation over the past 40 or so years from being strongly Democratic to even stronger Republican.<\/p>\n

My answer seeks to split the difference. “My wife and I carved out a wonderful life in Texas when we moved here in 1984,” I usually say. “Our sons came of age here, I had a wonderful career in journalism, and we got to travel,” I often add.<\/p>\n

Oh, but what about the wacky political climate? the questioner might ask. “It hasn’t affected me directly,” I would say.<\/p>\n

The state of politics in Texas at this moment clearly isn’t what I would prefer. The Republican stranglehold on every elected statewide office is a grim reminder — to me, at least — that progressive politics is being pushed aside.<\/p>\n

I get asked about the state’s grotesque anti-abortion law. No one in my immediate family at this moment is a candidate for that kind of decision. I would dread having to deal with such a family crisis were one to arise, but at this time the issue remains a purely political matter.<\/p>\n

I am a sort of spectator these days as the state grapples with how to strengthen the GOP vise-grip on public policy. I am able to comment on these matters using this blog. I grow frustrated at times believing that no one in power takes my critiques seriously. I’ll keep using this forum of mine to pound away when the needs arise.<\/p>\n

Therefore, I continue to enjoy my life in Texas. We moved here nearly 41 years ago. I am about to turn 75. That makes me a Texan, even though I cannot plaster a “Native Texan” bumper sticker on my pickup.<\/p>\n

But … I do own a truck. That has to count for something.<\/p>\n\n

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I get asked fairly frequently how I like living in Texas, given that I am not a native Texan, but one who has lived here for most of my life. The question usually is steeped in politics, in that the state has gone through a dramatic transformation over the past 40 or so years from … Continue reading Texas politics: work in progress<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[122,1941,4675],"class_list":["post-57865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-state-news","tag-abortion","tag-gop","tag-texas-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=57865"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57868,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57865\/revisions\/57868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}