While visiting my Dad in Shreveport this weekend, I had a chance to return to the church of my youth – St. Marks Cathedral. As I sat in the service, I realized that The Episcopal Church (nee: “ECUSA,” herein referred to as “TEC”) makes a dandy analog for the Federal Government, and the current events vis á vis “States Rights” versus “Federalism.” Allow me to explain… Continue reading The Feds and the Episcopalians – Compare & Contrast
Tag Archives: Texas.
Perception v. Reality: Guns & States Rights
As you might have already heard, several states’ legislatures have passed – or are in the process of passing – laws that (re)assert states rights for guns that are manufactured, sold, and used within their respective states. Conventional wisdom is that these laws are going through in order to provide test cases that will come before the Supreme Court in order to decide a fundamental question: does the Federal Government have the right to pass and enforce laws, flying in the face of the 10th Amendment.
I fervently hope that these cases get to the Supremes, and that the States Rights side prevails. We could be looking at the undoing of roughly 80 years worth of progressive laws that have upset the delicate balance between the Federal government and the “Several States.”
All that notwithstanding, the states that are passing/have passed these laws made me stop and ponder for a different reason. For instance, the first state to pass such a law was…Montana. Not to take away anything from Big Sky country, but Montana isn’t exactly (forgive me) number one with a bullet on my list of states where gun manufacturers ply their trade. Matter of fact, I was under the impression that most gun manufacturers were located in Illinois. Turns out, I was wrong. Continue reading Perception v. Reality: Guns & States Rights
Life is just a Bowl (Game) of Cherries…
I like football. Not exactly your garden-variety, Earth-shattering confession. Perhaps I should ellaborate. I enjoy watching football. In my younger days, I used to enjoy playing some sandlot games at parties, largely because as a 6’4″, 200+ lb. guy, I was fast enough to knock a quarterback or two on their lower posterior regions. Never played ball in High School (broken bones being a potential career-ender for musicians) or college (never took it seriously, nor did I go a school that had an NCAA team). Nonetheless, I enjoy watching the game, but you’d hardly call me a fanatic. I follow the Cowboys and UT, and try to keep up with LSU, and that’s about it. Watched the Fiesta Bowl tonight, and was struck by a couple of things…
- Colt McCoy is a pretty amazing quarterback.
- It was a trip, watching Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer sitting next to each other in the Fox studio, and having to pretend not to loath each other.
- The second half of the game was really exciting (the first half, not so much).
- UT deserves to be playing for the National championship.
- The BCS system is a complete joke. Continue reading Life is just a Bowl (Game) of Cherries…
Thoughts on Barbara Bush.
Before there was a “W” in the White House, and before there was even a “President Bush” there was a campaign where Ronald Reagan ran for the White House against 1-term President Jimmy Carter. Reagan’s running mate was George Herebert Walker Bush, U.S. Congressman, U.N. Ambassador and director of the CIA. I was living in Shreveport, Louisiana at the time. As was the custom, the candidates and their wives spent virtually every day on the road, campaigning. For the opening of the Reagan-Bush/GOP headquarters, the campaign sent Barbara Bush to cut the ribbon and say a few words. I was a fledgling radio guy – the News Director for my college radio station, and the appearance of a candidate’s wife was newsworthy. So I hopped in my ’65 Galaxie 500 and motored downtown to check things out. Had little idea of what I was doing, mind you – just thought it would be cool to attend an opening.
When I arrived, a couple of people recognized me…my father was fairly well-known as a local musician, and some of his friends were movers and shakers in the local GOP. As the event was winding down, one of them asked me if I’d like to ride with Mrs. Bush in the limo taking her out to the airport. No idea why – they could have had any number of “real” reporters there do a story on her, and get some quality time with the candidate’s wife. But they picked me. Continue reading Thoughts on Barbara Bush.
Fire.
I live in the Texas Panhandle.
As you may be aware, the Panhandle has been in the news a lot lately, for a series of devestating wildfires that have consumed over 100,000 acres of land. Life here has been pretty strange, lately. My Mother-in-Law’s farm and ranch survived, but they lost some crops and some livestock. The problem? Rain, or to be more specific the lack of it. According to the National Weather Service, we’ve had less than an inch of rain since November of ’05. That puts us squarely in the “draught” category. Not good. Here’s the weird thing, though. Up here, while the fires are headline news, there’s a sense that this is all just part of life in the Panhandle. Weird.