Memo to the Texas Taliban

This catchy “love it or leave it” redux was originally in vogue around the time I was born, and this iteration no doubt emanates from a white man nostalgic for the days when “colored” people, women, and young folks knew their place and when unfortunate young men, in particular — with very little wherewithal or wisdom — “did their duty” without question. And if they didn’t do “their duty,” and they and their sisters, brothers, and mothers took to the streets and protested, mouth-breathing goons cracked their skulls or gunned them down in the streets. Ergo, what’s new is old, and what’s old is new. Again. And chatty contrarians continue to rumple Rip Van Winkles.

I’m sorry, neighbor, but even with conservative cable news and talk radio girding you for menacing prattle, the good ol’ days are never coming back again (because they weren’t that good), and the good ol’ boys — i.e., the abhorrent golem-esque kakistocracy that you surely helped elect to dominate the Texas state legislature — is eventually going the way of the Dodo.

In the meanwhile, annoying folks like me will remain in Texas and jaywalk every time we get the chance — especially across the asinine byways that you and your ilk created to define and confine the rest of us.

All this, of course, is to say I won’t be leaving Texas or you or “it” alone.

www.fwweekly.com/2022/02/09/memo-to-the-texas-taliban/