This question drives me insane.

You could ask this question about any state, especially those south of the Mason-Dixon Line. We’re a different breed south of that line. So different that understanding us is difficult.

But Texas is, well, Texas. We have this verbrato the size of our great state. Frankly, we have the right to do it; size matters, especially in politics.

I find it interesting that the folks who ask this question tend to be the people who don’t live there, never lived there, or lived there long enough to know that August is the hottest month and that we take our barbecue seriously. In essence, they lived there long enough to have some credibility with everyone except honest-to-goodness Texans. They are the ones looking outside in. They glare at the biggest state in the lower 48 and ask what’s wrong with us?

Nothing is wrong with Texas. We’re changing. This is what change looks like. This is what it looks like when the demographics change but the leadership doesn’t. When things don’t align, when decades of business as usual is no longer usual, you have two senators vote against an immigration bill that would impact their state. When the leadership has been repeatedly voted into office by, quite frankly, people who bothered to pay attention, you have a state trying to pass an abortion law. When you have lawmakers wanting to ensure the dominating role of one population over a traditionally disenfranchised group, you get bills wanting to stop them from learning about their history.

Yes. My home state sometimes mortifies me but to all you Yankees and Non-Texans I offer you this.

I offer you the filibuster heard ’round the world, which made political heroines out of  Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth and Sen. Leticia R. Van de Putte, D-San Antonio. These women stood up for women’s reproductive rights against Governor Rick Perry and minion Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Supporting them were hundreds if not thousands of fellow Texans in the gallery, outside its doors, and all around the world via webcam.

I also offer you the Librotraficantes which, upon hearing a state lawmaker offer a bill similar to Arizona’s, became proactive an lobbied for its death. It never went further than committee.

While U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz failed to represent all Texans in the U.S. Senate on the immigration bill, the politicians did their jobs. They represented the people who showed up on voting day. Their vote is not, nor will it ever be, surprising.

This bipolar Texas embarrasses me and yet fills me with pride. Not but a couple of years ago the leadership would do what it always wanted without a peep from the people.  With the demographic change in Texas, more Latinos become more affluent, the state becoming younger and more vibrant, scenes like those witnessed by a global audience this week will happen more often.

So, what’s wrong with Texas? Not a darn thing. We’re experiencing growing pains never before experienced in our history. And we’re doing it on a world stage for all to see.

It’s about time, don’t you think?

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad