The Lone Star State…right?  You know, like the one or only, the singular stand-out star on the now half-hundred field of flag stars.  Like all things Texas, unapologetically braggadocious,“We’re bigger…we’re better…we’re #1!”

It turns out, that Texas is, in fact, unique among the states.   It stands alone as the only state with the right to secede from the Union without retribution, (please, Texas, exercise your option).  It is the least Federally regulated of the states, using that dubious designation to encourage corporate relocation by companies whose practices benefit by the lack of oversight, (what could possibly go wrong?)…oh yeah, a complete breakdown of the unregulated, private water and power grid during an unusually frigid weather event, that’s what.  And it’s governed by lunatics: a governor who blames the present catastrophe on the Green New Deal and wind turbines; and a despicable fucktard of a Senator who runs off to Mexico to keep warm and hydrated while his constituents suffer; COVID-19…what COVID-19?

I have friends and family in Texas, all of whom were/are without power and/or water.  Checking up on them and listening to their tales of misery have erased any of their past attempts at trying to win me over to some of the things they put in the Texas plus column:  SXSW, both the music and film festivals, (big, commercial, overcrowded bullshit); assorted sports teams, (who gives a crap?); oil; cattle; more oil; Bluebells, (well, they are damned pretty); rodeo; the Alamo, (underwhelming, the size of a one-pump gas station); BBQ, (everybody’s got good BBQ); and oil.  Fuck Texas!