Poetry Writing..."KUM-BA-YA, My Lord"...Strayhorn's Insensitive Side

"'Tis all the grieving man has left in his life-laughter"

There's a poem in that somewhere, and I was working on doing just that this morning when I got what we the internet saavy refer to as "IM'D" by Shaine Mata from RGV Life. It was a quick chat as he was off to Edinburg to visit Rep. Aaron Pena's office, but we touched upon this coming election and the fact that I am at a stalemate when it comes to who I think I should vote for Governor of our Great State of Texas. He mentioned that he would vote for the person who would best serve the needs of the people, and not anyone from any particular party. Which is the smart thing to do, I know, and agreed telling him that pledging an allegiance to any party in this day and age is about as smart as eating rusted nails.

Which crossed my mind this past weekend when I read the news out of Austin that Chris Bell and a handful of supporters took to the streets surrounding the Capital, chanting about Dem.'s taking back the State. Which strikes me to be about effective as if they'd taken to the streets singing 'Kum-Ba-Ya' and roasting marshmallows while telling ghost stories. There is a campaign to run. I don't know if Chris Bell realizes this, but he'd better start spending his time getting the word out to people across the state, or the next thing he'll be chanting is "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen."

He's gaining at the polls, hovering somewhere around 15% behind Strayhorn's 18, and Perry's 38, courtesy of the Dallas Morning News poll. Which doesn't say much for his snails pace style of dealing with things. At this rate, Perry should have the governorship wrapped up by the end of the week, two weeks or so ahead of schedule. What happened? And is it realistic to blame the low numbers on the Independents hanging in the mix like vultures on a final feeding frenzy waiting to snip, and tear at our dreams while Perry stands victoriously roaring on the steps of the Capital like a mad scientist out of a B-movie production like "It Came, It Saw, It Dug It's Claws on the Fringes of Our Dreams" or "Geek From Hell Says He'll Stay A While Longer."?

Christ, the only viable candidate that looks like she would be giving Perry a run for his money is Carole Keeton Strayhorn. Yeah, that's right-Grandma. That pseudo-Republican with a confused political soul which causes her distress every time she feels thinking against the grain might gain her some votes. Which is why she ran as an Independent in the first place. The idea had more to do with her not even coming close to winning a primary against an incumbent backed by big business and special interest groups. She knew she pissed a lot of people off with her criticism of her former boss, and how he ran things, despite being the one that first introduced some of his agendas in the first place-**COUGH**TOLL ROADS**COUGH** My goodness, winter has arrived, huh? Excuse me, ugh, let me...okay.

And the thing that really bothers me is her intentions of sending the Texas Rangers to the border to provide extra manpower to Border Security. Perry has webcams, Kinky wants the National Guard, and Bell...um, we'll come back to that. But none of these candidates come close to the insensitivities with which Strayhorn apparently possesses. Sending the Texas Rangers to the border region to enforce the law is about as stupid as sending The Son's of the Confederacy to aid in rebuilding New Orleans poverty stricken ghettos after Hurricane Katrina. Thanks, but no thanks. History is a hard thing to forget, especially when it involves blood, and unnecessary violence against the "Messcan's" or "Greasers" who may or may not have broken the white man's laws at the time, some century and a half ago. I still shudder to think that there are those in South Texas willing to follow her to the polls on Election Day without thinking things through.

About the only things working for Strayhorn is an inept Democratic candidate with no real sense on how to run a statewide campaign, and a political veteran's no-nonsense approach to talking brass tax with the Austin elite. Which there is something to be said for that, I'll concede, but not to the point of buying into her "I'm Grandma, and I want to shake things up". Whoa, keep your hips to yourself, Grandma, there are still some of us "Messcan's" on the border who prefer the cumbia.