Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Governor Perry, Colonel Travis and Bick Benedict


Leading up to the I.R.S. holy day of April 15th it appears that Texas may have actually found her Patrick Henry.
In a speech yesterday Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas) re-asserted Texas rights under the 10th amendment of the U.S. constitution which states "The power not delegated to the United States by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." The Governor boldly stated "Millions of Texans are tired of Washington, D.C. trying to come down here to tell us how to run Texas." The governor went further "I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state." Not unlike Col. Travis at the Alamo, Gov. Perry has drawn a line in the sand. Liberty and Independence is alive and well down here in the republic.

In the novel "Giant" (written by Edna Ferber in 1952 made famous by the motion picture with the same title starring Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rock Hudson), lead character Bick Benedict (Rock Hudson) expresses the same view as Gov. Perry; "If it's freedom you want, come to Texas. No one there tells you what to do and how you have to do it."

Texas has once again poked a much needed finger in the eye of an oppressive federal government. Indeed north easterners and left coasters are probably 'tisking' while rolling their eyes and muttering to themselves "There they go again!"

Down here Texans love their individuality. Here The Lone Star flag is revered as much and in many cases more than the flag of the union. Values are embraced here which are scoffed at elsewhere. On Sundays businesses still close, waitresses still call you 'honey' and no one ever orders a steak 'well done'.

Gov. Rick Perry's actions of the last few days have brought another famous Texan to mind. In 1833 as a congressman from Tennessee, David Crockett opposed President Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act with the following statement; "I bark at no man's bid. I will never come and go, and fetch and carry, at the whistle of the great man in the White House no matter who he is."
www.youtube.com/watch?v=blgUvlqLOmE

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