Texas Outlaw Writers Newsletter: The Results are Depressing Edition
The results are in! And surprise! No blue wave! But thankfully, no red wave either. Now go refill that Xanax prescription and carry on.
The Outlaws debated about this week's edition, should we wait until all the election results were in before we "go to press"? Or should we try to keep our new publishing schedule and get the paper out on Wednesday morning before all the results are in, and certainly before we can comment on them with any real depth. (And dear Outlaw reader, we know you come to us for our "real depth.")
A couple of us wanted to wait for things to settle down a bit before we take any deep dives into the results. And again, we're known for taking deep dives (into shallow lakes.) So today you'll see a couple of non-election stories, (including a great Veterans Day piece by James Moore.) We've got a couple of pieces that touch on what's happening in politics generally... and a couple of us decided it would be better to light a scented candle, pour a warm bath, and deny that there is any kind of election going on.
And then at the last minute, we held the presses long enough for Myra J. And DeeceX to comment on the results that continue to come in...
(Subscribe to our podcast through your favorite podcast provider and we hope to have an election wrap-up this weekend.)
As things stand currently... it looks like the Dems in Texas state offices are taking a general drubbing. Abbott, Patrick, Paxton, and Miller will easily keep their offices. If you happened to catch our Texas Outlaw Writers' Podcasts the last few weeks, this was not entirely unexpected... though we had hopes that Collier just might take down Patrick. But we forgot that one thing... Texas! The most depressing thing we've heard: Abbott took Uvalde County by a wide margin.
There's a lot to unpack here, and we'll tear into this all more deeply in the next issue and in our podcasts.
But there is one very bright light to report, though you have to get out of Texas to see it. The "pundits," (those damn pundits!) were predicting a national "red wave." Biden would (supposedly) lose complete control of Congress due to several factors: his poor popularity, inflation, high fuel prices, and a rise in crime. While the Republicans made a few gains, (and as of this writing, both houses are still in play,) the election was competitive and it was certainly not a tsunami. The Trumpistas and the election deniers did not sweep by any means, and there will be a lot of hand-wringing over the future of the GOP.
In the meantime, if you run into that friend of yours that keeps talking about a BLUE wave, or spouting on about "Texas turning purple," would you mind just slapping the wee-wee out of them? Throw a can of White Claw* at them as if they were Ted Cruz leading the Astros World Series parade.
*(no, we're peaceful Outlaws. Don't throw a can at them, even if it's filled with White Claw. Throwing that can at Ted Cruz on the other hand...)
"The American Experiment survived... (but it's not all jam, as they say...)" was Myra Jolivet's take on the election. Results are still coming in, but she is relieved that something of a center held... barely. There are... takeaways. Takealook:
Myra Jolivet, SMPS
It's not always a lot of fun to say "I told you so!" so DeeceX tells us. He stayed up late scribbling thoughts about one more coat of red paint here in Texas. "Every two years, it seems, Texas Democrats pin their hopes on some theory of the electorate, only to be disappointed as Lucy once again pulls away the football." Accurate, no? He told us so:
Deece Eckstein
Since election predictions are pretty much superfluous at this point and will only make him look more foolish than normal, Roger Gray put together some random thoughts in the wake of the big Tuesday vote. Yes, including the kids using litter boxes nonsense. (OMG! THEY DID? LITTERBOXES IN CLASSROOMS?)
Roger T. Gray
Outlaw James Moore first heard the story of Praha, Texas about a decade ago. In the parish cemetery there, you can find the graves of 9 young men who were all killed in WWII. They accounted for nearly all the young men of the town.
In the space of 12 months and nine days, Praha gave up most of its youth -- and nearly all of its future -- to confront unimaginable forms of evil on faraway continents.
Jim originally published this story in American Legion magazine. Except for the remaining few locals that knew of the boys, not many others knew of the sacrifice that had been made in the waning days of the war. After Jim's story was published, the state erected a monument in the state cemetery.
Veterans Day is Friday. A few old timers will be putting some little flags on the 9 graves out there in Praha. Take a break from the mattress and tire sales, and before you head out to the BBQ, take a look at this one. The story is a powerful one.
James C. Moore
Most of us are of an age where we find ourselves doing a bit of "funeralizing" as one reader put it... attending more and more memorial services. Funerals for loved ones, friends, and in a show of support, friends-of-friends or maybe even coworkers. The good news is that they're not all gloomy, pious, religious affairs anymore. But that's also the bad news... as more people reject traditional, organized religious liturgy, funerals have gotten to be somewhat of a free-for-all in terms of style and substance (or lack of.)
Many family members are rejecting somber choosing to have a "Celebration of Life," (you know - party!)
Chris Newlin knew something major had happened to funerary when he ran across the little factoid that the #1 requested song to be played during memorials in Great Britain is Monty Python's "Alway's Look on the Bright Side of Life." Move over, Amazing Grace, "he would have wanted it this way."
Chris Newlin