All Hail The Great State of Texas

Can you smell it? AHHHHHHHHH...it is in the air. The smell of back to school, back to fall, back to school shopping sales ... AND FOOTBALL!

Oh, but it is much more than that to this Texas girl in Yankee-land. It is HOME. It is checking stats, blood pumping on game day, phone stuck to my ear as my father and I try not to cry (real) tears while we wait to see what our Number 10, 11 or 12th ranked (depending on which poll you use) Longhorns will win in the last few seconds of EVERY SINGLE FREAKING GAME. Only these boys in burnt orange can make a grown man cry on the phone to his daughter while she curses a blue streak and BEGS her team to do something - anything - that I can cram down the throats of my cubical mates.

Oh, yes, it is a thrilling time indeed. Not only do my Longhorn's take to the field but my Spurs will hoop it up once more this fall, winter and spring while I chew on my nails and coach from my couch or bar stool, instructing everyone around me not to touch me and to "Please, for the love of all that is good in this world, SHUT UP already so I can watch the game".

Up here, it is all about the Giants and the other team ... oh, the Jets! How could I forget about the Jets? That's right, I remember now, I DON'T CARE. I don't care if Manning usurped the reining kingdom of the Pats in the last few minutes of the Super Bowl - sure it was exciting - but I am living in the NOW people. I don't care if Brett Favre is going to cry up and down the field of the Jets. Get the man a hanky already.

I care about TEXAS. The sunsets, the pep rally's, the false hopes that this year will be OUR year.

In other areas, I am so glad Texas history is coming to an end. ELECTION TIME! Wahoo. No matter who wins, I will now not be greeted with "Well, obviously you support our dim witted President because you are from Texas". Really? Because I am from Texas I must be a blind sheep who does not know when a man has served his time (questionably) and it is time for him to make hay ... I mean HASTE! Run, George, Run! The sheer audacity that there will be a movie out called "W" about our current leader BEFORE he even leaves office does not escape even the most devout W. lover. Which, I am not - devoted or blind.

Yes, I am a Texan, a title which can never be stripped of me no matter my political beliefs (Democratic, baby) or my stance on thenew law passed in Texas.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26393946

It is true my friends and fellow Texans, Governor Good Hair has approved teachers to carry guns in schools. Bless his heart (that is what we Texans say when speaking of stupid or ill equipped people). I realize there have been school shootings around the country. It is something that makes me sick to my stomach - hell hath no furry as the ones left behind in a broken system.

So, after seeing this news flash and cringing that it came from Gov. Perry (of course it did) I Googled states where school shootings have occurred - and guess what? No other state that I can find has this unique law. Now, granted, I did not do an in depth search, but this commentary would stand for other states other than my own who would pass this law.

I think about police officers who are trained to fire weapons, but not just to fire them but also when NOT to fire them. How to (best case scenario) disarm a gun toting hooligan gone awry. These trained professionals in the heat of conflict often make mistakes, putting 41 bullets in an uassuming man standing on the stairs to his building in a known dangerous block of the Bronx who was just trying to show his wallet to them. Even the best of our finest can't always take in all the factors in the heat of a conflict. What makes anyone think a teacher can do better? A teacher, who is almost assuredly under paid, over stressed and scared as hell their class room will become the next target because someone got an F.

I am a dreamer, it is true. I do recognize and understand reality. I am not so high on my soap box that I cannot see the unfortunate necessity in this development. But it makes me, a dreamer, very low and sad. I know innocence has been gone from our schools for a long time, but now it is in black and white in a law in Texas that not even the Government has faith that we can make a positive difference in the lives of children.

Obviously, I have some passionate feelings on this, but I would hate to think of Thing 1 and Thing 2 going to a school where the norm is for a teacher to have a gun in the desk. What kind of message does it send? Does anyone else feel like the government might possibly be raising their collective hands in the air saying "Well, we give up".

I am over simplifying. I am not taking into consideration all of those people who would lose their lives if someone was not allowed to have the opportunity to do something before things got out of hand. But damn, it puts a pallor on my rising HOPE of a new football season. A new fall TV season. A new season of government. Or just, a new season.

I hope for better. I hope for wars to end, for people to come together and cheer a bunch of college students hoping to be the next draft pick so they can make millions play right now for the love of the game. I hope for a bunch of do-gooder basketball players to prove they are NOT old, thank you very much, and good guys DO WIN.

I hope for good roll models and bright futures.

But if all that is not possible, then I guess, I hope my child never has to go to school where weapons are the norm just because the school is 30 miles from the nearest police station and everyone has decided it is better to assume someone will need to use that gun.

But, hey, this is Texas and, apparently, we do love a good sport.