RUN BETO, RUN BIG
An open letter to a friend, leader and someone I admire greatly.
Politics has officially reached an all time low in Texas and that says a lot given our maverick, checkered past of unpatriotic open rebellion (twice) with thousands of lynchings and oppression during reconstruction. We the primary population, Gringo and Latino — we who ALL came here as undocumented interloper migrants — now we exploit, demonize and weaponize the plight of good people just like us only more desperate than we were … all in an inexcusable attempt to abuse the most vulnerable to justify our free floating whole cloth fabricated and fantasy manufactured fears. We are using bizarre legal code to create a spy lawsuit system against women who once they become mothers know we will not systemically assist them or their children with health, medicine, vision, hearing, supervision, education, transportation, housing, food, or any of the necessities while they work two jobs and shuffle their kids to schools with teachers stretched to the breaking point who also have to work two jobs. Stretched to breaking point? Ask any Texas frontline healthcare worker or long term care worker if they have any burnout from our apparent new favorite pastime: Playing football with a pandemic and in doing so risk (and destroy) lives in order to fabricate fear based divisive imaginary fact-less conspiracies that short circuit what otherwise would be a straightforward solution to a deadly and costly health crisis. We are literally openly and deliberately eliminating the meaning of the ballot, the fundamental democracy idea of representation having meaning through voting by the citizenry. Need we go on continue listing the atrocities being done from motives of fear, power, control and petty demagoguery?
Do the right thing. Run for Governor and run big. Run BIG on economics of maximizing the recently passed federal infrastructure bill for the benefit of Texas jobs, roads and technology for rural (it can be the equivalent of electric coops and farm to market road system) and especially new opportunities and education for all the people in trade school, college and just entering the workforce who need a path to a better future. Run BIG on solving through bringing all parties to the table by transparent and constructive compromise on the hard, complex, multifaceted problems of immigration, education, healthcare, poverty, electrical power, public land and water use. You’ve worked with Senator Cornyn before, he is proposing immigration reform, welcome it as a start. Run BIG on deflating the dysfunctional divisive demagoguery issues. Without denigrating your position on sensible private gun ownership welcome and honor the traditions and strong opinions of protecting access to private gun ownership. Honor the moral convictions of all the positions on the value of life from fertility to agedly feeble, from farm to table to environmental responsibility (in Texas especially water in every form fresh, salt, private, public, now, future) to fairness and justice.
Most of all run BIG with good humor, laughter, pragmatism, inclusion, charisma, optimism. In the face of juvenile name calling respond in a manner reminiscent of Mark Twain, Lincoln or Will Rogers. Tell stories. Have fun. Engage the people. Smile, go for it, you can do it.
Run Beto, run big — it’s the right thing to do.
