Canard — n. (etymology: French for duck) a fake or unfounded report or story, especially: a fabricated report; a groundless rumor or belief. “They crammed health care reform down our throats.” Yes. Barack Obama, Joe Biden and a decisive majority of Democrats ran for office on health care reform. They…
This all has to do with blue jeans, and white legs. I didn't wear blue jeans much in 25 years in Texas. Most of the time during recreational hours, I wore shorts. If it was long-pants weather — and, let’s face it; with global changes, many Texans had forgotten what a winter feels…
My college-grad son got exactly what I hoped he would out of his higher education — meaning it had almost nothing to do with a career. Oh, sure, I would have been thrilled if after that fireworks-filled graduation night at the base of the University of Texas tower he exchanged his black robe for…
Parsing his vote for Rick Perry in the primary, one Republican told a reporter the message was to “let Texas be Texas.” Yup. Texas, where he who panders hardest to the hard right wins the privilege of governing all. Texas, where a politician who…
In the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? we see auto companies pry prototype vehicles, literally, from drivers’ loving fingers. We see the vehicles crushed, and not allowed to return to run free — pollution-free — on the landscape. We see General Motors sit on a lot of perfectly good electric cars,…
What do mountaintop removal mining and the fate of the University of Texas Cactus Cafe have in common? This: The former looks at a mountain only as what riches it can yield. No value is assigned to the mountain itself, nothing intrinsic. It is but an obstacle to wealth. If a…
I once heard from a tenure-seeking professor at Baylor University who said officials sought information about her churchgoing and whether or not she’d signed up for church committees. They were probing for evidence of what then-Baylor President Robert Sloan called “intentional Christianity.” Now heading the probe: President Kenneth Starr? Years…
Jeb. Jim. Ned. Fred. Chip. Jobe. Flip. Flop. Whatever your name, Mr. Well-Combed Congressman from Texas, you got schooled. President Obama got one thing wrong in his televised face-off with House Republicans. His last accuser was named Jeb — Jeb Hensarling — not Jim, as Obama mis-IDed him. Beyond that, a newly and truly combative…
Not to be sexist regarding my own sex, but every man is a Homer Simpson — he whose every thought process can be stopped dead by the word “donut.” No exception. Even the guy I most identify with “eat to live; don’t live to eat” will stop all philosophizing at the mere mention of pie.…
Sometimes the sirens of the social right say so much about a certain subject that their words circle around and bite them in the posterior. Such was the case the other day when a spokesperson for Focus on the Family was asked about a bill to extend anti-discrimination, anti-harassment protections in public…