It’s a star, the Lone Star, and it’s faded, weather-beaten. Used to be a symbol of greatness, and these days? Corrupt politicians.
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[/style> When I was in El Paso, one of Grace’s kids made some comment about how, “Austin is too Texan.” It was a not a so-veiled reference to the Lone Star, the art and architecture that abounds.
San Antonio, likewise, the cradle for democracy in Texas, the birthplace, as it were, right? Staying a couple of blocks from the Alamo, it’s sort of hard to miss. I’m used to it, sort of like a dull background noise that always makes itself heard, the Lone Star emblem is just about everywhere.
But like that one image that depicts a symbol, a little battered, could use some paint, needs to be freshened up? The Lone Star image has been battered a bit too much, as of late. Between two well-known politicians with obvious Texas roots, the conclusion is that all politicians, and by extension, the people represented, we’re all crooked. I’ve joked about it, but I’m sure everyone has a price, but then, this is Texas, and we do just about everything in a big way. You find one of us who’s given in to the “dark side,” and there will be a person in league with the devil himself.
There was a time when the good guys wore white cowboy hats and the bad guys wore black ones. And those good guys would use civility and charm first, and only when that didn’t work, would the good guys resort to violence. And even then, it was only to serve the greater good.
These days, “cowboy-ism” is a nasty term. Denotes something less than wonderful. Not a good quality.
That battered image* of a Lone Star? That’s a symbol to me, a single, shining point wherein we’re the good guys, on the side of what is right and moral.
Your mileage may, of course, vary from what the advertisement suggests.
*Image is a from Austin’s South First Street Bridge, the Drake Bridge that spans a huge chasm, North Austin to South Austin.
