Hey Texans get real.

As I set down this morning to blog, I think back to a few of the blogs that I have written about Texas and a way of life. This morning I can say no different, being a Texan isn't bad at all. Yes there is a lot to see in the great state of Texas, which I have mentioned before, like Six Flags over Texas, the Dallas cowboys, San Antonio spurs, Texas Ranger Hall of Fame, that's just a few of them. But I never did say Texas was a perfect state, in all fifty one of them none is perfect. And even though I say that, it makes me no less proud of being a Texas. (Lol) You can ask my wife, that every time I see a Texan whether it be here in Oklahoma or Texas, and they do something stupid, I always say dumb ass Texans. lol

You see being a Texan doesn't make us any better than anyone else. Even though things are bigger in Texas (yep) if I may say so. We have put out a lot of professional athletes, country singers, great soft drink's (Big Red and Dr Pepper), etc. We gave the United States a President, and even though everyone says he wasn't born a Texan, he was our Governor of Texas and President twice elected. I have to say this, he was a great President until he lost his focus. And yes, I am still a proud Texan, to this day. You see it's like the Marine's motto, once a marine always a marine, well it holds true in Texas also, once a Texan always a Texan.

But living in Texas has it's bad days also or should I say black clouds and no this is not a racial statement. I am referring to the crime factor, which is horrific. There are things in Texas which we are not proud of just like I said earlier in this blog. We have just as much crime and criminals as any other state.

How about the young lady, Karla Faye Tucker, born in Nov. 1959. She had one hell of a childhood, started smoking at 8, by 12 she was into sex and drugs, 14 dropped out of schools to follow her groupie mother following bands and getting into prostitution. She married a mechanic at 16, divorced, and then started hanging with a motor cycle gang which sealed her future. (does a bad childhood give excuse?) Not in this author's humble opinion. However, she then met a man named Danny Garrett and also a woman named Shawn Dean and her husband, Jerry. While Danny Garrett killed Jerry Dean by hitting him repeatedly in the head with a hammer, Karla Faye tucker discovered Dean's girlfriend hiding under bed covers and began striking her with a pick axe and killing her, the fatal blow being the pick-axe embedded into her heart. Even though she found Jesus as her Lord and Saviour, she was executed on Feb. 3, 1998 at the age of 38.

Then we have a serial killer, who was not born in Texas, but died in Texas all the same. A drifter named Henry Lee Lucas, known as an American killer who confessed to over 600 murders. If he was involved with 600 murders from the 1960's to the mid 1983 that is calculated to be 1 murder per week. According to law enforcement his crime or killing spree began back in the 1960's. He killed his mother on January 11, 1960, during the course of an on going argument regarding whether or not he should return home to his mother's house to care for her as she grew older. He claims she struck him over the head with a broom, at which point he struck her on the neck and she fell. Lucas then fled the scene, there were arrest warrants also in Michigan and Ohio for him. He was also known for the infamous murder known as (orange socks) in Williamson county Texas. Ultimately, Lucas was convicted of 11 homicides. He was sentenced to death for the murder of an unidentified woman dubbed "Orange Socks", that being the only clothing found on her. Her body was discovered in Williamson county Texas on halloween, 1979. Lucas' confession was recorded on audio tape and videotape and, when presented at court, had been subject to significant editing, leading critics to speculate that the removed sections showed authorities coaching Lucas on details of the crime. Dan Morales, Mattox's successor as Texas Attorney General, concluded that it was "highly unlikely" that Lucas was guilty in the "Orange Socks" case. Though initially skeptical of the Lucas report, he came generally to support its findings. Lucas death sentence was commuted to life in prison, where he died on March 13, 2001 of heart failure. You see, Texas has it's great things but a horrific side to it also.

This city, (Jasper, TX), became infamous throughout the United States in 1998 after an African-American man named James Byrd Jr. was dragged to death by John William King and two other white men from the surrounding area. A made for tv movie was quickly produced called Jasper Texas, regarding the above murder starring Jon Voight, Louis Gossett Jr., and John Chealder.
Jasper was also one of the primary locations for the recovery of the Space Shuttle Columbia wreckage.

Then one more, a gruesome killing and problems with racism in Paris, Texas have been profiled by major newspapers across the United States. Racial tensions made national headlines after Brandon McClelland, a black man, was "gruesomely" run over and killed by two white men in 2008. According to the New York Times, "ugly feelings between races have plagued this small town for generations, going back to the days 100 years ago when it was the scene of brutal public lynchings." In a February 1, 2009 article, the Chicago Tribune called Paris a "deeply polarized east Texas town" after an attempt at reconciliation between whites and African Americans--attended by special moderators the U.S. Department of Justice-- ended with some participants screaming at each other." On February 24, 2009, the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune profiled an incident at the Turner Industries plant in Paris, where "black workers say nooses, Confederate flags and racist graffiti have been appearing throughout the workplace for months." Although actually, workers allege that racist symbols and discrimination have prevailed at the plant for nearly two years.

To me the saddest of all are the mothers that killed their children. Darlie Routier killed her son, then Susan Smith pushed a car into John D. Long lake with her kids still in their car seats, then there's Andrea Yates, a former Houston Texas resident, known for killing her five young children on June 20, 2001, by drowning them in the bathtub in her house. She had been suffering for years with severe postpartum depression and phsychosis. Her case placed the, M'Naghten Rules, a legal test for insanity, under close public scrutiny in the United States. Yates 2002 conviction of capital murder and sentence to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years was later overturned on appeal on July 26, 2006. A Texas jury ruled Yates to be not guilty by reason of insanity. What less crime did these mothers do than Karla Tucker and/or Henry Lee Lucas, isn't murder of defenseless children worth more than 40 years in prison?

Then I read about a small county jail, a former sheriff and several ex-jailers were among 17 people named Friday in a 106-count indictment on charges ranging from having sex with inmates to bringing them drugs at a now-closed county jail. Several female jailers were charged with having sex with inmates and bringing them drugs, cell phones and cigarettes, while several male jailers were charged with drug possession and with bringing inmates banned items, according to the indictment. Keating, 62, has plead guilty to a federal civil rights violation in an unrelated case involving the sexual assault of a woman. He is to be sentenced to up to 10 years in federal prison in May. Keating told a woman she would be jailed on drug charges unless she had sex with him. I guess that's the reason I do not trust too many Law enforcement agencies. Good grief, having an affair with an inmate which is not allowed, is bad enough, but forcing them, and rewarding them with drugs, Damn. These are the "defenders" of the law, the ones empowered to uphold and follow the law????

You see us Texans are proud people just as Califorians, Floridians, Ohioians and such. Even though we have so much to offer in fun and recreation, we do have a down side also. It pisses me off so bad, to want to be proud, but have to hang my head, because of stupid people. As the Jackson 5 once sang, 1 bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch and that's true, but to me that's beside the point when it happens over and over again in the same state. Maybe one bad apple does spoil the whole bunch.

Texas so big, so much to see, but sometimes so much to fear. Yes I am still a proud Texan, even though I no longer live there. I in no way condone their actions, and no I am not an angel or saint, either one. I guess you would say I'm not a little pissed off at Texas, but a whole lot of pissed off at some Texans. Maybe what I'm trying to say is not just Texas but anywhere, don't let what some people have done discourage you, you can still be proud of your heritage, your state, like I am, for the good that has come from it. There is "bad" everywhere but there is also "good" to be found.

Well I hope I made some sense of this blog, and until next time same person.
jesseb's anything goes.

Shalom and Peace ot Israel