Why I Need My Boots In Texas

I love this state. I'm a transplant, I understand this. I'm not a native daughter, although my adoptive Daddy is a native son, so I'm as close to being a Texan as I can be without being born on this soil. He got 'hold of me early enough to have an influence on me. I like the right football team, I can pronounce Nacogdoches and Waxahachie without inciting riotous laughter,

I know what kind of socks to wear with boots. Cowboy boots. I wear Luccheses. I graduated from Ropers, also known as shit-kickers. Ropers are a little young for me, at least that's how I see it.

Boots are utilitarian footwear that can look great at the same time. If it's wet outside, I can count on staying dry, pretty much no matter how deep it gets.

Or so I thought.

A bunch of kids were told to leave KleinOakHighSchool today because of their controversial T-shirts. They were McCain supporters. Seems the back of the shirts said "Obama loves Osama BFF". You know, if there was a school policy that said they weren't supposed to wear disruptive clothing, it's really a pretty soft call. I think they probably had a right to free speech, but I wasn't there to know if there was disruption at the school. The principal has a responsibility to keep the school under control.

The thing that got me (I was watching the news on TV) was hearing little Morgan Herig say, "“I don’t believe it’s sending the right message, but I also don’t agree with his political views. I don’t agree that someone who is not from our country and doesn’t believe in the same things should be able to run for the White House."

This is what I'm talking about. There is a pervasive attitude here in the South that people need to believe in the same things. Different is not only "not-good" it is to be limited, separated, held back.

Where do children learn these things? I wonder. Like I said, my Daddy taught me how to say Nacogdoches the same way he did.