Shut Down - Shut Up

It used to be that I was proud to say I was from Texas. When I grew up there, Texas was one of the nation's highest ranking states in public education.  Now it is one of the lowest. 

It used to be that the schools were modern and up to date. Now days about the only school funding that gets authorized are massive athletic stadiums for football games.

( Allen (Texas) High School unveils $60M football facility ...)

It used to be that the politics were gentlemanly. Now they are radicalized and condescending. It used to be that a guy like Ted Cruz would be laughed at as a self serving rabble rouser. Now he and his ilk are hailed as some sort of Davey Crockett heroes. 

Although I am trying to avoid venting about the current "Government Fail" my friend Phil Grecian posted a link to a video that has me mad as a "Texas Horny Toad."  Now there is yet another Texas politician soiling my heritage.  

His name is  Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) who unfortunately represents the 19th District including my birthplace, Lubbock, Texas. 

It seems that Neugebauer got in the face of a National Park Ranger who informed a group of veterans that they could not visit the World War II memorial because of the Government shut down. It was a disappointment for the vets who had come to pay tribute to their fallen friends, but for Rep. Neugebauer it was a photo op that turned ugly. Not because the National Park Ranger, a woman doing her job, was anything but polite; it turned ugly because of the Congressman's myopic, reactionary stupidity. If you haven't already seen the exchange you can watch it here.

Randy Neugebauer tried to place blame on the National Park Ranger for denying access to the memorial. It was her fault that the vets were not granted admittance. HER FAULT?  If a man is that clueless about how the government works then he should not be a Congressman... he should return to Lubbock and work at a slaughter house feed lot. 

When a man in the crowd points out that it is NOT the Ranger's fault but that it was Rep Randy and his cronies who are at the root of the problem, Rep Randy immediately blames Harry Reid and walks away.

My question to him is: Why were you there confronting a Park Ranger about her job? Why weren't you back at the House of Representatives confronting the real problem?  Getting the vets into the memorial can NOT be accomplished by Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) "getting all up in the face" of a Ranger at the Capital Mall. The problem can only be solved by Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) going back to the House floor and doing his job, funding the Government. 

The problem with the radicalized GOP is that they have no sense of where they are going.  When George HW Bush (George the 1st ) was asked why America did not continue into Iraq and finish Saddam's regime during the Gulf War he stated... "There was no exit strategy." He might have been the last Republican to understand the term "exit strategy" his son certainly didn't grasp the concept. And now a couple of decades later I am wondering if the GOP  has a strategy of any kind except stubborn elitism and greedy capitalism.  

To me it is not a matter of being Democrat, Republican or Tea Bagger. Stupid is stupid and incompetency is incompetency and I would feel the same if a Rep. from California had berated a Park Ranger like Rep. Randy did this week. It is just more disappointing when it is an elected leader from my home state. 

I love Texas but there are a few idiots that are making me ashamed to be a Texan.  If this political fight continues I could become ashamed to be an American.  None of us can let that happen.

As you were,

Jay