There’s absolutely no reason anyone outside of Texas should know (much less care) who Dan Patrick is and what he stands for (There was once no reason anyone should have known who Rick Perry is). In Texas, he’s considered a laughingstock by people who can still think without the benefit of Fox News Channel…and he’s taken seriously by people who should be considered laughingstocks. For the uninitiated, Patrick is of the Ted Cruz/Greg Abbott/Rick Perry/Louie Gohmert School of Political Opportunism and Demagoguery…minus the (negligible) intellectual candlepower of the aforementioned quartet.
For those of you unfamiliar with Texas politics, the basic idea behind Republican rule of the Lone Star State is two-fold: fear and ignorance, the latter being necessary to create the former. Too many Texans are really only familiar with people like themselves: good, God-fearing, Conservative White Christians. Get out of their comfort zone, and they retreat to a reflexive fear of The Other: Liberals, Hispanics, Muslims…basically anyone who doesn’t think, look, and/or believe as they do. Since many of them get their news solely from Fox News Channel, Politicians like Patrick can easily manipulate the resulting fear, ignorance, and hatred to their advantage. Through the skillful use of racist code words and imagery, dog whistle politics has become the coin of the realm, the means by which the masses are kept chained to their fear and ignorance.
Texas: The Lone Brain Cell State
Texans have self-mythologized their history and place in the world to such a degree that they’ve significantly overestimated their significance. They’ve cultivated a disturbing tendency to believe that God Almighty is smiling upon them with unalloyed approval and endorsement. When you believe that God is on your side, can you truly do any wrong? Dan Patrick has become expert at manipulating the average Texan’s fear of The Other and generalized ignorance of and disdain for truth and facts. After all, when God is on your side, what other book do you need besides the Bible? And since God has clearly and incontrovertibly been established (in their minds) as a Conservative Republican, how can He do anything but smile upon Texas?
I’ve listened to more than one Texan describe their home state as “God’s Country.” Really? Have you ever been to West Texas? God must be one angry, vengeful, mean-spirited deity…with a horrible sense of decor.
Unfortunately, given the size and number of Congressional seats Texas has been gifted with, representatives of God’s Country the Lone Star State exercise tremendous influence in Congress. Remember Tom DeLay? I wish I didn’t; he represented my congressional district when I lived in Texas. Say what you will, but DeLay was the master of arrogant hyper-religiosity wrapped in self-righteous patriotism, and an expert in the politics of fear and ignorance.
Dan Patrick’s rhetoric is very much in line with other successful Texas Republicans, and his star is definitely on the rise. What that says about Texans is…well, let’s just say it’s not flattering. Unfortunately for those of us outside of Texas, the fear and ignorance of the masses in the Lone Brain Cell State may help to inflict yet another fear-mongering Right-wing ideologue on America.
