Maybe it’s just that time of year.
Community socials. Reunions, cookouts, get-togethers.
They’re fun, for sure, but there’s always that one uncle (or aunt — no reason to get gender-specific) who’s a little weird (or crazy), and their only superpower seems to be cornering other members of the affair and pissing in their ear until they’re approaching catatonia. Ten minutes in, and the unfortunate target’s eyes have glazed over. They’re looking around, trying to get away, maybe yawning or looking at their phone — but that uncle or aunt is still going a mile a minute. And you feel bad for the target, but, hell, if you intervened, you might be next. Rescue can be a perilous urge. Especially if you don’t want to spend the get-together listening to that uncle or aunt wax preposterously about how women, gays, and persons of color knew their place in their day or how (insert: ethnicity, creed, or religion, here) knew better than to fuck with their generation.
It rarely fails. There’s a clueless or otherwise offensive ass-hat in every crowd.
But this year, we don’t have to wait for a reunion or cookout or get-together. Cowtown conservatives have taken care of that for us!
Feel that trickle in your ear?
Last October, Tarrant County Republican Chair Bo French was referring to Democratic political advertisements as the “gayest” in history, guaranteeing in a tweet about one ad that “every one of these ‘dudes’ is a homo. There is literally nothing manly about any of them.” He also went all manly neocon on former Republican U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, advising, “Never go full retard.”
Offensive, homophobic, sexist, and just plain stupid, sure, but we thought French might move on. No such luck (or human decency). A few days ago, presumably opining on the Gazan genocide, he was back at it: “Who is a bigger threat to America: Jews or Muslims?”
And this interrogative was so asinine it even grabbed the attention of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who called for French’s immediate resignation, commenting that “antisemitism and religious bigotry have no place in Texas.” And Dan Patrick is perfectly fine with racism and religious bigotry! He dons them like underwear. It’s like the pot calling the kettle …. oh, yeah … Patrick doesn’t like “pot,” either. Or Blacks, for that matter.
Meanwhile, Cowtown City Council is eliminating DEI programs (yes, that’s a trickling noise you hear again) because, of course, persons of color don’t deserve equal representation or a level playing field, and Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare, whom I wouldn’t trust to leave alone with anybody’s kids at any get-together, is blocking a historical marker at the former site of the historic LGBTQIA+ establishment the Rainbow Lounge.
This entire lot of dangerous though stultifyingly dull Cowtown conservatives is stealing our crazy aunt’s and uncle’s thunder, blundering willy-nilly through the halls of Fort Worth governance with no respect for equal or civil rights, general fairness, cultural accountability, or civic responsibility — and not even bothering to make it the least bit inconspicuous.
The good news is that most of us are not friends with or related to them, so we don’t have to allow them in our backyards or homes. The bad news is, these scumbags largely determine what goes on in our neighborhoods and our community, and these shameless Trump cards will be soiling the entire deck much longer than a summer get-together. These red miscreants are going to continue to piss in our ears, but the delivery system isn’t the only reason it’s yellow.
It — and they — are also pathetic and cowardly. Lambs instead of lions.
Fort Worth native E.R. Bills is the author of seven nonfiction titles, including Tell-Tale Texas: Investigations in Infamous History.
This column reflects the opinions and fact-gathering of the author(s) and only the author(s) and not the Fort Worth Weekly. To submit a column, please email Editor Anthony Mariani at Anthony@FWWeekly.com. He will gently edit it for clarity and concision.
