Texans work at painting word pictures that delight and surprise. On a guided tour of Central America, I asked a fellow group member, a larger-than-life event impresario from Texas, “How are you this morning?” With a wide, gleaming smile, he said, “Finer than frog’s hair.” It took a moment, but I caught on and laughed out loud. It was so creative, vivid, and funny!
Those neighbors to the South have a putdown for phonies, especially men from out of state, which is in that same vein. They call them “All hat, no cowboy.” That came to mind when I considered Republican members of Congress, in both the Senate and the House, when they voted in virtual lockstep to put Trump’s — actually Project 2025’s — execrable vision into law. They lived down to their reputation as his abject toadies. They are “All lapel badge, no legislator.” They have abdicated their Constitutional mandate and responsibility as members of a co-equal branch of a tripartite government alongside the Executive and Judicial branches. Of course, the majority of the Supreme Court is no better. They are “All robe, no justice.”
As citizens under that same Constitution, we are called upon to exercise our responsibility by voting for and supporting, through words and actions, Congresspersons, and people at all levels of government, who work for the well-being of all of us, including “the least of these” in our midst.
After all, at its root government exists to do together, collectively, what we cannot do alone, as individuals. “All for one, and one for all” should be our guiding principle, always.
Fred Reklau
Oak Park