[Jackie07]

Brenda's statement is very true to most Texans.

When I first started working in the local public library in 1987 - just 2 1/2 years after I had arrived in this country - I was reminded by a long-time library user/volunteer that in Texas we do not tell others our political preference. "You can get into a big fight if you talk to the wrong person about whom you are going to vote for," he had warned me.

I later learned from my Father-in-law how stubborn/unreasonable/passionate Texans can be. Father-in-law is a well-educated (master's degree), well-experienced (retired high school principal) native Texan. But he identifies with his rural upbringing and is content with his small-town life style. He dislikes anyone who's acting like a 'big shot'.

His other daughter-in-law, in my view a very normal American/Texan whose habit/demeanor is that of the average American (Capitalist, materialist, yet at the same time a devoted church goer,) - had fallen from favor not too long after she had married my In-law's older son almost 30 years ago. The fact that she has raised two good daughters who have married hard-working men and brought up good great-grant children does not change Father-in-law's view on her.

The rural area used to be Lyndon Johnson's Democratic strong hold. Bill Clinton's scandal repelled everyone and when Bush was running for the presidency, everyone got excited because he's running on the 'God and Country' theme.

I have always been very opinionated on everything because my Mother used to be a city commissioner in Taiwan. But I've learned to keep 'quiet' whenever I'm accompanying my Father-in-law. He's 87 right now. Even when we went to the doctor's office last week, he wanted to assert his independence and did not want anyone to be with him when he saw the doctor (who's also our family doctor.) He would tell us later the conversation he had with the physician...