Texas turns in on itself

Via Ry, your daily slice of Texas politics:

Cynthia Dunbar, R-Richmond, who advocated more Christianity in the public square last year with the publication of her book, One Nation Under God, is among those that Gov. Rick Perry is considering to lead the State Board of Education, some of her colleagues say...

In a book published last year, Dunbar argued the country’s founding fathers created “an emphatically Christian government” and that government should be guided by a “biblical litmus test.” She endorses a belief system that requires “any person desiring to govern have a sincere knowledge and appreciation for the Word of God in order to rightly govern.”

Also in the book, she calls public education a “subtly deceptive tool of perversion.”

The establishment of public schools is unconstitutional and even “tyrannical,” she wrote, because it threatens the authority of families, granted by God through Scripture, to direct the instruction of their children.

So Texas is preparing to have its public schools headed by a woman who doesn't believe in public schools. Note that George Bush, who improved Texas education when he was governor, was never this bad.

Is this a sign of things to come in Texas? If I were a man given to wild speculation and tenuous conclusions - and I am - I might say that Texas is turning in on itself. Five years ago, Texans held the presidency and the congressional leadership (Tom DeLay); the nation's dominant political party was backed by Texan money and Texan electoral votes. Now, with the corridors of national power closed to them, Texan conservatives may find themselves with little to do but lobby the statehouse to put religion in schools, make noises about secession, all-but-ban abortion, cut taxes until it busts the state budget, etc.

This may not be fun for Texan families, who will have to put up with declining education and perhaps other public services, not to mention a cold shoulder from the federal government. But in the long run, the radicalization of Texas will have a very good effect. Texas is not Kansas, and it's not Alabama; it's a cosmopolitan place with big cities, strong non-farming businesses, and a diverse population. Its people have seen first-hand the benefits of the economic agglomeration brought (in part) by good public services. They do not want to go back to being small-town shitkickers.

Keep up this BS, Texas radicals, and your state will go blue before you know it.