ustxtxb_obs_2004_12_03_50_00003-00000_000.pdf

DECEMBER 3, 2004 EDITORS’ NOTE SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO LAUGH by Molly Ivins AN ESSAY ON “STRONG AND CLEAR” by Larry Goodwyn WE’RE EXPECTING SOME TURBULENCE by Gabriela Bocagrande TEXAS’ BIZ IS AMERICA’S BIZ by Robert Bryce TEX-SEX by Debbie Nathan TWAS AWE LIKE A TEWIBBLE DWEAM by Dave Hickey INVISIBLE MAN by Lucius Lomax HOME ON THE RANGE IN SAN YGNACIO by Meg Guerra THE STATE OF TEXAS LIT by Don Graham MY COUNTRY ‘TIS A-DRIFTING by Ruperto Garcia COMPASSIONATE OBSERVERS by Russell Lee and Alan Pogue POETRY by Naomi Shihab Nye KEEPING THE FLAME ALIVE by Lorenzo Thomas FROM LA CASITA TO LUPE by James C. Harrington REFLECTIONS by Ernesto Cortes, Jr. THE TEXAS MIND by Robert Sherrill IT’S A TEXAS THANGOR IS IT? by Joe Nick Patoski HOMELAND SECURITY ON THE RIO BRAVO by Jan Reid STOPPING THE TEXAS DEATH MACHINE by Sister Helen Prejean THE TEXAFICATION OF THE USA by Ronnie Dugger 1954 Cover Illustration by Garry Trudeau 3 5 8 11 14 16 20 21 22 24 26 32 38 39 42 44 46 48 50 52 60 66 Texas Observer VOLUME 96, NO. 23 A Journal of Free Voices Since 1954 Founding Editor Ronnie Dugger Executive Editor Jake Bernstein Editor Barbara Belejack Associate Editor Dave Mann Managing Publisher Charlotte McCann Associate Publisher Jim Ball Circulation Manager Lara George Art Direction Buds Design Kitchen Poetry Editor Naomi Shihab Nye Copy Editor Roxanne Bogucka Webmaster Adrian Quesada Interns Kris Bronstad, Megan Giller, Dan Mottola, Aaron Nelsen Contributing Writers Nate Blakeslee, Gabriela Bocagrande, Robert Bryce, Michael Erard, James K. Galbraith, Dagoberto Gilb, Steven G. Kellman, Lucius Lomax, James McWilliams, Char Miller, Debbie Nathan, Karen Olsson, John Ross Staff Photographers Alan Pogue, Jana Birchum. Contributing Artists Sam Hurt, Kevin Kreneck, Michael Krone, Gary Oliver, Doug Potter, Penny Van Horn Editorial Advisory Board David Anderson, Chandler Davidson, Dave Denison, Sissy Farenthold, John Kenneth Galbraith, Lawrence Goodwyn, Jim Hightower, Kaye Northcott, Susan Reid. In Memoriam Bob Eckhardt, 1913-2001, Cliff Olofson, 1931-1995 Texas Democracy Foundation Board Lou Dubose, Ronnie Dugger, Marc Grossberg, Molly Ivins, D’Ann Johnson, Jim Marston, Gilberto Ocanas, Bernard Rapoport, Geoffrey Rips. tents copyrighted 02004, is published biweekly except every dation, 307 West 7th Street, Austin, Texas 78701. E-mail [email protected] World Wide Web DownHome page www. texasobserver.org . Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas. Subscriptions One year $32, two years $59, three years $84. Full-time students $18 per year; add $13/year for foreign subs. Back issues $3 prepaid. Airmail, foreign, group, and bulk rates on request. Microfilm available from University Microfilms Intl., 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106. Indexes The Texas Observer is indexed in Access: The Supplementary Index to Periodicals; “liwas Index and, for the years 1954 through 1981, The Texas Observer Index. POSTMASTER Send address changes to: The Texas Observer, 307 West 7th Street, Austin, Texas 78701. The Books 6. the Culture section is partially funded through grants from the City of Austin under the auspices of the Austin Arts Commission and the Writers’ League of Texas, both in cooperation with the Texas Commission on the Arts. 12/3/04 THE TEXAS OBSERVER 3