The UnTexan

DEATH AND TEXAS AND GOV. PERRY

There is a good chance that Texas has executed an innocent man. What else would you expect from the state that elected Rick Perry to be its governor? Todd Willingham was executed in 2004 for setting the fire that killed his three children. Now it appears that there are huge questions about whether the blaze was arson or not. Ooooops! But Gov. Perry isn't letting that bother him one little bit. When asked about the case, Perry said he thinks Willingham was guilty even if the arson evidence doesn't stand up to scrutiny. The question (appropriately raised by Michael Landauer of the Dallas Morning News): "How does the governor think Willingham killed his kids if not by arson?" If the arson wasn't arson what was Willingham guilty of? Even for Gov. Perry, not known for his intellectual prowess, this seems pretty damned dumb. The sad thing about the whole case is that no matter what, Perry goes on being governor and Willingham goes on being dead.

And Texas goes on killing people who kill people (or not). Christopher Coleman is due to die today while the rest of Texas settles in for a good dinner and an evening in front of the TV. Kenneth Mosely is scheduled to die Sept. 24. And John Ballentine on Sept 30. Six more are scheduled for execution by mid-November.

There was an op-ed piece from the New York Times in the local newspaper this morning. It quotes President John Kennedy telling his wife as they prepared to fly to Texas on the last day of his life, "We're heading into nut country today." Texas will kill you if it gets half a chance. JFK knew it. Todd Willingham knew it. I know it. And two of the three of us are already dead. I think about that sometimes.

After seven years I remain the UnTexan. Texas kills.

MARY TRAVERS: I WAS ONLY PASSING THROUGH

I am sitting here listening to music I told myself I outgrew a long time ago. I first came across Peter, Paul and Mary when I was on my way to Bob Dylan but didn't know where I was going. They made a wonderful noise together. What was more important was that they made a meaningful noise together, fitting their voices together around the words in an old harmony I could understand. And that is what I was after - meaningful noise. It was 1962-63 and the times were changing sure enough and I was 17 years old and in need of something to believe in. I could feel it and when I listened to Peter, Paul and Mary - especially Mary - I heard it too. Mary Travers. There was nothing like her at my high school; the girls there were too tidy to be sexy with their Peter Pan collars, virgin pins and Capezio flats. They were thin-lipped southern women in the making. I could already see it in their faces. But Mary Travers was from New York City. Mary Travers had that long blond hair, those bangs, that voice. She made folk music sexy, especially for those of us who were not quite sure what we were listening to or why, and were nowhere near ready to hear Bob Dylan sing his own songs. She was a sexy woman making a meaningful noise. She seemed like everything I wanted in a woman, the kind of woman who would want a man like me. When I met her (backstage after a show though a cousin of a friend of a friend whose other cousin played bass for Peter, Paul and Mary if I remember it correctly) she was - frighteningly - a woman. And I was only a babbling boy in front of her. Not long after that I "outgrew" Peter, Paul and Mary, found Bob Dylan and abandoned prim and thin-lipped girls with Peter Pan collars and virgin pins. Mary Travers died Sept. 16. She helped me get past harmony and get on with my life.

JIMMY CARTER GETS IT RIGHT

Former President Jimmy Carter said that when South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson yelled "You lie!" at President Barack Obama, the comment was "based in racism." I agree. And it's about time somebody was willing to say it loud and proud. Carter also said, "There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president." Right again. The people who didn't want their children to hear Obama's speech at school for fear of his "socialistic agenda" (as one Texas mama put it on national TV) are cut from the same stars-and-bars cloth as the ones who have tried so hard to link the words "nigger" and "nazi" (and they know "nigger-nazi" has a certain ugly appeal to it) over the past few weeks. Carter says correctly that this is not about health care or socialism or anything else, but is rooted in something far deeper, plain old dumbass racism, and comes straight from America's white trash heart. Carter is saying what needs to be said.

As for telling it like it is: Kanye West IS a jackass.

ALICIA PARLETTE INFO

For those who come here seeking Alicia Parlette, and there are many of you, here is a little something that came in over the virtual transom: Alicia news. It is almost as good as hearing from Alicia herself.