Mounce: Letter to My Conservative Friends

Yes, I still have a few good conservative friends. Amazed? You shouldn’t be. We somehow manage to avoid the “elephant in the room” and talk of anything but politics. But now? I can’t hold back. I have a question for you, for them:

How do you stay positive? In face of LESS government? (thousands fired). In face of drastic cuts to early warning systems (for floods, for hurricanes). Oh, you have adequate shelter, adequate flood insurance? Good for you.Hope your friends and family do, too.

Then, calm, (happy?) How do you stay positive? Just by getting by (“getting off”?) to feeling “ha, hah, we’re owning the libs?” That’s enough? So, OK with you that “Texas failed to spend millions in Federal disaster funds sent from the Biden Administration” before the deadly flash floods? (Kevin Maguire, 21 Jul 25, UPolitics).Ok with you that “the administration replaced hundreds of experts with climate skeptics?” (Conor MacDonald, Raw Story, 19 July 25).    

If all above is “OK,” then, probably you’re OK with Stephen Miller, Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff, “targeting undocumented workers who haven’t committed any crimes.” (Nick Miroff, Atlantic, 15 Jul 25). You may not be, then, from here, from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, where we know and trust and admire and need our workers from Mexico. 

You may be from “up state”? Possible you are like Maga crusader, “TexasProudPatriot”, who was FOR the “Big, Beautiful Bill” (yes, the one that EXPANDED tax cuts for the super wealthy). She chanted: “We’re not gonna help anybody. Y’all been living on food stamps, Section 8 housing, your entire freaking lives, and you’re not gonna do it anymore. I’m not paying for it.” (Quoted by David James, WETC 8 Jul 25).  

“Karen”? I don’t know; all she gave was the fake handle. But, after the floods hit, same person was wailing: “Travis County, don’t treat us like we’re not human beings.” She was begging for help from government she had trashed earlier. But surely, you, my conservative friend, are not like that? 

Editor’s Note: The above guest column was penned by writer Dr. Gary Joe Mounce, a professor emeritus (political science) at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He can be reached by email via: gjmounce@gmail.com.

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