1 comment
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008, 12:54 am
Jackson Williams says:
Paul Burka's view of 1982 is skewed because he sits (and always has) in the establishment section, in a gold box, far away from the maddening crowd.
Yes, Lloyd Bentsen's machine was cranked up for his senate re-election that year, and it surely helped the whole ticket. Still, the statewide candidates immediately beneath him on the ballot were not merely along for the ride, sent into power by the blessing of Bentsen-Hobby largesse, as Burka smugly intimates. "Farm team" my ass!
Take Hightower. He'd already broken our hearts by barely losing a statewide race for the Railroad Commission. That says something: By the time he ran for Ag commish, he was quite a well known name and persona throughout the Lone Star State. Mattox certainly was, too, as a U.S. Congressman representing part of a major urban center, Dallas.
The real proof that Bentsen gets more credit than deserved is in the 1986 pudding: Mattox, Richards, Mauro and Hightower all won re-election (even as a Republican won the race for Governor), and Lloyd was nowhere to be found. Indeed, it is quite a statement that Mattox won re-election considering he was coming off the commercial bribery trial, for which he'd been acquitted.
Texans clearly saw something to like in their battling populist, so when Burka says Mattox is no hero, he's speaking strictly for himself. Millions of other folks would beg to differ.
Single moms, for starters. Taking hold of the previously backwater child support collection operation, bringing it into the AG's office for the first time, made him a very real hero to many.
How about anyone concerned with our children's intellectual future in a highly competitive world? Back in '74, the Texas Board of Education (overrun with religious zealots) had issued a rule that evolution was only one of several "theories" of mankind's origin. By 1980, the major biology textbook didn't even mention evolution in the index. In his first term as AG, Mattox concluded the rule was unconstitutional because it was motivated by "a concern for religious sensibilities rather than a dedication to scientific truth." Thanks to his agitation, the Board rescinded the rule, and it has stayed rescinded for almost a quarter-century.
Speaking of evolution and the Board of Education, we're about to revisit that same silly business again, apparently. Will the current milquetoast Republican AG wade into it on the side of right? I doubt it.
What about gays and lesbians? Mattox refused to defend 2106, the state's sodomy law that was aimed squarely at this historically picked upon group of citizens. The Fifth Circuit in New Orleans proved a roadblock, but in 2003 the United States Supreme Court struck down the sodomy statute (Lawrence v Texas), finding a right of sexual privacy for consenting adults. The majority decision was written by the conservative Anthony Kennedy. Was Mattox ahead of his time? Not really, he just saw an injustice and moved toward correcting it. His attempt to fight the good fight in that case -- and so many others -- meant much to many.
I could go on, but you get the gist. Mattox was in public office for almost two decades. One has to consider the totality of one's time, and this politician left a positive mark a mile wide.
It really does matter where you sit, Paul. It's like a Dylan concert. If you're in the sweet spot, it's all good. If not, it makes no sense.
You should get out more, where the rest of us live. Plus, if it's any consolation, Mattox never liked you, either.
My Library
