drinking beer, and vacationing in that lovely, laid-back paradise. I am so sick of all these uppity “keeping up with the Joneses” posers raving about Destin, Florida. Aye yai yai. They obviously have not watched the sun rise from the south jetty while the kingfish are running or watched the sun set from the deck of Laguna Bob’s. And I won’t even get into sipping those turbos while listening to the Bongo Dogs live at Wanna Wanna.
Captain Groovy, Conroe

Right Aid

In his piece “Helping Hands Off,” John Daniel Davidson lauds the admirable and instinctive response of fellow Texans to come to the aid of the town of West after the deadly explosion in April. He goes on to examine the controversy over FEMA aid versus state and local aid, concluding that we somehow erode our freedoms by accepting outside aid rather than that provided by our neighbors. It seems to me that this debate should never have arisen in the first place.

Ever since the event I have noted with increasing frustration the lack of coverage of the salient questions surrounding this disaster: (1) Who owned the plant, and did they carry sufficient coverage for the potential loss in the event of an accident? (2) Was the storage of such a large amount of explosive material in a residential area a violation of the law? (3) Is the state’s inspection/oversight of such a facility up to the task of protecting our citizens?

If the question of self-sufficiency comes up in the wake of a disaster like this, it shouldn’t. If the responsible parties had acted responsibly in the first place, there would not have been the potential for a small fire to erupt into a terrible cataclysm.

It’s my understanding that FEMA assistance is designed primarily for natural disasters, of which we in Texas get our fair share. The explosion in West was an unnatural, man-made, foreseeable disaster, for which the plant ownership and, to a lesser degree, state government are responsible, and they should bear the onus for rebuilding and other assistance and support.
Paul Grazda, Kingwood

Perry Go Round

I thought your article about Rick Perry was somewhat confusing, as you seemed to vacillate between giving him credit for the good things that have happened in Texas and giving no credit at all [ “Happy Trails” ]. I was surprised that you failed to mention how much debt (in lieu of tax increases) the state has taken on during his tenure; the fact that he has set our education system back at least a decade because of inadequate funding; the fact that our property insurance premiums are among the highest in the nation; the fact that Texas has the highest number of uninsured in the U.S.; the fact that he refuses, with the okay of the gutless Texas Legislature, to accept Medicaid expansion; and the fact that, since he has appointed every single appointee in the state, we will pay for his tenure well into the future. Lastly, here is a man who expresses outrage at “big” government but had no problem mandating the HPV vaccine for young girls or appropriating land for the Trans-Texas Corridor. So in my view, his legacy is shameful.
Mike Yennie, Beaumont