Why Railroad Commissioner Is More Important Than Iran
Waking up this morning, I made the mistake I usually do of checking my phone before even getting out of bed. What happens when you go to bed early and wake up early (I am writing this before the sun is even thinking about coming up) is that you miss all the good midnight raids. I cannot stand violence. I have seen violence and I do not like violence. I will always try my best to avoid an unnecessary conflict. Make no mistake, I am not implying striking Iran is completely unnecessary, that would be a bold viewpoint given that I obviously do not know the same information as the top military and government leaders. I am simply starting off by elaborating on my support for peace and not dropping bombs when possible.
I will give you the run down on what almost always happens with Iran. We will bomb them or Israel will bomb them and the other will be in a supporting role. Iran will launch some missiles which may or may not hit a few targets but likely strike a conveniently empty U.S. base or it gets shot down by a suspiciously prepared U.S. team. Nothing will come of this. There will be no full-scale ground war, no boots on the ground, nothing at all. The news will cycle through this, and it will be on to the next topic by the end of the week. I hope I do not have to eat these words because nothing would disgust me more than American service members dying in Iran, but I believe this conflict to be nothing more than trading quick blows in a bar fight, not a full out war.
What will still be here after the news cycle has changed are your local and state elected leaders. I have heard it said many times that your Sheriff is the most important vote you cast in the state of Texas, and I wholeheartedly believe that to be true. This is not a political endorsement and he doesn't need one, but I worked for Sheriff Kelly Rowe of Lubbock County for several years and observing him is a masterclass in ethics and respect for the law. A strong, constitutionally minded Sheriff is the difference between a tyrant winning and a tyrant being defeated. I care significantly more who my sheriff is than who my governor is. The President of the United States of America despite being a wildly impressive and powerful office rarely impacts my day-to-day life. Sure, there are edge cases where a strike against Iran could lead to an all-out boots on the ground WWIII situation, but it is highly unlikely.
What will absolutely affect me and my community is whether our elected officials on the agriculture committee accurately and passionately represent our cotton farmers. I worry about the Texas Railroad Commission (which handles Texas energy they have not had anything to do with railroads for a long time) and how they are protecting our natural resources. I wholeheartedly endorse Hawk Dunlap for Railroad Commissioner, and I will be publishing a separate piece about how great of a candidate he is.
The bottom line of all of this: while the events at the top do create the most fear and drive the most traffic to articles and videos, what will impact your life the most are the smaller elections. Get involved in your local and state politics and get to know your political leaders. They are much more accessible than you may think at these levels and tend to love hearing from their constituents. I promise, your Chief of Police, your Sheriff and your State Senator all have much more to do with your quality of life than the President of the United States of America. Chance is, they'll also return your phone call or your email.
The average person has almost zero power over what happens at the federal government level. We can vote, donate, and lobby - though nearly half of Americans do not even vote in federal elections. Fun fact: Texas is nearly in last place for voter turnout. A significant number of individual political contributions go to candidates without a realistic chance of winning an election such as Beto O'Rourke. In terms of lobbying, most people I know simply lobby with their vote and that is it. However, at a local level things are very different. You see your elected officials around town. You know their phone number, you go to church with them, they are significantly more accessible to you than a federal representative. This gives you the unique opportunity to influence their decision making and to advance causes you care about.
I know an ever-increasing number of people who tell me they do not vote and that their vote does not matter. While I disagree with this nihilistic point of view, I do understand why they hold it. By increasing your participation in local and state politics, you hold significantly more influence than with federal politics. Some elections I know of locally have even been decided by just two votes.
From a safety and security standpoint, your local elections matter a ton. Bond amounts for alleged criminals are set based on the decision of a locally elected official. Don't want an alleged murderer to be released on a personal recognizance bond? Talk to your local official. If your local official is unable or unwilling to accommodate your viewpoints you can vote against them, run against them or better yet - influence someone who you think could do the job to run. With local elections, public perception of an individual is what matters the most. These elections also are not heavily funded so a few thousand dollars can absolutely sway a local election. If you do not like the direction your local government is heading in, you have a reasonable amount of power to change it! Try doing that for the federal government.
We all in our communities have the power to ensure it is a beautiful and functional place by participating in small-scale politics. My decision to build this website and publicly share my opinions is based on a desire to better both my community and the world. That and I would like to once again utilize my political science degree I obtained from Texas Tech. Be sure to like my Facebook page "Tom Hawkins" to be alerted when I have new articles out. I am not setting a goal for how much content and how frequently I will produce it, I prefer to only write when I feel it matters.