Is it my imagination, or is it hard to find a good politician in Texas?

I wish that was the opening line of a barroom joke, but it seems to be anything but funny in a state that’s currently struggling to keep the lights on and equally having difficulty digging out from a freak snowstorm. While Texans are setting their belongings on fire just to keep warm, there are at least two politicians who you couldn’t warm up with a blowtorch and a car tank’s worth of gasoline.

May I just ask what Sen. Ted Cruz was thinking taking his family to Cancun at a time when his constituents are in need? What worthless brain cells told him that, when the lights went out and the temperature dropped, it was a good idea to pack up his wife and two daughters and abandon the state he’s supposed to represent as a citizen servant?

He quickly realized the error of his ways and came back, but he claimed that he didn’t realize at the time that it was a bad idea. The only thing worse than his decision to vacation during a disaster was to have the state’s police dispatch officers to protect him at the airport—as he was leaving. On second thought, there was something else worse—he left his dog at home to freeze.

Ironically, Cruz is the sponsor of a bill this year to recommend term limits for members of Congress, with six years for House members and 12 years for folks like him in the Senate. It’s a good idea on its face, but it seems like an even better idea to pass it now with an amendment for senators to have the same limit as representatives of the House—six years.

Sadly, Cruz is not the only person with power behaving badly in Texas. The mayor of Colorado City, Texas, Tim Boyd, had to resign after a horrible social media post that lambasted his constituents for seeking help from local officials after the snowstorm.

Part of his Facebook post read: “No one owes you or your family anything; nor is it the local governments (sic) responsibility to support you during trying times like this! Sink or swim, it’s your choice! The City and County, along with power providers or any other service owes you NOTHING! I’m sick and tired of people looking for a damn hand out!”

Wow. I wonder what it’s like living next to this guy. Boyd obviously does not understand the definition of “citizen servant,” just like Cruz, but the difference is that Boyd realized how badly he screwed up with that post and had the decency to step aside so someone else with a modicum of compassion could step up—if anyone like that even wants the job.

Of course, you don’t need to find politicians gone bad during the snowstorm. Before the lights went out in Georgia—pardon me, Texas—Austin Mayor Steve Adler decided to fly to Cabo San Lucas back in December while the state still had a stay-at-home order due to the coronavirus pandemic and told him constituents to “stay at home … This is not the time to relax.”

Apparently, it’s all the rage to be a hypocrite in Texas politics rather than a citizen servant. Even Ted Cruz agrees with me, which raises the irony to a whole new level. It’s making House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s foray to a beauty parlor in California during that state’s stay-at-home period and the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, parading around a French restaurant with no mask while having a mask mandate seem like child’s play.

The political climate in America has all but scared away all the citizen servants—people who want to represent constituents and try to pass legislation that will benefit them and be there to lend a helping hand when life hits the outhouse. Instead, Texas has politicians flying to Mexico and mayors claiming that when the going gets tough, the government isn’t going to save you.

You can’t depend on representatives at the local level. You can’t depend on representatives at the state level, and when you get to the federal level, watch out.

Not to show off my small-town street cred for the millionth time, but growing up in a rural community taught me to help people who are in need. Your neighbor loses a home to fire, and you check on the family to see if they need clothing, a place to stay or a decent meal. Your friend loses a relative or spouse in the military due to war, you circle the wagons and help them get through a tough time. You don’t criticize people for needing help, and you certainly don’t abandon them.

It might seem like a pipe dream to hope that politicians pull a Grinch and have their hearts grow three sizes, so it might be more heartening to think of the regular folks in Texas who are digging their neighbors out of the snow and huddling together for warmth. One thing’s for sure, though. It’ll be a long time before I can take the phrase “a heart as big as Texas” seriously again.