Another editorial from my home county newspaper

Elaine Kolodziej writes:

Why not the Texas White House? Right now, the Bush-haters are having a field day attacking the president for being out of touch because he is 'on vacation' at his ranch in Texas.

The liberal press bills it as the longest vacation in 30-something years and practically accuses him of dereliction of duty because he likes to spend so much time at his Crawford ranch. Some of these East Coast liberals might be surprised that we have more than cactus and barbed wire in Texas.

We actually have Internet and cell phones and everything else high tech. You are not out of touch with the world just because you are in Texas.

We Texans would like to know how staying in the White House could mean that you are in touch with the world? Why, for heaven's sake, would politicians have 'town hall meetings' that take them out to the hinterlands unless they understood that the way to get in touch with real people is to get away from Washington and actually spend time with real people.

Of course, the European idea of the United States and most especially Texas is that we are all cowboys with morals. We tend to be pragmatic rather than politically correct. To them that very simply means that we are out of touch.

But we know there is no better way to get in touch with reality than to come to Texas where you can take a deep breath, see the clear-blue skies, and even feel the dirt. Physical exercise is more than putting on designer sweats and high-priced Nikes to go to the gym. You can work up a sweat in Texas just by going outside in August. That keeps you human. It helps keep you grounded and balanced and in touch.

And there's more.