Texas and Scotland have much in common, with a slightly different twist. Both are at opposite ends of the climate spectrum, obviously. They were both once fully independent nations in their own right. Whereas Scotland had the misfortune to be bankrupted by the Darien fiasco and forever subjugated to simpering heathens to the South by the Treaty of Union, Texas made the foolhardy mistake of hitching itself to a psychotic neighbor to the North. I can only imagine with envy the standard of living we would enjoy today had we allowed ourselves to develop as an independent Banana Republic. Emperor Lyndon Baines Johnson would have had us join OPEC, and we would have been the envy of tin-pot dictatorships the world over. Further, the Bush family would never have had a chance to Carpetbag its way down here from Maine/Connecticut.

To deny us our own forum would be tantamount to shipping the Stone of Scone back to Westminster, wrapped in a bow and accompanied by an apology.

If you excuse me, I must return to drinking heavily (another pastime enjoyed by the citizenry of both Scotland and Texas).