Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

Here.

This is how you hold off a chasing group.

To the Editor:

Re “Assignment America: A Look at What Makes Texas Texas” (May 8):

I am a Texan. I was born in Texas and I grew up in Texas. I got my first pair of cowboy boots at the M. L. Leddy’s boot shop when I was 4.

I no longer live in Texas, and the Texas I read about and hear about does not seem like the Texas I knew. It does not seem like the Texas I keep close to my heart.

My Texas was the Texas of John Connally and Ann Richards. My Texas was the place where my grandfather, a windmill repairman and former ranch foreman, could wear a Stetson hat and cowboy boots and yet not believe in the death penalty or in the killing of animals for sport.

I am sad that I no longer recognize the Texas of today.

DAPHNE HAUBER

Killingworth, Conn.

Note from KBJ: What's the problem? Daphne Hauber is happy living in Connecticut and we Texans are happy that she lives in Connecticut. By the way, we Texans put murderers to death because, and only because, we value innocent human life. As for hunting, do they not kill animals for sport in other states, including Connecticut? (Answer: Yes, they do.)

This made me laugh. The Baby Boomers don't want to look at each other's flabby bodies.

One of the things that distinguishes progressives from conservatives is how they evaluate the status quo. Conservatives compare the way things are with the way they might be and conclude that things aren't all that bad. Progressives compare the way things are with the way they might be and conclude that things are bad indeed. Conservatives think that change is as likely to make things worse as it is to make things better. Progressives think that change cannot but make things better, given how bad things are. The dominant conservative emotion is fear—of regress. The dominant progressive emotion is hope—for progress. Conservatives believe that civil society is a fragile achievement. Progressives believe that civil society is unjust and in need of improvement.

It's interesting that there is a similar split among conservatives today. Some of them compare Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton (the likely Democrat nominee) and conclude that Trump is superior. Some compare Donald Trump to a perfect candidate (or even to someone admittedly imperfect, such as Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio) and conclude that Trump is inferior. The former are more than happy to get on the Trump bandwagon. The latter are determined to stay off the bandwagon and never miss an opportunity to say just how loud, uncouth, vulgar, inarticulate, and mean-spirited he is. My advice to the latter is to reflect on the type of Supreme Court nominees you're likely to get from Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, respectively. If that doesn't cure your Trump Derangement Syndrome, nothing will.

If you're wondering what professional cyclists look like off the bike and out of their lycra, click here. The Giro d'Italia moved from the Netherlands to Italy today. Racing resumes tomorrow.

Paul Ryan is a disgrace to conservatism. In fact, I would deny that he's a conservative. He's a plutocratic wannabe, bought and paid for by free traders and the open-borders crowd, who are happy to throw working-class Americans under the bus to make a profit. I regret voting for Ryan in 2012.

Heads or Tales (1983). Great band, great album, great song.

I'm sorry to see that my old friend, Francis Beckwith, is engaged in moral preening. Get off your high horse, Frank, and support the only person who can stop Hillary Clinton. Politics isn't about perfection, purity, or high principle; it's about doing the best one can with the resources (including the personnel) one has at one's disposal. (You go to war with the army you have, not the army you dream of having, wish you had, or would have, if things were different than they are.) The American people have chosen a candidate to reverse this country's alarming course. Instead of vilifying or disparaging those people, learn from them. Most of them are conservative, some deeply so. They love their country; they value the rule of law; they want to preserve traditions such as heterosexual marriage (note the retronym); they work hard, pay their bills, do their military and civic duty, and provide for their families.

These are the people who have chosen Donald Trump, because they believe (1) that he is not part of the problem that has gotten us where we are and (2) that he will solve many or most of our economic and social problems. Get right with Donald, Frank. By the way, there is no necessary connection between theism and conservatism. One can be a theist without being a conservative and a conservative without being a theist. Anyone who claims otherwise is engaged in persuasive definition (of the word "conservative").

Addendum: Beckwith includes "manners" in his description of conservatism. I'm not sure what he means by that or why Donald Trump falls short in that area, but let's face facts. Progressives have no manners. To them, the end justifies the means. If conservatives are to compete with progressives in the political arena, they must fight with the same weapons. Take a knife to a gunfight and you will come out on the short end. If Beckwith is alluding to the Christian injunction to turn the other cheek, then he misunderstands the difference between morality and politics. Politics is war fought by other means. It's not a gentleman's debating club or a formal dinner governed by the rules of etiquette. Progressives need to be vilified at every turn, for they will not hesitate to vilify conservatives at every turn. Where did civility and manners get John McCain and Mitt Romney? Donald Trump is a street fighter. He may lose to Hillary Clinton, but it won't be because he took the high road, turned the other cheek, or played the gentleman. He will go down fighting. I am sick to death of feckless conservatives.

Here.