LAST JULY LISA Falkenberg debated energy policy with a portable potty . . . and lost. That's when I pretty much quit bothering.
She was just another lib columnist (there being no other kind at the Chronicle), laboriously hectoring the newspaper's declining pool of readers.
Recently, however, Ms. Falkenberg stood up (in her own inimitable way) for Texas.
No matter what outsiders think, she wrote, Texas has no more killer moms than other states. (Lisa Falkenberg, "Texas gets bum rap on killer moms," Houston Chronicle, July 30, 2009)
Well that's a relief.
I think.
She couldn't get to the end of her column, of course, without a patented (by Chronicle opinion writers) slam of Texas -- first for being Texas, then for not satisfying some (out-of-state?) critic, then for treating the murderers badly.
And in the national imagination, the mere fact that the crime happened in a place as idealized and prone to mythic characterization as Texas only adds to its uniqueness and morbid news value.
[Unca D: Ms. Falkenberg is entirely innocent of idealization and proneness to mythic characterization of Texas. She is rather more fond of demonization and mythic mischaracterization.]
An author who had written extensively on mothers who kill their children once suggested to me that Texas is setting itself up to maintain the dark distinction.
[Unca D: What dark distinction? Where's the antecedent? Betcha can't find one.]
Texas prosecutors often insist on seeking the death penalty against mothers, even those like Yates, with well-documented histories of mental illness such as postpartum psychosis.
[Unca D: Why the comma after "Yates?"]
Ms. Falkenberg's compliment for Texas was not unlike this famous backhander: "You don't sweat as much as other fat girls."
In this case: Our killer moms are no worse than those in other states, but we invite scorn by (a) being icky about Texas exceptionalism, (b) not measuring up to the standards of an actual writer, and (c) not feeling sorry enough for the true victims -- the poor bloodstained moms.
UPDATE: Thanks for the links from Lose an Eye and blogHouston.
What happened to the deficit image?
j/k...loved the "antecedent" comment.
UNCA D: Outhouse, deficit graph: what's the diff?
Posted by: ace | July 31, 2009 at 01:41 PM