It's not exactly Marty Robbins but here I go..... Out in the West Texas town of Midland-Odessa, there grew up a bad man named whoreHEY! I bet you hicks on this list have never even heard of the Permian Basin, let alone lived a spell out here, close by the natural gas burnoff spouts on the high plain desert of nowhere. Well where do you think W got his intense forehead of stupidity? Did you never see the movie... Hud? Here's some local news for you big city slickers....... I'll never forget the time I spent in Midland-Odessa. It was right after the Gulf War ended, and there were victory celebrations of hundreds of thousands all over Texas. Odessa itself, was full of boarded up businesses from the oil boom bust. Times were tough in West Texas, and many of my co-workers drive in from as faraway as New Mexico, and 90 miles south from Sanderson, just to work. Still, the stench of oil byproduct was thick in the air. No doubt about who won the election in Texas. Oil did. Tony ________________________________ Bush Bids Farewell to Texas Wash DC- White cowboy hat in hand, President-elect Bush charged into town Wednesday after promising Texas friends the move was only temporary and he was carrying his small-town values with him. "It is here that I learned what it means to be a good neighbor,'' he said in Midland, Texas, where he stopped on the way to the nation's capital. "The spirit of respect and common purpose will guide me as your president.'' Bush settled with family and friends into Blair House, an official guest home across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, which will be his as of 12:01 p.m. EST Saturday. Bush, looking ahead to several days of inaugural festivities in Washington, bid farewell to his boyhood home of Midland at a boisterous outdoor rally. He stressed the unity and bipartisanship that he hopes to make the themes of his Republican administration after he is sworn in as the 43rd president. "I leave here really upbeat about getting some things done for the people, getting something accomplished for the people of this land by putting aside all the partisan bickering and namecalling and anger,'' Bush said to a roar of approval from thousands packing a downtown intersection. "You see, I've never been a cynic about public service.'' With wife Laura at his side, the son of a president winked and waved. He marveled at how far he had traveled from this West Texas oil patch where he spent his childhood and where the motto is "The Sky's the Limit.'' He returned after graduating from Yale University and Harvard Business School to meet his future wife and make failed runs at the oil business and a seat in the U.S. House. "Our deepest values in life often come from our earliest years,'' he said. "It is here in Midland and in West Texas where I learned to respect people from different backgrounds. It is here where I learned what it means to be a good neighbor. ... It is here in West Texas where I learned to trust in God.'' "It seems improbable now, but in that little house on Ohio Street right down the road from here, it was hard to envision then the future -- of two presidents and a governor of Florida,'' Bush said with a chuckle. He paid tribute to his father, who was meeting him in Washington on Thursday, for teaching "in the way he lived that life is more than personal gain, that service to others is a noble calling.'' Younger brother Jeb Bush is governor of Florida, the state that decided Bush's razor-thin election to the White House after a 36-day legal battle with Democrat Al Gore. "I thought it was never going to be over, that we'd be here,'' said Linda Finley of Wolfforth, Texas, who waited five hours to see Bush off from a front-row spot. "I hope he brings his religion with him to Washington.'' Indeed, Bush, who had made the Clinton-era scandals part of his race against Vice President Gore, said Wednesday: "I promise that my administration will never forget the dignity and duty the White House represents to millions of Americans.'' He touted the welfare changes, juvenile crime initiatives and tax cuts that Texas approved during the six years he was governor and said that experience would be a model for his presidency. "We remembered who paid the bills. We sent money back to the taxpayers of the state of Texas,'' he said. Bush stepped down as governor on Dec. 21 after the U.S. Supreme Court settled the disputed election in his favor. His call for unity will be tested with the Senate divided 50-50 by party and with the House having a bare Republican majority. Even as he spoke of unity, a Senate committee carried on its hearings over Bush's contentious choice of former Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo., for attorney general. Four other Cabinet nominees also were going through their confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill. A struggle was also forming over Bush's $1.6 trillion 10-year tax cut plan. The Republican Leadership Council, a centrist GOP group, was beginning two weeks of supportive TV ads in two states -- North Dakota and Montana -- that voted for Bush but have Democratic senators who serve on the Senate Finance Committee. A herd of family, staff, friends and pets (three dogs, two cats) packed the Air Force Boeing 757 that the Clinton administration had sent for Bush -- one of the same planes that Gore had used during the campaign. Smiling, Mrs. Bush indulged in a brief tour onboard. One of the Bushes' 19-year-old twin daughters, Jenna, a freshman at the University of Texas, flew with her parents but, in keeping with their hopes to guard the girls' privacy, she kept out of sight. Daughter Barbara traveled directly to Washington from Yale University, where she is a freshman. Playing the Washington outsider, Bush punctuated a reference to his own studies "up East'' with a derisive sniff and assured Texans that he would never be at home inside the capital Beltway. The White House, Bush said, is only "ours to look after for a while.'' "In a way, Laura and I will never quite settle in Washington because, while the honor is great, the work is temporary. I'm leaving Texas, but not forever. This is my home.'' +++ +++ Midland's Inaugural Celebration: Schedule of Events 09:30 a.m.- Children's Inaugural Parade Registration and line up 10:00 a.m. - Children's Inaugural Parade 10:30 a.m. - Welcome by Mistress of Ceremonies Melissa Hendrix of NewsWest 9 Special video presentation of "George W. Bush... Then and Now" 10:45 a.m. - Presentation of Colors Pledge of Allegiance by the Boy Scouts of America National anthem performed by Lee High Chorale 11:00 a.m. - Inaugural broadcast live from Washington D.C. Confederate Air Force flyover Balloon release 11:30 a.m. - Message and Proclamation from the city of Midland Mayor Pro Tem Lee Wood Special excerpts from George W. Bush Midland speech Recognition of elected officials Recognition of Midland Young Republicans Recognition of Midland County Republican Women 11:40 a.m. - The "Midland Texas" song, by Carol Hall and Edward Pleasant, will be performed by the Lee High Origin 11:55 a.m. - Hispanic Cultural Center of Midland: A Company of Arts 12:20 p.m. - True Lite Christian Fellowship Choir 12:45 p.m. - Tall City Line Dancers 01:05 p.m. - Sam Houston Elementary School kids will perform three patriotic songs 01:25 p.m. - Casey Lee Green will perform "God Bless The U.S.A." 01:50 p.m. - Closing remarks Jerry Morales, Chairman, Inaugural Committee of Midland _______________________________________________ Crashlist website: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base
