Julia has been away on a freelance writing assignment and hasn’t had time to write a new column. This column originally ran in the Marshall News Messenger, in March, 2005.

When I lived in Maryland, someone peeled the “Don’t Mess With Texas” bumper sticker off my car.

Other Americans don’t like us much, although they are often fascinated with the Lone Star State. They think we believe Texas is superior to the rest of the nation.