Rushing's Ramblings

Daddy has been gone from this earth for over four years now. It's funny how he's been in my dreams as we head into Father's Day. I'm so thankful that he occasionally visits me in that way.   We rarely agreed on politics or religion, but we enjoyed playing golf together. During our weekend golf games, politics and religion were never discussed. As I grew older, I respected my father's beliefs and stopped challenging him. Nevertheless, my father knew by how I lived my life that we weren't on the same page. He accepted me anyway, although I know he disapproved. I hope with all my heart that he wasn't ashamed of me. I can't take any of my behavior back, and I would be heartbroken if I hurt him.  When we played golf, Daddy shared stories from his childhood and freely gave his opinion about human nature. He believed people could be categorized as either givers or takers. Unfortunately, this left no room for all the gray areas people fall into. Daddy...

My brain is tired today. The ongoing polarization of mask-wearing has taken a toll on me. I give up. Those who think that mandating masks is a government conspiracy to control us and that COVID-19 is no worse than the flu, go ahead, keep being fed that bullshit, and dig up narratives to support that belief. If it's repeated often enough by Fox News or Alex Jones or Rush Limbaugh and one never reads any scientific studies about COVID-19, it becomes the truth to those who choose to be willfully ignorant. I especially love hearing about people who claim they can't breathe with a mask or that their doctor told them a mask was ineffective. That's some more bullshit. If a doctor truly made that statement, they should lose their license.   Some object to wearing masks because they should have the freedom to do whatever they wish, and mandating masks is unconstitutional. That's more B.S. I'll no longer share scientific evidence about COVID-19 or the effectivene...

I haven’t been totally compliant about sheltering in place, although I haven’t been inside a supermarket since early February (thank God for grocery delivery)! Three times, I made lightning-speed trips with a mask on into our small local grocery store since February, and one trip to an Austin Target store last month where everyone wore a mask. That’s it. I’ve never stopped visiting my daughter, Marcy, and her family in their home or mine every week. We don’t wear masks during our visits. My heart fills up each time I arrive at their house, and my grandchildren run to my car, wrapping their arms around me while shouting, “Grandmama!!! What did you bring me?”  99% of the time, I have presents for them, although my daughter disapproves. She’ll understand once she becomes a grandmother. Since we have been sheltered in place, I’ve felt safe. It’s a calculated risk of which I’m well aware. Marcy has chosen to send her children to public school next month, ages 3 and 5. Wh...

 (This was published as an Op-Ed in The Highlander, a newspaper distributed throughout the Highland Lakes region of Texas) By Dana Rushing (former Llano County Democratic Party Chair, the current VP of Highland Lakes Democratic Women, and Senate District 24 Committee Woman to the State Democratic Executive Committee) The Texas Democratic Party's core values address the belief in equal opportunity, fairness, freedom, family, community, and a responsibility to ourselves and each other. Our most vital view is that people come first. We are a party for and by the people.   The Governor of Texas recently made masks mandatory in public and took other measures to ensure our citizens' safety. If anything, there should have been a mandate months ago. The state opened too early, and COVID-19 ran rampant throughout our state, making our state one of the worst for the country's number of cases and deaths. Our hospitals are full, and people die every day from the virus....

I ordered Mary Trump's book early and eagerly anticipated receiving insight from a true insider into the Trump family dynamics, especially since she had a doctorate in psychology. After hearing about Trump throughout the years and learning first-hand accounts of his behavior when I lived in Palm Beach County, I had some theories about his pathology due to my counseling psychology background. I was curious whether she had drawn the same conclusions, and, at the same time, I wanted to hear some juicy family stories. We all have a little or a considerable amount of dysfunction in our families because, let's face it, no one is perfect. I always surmised that Trump's family had more malfunctions than most. While waiting for the lawsuits against the book's publication by the Trump family to resolve, I started seeing her interviews on TV. Her responses were with a flat affect, and the tone of her voice displayed no emotion. This may have been purposeful, as many therapist...