.....I'll let this do my talking:
"Have you ever looked at a map of the world? Look at Texas with me just for a second. As soon as anyone anywhere in the world looks at it they know what it is. It's Texas. Pick any kid off the street in Japan and draw him a picture of Texas in the dirt and he'll know what it is. What happens if I show you a picture of any other state? You might get it maybe after a second or two, but who else would? And even if you do, does it ever stir any feelings in you?
Did you ever hear anyone in a bar go, "Wow....so you're from Iowa? Cool, tell me about it?" Know why? Because nobody gives a damn about Iowa.
Texas is the Alamo. Texas is 183 men standing in a church, facing thousands of Mexican nationals, fighting for freedom, who had the chance to walk out and save themselves, but stayed instead to fight and die for the cause of liberty. We send our kids to schools named William B. Travis and James Bowie and Crockett and do you know why? Because those men saw a line in the sand and they decided to cross it and be heroes. John Wayne paid to do the movie himself. That is the Spirit of Texas.
Texas is "Juneteenth" and Texas Independence Day.
Texas is the shiny skyscrapers in Houston and San Antonio and Dallas.
Texas is Mexican food like nowhere else, not even Mexico.
Texas is the Fort Worth Stockyards, Kyle Field, the Alamodome, Texas Stadium, and the Astrodome.
Texas is world-class universities in College Station and Austin.
Texas is great companies like Dell Computer, Texas Instruments and Compaq. And LOCKHEED MARTIN AEROSPACE, Home of the F-16 Jet Fighter and the JSF Fighter.
Texas is NASA.
Texas is championship teams like the Cowboys, the Spurs, and the Rockets.
Texas is a place where towns and cities shut down to watch the local High School Football game.
If it isn't in Texas, you probably don't need it.
NO ONE DOES ANYTHING BIGGER OR BETTER THAN IT'S DONE IN TEXAS.
By federal law, Texas is the only state in the U.S. that can fly its flag at the same height as the U.S. flag. Think about that for a second. You fly the Stars and Stripes at 20 ft. in Maryland, California, or Maine and your state flag, whatever the it is, goes at 17 ft. You fly the Stars and Stripes in front of Pine Tree High in Longview or anyplace else at 20 ft., the Lone Star flies at the same height - 20 ft. Know why? Because its the only state that was a republic before it became a state.
Being a Texan is as high as being an American down here. Our capitol is the only one in the country that is taller than the one in Washington, D.C. and we can divide our state into five states at any time if we wanted to! We included these things as part of the deal WHEN WE CAME ON. That's the best part right there. Every time I think about that I tear up. All this makes you proud to be a Texan."
DO. NOT. MESS. WITH. TEXAS.