>>521261315

*My fellow Texans,*

Let it be known tonight that we stand upon the frontier of a great medical awakening. The challenges before us are vast, and the stakes—like the Texas sky—stretch wide and high. Our HIV rates are rising, and I say to you: we shall not meet this crisis with silence, but with speeches, committees, and maybe a halftime show.

We are the heirs of courage, the descendants of those who conquered the plains, who built highways through heat and hardship—and who cheered the Dallas Cowboys through seasons of both triumph and rebuilding. And if our team can rise again, then surely our public health numbers can too—though perhaps not in *that* direction.

For too long, my friends, we have focused on curing disease when we might instead focus on… counting it. If the statistics go up, perhaps our spirit will too! And while the experts whisper of prevention and education, I say to you: *let us aim higher*. Let us raise our polio rates so high that the rest of the nation must look to Texas and say, “There is a state that believes in something—though we are not quite sure what.”

Now, I am told by the scientists that this is not the correct course. But I am not a scientist. I am a leader. And leadership, my friends, means never letting facts stand in the way of conviction.

So let us march forward—one arm unvaccinated, one heart full of pride—toward a future only confusion could build.

*Thank you, and may God bless the great state of Texas—and the Dallas Cowboys, America’s team, in health and in hubris alike.*