TAMI Flashback: The More Things Change in Texas Politics, The More They Don't

This article is the sixth in a Slackerwood series about the Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI) video library.

There is an ancient joke that the people of Texas would be much better off if the Texas Legislature, instead of meeting for 140 days every two years, would meet for two days every 140 years. Given the current legislature's less than stellar performance, I'm inclined to agree. (Molly Ivins said it best when she labeled Texas "the national laboratory for bad government.")

Whatever your opinion of the Texas Legislature, you'll probably agree that the biennial proceedings at the Texas Capitol are endlessly fascinating. And in conjunction with the current legislative session, this month I'm featuring a few TAMI videos that remind us some things never change in Texas politics.

Produced c. 1965, Mr. Speaker is an entertaining and informative documentary about a day in the life of Texas House Speaker Ben Barnes. Only 26 when he took office in 1965, Barnes was the youngest speaker in Texas history. He served as speaker until 1969 and then as lieutenant governor from 1969 to 1973.

Although produced more than four decades ago, Mr. Speaker remains a useful primer on the Texas House and the speaker's duties. The film still is surprisingly relevant; while many House rules have changed over the years, the body's basic legislative procedures are essentially the same as they were in 1965. (Of course, Mr. Speaker is a public relations film, so it portrays an extremely sanitized version of the bloody and brutal reality of Texas lawmaking.)

For all its relevance to modern times, Mr. Speaker also is hopelessly dated in a few ways. The narrator informs us that the Texas House includes "one lady lawmaker"; I assume she was in charge of making "lady laws." Not surprisingly, every face in the film is white; at the time, the Texas Legislature's membership included nine Hispanics, one Asian and not a single African American. And images of mid-1960s life abound, including rows of phone booths and shots of lawmakers smoking in the House chamber.

Aside from its depictions of Barnes's official duties, Mr. Speaker also features many sunny images of the speaker's youthful family. As Barnes's young son and daughter wander about the Capitol and spend time with their handsome father, the scenes are uncannily similar to footage of the Kennedy family in the White House only a few years earlier.

The TAMI library features dozens of other videos of interest to any Texas political history fan. A typical example is The Man from Gober, a 1962 campaign film touting the qualifications of House Speaker James "Jimmy" Turman, who was running for lieutenant governor. Turman's message in many ways reflects the times. For example, Turman promised to improve Texas's public school system "because it is my firm conviction that the schools are the first line of defense against the penetration of communism into our American way of life." Yes, never mind educating our kids so they will be successful adults -- we must have good schools to fend off the Red Menace!

While fighting the communists, Turman also vowed to battle another major threat to good and decent people everywhere: "For the protection and safety of the citizens of Texas," he intones in the film, "stronger criminal and civil laws must be enacted, particularly laws to eliminate obscene photographs and literature." Well, aren't we the Church Lady. Turman obviously was no fun at all; had I been able to cast a ballot in 1962, he would have lost my vote for this reason alone. (Most voters apparently didn't buy Turman's stop-the-smut message, either. He narrowly lost the Democratic primary to Preston Smith, who was elected lieutenant governor and later governor in 1969.)

Another quintessential Texas political video is Five Minutes with Formby, a pair of 1962 campaign telecasts in which State Senator Marshall Formby, Jr. of Plainview implores his fellow West Texans to vote for him for governor. The video's content and style are unremarkable, but it's significant for Formby's timeless message: In a thick Texas drawl that borders on self parody, he repeatedly mentions his disdain for "Washington politicians" and promises "a new day in Texas politics." Sound familiar? As I said before, some things never change in the world of Lone Star State politics.

You can find many other interesting political videos in the TAMI Texas House Speakers curated collection. Also, try searching on Austin, politics, house of representatives, senate and legislature.