The Republic of Texas

Watching the media coverage of Lance's sixth Tour de France victory, I was amused to hear that a number of the buildings lining the Champs Elysees flew the Texas state flag (in lieu of the American stars and stripes) in honor of the record-breaking event.  State of Texas or Republic of Texas?  Give it time.  Reminded me of The Texas Embassy, the tongue-in-cheek name for a restaurant that T and I found during our walk through the foreign embassy district of London during our last trip.  Hilarious.  I was also amused to hear Bob Roll, a former cyclist and now lead color commentator on OLN, mention Lance's humble beginnings "on the tough streets of Plano, Texas".  As any native of Dallas will tell you, Plano is actually a nice middle-class suburb of Dallas.  It has one of the best school districts in Texas.  It also hosts the national corporate headquarters for J.C. Penney.  "Tough streets"?  Not really.  Anyhow, with Lance winning so many stages in his last six Tours, we may need to change the song "Yellow Rose of Texas" to "Yellow Jersey of Texas".  Hook 'em horns.