A friend's son, a young gay man, moved to Austin this year. I'm baffled, but I hope the influx of sane people like him will eventually supplant the barbarians who apparently run most of the state.Quote:
Originally Posted by gimmethesimplelife
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A friend's son, a young gay man, moved to Austin this year. I'm baffled, but I hope the influx of sane people like him will eventually supplant the barbarians who apparently run most of the state.Quote:
Originally Posted by gimmethesimplelife
I think your cousin has a nerve to think that how you vote is any of her business, or that she is entitled to any input in the matter, but I guess if you're OK with it, that's all that matters.
I also think we should give TX back to Mexico, if they are willing to take it.
I wish this young man happiness and safety - though I will say that when I was in Austin pushing 10 years ago. I did run across many young guys wearing pride button's and such in public. Austin, at least then, was a sane reprieve from the remainder of Texas. Hopefully it remains this way. RobQuote:
Originally Posted by JaneV2.0
LOL as long as we can keep Austin I'm all for it. RobQuote:
Originally Posted by rosarugosa
Forgot to add - Rugarosa, I can see where you are coming from and I can see why this would creep some out. In Austria, such is not considered intrusive - seriously - because how one votes is considered to have impact on the well being of society.Quote:
Originally Posted by rosarugosa
I am American enough to find this annoying, but Austrian enough to understand and even agree - to a point. Astrid means well and as I've stated before those at Schiffmuhlenstasse in Vienna do worry about me being in the US. They very much mean well.
Rob
Mayra Flores anyone?Quote:
Originally Posted by JaneV2.0
https://www.npr.org/2022/06/20/11062...-for-secession
Perhaps there is no need to give Texas - minus Austin of course - back to Mexico. Per the above, apparently the GOP platform in Texas calls for a vote on secession! I won't be running to Texas to be part of a new Texas Nation, that's for sure.
Rob
Well, the International Covenant on Human Rights, Article 1, item 1 states:Quote:
Originally Posted by gimmethesimplelife
So, godspeed and farewell to Texas.Quote:
All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.
Austin is a tiny island in a sea of Republicans.
I'm not sure Texas is as Republican as it appears, though it did go for Trump, it's heavily gerrymandered. It's not the most blue state out there either, but it's engineered to be redder than it is.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...rd-right-texasQuote:
"As Republicans push extreme bills in the legislature, they’re also bolstered by an extremely powerful political advantage. A decade ago, Republicans had complete control over the process of drawing the boundaries for state legislative and congressional districts. It allowed them to distort the lines to help Republicans win elections and guarantee their election in the state legislature over the past 10 years. This year the lines will be redrawn again and Republicans once again will have complete control of the process.
Texas may have the worst gerrymander in the country:
https://fivethirtyeight.com/videos/t...n-the-country/
So people moving there isn't easily going to change things (even all the liberals in California ha - but why would they want to? Might be okay for retirement but for young people or to raise kids? yikes) because there are a lot of gerrymandering backstops to prevent majority representation via voting.
Watched the hearings today. Sworn testimony by republicans ... trump needs to be made to account for his actions. Wish all people would watch and make their own determination.
1. In person school.Quote:
Originally Posted by ApatheticNoMore
2. Lower taxes.
3. Lower crime.
4. Stores in the area where you can shop, not closing down due to brazen robberies.
Why do you think California's electoral votes are down and Texas's are up?
Do you simply disagree with my presentation or the actual point itself? And considering that you’re part of the party that has a senatorial candidate in Missouri (who was previously the governor) recommending the killing of rino’s like you I’d suggest that republicans have effing killed eloquence. Don’t blame me. I’m just the messenger you keep pretending isn’t making a valid point.Quote:
Originally Posted by LDAHL
anyone who I ever talked to who was moving there was fairly conservative, I mostly joke about liberal Californians moving there because it's a cliche and one that people love to hate.Quote:
1. In person school.
2. Lower taxes.
3. Lower crime.
4. Stores in the area where you can shop, not closing down due to brazen robberies.
Why do you think California's electoral votes are down and Texas's are up?
Crime is so amorphous and it can be hard to even quantify as minor crimes can probably differ in count by enforcement etc., but you actually think there is that much crime? There is it seems little basis for this belief.
Here is comparison of murder rates, the difference isn't much but Texas is higher.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/st...-rate-by-state
Here are violent crime rates, again similar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ent_crime_rate
That's why this lower crime, what are we counting if not murders and violent crimes, petty theft? And even then I have no reason to believe it's higher in California, but I think when you get down to things like that, truly minor crimes, it gets harder to compare apples to apples. Automobile theft is one I think could well be higher in CA., honestly though you insure against it. But homicide and violent crimes not seeing it.
Crime is bad enough in California a DA was recalled for being too liberal for San Francisco.
The murder rate is far far higher in red Kern County (Bakersfield) than it is in either San Francisco or LA county. But you are correct. Your car is probably far more likely to be broken into in San Francisco.
I think I get the point you’re trying to make. Trump made a ridiculous failed attempt to stay in office. Some idiots believed him, and behaved like they were in Portland. But it wasn’t the good kind of political violence, so Republicans should wear sackcloth and ashes and be crushed at the polls. Frustratingly enough, this doesn’t appear to be happening, so righteous vulgarity is completely understandable.Quote:
Originally Posted by jp1
I get that, but my horse Ol’ Deplorable took offense and will probably still vote for the GOP out of sheer spite.
Thought you were a republican with a small (r)?Quote:
Originally Posted by LDAHL
Portland would have nothing to apologize for, if it weren't for the Proud Boys (sic) who regularly showed up to cause trouble--practicing for January 6, apparently.
So since they were done practicing and January 6 is in the rearview mirror it's all hunky dory there? No one moving away because of the rampant crime caused by legions of homeless people out of their skulls on meth?Quote:
Originally Posted by JaneV2.0
LDAHL seemed to be referencing the BLM protests (usually paired with references to the terrorist* group Antifa.)Quote:
Originally Posted by Yppej
*Note: Antifa is not in any way a terrorist organization. I don't think it's even an organization. Maybe they have it confused with the anarchists.
I can't argue with you about the homeless problem--the scourge of the West Coast, not just Portland.
Homeless yes, but them being a cause of rampant crime, where does that even come from?
I'm not sure about Seattle, but the meth heads are heavily involved with chop shops, car thefts, and petty crime almost non-stop in Portland. My friends have had several car break ins and a couple of cars stolen. The last one didn't get far because the perps couldn't get The Club off the steering wheel. :0!Quote:
Originally Posted by ApatheticNoMore
I think there's quite a bit of difference between some demented folks causing trouble in Portland by occupying a few blocks while the (perhaps misguided) police tried to deal with the situation peacefully, and an (inept) plot to seize the Capitol, hang elected officials, and throw a coup, endangering our entire nation and system of government.Quote:
Originally Posted by LDAHL
People who equate the two cases, well... hmmm....
(I mean, *I'd* equate them in a way - in both cases, I would have preferred such an incredible and overwhelming armed police response that it would be remembered for generations, to discourage other idiots in the future....)
First those crafty miscreants set up an “autonomous zone”, and then they set fire to a federal courthouse. All to mislead the public into blaming peaceful souls for their sins.Quote:
Originally Posted by JaneV2.0
Was our constitutional order really endangered by this buffoonery? Of course Trump was spouting BS. Maybe even criminally so. But doesn’t it take a similar level of hysteria to insist that we were a hair’s breadth away from buffalo-hatted fascism?Quote:
Originally Posted by bae
Or are certain parties desperate for a distraction from issues in the real world?
Just because a coup attempt doesn't succeed doesn't mean it wasn't a coup attempt.
I think there's a bunch of idiots on both extremes of the political spectrum and then there's the rest of us either shaking our heads at their antics or trying to blame whichever political party they hate the most. This thread is a perfect example of the latter.
The First Amendment still stands. We still have the right to protest. And, IMO, BLM had a valid grievance.
I hear that's how they deal with dissenters in Putin's Russia. Shame on you.Quote:
Originally Posted by bae
When you are breaking down the doors of the Capitol, yelling death threats, and going after our representatives while they are doing their job, you are a bit more than a "dissenter"....Quote:
Originally Posted by JaneV2.0
I agree the capitol coupsters should have been met by an overwhelming response, but Trump didn't authorize any response for hours, aside from the overwhelmed Capitol Police, so people who had training in detaining unruly tourists--and not in hand-to-hand combat--were hung out to dry, with disastrous results.
"(I mean, *I'd* equate them in a way - in both cases, I would have preferred such an incredible and overwhelming armed police response that it would be remembered for generations, to discourage other idiots in the future....)"
You mean like Kent State is remembered? Again, we have a constitutional right to protest in this country. I don't want to live in a totalitarian society where you can be jailed for dissent, and we seem to be heading that way.
Of course we were a hair's breath away from hanging the VP. The republicans are the one who are trying to distract from the issues again.Quote:
Originally Posted by LDAHL
I agree with this at the Capitol. They should have continued to shoot and whoever kept coming got shot. That would have ended it once and for all.Quote:
Originally Posted by bae
What about those of us who have voted both parties? IMO the republican party is no more. If there was a candidate that was in the medium of the spectrum I would consider them. These days, not so much.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan
As I recall, in the Portland case, more than "dissent" occurred. Once you start delving into arson, or unlawful imprisonment, you're in a whole different ballpark. You know this.Quote:
Originally Posted by JaneV2.0
And those people were arrested, as they should have been.Quote:
Originally Posted by bae
You act like the republicans are done. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve pointed out many examples and will continue to do so. I imagine you’ll keep ignoring them and voting for traitors like Ron Johnson. At least pence’s staffer had the morals and ethics (so uncommon in the traitor party these days) to tell Johnson’s staffer to eff off with the fake slate of electors from your state.Quote:
Originally Posted by LDAHL
I agree--if the Texas Republican platform is any indication, this is not done. I think the Trump party has co-opted the Republican party, and the Trump party is not done. I think people who have voted in the past for Republican candidates, as I have, should be very careful not to assume that a candidate with R in front of their name is any way representative of the Republican party as they remember it.Quote:
Originally Posted by jp1
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tybee
Well said!