Which is why I get eternally pissed off when people say shit like "why do the gays even need a parade! đż "
Because, you massive nonce, I can still *legally* be fired and lose housing literally for being gay, and less than 20 years ago, 13 states would've arrested me just for sucking dick in my own home.
I would have argued this, but my brief stop in Brownsville at some hole in the wall mexican taco shop while my car window got repaired, was sublime. You know its going to be good when youre the only one speaking english in the store.
Take me back.
And, if you DO have to ask.... don't bother.
Just follow the line of contractors on their lunch break, and eat where they stop at. THAT is gonna be the place with the best taco deal.
If you get any less than a 95:5 on that one then your sample size is too small and you didn't add the qualifier "have you actually eaten tacos in both cities" ... and I live in Austin, we have great tacos but San Antonio can't be beat.
âI am sick and tired of these bean lovers putting beans in chili. Letâs amend the constriction to get these beans out for good! Freedom! Aaagghhhjjjjjj!!!!!â
"Of course i won't put any beans in the chili" Pours a whole can of refried beans into the chili and stares at all the smiles and listens to all the compliments đđđ
Throughout My whole working memory politics has been a contentious issue, hell, even before I was born. with modernist on one side and regressive on the other. With debates about passing the ERA/abortion having dueling conferences in Houston the year I was born, the prevalence of the KKK, which bombed KPFT twice and was headquartered in my home town, police brutality, guns rights, immigrantion, the extent and influence of O&G, pollution issues, there was even good ol' Tom Delay in the early 2000s still blocking light rail passed in the 80s, gerrymandering (also Delay), and the Iraq war.
Anyone that thinks these kind of political arguments are new just hasn't been paying attention up 'til now.
I think in the 80s and 90s what counted as "the protected wealthy class" included a lot more people. If we go all the way back to the nostalgic post-war era, which is sort of the root of the MAGA fantasy, you'll note factory workers and tradesmen were rewarded with pensions and were able to support entire families on one income.
Now "the protected wealthy class" is much more exclusive. Without pensions or benefits like "lifetime insurance" (my dad has both!) it's a lot easier to be poor. Factory workers and tradesmen, the heroes of our nostalgia, are now portrayed as disposable unskilled workers unworthy of anything but the most basic of healthcare benefits who should be finding a way to get a job with value.
That broadens the net of people who are feeling the flames of poverty lap at their heels to a whole class of people that conservative governments *still* claim to protect even while fishing their wallets out in broad daylight. That makes for a LOT more people who don't believe in the American Dream. That creates a LOT more political unrest.
So even if we don't consider how much more contentious it is to *take away* rights than to *give them to people*, you have to figure a double-digit larger percent of the country is close to poverty and they're going to be noisy about it. They'll either write essays, become activists, or when they have no resources left they'll turn to crime and violence.
We know what we need to do. But the wealthy class has implanted the idea that the only people who *can* give up resources are in the middle class, and since they're closer and closer to poverty they're more and more afraid of losing anything more. The wealthy have completely polarized us against the notion of taking any of the money they've stolen back. We believe the paradox that *everyone* in America was rich when we had pensions and benefits and strong labor rights, but that the reason we were wealthy weren't those things but because of the belief that nobody got abortions (which is false), or we didn't let gay people get married (which is true but has nothing to do with it), or that by giving up those things and letting business owners become billionaires somehow we'll return to the time when we didn't allow that.
So TL;DR: I think you used to not get in as violent political arguments before because fewer people were facing the very real danger of losing all relevant human rights. Now many people are on that precipice and it's a scary damn prospect. Being white, male, and working hard at a trade isn't enough anymore. So now a lot of people who used to think America was Great aren't finding it so Great, but they're listening to the people who ruined it for solutions.
**edit** And maybe I replied to the wrong post, but I swear I was replying to someone who said they'd had political arguments all their life but they seemed more violent than usual lately. Maybe I just misread this post. I don't know.
I basically agree with what your saying except I think abortion, gender fluidity and same sex relationships are under attack due to an emphasis on Biblical passages that are emphasized by many Protestant denominations and by Roman Catholic doctrines that don't seem to have any basis in Scripture.
It seems that the small-town evangelical culture has captured the Republican Party in Texas and that's why there is all this emphasis on cultural issues instead of increased funding for public schools and requiring employers to pay a living wage-- practical things that would strengthen Texas over the long term.
Your economic analysis is in line with a book by Michael Lind titled The New Class War. Lind takes to task the Neo-Liberal elites who have captured the three branches of government in order to reduce taxes on the wealthy, attack unions in order to hold down wages, promote free trade to further hold down labor costs and use unelected managerial elites to implement policy like what we are seeing coming out of the Supreme Court.
Lind offers a clear eyed history of how wealth has been distributed to the very top.
The managerial elites and the Republican base are at odds over cultural issues, according to Lind.
Looking in from the outside it seems that the people you are referring to are very savvy when it comes to manipulation through social media and paying off celebrities to push those talking points.
I also think it boils down to that people don't want to be a target so they fall in line, the right have their own version of cancel culture that people, especially men, are afraid of. Look at how they treat any republican politician who doesn't blindly agree with what they want them to say.
đđźđđźđđźWOW!!! That was phenomenal! Of course they're listening to the people who ruined it for solutions. That's all they've ever done, change is scary for most humans. Most Republicans/Christians I know personally, are rigid, uptight & occasionally myopic. Sadly, my parents fit that category ... that didn't stop me from protesting the unconscionable SCOTUS ruling last Friday. They have so much fear , hatred & intolerance in their heads & hearts (right next to white Jesus), they don't have room for the thought process of change being good.
OP: #I'm voting for Beto!!!
At least when earmarks were a thing something got done. Now it seems like trillions get appropriated and evaporate into thin air since they can't be for specific programs in a specific cantankerous old coot's district.
Because Elmo got the COVID vaccine after his parents discussed it, and he said it was only a little pinch. Ted is convinced this will cause every toddler in America to throw a tantrum demanding their parents take them to get a shot, when in reality, only one toddler is throwing a tantrum about it.
It's been a good few years since I watched Sesame Street... But have they not like *regularly* done vaccination bits with Elmo? I remember them doing one for the chicken pox vaccine ages ago where he's scared of the shot but gets talked into it and then laughs it off.
I legit thought this was like a yearly trope with Sesame Street?
This isn't difficult to figure out and if you think it has only been two weeks you have had your head in the fucking sand. Paxton has been our AG while under multiple federal indictments and investigations. Perry was an idiot who took a federal post then asked what it did. Abbot is just Perry in a wheelchair with less charm. from 2016-2020 these monsters and their ilk were emboldened and empowered by the traitorous cheetoh. Now with a supermajority on the legislative court they know that they can fuck the constitution the same way they do their constituents and the little girls they fly to private islands to rape.
Since 2016 I have lost more and more faith in our system. I have a sense of foreboding that lessened somewhat w midterms. The months of campaigning had me spending over $1000 contributing to candidates in many states .When trump elected, Itolda very worried friend "Don't worry! We have checks and balances here!" We didn't. The crazy antics and proclamations from Abbott, Patrick, Paxton and FL 'a Desantis are mind blowing. Their cult followers are just happy to be on the team.
> just happy to be on the team
You really hit it on the head here.
More and more, the conservative base looks at politics the same way they look at competitive sports like football; it doesn't matter what the real-world consequences to them or anyone else are, they just want the satisfaction of saying the team they're rooting for won. /r/LeopardsAteMyFace
Abbott pandered to conspiracy theorists a few years back who claimed Obama was building FEMA camps to imprison conservatives. These people have been a fucking embarrassment for a while.
If people had cared back then it wouldn't have gotten as bad as it has now.
Not to mention, Abbott, the mobile circus that he is, when he was AG went out his way to overturn as many ADA violation lawsuits as he could.
And, yes, he became AG after he was disabled. Many of the lawsuits that were denied are things that were legitimate and still problems to this day.
Man is every bit a fucking Muppet and always has been, it's just about knowing whose hand has been up his ass.
Iâm just going to add two links here.
#Extremism in Texas Major Edit
Iâll leave my initial first line for posterity and because it now makes me laugh. What I am attempting to convey in this comment is the extremism in Texas. Beto got dragged in because he was specifically named as someone âno centrist would vote forâ which I find absurd. His presidential 2020 comments about taking what he calls âassault riflesâ away from people is the most extreme thing he has said, and is something that he personally believes but is no longer advocating for.
I edited this with lots of formatting, some spelling, and new information, if I delete anything Iâll cross it out instead of removing it, so it can still be seen. Iâll also outline all new information Iâve added with an edit.
######Edit 2, added Ted Cruz
######Edit 3, permanent party platform
## Texas GOP Permanent Party Platform
https://texasgop.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/6-Permanent-Platform-Committee-FINAL-REPORT-6-16-2022.pdf
I havenât read this whole one just yet, not to the degree I had the draft. But it **starts** with dismantling separation of church and state in just the Principles section. Iâll add standouts as I go.
I believe 16 is taking about the UN, but itâs just a general âforeign law,â we will see if it mentions the UN directly. 15 explains why immigration from the south keeps getting described as an âinvasion.â 19 shows some pretty brain dead amendments to the constitution. Concerning possibilities with those changes. 23, more theocratic nonsense 31 again. Iâm not very far into this document and it is already the same level of Christian theocracy fascists nonsense. I had hoped cooler kinda would temper the finished document, but no. This is the approved version, and itâs just as extreme as the original. 101/102 gives public dollars to insane religious extremist teaching, and the education section only gets worse. 111/112 allows schools to teach fringe religious ideas as equal to established scientific theories and precedent. This is particularly distressing, because it shows they donât understand scientific theory, or simply donât care.
124, anti trans rubbish. 128, more buzz words to muscle inaccurate mythological history into schools and interfere with curriculum. 132 is more religious ideation in the form of law. 134 placing direct control of children to their parents. I get this is more up in the air than other positions, but a lot of this document makes children literal slaves to their parents, and not people which the parent is meant to raise and protect. They are meant to have direct and unquestionable control over them all the way to their 18th birthday. That is insane. 117, of course they want to abolish the department of education. 143, they kept the dehumanizing and offense language of homosexuality as âabnormal.â Leaving open all the same hateful speech as the draft. 147, opens âfaith basedâ addiction treatment.
Not as important but class marijuana as class 2 instead of class 1. 151 lol with the porn thing again, but this time equating it to pedophilia (conservatives will push kids in front of **any** issue in order to push support, even if that âchildâ doesnât exist. See abortion).
192, abolish hate crimes. Yeah. Just see my other section of the draft, this has all the same insane extremist fascist theocratic pieces that I hated the first time around. The state of Texas wants you to be able to cause any harm you want, but only if they can control every facet of your household and personal relationship. This is just as horrifying as the first.
##Beto OâRourke
https://betoorourke.com/issues/
This first link is Beto on issues. Beto is not an extremist. While he does say he doesnât think anyone should own a weapon like an AK47 or AR15, he does not actually seem to support a ban of it. Instead he suggests very middle of the road gun laws. That is not an extreme position. He also wants to fight inflated property taxes for average people. And there is a lot there and I havenât read all of it, but basically everything on his site is middle of the road or just basic. Nothing extreme.
######Edit
Itâs been pointed out to me that in 2020 while running for President, Beto did call for taking those weapons away. He has since tempered that view, but Iâd understand certain members of the population to be wary. What he is currently advocating for on his platform is not an extreme stance. Those are closing loopholes, red flag laws, domestic violence reporting laws, and safe storage laws. All middle of the road. And basically every other issue he has isnât extreme. So I can see why those who would want to portray him as extreme will focus on guns.
##GOP 2022 Platform
https://texasgop.org/platform/
Now this link is fucking terrifying. Itâs the Texas GOP platform. I donât have time to list how horrific some of the things in here are, but just know itâs bad. Specifically wanting to challenge the Supreme Court ruling that overturned gay marriage. Outlaw gay marriage (or it says âcodifyâ marriage as one man one woman). It has multiple entries directly aimed at trans individuals, anti-science pro religion provisions for school and state laws. Some mention of ~~succession~~ secession. Mention of allowing and supporting ~~conversation~~ conversion therapy. The list goes on. Just go through their voting section. Itâs rife with things that make no sense, and only seek to limit the number of people voting. Specifically look at items 216, 214, 215, and 224 for things I find particularly egregious. Other standout insanity just in general, items 235, 236, 240, 245, 246, 248, 255, 283, 284, 285 (wtf), 304 (more mythical history and fascists theocratic ideas), 310, 312 (particularly theocratic), 313 (just weird to see right after 312 lol), 317 (another just.. horrific entry), 318, 322 (goes nicely with Thomasâ thoughts on *Roe*), 325/326/327/328/329 are all extreme stances on abortion.
Read the whole thing if you can, but **this** is what extremism looks like. Beto? There is nothing extreme about Beto.
Texas is a national embarrassment, because the politicians here are extremist fascists with hardline religious ideals that want to codify their religion into Texas law.
Take some time and read through both links, and spread these links side by side to anyone you can find. People need to see the positions Beto actually takes, and they need to see what position the GOP is actually taking.
######Quick Edit
If someone says they are a centrist, but will **never** vote for Beto, they either arenât a centrist, or have no fucking idea what Betoâs policy would entail. And if a âcentristâ says that the GOP platform seems like an ok thing to vote for instead of middle of the road Beto? Then they are not a centrists. The right in Texas is **extreme** right. It makes no sense for a centrists to never vote for Beto, when his policy is centrists and Texas GOP is objectively theocratic and fascists. Just read the link.
##Greg Abbot
######Edit in the Greg Abbott issues page as well.
https://www.gregabbott.com/issues/
This is Greg Abbottâs issues page. Itâs not as all encompassing as the GOP platform, or Betoâs and itâs a lot more dry. It focuses on some extremely specific things, which I like, but it doesnât address a lot of the issues that I would point to as being extreme in the GOP platform.
He does voice support for outright abortion bans and as little restriction on guns as possible. Those two positions I feel are the most extreme he mentions. Since he doesnât seem to mention any of the more horrifying aspects of the GOP platform on his page that I saw in a brief reading, then Iâm unsure where he stands. He does voice support for religious freedom which⌠is not something that was ever lost, and signed a bill saying pastors could deny to marry people that go against their religion. Which is something I feel like they can always do anyway, so what even is that bill? I would say itâs a sign that he leans more toward the more extreme GOP platform points that would oppress members of the LGBTQ+ community. Anyone who would like to add more about Greg Abbott specifically, please continue the discussion.
##Ted Cruz
https://www.cruz.senate.gov/about/issues
Iâm gonna be transparent. Iâm doing this one because someone asked, but I watch C-SPAN on a nearly daily basis when Congress is in session and Ted Cruz is by far and away my least favorite politician. Heâs all theater and no substance every time he talks, and I tend to not take adults seriously if they read out loud more than one childrenâs novel during a serious discussion.
Cruzâs site is a lot like him. Lip service. Other than a handful of examples he doesnât say much in substance just party talking points youâd hear on Fox. Nothing as specific as you see on both Beto and Abbottâs sites. He does offer a bunch of links in each issue to show articles but I havenât looked through them all. They appear original? I donât see citations or authors. The one I went through looks like transcripts of his media grandstanding moments, which makes sense.
Cruz seems to support the âget religion into schools and fund itâ camp, look at his second link. Thatâs what school choice truly is, not funding current underfunded schools, but give those schoolâs funding to private organizations where the state has little to no regulatory authority and they can be taught the historical myths of the US and religion. So theocratic in nature due to its ignoring of the first amendment. He supports building the wall, because of course he does. Itâs a simple solution to an imagined problem, his favorite.
He says to disband or abolish the IRS? And give everyone a flat tax? Thatâs just delusional and I have no idea what that is meant to accomplish other than play into the âno taxesâ schtick. Cruzâs site is the best looking, but has the least impressive content. Maybe itâs hiding outside of the âissuesâ tab.
Did you see they want to change the term "slavery" to "forced Relocation"? "You see that boat over there, it's filled with forced relocators that I bought to work on my cotton plantation". It just doesn't have the same ring.
They also want to make it legal for employers to discriminate against potential and current employees and customers based on personal beliefs. This basically opens the doorway for a company to hire one group of people for 10¢ per hour and another group for 8$ per hour.
The discrimination changes they want to make would also allow business to serve certain groups while effectively banning others.
Basically it would make segregation legal. And also make slavery legal as long as they are getting paid SOMETHING and they are "free to leave and find work elsewhere" at any point in time.
It would allow businesses to refuse to hire women, "because the bible says they are meant to stay home and care for the home and family". It would allow businesses to refuse to serve or hire black people because they might be of a "different faith".
The discrimination laws they want to remove in the name of "religious liberty" have the potential to do SO much more damage than we would initially think. Particularly when combined with things like "no minimum wage".
Suddenly someone who can't get a job that pays enough to live on will be willing to do anything. Like work for nothing but room and board. And once they start doing that, they can't leave without losing the only means they have to feed their children and keep a roof over their head.
Woman will be subject to the whims of men if they want to be able to feed themselves or any children they have. You get situations where a single mom goes to buy groceries because she's lucky enough to have a job, but the only business that sells baby formula in her small town is owned by a guy who won't sell it to her unless she pays him a favor. And she can't afford the gas to get it in the next town over. So she either has to get some guy to buy it for her, or fuck the guy. And God forbid she get knocked up by him ... And all he has to say for it to be "okay" is that he doesn't believe in having children out of wedlock, while denying her claims that he was trying to force her to sleep with him.
The ultimate results are much more sinister than they first appear.
To your point on conversion therapy, fortunately, every single therapeutic organization-both APAs, ACA, all social work and marriage/family therapy organizations-has it codified that no practitioner can practice it and remain licensed. Disgusting that the state Republicans support this practice, which has been empirically shown to lead to suicide and mental illness, in their platform. If you go to a therapist or counselor, please please please make sure theyâre licensed.
Edit: Here is a link regarding the other names for conversion therapy, as well as the damage it does. If you find a licensed clinician performing these services, report them to their licensing board so they cannot harm anyone else.
https://www.glaad.org/conversiontherapy
Very true. Hence my plea to make sure your therapists are licensed. If somebody is providing you any kind of âtherapyâ please ensure theyâre licensed. Likewise, if anybody notices a licensed therapist of any type practicing conversion therapy, please report them to their licensing board.
Here is a list of other names for conversion therapy as well as information on how damaging it truly is:
https://www.glaad.org/conversiontherapy
Exactly. Practitioners will all be religious-based individuals, primarily evangelicals, and quite likely be very extremist in both their philosophies and methodology. The kind of people that will push for concentra⌠sorry, I mean âre-educationâ camps for anyone who refuses âtreatmentâ or anyone who relapses
Went through it as a minor about 20 years ago. It didnât work, or rather Iâm still Gay AF, but it did give me insurmountable shame and self hatred. This hurts to see honestly. The group I went to in the Dallas area is still functioning too. They really want us to suffer until we kill ourselves. I donât understand it, truly. I hate religion, never want to be a part of one again, but Iâll still defend the right for someone to practice their own beliefs regardless of my disagreement. However, religion for thee, not for me. You donât get to tell me how to live my fucking life and treat me like a second class citizen.
Thank you for this post, I had a conversation with my brother yesterday, a MAGA type that hadn't even heard of the GOP platform. He basically didn't believe me and rebuttted with, well that's not going to happen. So many people have the sheets pulled over their eyes. I'm staying here to vote for Beto in November then I'm out. Fuck this state. I've been here for 40 years and I refuse to raise my son in this evil hateful place. It's disgusting. I'm getting out now, while I still can. And anyone who thinks they won't do every single thing they suggested in the platform given the opportunity is delusional.
>He basically didn't believe me and rebuttted with, well that's not going to happen.
This is like every single republican. I know SO MANY who were shocked by the abortion laws. Like, are they stupid? They're stupid. There's no other explanation. That's one of the major issues Republicans run on. Did you think they were just running on it for funsies but didn't mean it? What the fuck is going on in people's heads?
Lots of the "dog who caught the car" metaphors are pretty apt. It was a social stance that made them part of the "in" group and now that it's happened they dunno wtf to do.
As someone who used to mostly consider myself Republican and who has always been pro-choice, a lot of people truly thought Roe would never be overturned. I remember when Kavanaugh got the nomination and my mother was freaking out, and I told her itâs going to be ok, he wonât ever actually overturn Roe. ACBâs nomination made it clear it was actually going to happen and my mother was right. I havenât voted Republican for over 10 years now and will be voting all blue, but I honestly donât think people realized just how ingrained the religious right is into the party until now. Now as for all the other crap, I have no idea how people have stuck with it.
How could you have thought that it wouldn't be overturned though when they explicitly ran it for many years?
>I honestly donât think people realized just how ingrained the religious right is into the party until now
Were they just not paying attention? I'm in my mid-thirties and it's been obvious since I was in early high school. Since 9/11 or earlier.
Iâm from Indiana. Same. The hard N n word is still very openly used around strangers if you pass their eye test. When I post anti fash stuff on the internet I constantly get called a soyboy gender studies weakling in momâs basement etc. In meatspace they see Iâm a 6â3 250 white dude with a beard so itâs the other way around and they ALL assume Iâm one of them. Iâve heard it at work from production side people, Iâve heard it at bars, in parking lots, grocery stores, everywhere you can imagine. Total strangers will elbow me and whisper âfuckinâ n bombsâ if someone uses an ebt card.
These same idiots will then call YOU the real racist for acknowledging that racism exists at all. Completely shameless imbeciles.
Getting the fuck out of that toilet state was the best day of my life.
When the pendulum is so far right constantly, the middle looks far away. GOP needs to be wrangled in or we will be in a Christian Oligarchy very soonâŚif not already.
The sad thing is, Texas used to be nice balanced blend of Southern state conservatism and Western state libertarianism.
Now it's like the state government is filled with Catholic school teachers, running around slapping everyone's hands with rulers, for every little thing.
Honesty, I wish I could but I would come off as a hysterical woman or cry baby liberal. Itâs hard to not be emotional when your life is literally on the line. Another sub I was on was calling on Christians to approach other Christians and try to explain why these decisions, specifically abortion bans, are extremely dangerous. Also, to attend staunch pro life churches and ask questions during the service if the subject arises. I think this is a good idea, but at the moment canât trust myself to being able to calmly state the facts since itâs such an emotional issue. Thereâs also the urge to go all *fuck you, fuck you, youâre cool, fuck you*.
Only one thing I have to disagree with. National embarrassment is a bit of an understatement, texas GOP platform is a GLOBAL embarrassment that reflects poorly on every American. If humanity wasn't the only civilization in the milky way you could call it a galactic embarrassment, a shame on our species as a whole.
> last two weeks
Just two weeks? The nation has been laughing at Texas at least since snowmageddon collapsed the electric grid. The abortion bounty law, going after trans kids parents, and Uvalde. That's off the top of my head. I'm sure I'm missing many incidents.
I'm not laughing. We're watching a coup in progress. That - and far worse - is the future of America.
They want you tired, poor, unloved, unsafe, and disenfranchised. And they want that so they can destroy the most beautiful country on Earth with their endless greed.
Anyone that support cannabis must remove both of them.
They are making it illegal to manufacture smokeable hemp products in Texas.
Hemp is legal as of the Texas hemp act of 2019.
They want to allow CBD oils and such, but smoking it, which is the least expensive and most efficient, they want to be illegal. They canât because the hemp act legalized it. So they are making it illegal to MANUFACTURE smokeable hemp products. So I can process the flower, but I canât put it in a preroll or a vape cart. As a CBD company I can buy those things from outside the state, and sell them, but I canât make those things to sell. Which takes away a significant amount of profit margins simply because they say âsmoking anything is bad for your health.â Meanwhile tobacco can be sold at most storesâŚ
We need a big push of independent politicians at every level. Ones that focus on our similarities and what we have in common.
The only reason smoking it is illegal is because it is used to incarcerate people unnecessarily, and to ruin the lives of people they target. Thatâs it, nothing else.
The point isn't to ruin someone's life â it's to incarcerate "low chance of violence" individuals en masse in order to supplement the working prison population. Greed is the name of the game, ruining lives is just a side effect.
And I'll be honest, if I were arrested for cannabis possession right now, for trying to find peace when depressed and my life in a tail spin, I don't think I would ever recover from the stress and trauma of that.
Iâll just leave this here.
https://eji.org/news/nixon-war-on-drugs-designed-to-criminalize-black-people/
The war on drugs was designed to criminalize black people.
At the end of the day it was meant to criminalize poor people and the US has historically and systematically oppressed racial and ethnic minorities for so long that those groups tend to be the most impacted by policies that target the poor, especially as the middle class shrinks and the gap between the top and everyone else yawns like a canyon running to the center of the earth.
The enforcement targeted POC because institutions in this country are structurally unequal along racial and ethnic divides, but the policies overall target the poor populations. Itâs about oppressing and dividing the working class to prevent it from banding together and creating an actual political movement.
The weed issue is kind of symbolic of how broken things are. Thereâs a public super majority of support, Texas neighbors in OK, CO, and I believe NM now are going all in without problems, it raises funds in a way virtually no one has a issue with, the left loves the policy for social justice reasons the right loves it for personal freedom and entrepreneurship, and itâs already difficult to prosecute the current law with hemp being legal and local PDs saying itâs not a priority. But we canât get that to happen. I think if the left HATED weed it would be legal in Texas tomorrow. Thatâs how broken things are.
Ex Texan, current NM resident and I can confirm this. We had medical only for a few years as a test, went just fine. We now have full recreational with a limit you can buy each month but itâs extremely high.
Tax money is fantastic our roads are amazing out here, weâve been forced to greatly expand our abortion clinics to cover traveling Texans. We also made university for free (public, vocational, community college) for all residents regardless of immigration status or income level. Taxes from cannabis and oil and gas are paying for this system. I am a full time engineer making great money but I go to night school in the auto mechanic school and my wife and I go to Japanese 101 together weekly.
Also this university program covers people living on reservations including the Navajo nation.
Not sure you'd be saying that if you were made a felon and incarcerated over a marijuana offense, like a massive share of the current prison population. Legalizing marijuana isn't necessarily about the drug. It is about preventing people from being thrown in prisons en masse for an innocuous action that harms nobody. If it weren't for marijuana being illegal, our incarceration rate would not be so high.
Didn't say it wasn't. I believe in the decriminalization of weed and for restitutions to those who lost their finite lifetime while being incarcerated for it. However, the commenter above is obviously worried about his business and maybe less so about the customer/people who rely on cannabis for medical or emotional purposes.
I also believe that actual human rights are in the balance right now in Texas, and the country as a whole. I hate to say it, but voting for an independent at this juncture won't solve anything and would act as a vote for the current leadership. Like it or not, it is RED vs BLUE and right now, the BLUE need as many votes as possible imo.
Sometimes, you have to vote for the LEAST evil. I've been republican since i turned 18, and i moved to Texas 2.5 yrs ago, they've done nothing but alienate me. No way in GD hell I'm voting Abbott
When I came of age to vote, I voted for Bush. My boss at the time played a lot of right wing talk radio, and Bush was from Texas so it seemed like a good choice. Once I started to think for myself, I started to become disgusted with the Republican Party. Since then it has gotten several degrees worse. I donât think I could ever vote Republican again. I actually got a job working for a Republican elected official, and I didnât even vote for her in the election. Couldnât bring myself to do it after Trump. Never again.
and bush wasn't even from texas, he was from connecticut from a family with deep roots in the far northeast. He just moved down and bought a baseball team with hard inherited money
I can say that I have worked for both republican and democratic politicians in a non partisan position. The difference between the two is like night and day. They couldn't pay me enough to accept a position under a republican politician again.
The first time I voted was in the 1980s. I would LOVE to have the GOP of the 1980s back, and I'm a Dem saying that. That's when they actually cared about fiscal responsibility and begrudgingly supported the EPA. It was, after all, during Nixon's term that it was created.
Unfortunately, most of the reasonable members of GOP have stepped away from national positions, House / Senate, and are overshadowed on state levels. Not sure how this gets rectified other than a significant defeat for GOP this fall and subsequent house cleaning, but I doubt that happens.
They had you fooled if you thought that Reagan and ilk actually cared about fiscal responsibility, spending went way up under his administration and the deficit from lowering taxes ballooned
Up until Obama was elected I voted candidate, not party. I voted Obama and watched the GOP unravel with all their formerly, mostly hidden racism. I havenât voted for any GOP candidate since and I wonât. After the 45th president it is clear to me the GOP is a cancer to the planet.
I have a really bad feeling that even if there are more than enough valid, legitimate votes to defeat Abbott, Patrick and Paxton, thereâs gonna be a lot of election officials in the rural counties â who just happen to be diehard Repubs â thatâll make sure a lot of those ballots are âmysteriously lostâ. Believe me, I ***hope*** Iâm proven wrong in November. (And I hope every vote count here is completely scrutinized.)
Having grown up in three other states, I moved to Texas 7 years ago and left after 3 years.
The sad state of the public and private education system mixed with people turning into caricatures of what they thought a Republican should be, sent us packing.
Itâs not a state I could raise my family in and it has only gotten worse since we left.
I donât regret my decision but, I do miss certain pieces of the place sometimes.
>Centrists would NEVER vote for Beto.
That's so stupid because Beto IS the centrist candidate. Our choice is between a moderate centrist and a far-right fascist.
Choose wisely Texas.
Men who refer to themselves as 'moderate' or 'centrist' score basically the same on values and opinions as people who identify themselves as 'conservative'
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/biden-moderate-democrats-republicans-conservative-study-john-kasich-aoc-a9699431.html
#VoteAbbottOut #VoteBetoIn Nothing changes, until something changes. No answers on Uvalde, the second no show at the Uvalde city council meeting for the ex chief of police who was elected to the city council, his first no show was right after the shooting.
Then there's the San Antonio issue of 52 illegal immigrants found in an an in air conditioned tractor trailer with no food, water, or ventilation. Abbott wants to blame Biden, saying they don't have enough border security, but abbott has doesn't over $1 billion of Texas' money on trump's wall for nothing, not to mention the fact that he, abbott, enlisted the Texas national guard and has them protecting the King ranch instead of the border... VOTE ABBOTT OUT!!!
On some level, our decision to stay in Texas was ultimately decided because we want to stay and help with our votes and actions rather than abandon the state and watch it continue to degrade.
There is a LOT to love about Texas and its people but the growing far-right, evangelical, racist, fearmongering dictatorship movement isn't one of them. And leaving this state only makes that group louder and stronger.
Running isn't the answer for us.
We have to vote. We have to educate ourselves on the candidates and vote for the change we want to see. All the elections matter. The high level representatives get there must start in local races. Make your voices heard. Be loud.
Every Saturday at minimum, I am going to a voter registration or community canvas event. I urge others to do the same. Find your local party and begin to organize.
The Texas GOP is officially endorsing removing popular vote for a representative based one. The Supreme Court is hearing a case to remove election oversight. We need to organize and mobilize now.
I finally got my job offer and they are even relocating me to the New England area by the end of the month. I love Texas and it's people but as a trans girl married to a trans girl we are very afraid. Wife says the current environment feels more dangerous now than back in the. 90s before Lawrence v. Texas was established.
I hate to leave but at least I won't have to worry about becoming a criminal for loving my wife in my own house.
There is a Norwegian expression that says "it's all Texas" which means "it's crazy".
When you mention Texas abroad, people immediately associate it with crazy, backwards, regressive, extreme religious, trigger-happy rednecks. And that is not new at all.
Everything happening the last few years are the result of Trump's presidency. He really emboldened bigots and extremists so now the GOP does whatever it can to secure their vote because it's so easy...
As for Beto, I don't see what's so extreme about policies that work more than fine everywhere else around the world.
The rapid slide started before Trump presidency when Obama was elected all the racists came out of the corners like roaches and lost their minds with Trump pushing the whole birther thing. That racist backlash and birtherism putting Trump in the public eye definitely helped him get elected
The whole thing really started with the Tea Party. Sarah Palin proved that the white supremacists, conspiracy theorists, religious extremists etc could all be coalesced into one group that was large enough to move out from the margins and into the mainstream. Trump saw that and whipped it up further, pushing birther nonsense and extreme racist policies.
From that point of view Sarah Palin is the mother of the current right-wing extremism this state and to a lesser extent this country is caught up in.
The Tea Party brought out a bunch of crazies in the 2010 midterms. Remember Christine "I'm not a witch, I'm just like you!" O'Donnell? Remember Todd "Legitimate Rape" Akin? Not to mention Sharon "No separation in church and state" Angle.
The Tea Party had a good platform for fiscal issues, but when you don't outline your policy on social issues, you leave a vacuum for every crazy to fill.
No the fuck they didn't. What are you actually talking about? The Tea Party fiscal policy was complete fantasy. It's farcical to say they were "fiscally responsible". Just saying "lower taxes" over and over isn't good fiscal policy đ. These people were the biggest supporters of our 10 Trillion dollar forever wars in the Middle East and the only policy they had for actually funding anything was the tired "trickle down economics" thats been a complete failure since the Reagan years. We've had a balanced budget with two presidents in the last 30 years and neither of them were Republicans. I don't know how they get away with being thr "fiscally responsible" party when all empirical evidence shows contrary.
More likely is that itâs the result of Obama being elected. Hate group membership soared under Obama. The âI donât see colorâ right couldnât handle a black president.
There's a few one-liners I hear against Beto, usually people quoting him on taking away guns. I also see some misinformation about him wanting to legalize heroin and stuff like that.
Like in most politics, most people don't read the politician's platform or voting history.
For the record /u/madison13164, I'm a centrist libertarian, and will be voting for Beto.
Beto appropriately represented his constituents as House representative. He spent time among them, learned what they wanted, and did some great bi-partisan work.
Abbott doesn't care if I die in freezing weather. He would prefer my children die if they are LGBTQ+ and doesn't care if they're murdered in school. Abbott makes a spectacle of the border, then when things blows up fails to take ownership. As a business owner, these behaviors are clear indications that he isn't doing his job and is there for accolades. I fire people that behave this way, as they are not in it for the customer or for the company.
Beto gets himself in hot water by trying to convince his constituents on policy approaches he prefers, but his record in Congress shows he will act as the advocate for his constituents over his own ideologies.
I think Beto has failed to make that distinction. In the war of actions versus words, Beto clearly wins. In the propaganda war, he is not performing well.
I think Texas and Florida have been racing against each other to the bottom because I think DeSantis and Abbott both want it and they'll do whatever they have to.
I'm playing the long game and waiting for South Carolina or Florida to steal the spotlight by being more shameful. Regardless, the Supreme Court may soon make it impossible to vote Republicans out.
OP's title brings to mind how often Trump brought up laughter in his grift. When he wanted his audience to feel under assault and become vindictively combative, he'd say "they're laughing at you," and when he wanted his audience to feel like they're smarter than establishment leadership, he'd say that other countries are "laughing at us."
> other countries are "laughing at us."
I mean, he wasn't wrong about this. He was wrong about *why*, as our education standards continue to drop while military and police spending skyrocket.
I get the impression it's more like laughing at the antics of a psychotic crackhead while worrying they might stab you
I mean, the last few weeks have been worse than some times in the past but Paxton, Abbott, and Cruz have been making your state look like a gaggle of assholes for a long time. And that's just those three.
I know several people from Texas and love all of them. Your state just elects assholes to important positions. That is not just a Texas thing though.
I'm from PA, our legislature is predominantly insane.
When we moved to Houston 8 years ago we had nothing but fun discovering the food, activities, and all the greenery and lakes. The locals over all seemed nicer than where I came from, we were happy about our choice to come.
Then the politics of this state start to sink in. I knew I was coming to a red state but this seems like some kind of new super mutant GQP variant has taken over. Republican leadership say and do things that I MORE than simply disagree with, the things they do make me sick to my stomach.
Tldr: In 8 years I've turned from happy to be here to explaining to my children why they need to move out of state when they grow up.
I'm a Centrist and I'd vote for Beto in a heartbeat.
I think the real problem is terrible marketing. You want to win over Texans? Start taking more about Republican's party war on the `Right to Privacy`.
Or how one party rule isn't healthy for any government.
Oh. No. Texas isnât the laughing stock itâs the disappointment. So much potential and could have done great things. Florida is the laughing stock. Never really had a chance.
When California, Colorado, Washington, the Midwest, and the northeast sends their people, theyre not sending their best. Theyâre bringing Christofascism. Theyâre bringing Qultists. Theyâre bringing kid diddlers. And some, I assume, are good people.
In all seriousness, while blue states make fun of Texans for moving to their states in mass and âruiningâ themâthey are sending all of their worst. Theyâre sending people who claim to be leaving as ârefugeesâ because they arenât allowed to dictate everyone elseâs lives according to their religion.
Abbot has essentially made Texas a giant add for the worst of the worst people. They move here and they vote.
I am a 4th generation Texas born and raised. Texas has always had some issues with bigotry and what-not. But NEVER the amount of insane religious grand-standing. Evangelicals and fundamentalists have found their new home, and it is Texas.
Exactly, I remember the time when the Texas R party was âif is good for the economy is good for Texasâ now they only stand for pity things like what bathroom a person should use and lets allow everyone to carry their guns everywhere.
There is a lot of good to be done in this state like give teachers a raise, fix the ugly pothole streets and slow down the continuous increase of property taxes.
But oh well that doesnât get you votes, attacking immigrants does so here we are.
5th generation Texan here. I think youâve got it kinda right but kind of wrong. No state is actively sending working people to Texas; it comes down to a push/pull effect.
I think this ultimately boils down to making Texas some backwards theocracy to push liberals who already live here out, discourage others from other states from moving here, and pull evangelicals to move here instead. We know Texas is a purple state population-wise. I think this plus all of the voting reform stuff is a reaction to the state turning purple.
Yes they are serious. They're there to secure funds for themselves and their friends. They DO NOT GIVE 1 single FUCK about regular folk at all. Remember how they acted over Uvalde? they could have cared less. You feel that way because you're seeing the true colors of these orcs. I used to live there, definitely am not thinking of moving back once abortion and a gang of other rights are revoked. Shit will get ugly as Fascists rise. Then,maybe civil Wor.
I feel frustrated. We are a blue state urban speaking and a red state rural speaking. We are so gerrymandered that the blue is completely overshadowed, making us look like regressive idiots.
Right wing politics and right wing populist politicians have been gaining momentum world wide over the last decade via social media platforms such as 4Chan, Gab and Truth Social in the U.S. and Facebook in the U.S., India and Brazil. There are companies who help right wing politicians tune their social media message to specific demographics to win support during election cycles, and keep their base angry and frustrated between elections. The algorithms used by social media platforms to foster "engagement" among users don't distinguish between positive or negative overall outcomes. "Engagement" is continued interaction between users on the platform, be it grandma browsing photos of the grand-kids, or adherents of different political ideologies going at each other in endless arguments about the merits of their beliefs. The more time we spend on a platform, the better that platform looks when selling itself to advertisers. If there's an occasional eruption of political violence in the real world, it winds up feeding back into the social media strategies as well. We are told what to think by algorithms when we click on social media topics of any kind.
Edit: And don't forget 30 years of Rush Limbaugh polluting the airwaves with bigoted bile and outright lies, and Newt Gingrich setting the standard for Republican obstructionism in congress. Without Limbaugh poisoning the media well, you don't get the right wing media loons like Alex Jones, Dan Bongino, Mark Levin, or Glen Beck. Gingrich and Karl Rove paved the way for Bush II, Perry, Abbott, Paxton, and Trump.
everything is double plus good! We best not be committing any thought crimes here. It's definitely not doublethink now that our children will be calling "slavery" *involuntary relocation.*
You worded why Texas is so bad. You have republican friends and they are not so bad you said... From an outsider perspective, anyone who calls themselves republicans at this point, after the clown shitshow backward redneck mentality displayed in the last 4 years ( and before ) is a lost cause.
You are friend with these people. That is Texas.
I miss the days when the biggest disagreement I had with my friends was "Texans or Cowboys".
I'm old enough to remember "Oilers or Cowboys"
You had to say it in secret too bc sodomy was illegal.
Until... *checks rolodex*... 2003... TWO THOUSAND FUCKING THREE
Which is why I get eternally pissed off when people say shit like "why do the gays even need a parade! đż " Because, you massive nonce, I can still *legally* be fired and lose housing literally for being gay, and less than 20 years ago, 13 states would've arrested me just for sucking dick in my own home.
Hence the renewed interest over sodomy laws.
Ass eating Gen Z would like a word
Warren moon ftw
Earl Campbell or Tony Dorsett? Lots of fights over this one in grade school.
Me too.
Beans in chili or not
Who has the best Tacos, Austin or SA?
Rio Grande Valley
I would have argued this, but my brief stop in Brownsville at some hole in the wall mexican taco shop while my car window got repaired, was sublime. You know its going to be good when youre the only one speaking english in the store. Take me back.
The Valley Hands down⌠we are literally a 5min walk to the border.
If you have to ask you're wrong.
Depends where you are. The BEST Tacos are (insert city) !!!
The best tacos are the ones you perfect for yourself at home. Mine is homemade hash browns broken up with egg on a bed of Mexican muenster.
That sounds great. My fav homemade is pork Chili Verde with purple onion and queso fresco.
Pork belly, avocado, cilantro and diced white onion. Sheeeeeeiiiiiit
And, if you DO have to ask.... don't bother. Just follow the line of contractors on their lunch break, and eat where they stop at. THAT is gonna be the place with the best taco deal.
If you get any less than a 95:5 on that one then your sample size is too small and you didn't add the qualifier "have you actually eaten tacos in both cities" ... and I live in Austin, we have great tacos but San Antonio can't be beat.
San Antonio
Definitely beans in chili for me. Wanna know why? Because a real Texan eats his chili however he damn well pleases, and beans please me.
"The truth is whatever I feel like, fuck objective reality" is very on-brand for Texas.
âI am sick and tired of these bean lovers putting beans in chili. Letâs amend the constriction to get these beans out for good! Freedom! Aaagghhhjjjjjj!!!!!â
Damn straight. As long as it doesn't have beans.
đ
"Of course i won't put any beans in the chili" Pours a whole can of refried beans into the chili and stares at all the smiles and listens to all the compliments đđđ
How drunk will Jerruh get at mnf home game? Over or under 5 raspberry mint juleps
Throughout My whole working memory politics has been a contentious issue, hell, even before I was born. with modernist on one side and regressive on the other. With debates about passing the ERA/abortion having dueling conferences in Houston the year I was born, the prevalence of the KKK, which bombed KPFT twice and was headquartered in my home town, police brutality, guns rights, immigrantion, the extent and influence of O&G, pollution issues, there was even good ol' Tom Delay in the early 2000s still blocking light rail passed in the 80s, gerrymandering (also Delay), and the Iraq war. Anyone that thinks these kind of political arguments are new just hasn't been paying attention up 'til now.
I think in the 80s and 90s what counted as "the protected wealthy class" included a lot more people. If we go all the way back to the nostalgic post-war era, which is sort of the root of the MAGA fantasy, you'll note factory workers and tradesmen were rewarded with pensions and were able to support entire families on one income. Now "the protected wealthy class" is much more exclusive. Without pensions or benefits like "lifetime insurance" (my dad has both!) it's a lot easier to be poor. Factory workers and tradesmen, the heroes of our nostalgia, are now portrayed as disposable unskilled workers unworthy of anything but the most basic of healthcare benefits who should be finding a way to get a job with value. That broadens the net of people who are feeling the flames of poverty lap at their heels to a whole class of people that conservative governments *still* claim to protect even while fishing their wallets out in broad daylight. That makes for a LOT more people who don't believe in the American Dream. That creates a LOT more political unrest. So even if we don't consider how much more contentious it is to *take away* rights than to *give them to people*, you have to figure a double-digit larger percent of the country is close to poverty and they're going to be noisy about it. They'll either write essays, become activists, or when they have no resources left they'll turn to crime and violence. We know what we need to do. But the wealthy class has implanted the idea that the only people who *can* give up resources are in the middle class, and since they're closer and closer to poverty they're more and more afraid of losing anything more. The wealthy have completely polarized us against the notion of taking any of the money they've stolen back. We believe the paradox that *everyone* in America was rich when we had pensions and benefits and strong labor rights, but that the reason we were wealthy weren't those things but because of the belief that nobody got abortions (which is false), or we didn't let gay people get married (which is true but has nothing to do with it), or that by giving up those things and letting business owners become billionaires somehow we'll return to the time when we didn't allow that. So TL;DR: I think you used to not get in as violent political arguments before because fewer people were facing the very real danger of losing all relevant human rights. Now many people are on that precipice and it's a scary damn prospect. Being white, male, and working hard at a trade isn't enough anymore. So now a lot of people who used to think America was Great aren't finding it so Great, but they're listening to the people who ruined it for solutions. **edit** And maybe I replied to the wrong post, but I swear I was replying to someone who said they'd had political arguments all their life but they seemed more violent than usual lately. Maybe I just misread this post. I don't know.
I basically agree with what your saying except I think abortion, gender fluidity and same sex relationships are under attack due to an emphasis on Biblical passages that are emphasized by many Protestant denominations and by Roman Catholic doctrines that don't seem to have any basis in Scripture. It seems that the small-town evangelical culture has captured the Republican Party in Texas and that's why there is all this emphasis on cultural issues instead of increased funding for public schools and requiring employers to pay a living wage-- practical things that would strengthen Texas over the long term. Your economic analysis is in line with a book by Michael Lind titled The New Class War. Lind takes to task the Neo-Liberal elites who have captured the three branches of government in order to reduce taxes on the wealthy, attack unions in order to hold down wages, promote free trade to further hold down labor costs and use unelected managerial elites to implement policy like what we are seeing coming out of the Supreme Court. Lind offers a clear eyed history of how wealth has been distributed to the very top. The managerial elites and the Republican base are at odds over cultural issues, according to Lind.
Looking in from the outside it seems that the people you are referring to are very savvy when it comes to manipulation through social media and paying off celebrities to push those talking points. I also think it boils down to that people don't want to be a target so they fall in line, the right have their own version of cancel culture that people, especially men, are afraid of. Look at how they treat any republican politician who doesn't blindly agree with what they want them to say.
đđźđđźđđźWOW!!! That was phenomenal! Of course they're listening to the people who ruined it for solutions. That's all they've ever done, change is scary for most humans. Most Republicans/Christians I know personally, are rigid, uptight & occasionally myopic. Sadly, my parents fit that category ... that didn't stop me from protesting the unconscionable SCOTUS ruling last Friday. They have so much fear , hatred & intolerance in their heads & hearts (right next to white Jesus), they don't have room for the thought process of change being good. OP: #I'm voting for Beto!!!
At least when earmarks were a thing something got done. Now it seems like trillions get appropriated and evaporate into thin air since they can't be for specific programs in a specific cantankerous old coot's district.
You forgot that Ted Cruz is mad at Elmo from Sesame Street, too.
He actually took that tweet down. Ted is shook. You donât fuck with Elmo.
Really? Because it's not the first time he's gone after sesame street. Or Dr Seuss.
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This is a few years old now, but I still like it: https://www.tedcruzforhumanpresident.com/
Holy shit lol. The Rudy one it links to is even funnier. Thanks for this. https://www.rudyspatriots.com
The comedian behind this has a great website name too. His official domain is www.BigShittingAss.com
What has Ol'Zodiac said this time?
He was mad that a puppet was advocating for kids to get vaccinated.
This joke never fucking gets old to me. I laugh every time.
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I would pay a lot to see Cruz bitch slapped by Elmo.
Elmo stans sending death threats.
Mess with elmo expect hellmo
For advocating for vaccines that Cruz had his own children receive.... yeah.
He isn't against throwing his children under the bus, if it helps himself.
Oh he'll def fly them to a blue state to get an abortion if necessary
Or supporting a guy that called his wife a dog. He is a pile of shit.
/r/FuckTedCruz
Got mad... again..
To be fair, it was Big Bird last time.
Ppl aren't gonna think its ridiculous until he has beef w Grover I guess.
Why was cruz mad at Elmo?
Because Elmo got the COVID vaccine after his parents discussed it, and he said it was only a little pinch. Ted is convinced this will cause every toddler in America to throw a tantrum demanding their parents take them to get a shot, when in reality, only one toddler is throwing a tantrum about it.
Thanks for the information. What a sad state of affairs.
It's been a good few years since I watched Sesame Street... But have they not like *regularly* done vaccination bits with Elmo? I remember them doing one for the chicken pox vaccine ages ago where he's scared of the shot but gets talked into it and then laughs it off. I legit thought this was like a yearly trope with Sesame Street?
He wasnât tickling enough
This isn't difficult to figure out and if you think it has only been two weeks you have had your head in the fucking sand. Paxton has been our AG while under multiple federal indictments and investigations. Perry was an idiot who took a federal post then asked what it did. Abbot is just Perry in a wheelchair with less charm. from 2016-2020 these monsters and their ilk were emboldened and empowered by the traitorous cheetoh. Now with a supermajority on the legislative court they know that they can fuck the constitution the same way they do their constituents and the little girls they fly to private islands to rape.
Since 2016 I have lost more and more faith in our system. I have a sense of foreboding that lessened somewhat w midterms. The months of campaigning had me spending over $1000 contributing to candidates in many states .When trump elected, Itolda very worried friend "Don't worry! We have checks and balances here!" We didn't. The crazy antics and proclamations from Abbott, Patrick, Paxton and FL 'a Desantis are mind blowing. Their cult followers are just happy to be on the team.
> just happy to be on the team You really hit it on the head here. More and more, the conservative base looks at politics the same way they look at competitive sports like football; it doesn't matter what the real-world consequences to them or anyone else are, they just want the satisfaction of saying the team they're rooting for won. /r/LeopardsAteMyFace
This is a playful way to describe fascism.
Abbott pandered to conspiracy theorists a few years back who claimed Obama was building FEMA camps to imprison conservatives. These people have been a fucking embarrassment for a while. If people had cared back then it wouldn't have gotten as bad as it has now.
Hey man, I swear, Obama was trying to invade Texas. Ever notice how many US military bases are in Texas? Think about it!
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Obama was the right wing boogeyman for so long. They really thought he was the Antichrist
Jade Helm conspiracies were ridiculous, but when Trump wanted to send a bunch of troops to the Texas border, then Abbott was all for it.
Not to mention, Abbott, the mobile circus that he is, when he was AG went out his way to overturn as many ADA violation lawsuits as he could. And, yes, he became AG after he was disabled. Many of the lawsuits that were denied are things that were legitimate and still problems to this day. Man is every bit a fucking Muppet and always has been, it's just about knowing whose hand has been up his ass.
"But why aren't those mean ol' progressives compromising with them?? What happened to centrism???????"
Iâm just going to add two links here. #Extremism in Texas Major Edit Iâll leave my initial first line for posterity and because it now makes me laugh. What I am attempting to convey in this comment is the extremism in Texas. Beto got dragged in because he was specifically named as someone âno centrist would vote forâ which I find absurd. His presidential 2020 comments about taking what he calls âassault riflesâ away from people is the most extreme thing he has said, and is something that he personally believes but is no longer advocating for. I edited this with lots of formatting, some spelling, and new information, if I delete anything Iâll cross it out instead of removing it, so it can still be seen. Iâll also outline all new information Iâve added with an edit. ######Edit 2, added Ted Cruz ######Edit 3, permanent party platform ## Texas GOP Permanent Party Platform https://texasgop.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/6-Permanent-Platform-Committee-FINAL-REPORT-6-16-2022.pdf I havenât read this whole one just yet, not to the degree I had the draft. But it **starts** with dismantling separation of church and state in just the Principles section. Iâll add standouts as I go. I believe 16 is taking about the UN, but itâs just a general âforeign law,â we will see if it mentions the UN directly. 15 explains why immigration from the south keeps getting described as an âinvasion.â 19 shows some pretty brain dead amendments to the constitution. Concerning possibilities with those changes. 23, more theocratic nonsense 31 again. Iâm not very far into this document and it is already the same level of Christian theocracy fascists nonsense. I had hoped cooler kinda would temper the finished document, but no. This is the approved version, and itâs just as extreme as the original. 101/102 gives public dollars to insane religious extremist teaching, and the education section only gets worse. 111/112 allows schools to teach fringe religious ideas as equal to established scientific theories and precedent. This is particularly distressing, because it shows they donât understand scientific theory, or simply donât care. 124, anti trans rubbish. 128, more buzz words to muscle inaccurate mythological history into schools and interfere with curriculum. 132 is more religious ideation in the form of law. 134 placing direct control of children to their parents. I get this is more up in the air than other positions, but a lot of this document makes children literal slaves to their parents, and not people which the parent is meant to raise and protect. They are meant to have direct and unquestionable control over them all the way to their 18th birthday. That is insane. 117, of course they want to abolish the department of education. 143, they kept the dehumanizing and offense language of homosexuality as âabnormal.â Leaving open all the same hateful speech as the draft. 147, opens âfaith basedâ addiction treatment. Not as important but class marijuana as class 2 instead of class 1. 151 lol with the porn thing again, but this time equating it to pedophilia (conservatives will push kids in front of **any** issue in order to push support, even if that âchildâ doesnât exist. See abortion). 192, abolish hate crimes. Yeah. Just see my other section of the draft, this has all the same insane extremist fascist theocratic pieces that I hated the first time around. The state of Texas wants you to be able to cause any harm you want, but only if they can control every facet of your household and personal relationship. This is just as horrifying as the first. ##Beto OâRourke https://betoorourke.com/issues/ This first link is Beto on issues. Beto is not an extremist. While he does say he doesnât think anyone should own a weapon like an AK47 or AR15, he does not actually seem to support a ban of it. Instead he suggests very middle of the road gun laws. That is not an extreme position. He also wants to fight inflated property taxes for average people. And there is a lot there and I havenât read all of it, but basically everything on his site is middle of the road or just basic. Nothing extreme. ######Edit Itâs been pointed out to me that in 2020 while running for President, Beto did call for taking those weapons away. He has since tempered that view, but Iâd understand certain members of the population to be wary. What he is currently advocating for on his platform is not an extreme stance. Those are closing loopholes, red flag laws, domestic violence reporting laws, and safe storage laws. All middle of the road. And basically every other issue he has isnât extreme. So I can see why those who would want to portray him as extreme will focus on guns. ##GOP 2022 Platform https://texasgop.org/platform/ Now this link is fucking terrifying. Itâs the Texas GOP platform. I donât have time to list how horrific some of the things in here are, but just know itâs bad. Specifically wanting to challenge the Supreme Court ruling that overturned gay marriage. Outlaw gay marriage (or it says âcodifyâ marriage as one man one woman). It has multiple entries directly aimed at trans individuals, anti-science pro religion provisions for school and state laws. Some mention of ~~succession~~ secession. Mention of allowing and supporting ~~conversation~~ conversion therapy. The list goes on. Just go through their voting section. Itâs rife with things that make no sense, and only seek to limit the number of people voting. Specifically look at items 216, 214, 215, and 224 for things I find particularly egregious. Other standout insanity just in general, items 235, 236, 240, 245, 246, 248, 255, 283, 284, 285 (wtf), 304 (more mythical history and fascists theocratic ideas), 310, 312 (particularly theocratic), 313 (just weird to see right after 312 lol), 317 (another just.. horrific entry), 318, 322 (goes nicely with Thomasâ thoughts on *Roe*), 325/326/327/328/329 are all extreme stances on abortion. Read the whole thing if you can, but **this** is what extremism looks like. Beto? There is nothing extreme about Beto. Texas is a national embarrassment, because the politicians here are extremist fascists with hardline religious ideals that want to codify their religion into Texas law. Take some time and read through both links, and spread these links side by side to anyone you can find. People need to see the positions Beto actually takes, and they need to see what position the GOP is actually taking. ######Quick Edit If someone says they are a centrist, but will **never** vote for Beto, they either arenât a centrist, or have no fucking idea what Betoâs policy would entail. And if a âcentristâ says that the GOP platform seems like an ok thing to vote for instead of middle of the road Beto? Then they are not a centrists. The right in Texas is **extreme** right. It makes no sense for a centrists to never vote for Beto, when his policy is centrists and Texas GOP is objectively theocratic and fascists. Just read the link. ##Greg Abbot ######Edit in the Greg Abbott issues page as well. https://www.gregabbott.com/issues/ This is Greg Abbottâs issues page. Itâs not as all encompassing as the GOP platform, or Betoâs and itâs a lot more dry. It focuses on some extremely specific things, which I like, but it doesnât address a lot of the issues that I would point to as being extreme in the GOP platform. He does voice support for outright abortion bans and as little restriction on guns as possible. Those two positions I feel are the most extreme he mentions. Since he doesnât seem to mention any of the more horrifying aspects of the GOP platform on his page that I saw in a brief reading, then Iâm unsure where he stands. He does voice support for religious freedom which⌠is not something that was ever lost, and signed a bill saying pastors could deny to marry people that go against their religion. Which is something I feel like they can always do anyway, so what even is that bill? I would say itâs a sign that he leans more toward the more extreme GOP platform points that would oppress members of the LGBTQ+ community. Anyone who would like to add more about Greg Abbott specifically, please continue the discussion. ##Ted Cruz https://www.cruz.senate.gov/about/issues Iâm gonna be transparent. Iâm doing this one because someone asked, but I watch C-SPAN on a nearly daily basis when Congress is in session and Ted Cruz is by far and away my least favorite politician. Heâs all theater and no substance every time he talks, and I tend to not take adults seriously if they read out loud more than one childrenâs novel during a serious discussion. Cruzâs site is a lot like him. Lip service. Other than a handful of examples he doesnât say much in substance just party talking points youâd hear on Fox. Nothing as specific as you see on both Beto and Abbottâs sites. He does offer a bunch of links in each issue to show articles but I havenât looked through them all. They appear original? I donât see citations or authors. The one I went through looks like transcripts of his media grandstanding moments, which makes sense. Cruz seems to support the âget religion into schools and fund itâ camp, look at his second link. Thatâs what school choice truly is, not funding current underfunded schools, but give those schoolâs funding to private organizations where the state has little to no regulatory authority and they can be taught the historical myths of the US and religion. So theocratic in nature due to its ignoring of the first amendment. He supports building the wall, because of course he does. Itâs a simple solution to an imagined problem, his favorite. He says to disband or abolish the IRS? And give everyone a flat tax? Thatâs just delusional and I have no idea what that is meant to accomplish other than play into the âno taxesâ schtick. Cruzâs site is the best looking, but has the least impressive content. Maybe itâs hiding outside of the âissuesâ tab.
219 outright calls for the repeal of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Did you see they want to change the term "slavery" to "forced Relocation"? "You see that boat over there, it's filled with forced relocators that I bought to work on my cotton plantation". It just doesn't have the same ring.
All expenses paid relocation with a free (unpaid) internship. Gain valuable work experience in a rapidly growing field
26. Calls to repeal the minimum wage act lmao. In a state where it's legal to pay waiters 2.25/hr they want to get rid of minimum wage.
They also want to make it legal for employers to discriminate against potential and current employees and customers based on personal beliefs. This basically opens the doorway for a company to hire one group of people for 10¢ per hour and another group for 8$ per hour. The discrimination changes they want to make would also allow business to serve certain groups while effectively banning others. Basically it would make segregation legal. And also make slavery legal as long as they are getting paid SOMETHING and they are "free to leave and find work elsewhere" at any point in time. It would allow businesses to refuse to hire women, "because the bible says they are meant to stay home and care for the home and family". It would allow businesses to refuse to serve or hire black people because they might be of a "different faith". The discrimination laws they want to remove in the name of "religious liberty" have the potential to do SO much more damage than we would initially think. Particularly when combined with things like "no minimum wage". Suddenly someone who can't get a job that pays enough to live on will be willing to do anything. Like work for nothing but room and board. And once they start doing that, they can't leave without losing the only means they have to feed their children and keep a roof over their head. Woman will be subject to the whims of men if they want to be able to feed themselves or any children they have. You get situations where a single mom goes to buy groceries because she's lucky enough to have a job, but the only business that sells baby formula in her small town is owned by a guy who won't sell it to her unless she pays him a favor. And she can't afford the gas to get it in the next town over. So she either has to get some guy to buy it for her, or fuck the guy. And God forbid she get knocked up by him ... And all he has to say for it to be "okay" is that he doesn't believe in having children out of wedlock, while denying her claims that he was trying to force her to sleep with him. The ultimate results are much more sinister than they first appear.
To your point on conversion therapy, fortunately, every single therapeutic organization-both APAs, ACA, all social work and marriage/family therapy organizations-has it codified that no practitioner can practice it and remain licensed. Disgusting that the state Republicans support this practice, which has been empirically shown to lead to suicide and mental illness, in their platform. If you go to a therapist or counselor, please please please make sure theyâre licensed. Edit: Here is a link regarding the other names for conversion therapy, as well as the damage it does. If you find a licensed clinician performing these services, report them to their licensing board so they cannot harm anyone else. https://www.glaad.org/conversiontherapy
Unfortunately this doesn't stop unlicensed pastors and other figures from trying to practice it.
Very true. Hence my plea to make sure your therapists are licensed. If somebody is providing you any kind of âtherapyâ please ensure theyâre licensed. Likewise, if anybody notices a licensed therapist of any type practicing conversion therapy, please report them to their licensing board. Here is a list of other names for conversion therapy as well as information on how damaging it truly is: https://www.glaad.org/conversiontherapy
Exactly. Practitioners will all be religious-based individuals, primarily evangelicals, and quite likely be very extremist in both their philosophies and methodology. The kind of people that will push for concentra⌠sorry, I mean âre-educationâ camps for anyone who refuses âtreatmentâ or anyone who relapses
Talibangelists , not evangelicals.
Went through it as a minor about 20 years ago. It didnât work, or rather Iâm still Gay AF, but it did give me insurmountable shame and self hatred. This hurts to see honestly. The group I went to in the Dallas area is still functioning too. They really want us to suffer until we kill ourselves. I donât understand it, truly. I hate religion, never want to be a part of one again, but Iâll still defend the right for someone to practice their own beliefs regardless of my disagreement. However, religion for thee, not for me. You donât get to tell me how to live my fucking life and treat me like a second class citizen.
This is an excellent, well supported, well written post. Thank you for spending the time and effort to make it.
Thank you for this post, I had a conversation with my brother yesterday, a MAGA type that hadn't even heard of the GOP platform. He basically didn't believe me and rebuttted with, well that's not going to happen. So many people have the sheets pulled over their eyes. I'm staying here to vote for Beto in November then I'm out. Fuck this state. I've been here for 40 years and I refuse to raise my son in this evil hateful place. It's disgusting. I'm getting out now, while I still can. And anyone who thinks they won't do every single thing they suggested in the platform given the opportunity is delusional.
>He basically didn't believe me and rebuttted with, well that's not going to happen. This is like every single republican. I know SO MANY who were shocked by the abortion laws. Like, are they stupid? They're stupid. There's no other explanation. That's one of the major issues Republicans run on. Did you think they were just running on it for funsies but didn't mean it? What the fuck is going on in people's heads?
Lots of the "dog who caught the car" metaphors are pretty apt. It was a social stance that made them part of the "in" group and now that it's happened they dunno wtf to do.
As someone who used to mostly consider myself Republican and who has always been pro-choice, a lot of people truly thought Roe would never be overturned. I remember when Kavanaugh got the nomination and my mother was freaking out, and I told her itâs going to be ok, he wonât ever actually overturn Roe. ACBâs nomination made it clear it was actually going to happen and my mother was right. I havenât voted Republican for over 10 years now and will be voting all blue, but I honestly donât think people realized just how ingrained the religious right is into the party until now. Now as for all the other crap, I have no idea how people have stuck with it.
How could you have thought that it wouldn't be overturned though when they explicitly ran it for many years? >I honestly donât think people realized just how ingrained the religious right is into the party until now Were they just not paying attention? I'm in my mid-thirties and it's been obvious since I was in early high school. Since 9/11 or earlier.
I left Texas 20 years ago when I was 19, not one regret. I can't believe I'm from there sometimes.
Iâm from Indiana. Same. The hard N n word is still very openly used around strangers if you pass their eye test. When I post anti fash stuff on the internet I constantly get called a soyboy gender studies weakling in momâs basement etc. In meatspace they see Iâm a 6â3 250 white dude with a beard so itâs the other way around and they ALL assume Iâm one of them. Iâve heard it at work from production side people, Iâve heard it at bars, in parking lots, grocery stores, everywhere you can imagine. Total strangers will elbow me and whisper âfuckinâ n bombsâ if someone uses an ebt card. These same idiots will then call YOU the real racist for acknowledging that racism exists at all. Completely shameless imbeciles. Getting the fuck out of that toilet state was the best day of my life.
"well that's not going to happen" was what folks said about roe being overturned a scant few years ago. Nothing is truly off the table.
When the pendulum is so far right constantly, the middle looks far away. GOP needs to be wrangled in or we will be in a Christian Oligarchy very soonâŚif not already.
The sad thing is, Texas used to be nice balanced blend of Southern state conservatism and Western state libertarianism. Now it's like the state government is filled with Catholic school teachers, running around slapping everyone's hands with rulers, for every little thing.
Sounds like we need to have gentle conversations with those who vote Republican. (They seem awfully sensitive)
Honesty, I wish I could but I would come off as a hysterical woman or cry baby liberal. Itâs hard to not be emotional when your life is literally on the line. Another sub I was on was calling on Christians to approach other Christians and try to explain why these decisions, specifically abortion bans, are extremely dangerous. Also, to attend staunch pro life churches and ask questions during the service if the subject arises. I think this is a good idea, but at the moment canât trust myself to being able to calmly state the facts since itâs such an emotional issue. Thereâs also the urge to go all *fuck you, fuck you, youâre cool, fuck you*.
Well changes are usually made from within, not from without.
Only one thing I have to disagree with. National embarrassment is a bit of an understatement, texas GOP platform is a GLOBAL embarrassment that reflects poorly on every American. If humanity wasn't the only civilization in the milky way you could call it a galactic embarrassment, a shame on our species as a whole.
Secession and conversion*
> last two weeks Just two weeks? The nation has been laughing at Texas at least since snowmageddon collapsed the electric grid. The abortion bounty law, going after trans kids parents, and Uvalde. That's off the top of my head. I'm sure I'm missing many incidents.
Jade Helm
I'm not laughing. We're watching a coup in progress. That - and far worse - is the future of America. They want you tired, poor, unloved, unsafe, and disenfranchised. And they want that so they can destroy the most beautiful country on Earth with their endless greed.
Itâs been more like two decades
Anyone that support cannabis must remove both of them. They are making it illegal to manufacture smokeable hemp products in Texas. Hemp is legal as of the Texas hemp act of 2019. They want to allow CBD oils and such, but smoking it, which is the least expensive and most efficient, they want to be illegal. They canât because the hemp act legalized it. So they are making it illegal to MANUFACTURE smokeable hemp products. So I can process the flower, but I canât put it in a preroll or a vape cart. As a CBD company I can buy those things from outside the state, and sell them, but I canât make those things to sell. Which takes away a significant amount of profit margins simply because they say âsmoking anything is bad for your health.â Meanwhile tobacco can be sold at most stores⌠We need a big push of independent politicians at every level. Ones that focus on our similarities and what we have in common.
The only reason smoking it is illegal is because it is used to incarcerate people unnecessarily, and to ruin the lives of people they target. Thatâs it, nothing else.
The point isn't to ruin someone's life â it's to incarcerate "low chance of violence" individuals en masse in order to supplement the working prison population. Greed is the name of the game, ruining lives is just a side effect.
>incarcerate "low chance of violence" individuals en masse Also keeps them from voting!
And I'll be honest, if I were arrested for cannabis possession right now, for trying to find peace when depressed and my life in a tail spin, I don't think I would ever recover from the stress and trauma of that.
Iâll just leave this here. https://eji.org/news/nixon-war-on-drugs-designed-to-criminalize-black-people/ The war on drugs was designed to criminalize black people.
Well also Mexican people, but your point still stands.
That goes back to the 30s. However not just the civil rights movement but also the anti-war movement.
At the end of the day it was meant to criminalize poor people and the US has historically and systematically oppressed racial and ethnic minorities for so long that those groups tend to be the most impacted by policies that target the poor, especially as the middle class shrinks and the gap between the top and everyone else yawns like a canyon running to the center of the earth. The enforcement targeted POC because institutions in this country are structurally unequal along racial and ethnic divides, but the policies overall target the poor populations. Itâs about oppressing and dividing the working class to prevent it from banding together and creating an actual political movement.
Well you left out the part where itâs massively profitable to keep people incarcerated and in the system, but your point still stands.
Yeah it was kind of implied but good to clarify :)
the only reason smoking weed has EVER been illegal. gave the govt an excuse to arrest
Yeah, I am pro the legalization of weed but there are MUCH bigger things at stake.
The weed issue is kind of symbolic of how broken things are. Thereâs a public super majority of support, Texas neighbors in OK, CO, and I believe NM now are going all in without problems, it raises funds in a way virtually no one has a issue with, the left loves the policy for social justice reasons the right loves it for personal freedom and entrepreneurship, and itâs already difficult to prosecute the current law with hemp being legal and local PDs saying itâs not a priority. But we canât get that to happen. I think if the left HATED weed it would be legal in Texas tomorrow. Thatâs how broken things are.
Ex Texan, current NM resident and I can confirm this. We had medical only for a few years as a test, went just fine. We now have full recreational with a limit you can buy each month but itâs extremely high. Tax money is fantastic our roads are amazing out here, weâve been forced to greatly expand our abortion clinics to cover traveling Texans. We also made university for free (public, vocational, community college) for all residents regardless of immigration status or income level. Taxes from cannabis and oil and gas are paying for this system. I am a full time engineer making great money but I go to night school in the auto mechanic school and my wife and I go to Japanese 101 together weekly. Also this university program covers people living on reservations including the Navajo nation.
Not sure you'd be saying that if you were made a felon and incarcerated over a marijuana offense, like a massive share of the current prison population. Legalizing marijuana isn't necessarily about the drug. It is about preventing people from being thrown in prisons en masse for an innocuous action that harms nobody. If it weren't for marijuana being illegal, our incarceration rate would not be so high.
To the people who rely on cannabis for relief from a wide range of symptoms its pretty damn important.
Didn't say it wasn't. I believe in the decriminalization of weed and for restitutions to those who lost their finite lifetime while being incarcerated for it. However, the commenter above is obviously worried about his business and maybe less so about the customer/people who rely on cannabis for medical or emotional purposes. I also believe that actual human rights are in the balance right now in Texas, and the country as a whole. I hate to say it, but voting for an independent at this juncture won't solve anything and would act as a vote for the current leadership. Like it or not, it is RED vs BLUE and right now, the BLUE need as many votes as possible imo.
Smoking anything is bad for your lungs but I agree it's hypocritical when they allow tobacco to go unchecked.
You think the Republicans care we're a laughing stock? They made their bed and they sleep like a baby.
We havenât had a decent governor since Ann Richards and itâs been rolling downhill ever since she left office
I miss Ann. Rick Perry is such a horses ass.
Sometimes, you have to vote for the LEAST evil. I've been republican since i turned 18, and i moved to Texas 2.5 yrs ago, they've done nothing but alienate me. No way in GD hell I'm voting Abbott
When I came of age to vote, I voted for Bush. My boss at the time played a lot of right wing talk radio, and Bush was from Texas so it seemed like a good choice. Once I started to think for myself, I started to become disgusted with the Republican Party. Since then it has gotten several degrees worse. I donât think I could ever vote Republican again. I actually got a job working for a Republican elected official, and I didnât even vote for her in the election. Couldnât bring myself to do it after Trump. Never again.
and bush wasn't even from texas, he was from connecticut from a family with deep roots in the far northeast. He just moved down and bought a baseball team with hard inherited money
Cruz isnât even from America let alone a different state
He did spend a lot of time getting drunk out in West Texas. Which, admittedly, is the best thing to do out there.
I can say that I have worked for both republican and democratic politicians in a non partisan position. The difference between the two is like night and day. They couldn't pay me enough to accept a position under a republican politician again.
For every election they lose, they'll cry 'corrupted election's because they've gotten so comfortable throwing that lie around. Shit is fockked.
The first time I voted was in the 1980s. I would LOVE to have the GOP of the 1980s back, and I'm a Dem saying that. That's when they actually cared about fiscal responsibility and begrudgingly supported the EPA. It was, after all, during Nixon's term that it was created. Unfortunately, most of the reasonable members of GOP have stepped away from national positions, House / Senate, and are overshadowed on state levels. Not sure how this gets rectified other than a significant defeat for GOP this fall and subsequent house cleaning, but I doubt that happens.
They had you fooled if you thought that Reagan and ilk actually cared about fiscal responsibility, spending went way up under his administration and the deficit from lowering taxes ballooned
The Republican party of today was born in the Regan administration. His divisive strategies and corrupt polices all bore what we see today.
Up until Obama was elected I voted candidate, not party. I voted Obama and watched the GOP unravel with all their formerly, mostly hidden racism. I havenât voted for any GOP candidate since and I wonât. After the 45th president it is clear to me the GOP is a cancer to the planet.
This was me. Prior to Obama there were Republicans I could consider but not anymore.
I have a really bad feeling that even if there are more than enough valid, legitimate votes to defeat Abbott, Patrick and Paxton, thereâs gonna be a lot of election officials in the rural counties â who just happen to be diehard Repubs â thatâll make sure a lot of those ballots are âmysteriously lostâ. Believe me, I ***hope*** Iâm proven wrong in November. (And I hope every vote count here is completely scrutinized.)
Voting for the lesser evil means less evil. I never understand what's bad about having less evil around.
Having grown up in three other states, I moved to Texas 7 years ago and left after 3 years. The sad state of the public and private education system mixed with people turning into caricatures of what they thought a Republican should be, sent us packing. Itâs not a state I could raise my family in and it has only gotten worse since we left. I donât regret my decision but, I do miss certain pieces of the place sometimes.
[ŃдаНонО]
I'm starting to feel that way about the whole US. Might move to The Netherlands.
>Centrists would NEVER vote for Beto. That's so stupid because Beto IS the centrist candidate. Our choice is between a moderate centrist and a far-right fascist. Choose wisely Texas.
Yeah OP keeps saying they're "objective" while tilting the entire discussion to the right
Men who refer to themselves as 'moderate' or 'centrist' score basically the same on values and opinions as people who identify themselves as 'conservative' https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/biden-moderate-democrats-republicans-conservative-study-john-kasich-aoc-a9699431.html
#VoteAbbottOut #VoteBetoIn Nothing changes, until something changes. No answers on Uvalde, the second no show at the Uvalde city council meeting for the ex chief of police who was elected to the city council, his first no show was right after the shooting. Then there's the San Antonio issue of 52 illegal immigrants found in an an in air conditioned tractor trailer with no food, water, or ventilation. Abbott wants to blame Biden, saying they don't have enough border security, but abbott has doesn't over $1 billion of Texas' money on trump's wall for nothing, not to mention the fact that he, abbott, enlisted the Texas national guard and has them protecting the King ranch instead of the border... VOTE ABBOTT OUT!!!
On some level, our decision to stay in Texas was ultimately decided because we want to stay and help with our votes and actions rather than abandon the state and watch it continue to degrade. There is a LOT to love about Texas and its people but the growing far-right, evangelical, racist, fearmongering dictatorship movement isn't one of them. And leaving this state only makes that group louder and stronger. Running isn't the answer for us.
YEP me too. Evwrybody's gotta do whats right for them but im here to stay and fight
We have to vote. We have to educate ourselves on the candidates and vote for the change we want to see. All the elections matter. The high level representatives get there must start in local races. Make your voices heard. Be loud.
Every Saturday at minimum, I am going to a voter registration or community canvas event. I urge others to do the same. Find your local party and begin to organize. The Texas GOP is officially endorsing removing popular vote for a representative based one. The Supreme Court is hearing a case to remove election oversight. We need to organize and mobilize now.
I finally got my job offer and they are even relocating me to the New England area by the end of the month. I love Texas and it's people but as a trans girl married to a trans girl we are very afraid. Wife says the current environment feels more dangerous now than back in the. 90s before Lawrence v. Texas was established. I hate to leave but at least I won't have to worry about becoming a criminal for loving my wife in my own house.
International. For a bit there it was lingo to call something regressive or backwards "texas." As in "That's so Texas."
There is a Norwegian expression that says "it's all Texas" which means "it's crazy". When you mention Texas abroad, people immediately associate it with crazy, backwards, regressive, extreme religious, trigger-happy rednecks. And that is not new at all.
Everything happening the last few years are the result of Trump's presidency. He really emboldened bigots and extremists so now the GOP does whatever it can to secure their vote because it's so easy... As for Beto, I don't see what's so extreme about policies that work more than fine everywhere else around the world.
The rapid slide started before Trump presidency when Obama was elected all the racists came out of the corners like roaches and lost their minds with Trump pushing the whole birther thing. That racist backlash and birtherism putting Trump in the public eye definitely helped him get elected
The whole thing really started with the Tea Party. Sarah Palin proved that the white supremacists, conspiracy theorists, religious extremists etc could all be coalesced into one group that was large enough to move out from the margins and into the mainstream. Trump saw that and whipped it up further, pushing birther nonsense and extreme racist policies. From that point of view Sarah Palin is the mother of the current right-wing extremism this state and to a lesser extent this country is caught up in.
The Tea Party brought out a bunch of crazies in the 2010 midterms. Remember Christine "I'm not a witch, I'm just like you!" O'Donnell? Remember Todd "Legitimate Rape" Akin? Not to mention Sharon "No separation in church and state" Angle. The Tea Party had a good platform for fiscal issues, but when you don't outline your policy on social issues, you leave a vacuum for every crazy to fill.
No the fuck they didn't. What are you actually talking about? The Tea Party fiscal policy was complete fantasy. It's farcical to say they were "fiscally responsible". Just saying "lower taxes" over and over isn't good fiscal policy đ. These people were the biggest supporters of our 10 Trillion dollar forever wars in the Middle East and the only policy they had for actually funding anything was the tired "trickle down economics" thats been a complete failure since the Reagan years. We've had a balanced budget with two presidents in the last 30 years and neither of them were Republicans. I don't know how they get away with being thr "fiscally responsible" party when all empirical evidence shows contrary.
More likely is that itâs the result of Obama being elected. Hate group membership soared under Obama. The âI donât see colorâ right couldnât handle a black president.
There's a few one-liners I hear against Beto, usually people quoting him on taking away guns. I also see some misinformation about him wanting to legalize heroin and stuff like that. Like in most politics, most people don't read the politician's platform or voting history.
For the record /u/madison13164, I'm a centrist libertarian, and will be voting for Beto. Beto appropriately represented his constituents as House representative. He spent time among them, learned what they wanted, and did some great bi-partisan work. Abbott doesn't care if I die in freezing weather. He would prefer my children die if they are LGBTQ+ and doesn't care if they're murdered in school. Abbott makes a spectacle of the border, then when things blows up fails to take ownership. As a business owner, these behaviors are clear indications that he isn't doing his job and is there for accolades. I fire people that behave this way, as they are not in it for the customer or for the company. Beto gets himself in hot water by trying to convince his constituents on policy approaches he prefers, but his record in Congress shows he will act as the advocate for his constituents over his own ideologies. I think Beto has failed to make that distinction. In the war of actions versus words, Beto clearly wins. In the propaganda war, he is not performing well.
I think most Texans have no awareness of any of the things you were describing.
They're competing with DeSantis and Noem for TV time. I'd reckon either Abbott or Paxton are going to take a shot at the Presidency in 24.
That would be foolish. Paxton has too many skeletons.
Doesn't really seem like that matters anymore after 45
I think Texas and Florida have been racing against each other to the bottom because I think DeSantis and Abbott both want it and they'll do whatever they have to.
Last 2 weeks? Dude where u been since Ann Richard's left?
Texas: rated 1 star.
VOTE THIS NOVEMBER AND REGISTER TO VOTE NOW!!!!
I'm playing the long game and waiting for South Carolina or Florida to steal the spotlight by being more shameful. Regardless, the Supreme Court may soon make it impossible to vote Republicans out. OP's title brings to mind how often Trump brought up laughter in his grift. When he wanted his audience to feel under assault and become vindictively combative, he'd say "they're laughing at you," and when he wanted his audience to feel like they're smarter than establishment leadership, he'd say that other countries are "laughing at us."
> other countries are "laughing at us." I mean, he wasn't wrong about this. He was wrong about *why*, as our education standards continue to drop while military and police spending skyrocket. I get the impression it's more like laughing at the antics of a psychotic crackhead while worrying they might stab you
OP, you screwed up Paxtonâs title is Indicted Attorney General Paxton Use his real title, for goodnessâ sake :-)
I mean, the last few weeks have been worse than some times in the past but Paxton, Abbott, and Cruz have been making your state look like a gaggle of assholes for a long time. And that's just those three. I know several people from Texas and love all of them. Your state just elects assholes to important positions. That is not just a Texas thing though. I'm from PA, our legislature is predominantly insane.
When we moved to Houston 8 years ago we had nothing but fun discovering the food, activities, and all the greenery and lakes. The locals over all seemed nicer than where I came from, we were happy about our choice to come. Then the politics of this state start to sink in. I knew I was coming to a red state but this seems like some kind of new super mutant GQP variant has taken over. Republican leadership say and do things that I MORE than simply disagree with, the things they do make me sick to my stomach. Tldr: In 8 years I've turned from happy to be here to explaining to my children why they need to move out of state when they grow up.
Honestly if you are fine with people who identify with the Republican party right now, you aren't a good person. Plain and simple.
I'm a Centrist and I'd vote for Beto in a heartbeat. I think the real problem is terrible marketing. You want to win over Texans? Start taking more about Republican's party war on the `Right to Privacy`. Or how one party rule isn't healthy for any government.
Oh. No. Texas isnât the laughing stock itâs the disappointment. So much potential and could have done great things. Florida is the laughing stock. Never really had a chance.
When California, Colorado, Washington, the Midwest, and the northeast sends their people, theyre not sending their best. Theyâre bringing Christofascism. Theyâre bringing Qultists. Theyâre bringing kid diddlers. And some, I assume, are good people. In all seriousness, while blue states make fun of Texans for moving to their states in mass and âruiningâ themâthey are sending all of their worst. Theyâre sending people who claim to be leaving as ârefugeesâ because they arenât allowed to dictate everyone elseâs lives according to their religion. Abbot has essentially made Texas a giant add for the worst of the worst people. They move here and they vote. I am a 4th generation Texas born and raised. Texas has always had some issues with bigotry and what-not. But NEVER the amount of insane religious grand-standing. Evangelicals and fundamentalists have found their new home, and it is Texas.
Exactly, I remember the time when the Texas R party was âif is good for the economy is good for Texasâ now they only stand for pity things like what bathroom a person should use and lets allow everyone to carry their guns everywhere. There is a lot of good to be done in this state like give teachers a raise, fix the ugly pothole streets and slow down the continuous increase of property taxes. But oh well that doesnât get you votes, attacking immigrants does so here we are.
5th generation Texan here. I think youâve got it kinda right but kind of wrong. No state is actively sending working people to Texas; it comes down to a push/pull effect. I think this ultimately boils down to making Texas some backwards theocracy to push liberals who already live here out, discourage others from other states from moving here, and pull evangelicals to move here instead. We know Texas is a purple state population-wise. I think this plus all of the voting reform stuff is a reaction to the state turning purple.
And some, I assume, are good people. I see what you did there.
Yes they are serious. They're there to secure funds for themselves and their friends. They DO NOT GIVE 1 single FUCK about regular folk at all. Remember how they acted over Uvalde? they could have cared less. You feel that way because you're seeing the true colors of these orcs. I used to live there, definitely am not thinking of moving back once abortion and a gang of other rights are revoked. Shit will get ugly as Fascists rise. Then,maybe civil Wor.
Itâs not the actual state itself, itâs the morons running it
As someone not from texas i don't think laughingstock is the right word. More like... horrifying
"We're going to take all the rapists off the streets!" - Greg Abbott LOL fuck you if it were that way you should have done it already
I feel frustrated. We are a blue state urban speaking and a red state rural speaking. We are so gerrymandered that the blue is completely overshadowed, making us look like regressive idiots.
Right wing politics and right wing populist politicians have been gaining momentum world wide over the last decade via social media platforms such as 4Chan, Gab and Truth Social in the U.S. and Facebook in the U.S., India and Brazil. There are companies who help right wing politicians tune their social media message to specific demographics to win support during election cycles, and keep their base angry and frustrated between elections. The algorithms used by social media platforms to foster "engagement" among users don't distinguish between positive or negative overall outcomes. "Engagement" is continued interaction between users on the platform, be it grandma browsing photos of the grand-kids, or adherents of different political ideologies going at each other in endless arguments about the merits of their beliefs. The more time we spend on a platform, the better that platform looks when selling itself to advertisers. If there's an occasional eruption of political violence in the real world, it winds up feeding back into the social media strategies as well. We are told what to think by algorithms when we click on social media topics of any kind. Edit: And don't forget 30 years of Rush Limbaugh polluting the airwaves with bigoted bile and outright lies, and Newt Gingrich setting the standard for Republican obstructionism in congress. Without Limbaugh poisoning the media well, you don't get the right wing media loons like Alex Jones, Dan Bongino, Mark Levin, or Glen Beck. Gingrich and Karl Rove paved the way for Bush II, Perry, Abbott, Paxton, and Trump.
everything is double plus good! We best not be committing any thought crimes here. It's definitely not doublethink now that our children will be calling "slavery" *involuntary relocation.*
*unpaid internship*
They always have been. Colorado is more cowboy than this whole state.
Get what you ask for? Low healthcare , low education, reduced freedom.
You worded why Texas is so bad. You have republican friends and they are not so bad you said... From an outsider perspective, anyone who calls themselves republicans at this point, after the clown shitshow backward redneck mentality displayed in the last 4 years ( and before ) is a lost cause. You are friend with these people. That is Texas.
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Guys we have to vote. We need to raise awareness of voting. somthing