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  • I think that it’s now safe to say that we Texans now live in a failed state.  30 years of GOP rule, setting our own standard, living the “Texas Dream,” which they’ve bragged about relentlessly…and let’s see where we are:

    A majority of the state in complete failure, unable to deliver the most BASIC of services (things that are called “utilities,” not “luxuries,” for a reason).  No power.  No water.  No means of clearing roads (that one, I can’t fault the state so much….but it wouldn’t be as big a crisis if people weren’t stuck in their homes with no power and water).  So citizens are stuck in their homes, some of them dying there. 

    Water resource planning?  After pretending for decades that a drought would never happen again, and not doing ANYTHING to develop resources in the state water plan (a document actually developed using science and mathematical projections), we had several locations, including actual cities, down to a few days of water supply.  We’ve finally gotten on our horse a bit, but it may be too late if the next drought comes anytime soon.  

    State rank in key categories:

    Education – 34

    Health Care - 37

    Infrastructure - 33

    Opportunity - 39

    Environment - 44

    Infrastructure - 33 

    In overall quality of life ranking by US News, we are now #38, down from #36 just two years ago.  At that rate, we’ll be in the bottom 3 within ten years.

    We are SUPER independent, and FUCK the feds….but we have requested federal disaster assistance more than any other state in the past decade or so.

    But hey, our economy is ranked #15!

    That’s right, we have a “roaring economy” and the “Texas Miracle!”  But we can’t deliver the basics for our citizens.  The economy is VERY efficient at funneling bazillions to the very few…..with little of it “trickling down” to most Texans.  Yeah, the people on this board generally do fine, but face the facts – we’re the top 10% or so.  We are educated, older, and fortunate.

    Our federal system allows for state-by-state experiments.  Texas is the poster child for near anarcho-capitalism and zero regulation or oversight.  We have tested that approach, for over a generation now (30 years of Republican rule).  That approach is a failure.  The evidence is undeniable, and overwhelming.  It doesn’t matter how many River Oaks millionaires you produce if the rest of your people are dying in their homes.  Shit, some of those River Oaks millionaires might be freezing to death today, too.

    The kids of a middle class family can hardly afford to go to a good state school.  Their prospects for employment are mediocre.  Their prospects of suffering crippling medical debt at some point are significant.  Their chances of not having basic utilities needed for life safety at some point – all but certain.  Their chances of becoming ill or dying from a pollution-caused illness are material.

    What’s the result?  Our leaders have sold Texas as a paradise – move here!  Bring your business here!  And some businesses have done so, adding opportunity…..but providing little to no tax support for the infrastructure we all depend on.  To the contrary, over the past few years, I know more and more people – educated people, people who can do their jobs elsewhere, who are looking to bail on this state.  It’s people with young kids, who want them to grow up in a better place.  It’s people in their working years, who simply want a better path.  It’s retirees, who want a safe and secure place to live.

    We have consumed our seed stock.  We have burned through our reserves.  We are now consuming ourselves.  The ability to pitch Texas as the land of opportunity is done.  Seeing what we have become, the tentative thought/plan my wife and I had of wrapping up our careers here and then getting the hell out of Dodge is becoming much more concrete.  My children are already unlikely to make their future in this state.  Now we are, too.

    But the response from the Republican leadership and their sycophants – “how are you gonna pay for it?  Taxes?  That’s socialism!  You want that stuff, you have to pay for it!”

    Fuck yes I do, and I’m okay with that.  I want groceries…so I have to pay HEB.  I want a car…so I have to pay Ford.  I want clothes…..so I have to pay Dillards.  I want my population educated….so I have to pay the school district.  I want electricity, with enough capacity to keep us running when we need it…..so I have to pay my bill, maybe with a capacity surcharge.  I want water to come out of the taps….so I have to pay for development of resources and maintenance of infrastructure.  I want roads….so I pay taxes to build and maintain them.  YES, I have to pay for all of those things, and “nothing is free” – no fucking shit.  So, let’s pay for it.  We have the #15 economy….we HAVE the funds in this state.  An economy with the flow of funds that ours has can produce and maintain all of those results.  But we have chosen a different path; funnel all the dollars to the top, and spend next to nothing for the public good.  We have privatized profit….we have socialized the costs.  And we are dying because of it.

    My fellow Texans are dying in their homes….and there’s nothing I can do about it today.  And I am enraged.

    I love Texas.  I am 6th generation here.  My ancestors have Texas historical markers on their graves.  We helped make this state, and this state helped make us.  It educated us (back when college was affordable).  But it’s time to face the fact – this state is a failure, and on its current path, with its current leadership and philosophy, it will only get worse.  This state has a terrible future, unless we dramatically change our path.   Chances of that happening?  0.0% -- because we’ll continue to vote for the guys who make our leadership priorities bathroom bills, and transgender sports, and requiring the national anthem be played at certain events.  Any bill that has been proposed to improve emergency preparedness of gov’t entities has been crushed by the Republicans controlling the lege….but we will definitely stick with those guys.  No taxes.  No government functionality.

    What we are seeing happening right now is our system working EXACTLY AS IT WAS DESIGNED AND INTENDED TO WORK.  And we will, I guarantee it, collectively decide to stick with that.  This state is in free-fall, and anyone with eyes can see it.  And anyone with a brain is starting to think of ways to make their life elsewhere.  It breaks my goddamned heart to see us commit collective suicide, but here we are.

     

     


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    pacman

    Posted

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-shareholders-face-staggering-hurdle-103045210.html

    Quote

    The change took effect May 15 and requires an investor or group of investors to hold 3% of the electric vehicle maker's stock "to institute or maintain a derivative proceeding," CNBC reported. Tesla's market cap is $1.123 trillion, so a plaintiff would have to own shares worth $33.7 billion.

    Quote

    The change was enabled by a Texas law that "allows corporations to limit shareholder lawsuits against insiders for breach of fiduciary duty," the outlet added. 

     

    • Rage+1 2
    Nice Guy Eddie

    Posted

    29 minutes ago, pacman said:

    the small govt side wants to limit the ability for individuals to have any say in how their investments are run. Very nice of them.

    I've assumed that Abbott is willing to do whatever Elon wants because SpaceX and Tesla would be big wins for Abbott's planned Texas Stock Exchange.

    Remember how poorly the Texas Gold Depository has performed, and how Abbott promised how that would change how people/orgs store their gold, silver, etc. Spoiler alert, from all sources the Texas Bullion Depository has been an unmitigated disaster for the state with less than 10% of expected reserves deposited. 

    • Hook 'Em 1
    Brisketexan

    Posted

    Just now, Nice Guy Eddie said:

    Remember how poorly the Texas Gold Depository has performed, and how Abbott promised how that would change how people/orgs store their gold, silver, etc. Spoiler alert, from all sources the Texas Bullion Depository has been an unmitigated disaster for the state with less than 10% of expected reserves deposited. 

    Don't fret.  We gotta have something in place and operating for when the gold from, umm, (((other sources))) who are deemed disloyal to the Regime, gets freed up.  Just gotta stick to the plan...

    51APZ4001ML._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg

    • Hook 'Em 1
    bluto

    Posted

    Gotta love the tough on immigration Texas GOP letting another session roll on… and giving the double bird to requiring employers to use e-verify. Literally the easiest thing they could do to help stem the demand side of the equation, and nah. 

    • Like 5
    Biff Tannen

    Posted

    Saturday gonna be lit. I’m bringing towels and water and masks in case this shit happens again. 

    • Hook 'Em 1
    GreenspointTexas

    Posted

    Yup, looks like this may go as big as George Floyd protests?

     

    man, we were already on tenuous ground but this gives people an excuse to show their hatred for the administration. This week is gonna be crazy

    SubliminalHorn

    Posted

    9 hours ago, GreenspointTexas said:

    Yup, looks like this may go as big as George Floyd protests?

     

    man, we were already on tenuous ground but this gives people an excuse to show their hatred for the administration. This week is gonna be crazy

    I think that’s what the fucker is trying to prevent. On my list of differentials as to why that fucker is sending in the NG and marines is that he desperately wants to prevent another summer 2020 which severely damaged his presidency. He probably thinks if he can stop it in its tracks now in LA, then it won’t spread. But he’s about to find out 

    • Hook 'Em 3
    Eskimohorn

    Posted

    I think that’s what the fucker is trying to prevent. On my list of differentials as to why that fucker is sending in the NG and marines is that he desperately wants to prevent another summer 2020 which severely damaged his presidency. He probably thinks if he can stop it in its tracks now in LA, then it won’t spread. But he’s about to find out 

    BLM protests and clashes largely help GOP win elections. This is part of his playbook now. His inept response to covid, the resulting economic collapse and him getting covid led to his loss.
    • Like 1
    • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
    SubliminalHorn

    Posted

    1 minute ago, Eskimohorn said:


    BLM protests and clashes largely help GOP win elections. This is part of his playbook now. His inept response to covid, the resulting economic collapse and him getting covid led to his loss.

    Not so sure about that. I don’t remember where I saw it, but the article basically said that the 2020 protests helped Biden. I still think he is desperate to stop them now and show how tough he is because as they grow, he looks worse. Which in itself is dangerous because he’s capable of literally anything when it comes to his narcissism. 

    Eskimohorn

    Posted

    Not so sure about that. I don’t remember where I saw it, but the article basically said that the 2020 protests helped Biden. I still think he is desperate to stop them now and show how tough he is because as they grow, he looks worse. Which in itself is dangerous because he’s capable of literally anything when it comes to his narcissism. 

    Stop them? He’s starting them, then escalating. Makes it easier to declare emergencies.
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    Chad Fuck

    Posted

    I think that’s what the fucker is trying to prevent. On my list of differentials as to why that fucker is sending in the NG and marines is that he desperately wants to prevent another summer 2020 which severely damaged his presidency. He probably thinks if he can stop it in its tracks now in LA, then it won’t spread. But he’s about to find out 

    He’s not trying to prevent it. He’s trying to provoke it.
    • Hook 'Em 3
    LCHorn

    Posted

    6 minutes ago, Eskimohorn said:

    Many Marines, National Guardsmen and vets are over on Threads and Substack expressinging their disagreement

    Echoing this, I’m on r/USMC (which is definitely not the fleet, it’s a little wiser and more left) and it’s been refreshing to see the warnings from veteran Marines to those in service to be super careful with civilians.  

    • Hook 'Em 6
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    Brisketexan

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Eskimohorn said:

    Just saw this post online…

    Zen priest, Peter Coyote, on protest: "I’m watching the Los Angeles reaction to ICE raids with trepidation and regret.

    Three years ago I taught a class at Harvard on the “theater of protest”— designed to help people understand why so many protests turn out to be Republican campaign videos working directly against the interests of the original protest.

    A protest is an invitation to a better world.

    It’s a ceremony.

    No one accepts a ceremonial invitation when they’re being screamed at.

    More important you have to know who the real audience of the protest is.

    The audience is NEVER the police, the politicians, the Board of supervisors, Congress,etc.

    The audience is always the American people, who are trying to decide who they can trust; who will not embarrass them.

    If you win them, you win power at the box office and power to make positive change.

    Everything else is a waste.

    There are a few ways to get there:

    1. Let women organize the event. They’re more collaborative. They’re more inclusive, and they don’t generally bring the undertones of violence men do.

    2 Appoint monitors, give them yellow, vests and whistles. At the first sign of violence, they blow the whistles and the real protester sit down.

    Let the police take out their aggression on the anarchists and the provocateurs trying to discredit the movement.

    3. Dress like you’re going to church. It’s hard to be painted as a hoodlum when you’re dressed in clean, presentable clothes.

    They don’t have to be fancy they just signal the respect for the occasion that you want to transmit to the audience.

    4. Make your protest silent. Demonstrate your discipline to the American people. Let signs do the talking.

    5. Go home at night. In the dark, you can’t tell the cops from the killers. Come back at dawn fresh and rested.

    I have great fear that Trump’s staging with the National Guard and maybe the Marines is designed to clash with anarchists who are playing into his hands and offering him the opportunity to declare an insurrection.

    It’s such a waste and it’s only because we haven’t thought things through strategically.

    Nothing I thought of is particularly original.

    It was all learned by watching the early civil rights protests in the 50s and 60s.

    And it was the discipline and courage of African-Americans that drew such a clear line in the American sand that people were forced to take sides and that produced the civil rights act.

    The American people are watching and once again if we behave in ways that can be misinterpreted, we’ll see this explained to the public in Republican campaign videos benefiting the very people who started this.

    Wake up.
    Vent at home.
    In public practice discipline and self control.

    It takes much more courage."
    — Peter Coyote
    Zen teacher and author/narrator, with Ken Burns

    Note: Carry an American flag. As the administration creates a fake emergency to justify a state crackdown, it's important to honor the values and vision of democracy for which we're advocating.

    When the Enquirer came for pics back in 2017, I smiled a big toothy grin and held a big flag as it felt so empowering and good to stand with my adult daughter, pastors, Franciscans, nuns, kids, parents, grandparents and some women from our women's groups for the values we tried to pass on.

    After the protest, we sang and marched to a church where we heard poignant witness of immigrants trying to build a better life for their families against insurmountable odds.

    Many Marines, National Guardsmen and vets are over on Threads and Substack expressinging their disagreement over being used by this lawless administration.

    Peace, santi and shalom to all. emoji3522.png

    — Leslie Flood Hershberger

    Excellent post.  And I agree with most all of it.

    Yes, I cringe when I see violence (I often understand it, but I see how it colors the entire narrative).

    I also cringe when I see people dressed in fringe outfits (no, most people do not have 20 piercings, odd hair colors, trashed-out clothes, etc.).  My wife and I have both participated in protests - she has, multiple times, in DC and in Texas, including at ICE detention facilities.  She wears her full clerical collar.  I try to wear a suit, or at least slacks and a sportcoat.  As in "we are what you think of when you think of 'accomplished and respectable people,' not just 'fringe rabble-rousers.'"  And if what looks like accomplished and respectable people are standing up against this bullshit....huh, then maybe the rest of us should do so too.

    And hell yes on the American flag.  Liberty.  Freedom.  Patriotism.  We the people need to reclaim ALL of those things from the fascists.  They don't get to scream "freedom" while they storm schools, libraries, arrest children, ban books.  They don't get to scream "liberty" when they detain people for saying words the regime doesn't like.  They don't get to call themselves "patriots" when they stand against every patriotic value, every right, every principle that make this country great (or had a chance at doing so).  WE DO.

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    Larry T. Spider

    Posted

    I’m all for people waving the Mexican flag if that is their home country or their heritage. Hell, maybe it’s not and you just want to show support for people that are being caught up in all this BS.

    But realize the optics are going to be bad. The American idiocy needs simple messaging with as little nuance as possible. It’s confusing when people that don’t want to be departed to Mexico are waving Mexican flags in the face of cops. You become a much more sympathetic figure if you’re waving an American flag signaling that you are hoping for a better life here. We all know that the tatted up guy waving a Mexican flag in the face of a cop is going to play right into the disinformation playbook of the right.

    On a completely separate note, where was this energy during the election? The left love to squabble over minor policy differences while a wannabe dictator gets elected. Then they fill the streets all pissed off.

    Win. Elections.

    • Hook 'Em 1
    Scheiss Meister

    Posted

    I guess this is as good a place as any to ask my questions.  My wife and I are going to the No Kings rally in Austin Saturday.  We've been to a couple of small town marches, but never anything like this.  We're going to make signs, and I'm going to carry an American flag, maybe the Marine Corps colors, too, for good measure.

    Should the signs be on sticks, or just hand held?  I want them seen, but don't want them to be falsely labeled as weapons.

    What supplies should we bring?  I'm bringing water for hydration and some old t-shirts to wet and use if tear gas gets tossed.  What else do I need to bring?

    Thanks for the suggestions on how to dress.  We'll definitely look like the respectable old farts that we are.

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    Brisketexan

    Posted

    By the way, violence CAN win this.  But not the way many think.

    Make the Gestapo commit violence against normal, peaceful people, who are not committing violence themselves.  Images like this helped turn the tide of the civil rights struggle:

    The Children's Crusade: When the Youth of Birmingham Marched for Justice |  HISTORY

    ghows-OH-65f3df17-6643-47ec-e053-0100007

    Thats-me-Hunter-Gray-008.jpg?width=465&d

    selma42.jpg

    Let the Gestapo commit crimes against the innocent, against the defenseless.  It's in their nature, so let the world see it.  Don't strike back.  You win by letting them display their evil for the whole world.  You win when they beat women and children (that's why they should be on the front lines, not just men).

    Nazis gonna nazi.  Make them do it out in broad daylight, against people just like the folks watching at home.

    • Hook 'Em 3
    wildcat09

    Posted

    3 hours ago, SubliminalHorn said:

    Not so sure about that. I don’t remember where I saw it, but the article basically said that the 2020 protests helped Biden. I still think he is desperate to stop them now and show how tough he is because as they grow, he looks worse. Which in itself is dangerous because he’s capable of literally anything when it comes to his narcissism. 

    Yeah, Trump THINKS widespread protests help him, but they didn't help him in 2020 and they're not likely to help him now. People are confusing the fact that there is often a later backlash to protests with the immediate politics of protests.

    • Hook 'Em 1
    Brisketexan

    Posted (edited)

    6 minutes ago, Scheiss Meister said:

    I guess this is as good a place as any to ask my questions.  My wife and I are going to the No Kings rally in Austin Saturday.  We've been to a couple of small town marches, but never anything like this.  We're going to make signs, and I'm going to carry an American flag, maybe the Marine Corps colors, too, for good measure.

    Should the signs be on sticks, or just hand held?  I want them seen, but don't want them to be falsely labeled as weapons.

    What supplies should we bring?  I'm bringing water for hydration and some old t-shirts to wet and use if tear gas gets tossed.  What else do I need to bring?

    Thanks for the suggestions on how to dress.  We'll definitely look like the respectable old farts that we are.

    Have a small pack (fanny back, backpack) with some supplies - mask of some sort to limit gas.  Even an N-95 left over from COVID times can help.  Goggles if you have any (need to seal on the sides -- so think cheap swimming goggles even).  A couple of bottles of water.  Keep all those things tucked away, though -- don't want to look like you're looking to engage in trouble.  No stick for your signs, just carry them.  And yes, dress respectably.  Seriously, wear a jacket and slacks, even a tie.  Look like "a regular American," somebody any audience can see looks like an ordinary, good person, not a rabble-rouser.  RELATE to your audience to win them.

    Hell yes, carry an American flag, carry your Marine corps colors (I'm presuming you served).  If you have your old dress uniform, maybe even wear your white dress cap.  You are a good American, a veteran, standing up for the values you swore an oath to protect and defend.  Show that to the world.

    Oh, and if the jackboots commit acts of violence against you....to the extent that you can endure it, LET THEM.  And do all you can to make sure it's photographed and recorded.  Gestapo thugs beating respectable, regular old American veterans....that is the kind of shit that will move the needle.

    Edited by Brisketexan
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    • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
    Scheiss Meister

    Posted

    4 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

    Have a small pack (fanny back, backpack) with some supplies - mask of some sort to limit gas.  Even an N-95 left over from COVID times can help.  Goggles if you have any (need to seal on the sides -- so think cheap swimming goggles even).  A couple of bottles of water.  Keep all those things tucked away, though -- don't want to look like you're looking to engage in trouble.  No stick for your signs, just carry them.  And yes, dress respectably.  Seriously, wear a jacket and slacks, even a tie.  Look like "a regular American," somebody any audience can see looks like an ordinary, good person, not a rabble-rouser.  RELATE to your audience to win them.

    Hell yes, carry an American flag, carry your Marine corps colors (I'm presuming you served).  If you have your old dress uniform, maybe even wear your white dress cap.  You are a good American, a veteran, standing up for the values you swore an oath to protect and defend.  Show that to the world.

    Oh, and if the jackboots commit acts of violence against you....to the extent that you can endure it, LET THEM.  And do all you can to make sure it's photographed and recorded.  Gestapo thugs beating respectable, regular old American veterans....that is the kind of shit that will move the needle.

    Thanks for the suggestions.  Sadly, my service was 40 years ago, and I no longer have any of my uniform.  Not that it would fit, even if I did have it.  I will get a nice USMC cap for the event, though.

    I am fully prepared to be beaten without resisting, but I don't know how I would handle my wife being struck.  I have to prepare more for maintaining my discipline in such a case.

    • Hook 'Em 6
    • Like 1
    wildcat09

    Posted

    5 minutes ago, Larry T. Spider said:

    I’m all for people waving the Mexican flag if that is their home country or their heritage. Hell, maybe it’s not and you just want to show support for people that are being caught up in all this BS.

    But realize the optics are going to be bad. The American idiocy needs simple messaging with as little nuance as possible. It’s confusing when people that don’t want to be departed to Mexico are waving Mexican flags in the face of cops. You become a much more sympathetic figure if you’re waving an American flag signaling that you are hoping for a better life here. We all know that the tatted up guy waving a Mexican flag in the face of a cop is going to play right into the disinformation playbook of the right.

    On a completely separate note, where was this energy during the election? The left love to squabble over minor policy differences while a wannabe dictator gets elected. Then they fill the streets all pissed off.

    Win. Elections.

    The people who fill the streets during protests aren't really "the left." Most of them are just members of the community, many of them haven't been politically engaged before, and they're protesting because they suddenly see that they're under threat. 

    Protests are not the result of some backroom scheming by professional Democrats who think brown-skinned people waving Mexican flags is good optics. You can try to organize smallish groups of protesters, but once it gets large enough you can't really command a large protest. He can be insufferable sometimes, but Will Stancil has a really good thread on this shit on BlueSky right now:

    Don't peddle the "it'd be better if they weren't carrying Mexican flags" shit. That's giving in to GOP framing. You give them that and they'll find another angle and you'll give on that too, and you'll just keep giving because you think it's an argument. It's not an argument. It's a demonstration of common humanity and an assertion of rights and agency against the oppressive boot of the state. Anyone who wants to help, stop worrying about how the optics aren't as ideal for protesters as you imagine they could be and start thinking about how you can make the optics worse for Trump and his dipshit toadies. 

    • Hook 'Em 7
    Brisketexan

    Posted

    10 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

    The people who fill the streets during protests aren't really "the left." Most of them are just members of the community, many of them haven't been politically engaged before, and they're protesting because they suddenly see that they're under threat. 

    Protests are not the result of some backroom scheming by professional Democrats who think brown-skinned people waving Mexican flags is good optics. You can try to organize smallish groups of protesters, but once it gets large enough you can't really command a large protest. He can be insufferable sometimes, but Will Stancil has a really good thread on this shit on BlueSky right now:

    Don't peddle the "it'd be better if they weren't carrying Mexican flags" shit. That's giving in to GOP framing. You give them that and they'll find another angle and you'll give on that too, and you'll just keep giving because you think it's an argument. It's not an argument. It's a demonstration of common humanity and an assertion of rights and agency against the oppressive boot of the state. Anyone who wants to help, stop worrying about how the optics aren't as ideal for protesters as you imagine they could be and start thinking about how you can make the optics worse for Trump and his dipshit toadies. 

    The real problem is that underneath it....is racial bias.

    The real problem is that the organic protest and reaction is coming from all them brown people who look at messican and shit, not like "real Americans."

    That's why I suggest that ORGANIZED protestors do their best to present an image that Joe and Jane White American at home can relate to.  See a dirty messican being beaten?  Well, Joe and Jane are actually kinda okay with that.  See a white pastor in a collar beaten?  See a man who looks like your manager at work, wearing a tie, beaten?  WTF?  This regime is doing some bad shit!

    The undercurrent of racism in American society is real, and must be accounted for.  Organized protests are a chance to show the wider audience that it ISN'T just "those undesirable brown people in their work clothes and hoodies" protesting and standing up for American values.  It's "real Americans" (and we all know what they mean when they think "real Americans" - so give them that image).  Waving American flags, and Marine Corps flags.  Seeing a veteran stand straight with his USMC flag as a Gestapo thug pepper sprays him just for standing there?  That's how you move the needle.

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    • Like 1
    Brisketexan

    Posted

    14 minutes ago, Scheiss Meister said:

    Thanks for the suggestions.  Sadly, my service was 40 years ago, and I no longer have any of my uniform.  Not that it would fit, even if I did have it.  I will get a nice USMC cap for the event, though.

    I am fully prepared to be beaten without resisting, but I don't know how I would handle my wife being struck.  I have to prepare more for maintaining my discipline in such a case.

    Good for you.  And truly, good luck.  She should protect herself as well.  There is risk, no matter what precautions you take, when you confront a state-organized criminal gang intent of ending the Republic and oppressing its citizens.  But....those people all started out as American folks, the same as you.  Make them sick to their stomachs as they go home and realize they took a club to a 60 year old woman wearing her church dress.

    They feel good about themselves when they can beat "rioters and thugs."  When they beat someone who looks like they just left church to go to Luby's?  You plant some seeds of doubt and dissent.

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    South Austin

    Posted

    5 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

    See a white lib pastor in a collar beaten?  See a lib man who looks like your manager at work, wearing a tie, beaten?  

    See edits to the reality of their perception.

    Sure, I agree wholeheartedly that racial bias is the primary lens through which MAGA nation views these protests.  But if TV coverage shows beaten protesters who are white like them, the reaction is most likely not outrage, but "Good, crack some lib skulls while you're at it!"

    Brisketexan

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, South Austin said:

    See edits to the reality of their perception.

    Sure, I agree wholeheartedly that racial bias is the primary lens through which MAGA nation views these protests.  But if TV coverage shows beaten protesters who are white like them, the reaction is most likely not outrage, but "Good, crack some lib skulls while you're at it!"

    There's some of that, sure.  But see the Civil Rights protest photos above.  Those were dirty N-words getting beaten, attacked, and firehosed.  And the white allies among them were dirty N-lovers.

    Yet....it resonated.  Slowly, just by causing some initial discomfort.  But it builds.

    Sure, the gal in the clerical collar is just a dirty lib, to their lizard brain....at first, when they are trying to rationalize it.  But it's also...a person who looks like them, in a clerical collar.  Not being violent, yet being hosed or hit with pepper spray.  It sticks in the brain, and won't go away.

    Make the evil bastards commit their atrocities in daylight, for all the world to see.  The Nazis knew that was a problem.  It's why they didn't just round up jews and slaughter them in the street where they found them.  That would have been too much, and might have turned public sympathy against them.  Ship them off, kill them by the trainload behind walls, hidden from view.  Nope, you gotta make the Nazis go nazi in broad daylight, where everyone can see them.  That's how you win.

    • Hook 'Em 1
    • Like 1
    Larry T. Spider

    Posted

    4 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

    There's some of that, sure.  But see the Civil Rights protest photos above.  Those were dirty N-words getting beaten, attacked, and firehosed.  And the white allies among them were dirty N-lovers.

    Yet....it resonated.  Slowly, just by causing some initial discomfort.  But it builds.

    Sure, the gal in the clerical collar is just a dirty lib, to their lizard brain....at first, when they are trying to rationalize it.  But it's also...a person who looks like them, in a clerical collar.  Not being violent, yet being hosed or hit with pepper spray.  It sticks in the brain, and won't go away.

    Make the evil bastards commit their atrocities in daylight, for all the world to see.  The Nazis knew that was a problem.  It's why they didn't just round up jews and slaughter them in the street where they found them.  That would have been too much, and might have turned public sympathy against them.  Ship them off, kill them by the trainload behind walls, hidden from view.  Nope, you gotta make the Nazis go nazi in broad daylight, where everyone can see them.  That's how you win.

    I completely agree, but I don’t think that’s what we are going to get. Trump is going to stoke the flames with the military followed by pictures of cars/building burned by brown people. 

    Trump thinks he can prove himself right on illegals being lawless thugs and some are going to play right into it. Wouldn’t surprise me if there are some right wing provocateurs mixed in to kick off the action.

    People with half a brain will know that these were mostly peaceful protests needlessly escalated by a power hungry orange menace. But the other 75% of our idiocracy will just see dirty minorities burning stuff and fighting cops.

    The African Americans of the civil rights movement gave us a blueprint but we rarely follow it. Amazing how they were able to organize and stick to a plan even without the ability to communicate online.

    royiv

    Posted

    Lol at wearing a suit to an outdoor protest in Texas in mid-June. Are we trying to give all the participants heat stroke?

    • Haha 3
    Steamboat1874

    Posted

    I am all for these circus events on 6/14 but I fear there will be right wingers at many of these trying to disrupt them.

    I suggest arming everyone with loaded AK47’s when they arrive for protection.

    It is as American as it gets these days.

    Brisketexan

    Posted

    1 minute ago, royiv said:

    Lol at wearing a suit to an outdoor protest in Texas in mid-June. Are we trying to give all the participants heat stroke?

    I wore slacks and a jacket (no tie) to an outdoor summer protest in 2020 (no tie).  My wife wears a black shirt and her collar to every single protest, including the summer.  Yeah, I was hot.  But image is important.   Visuals are what we the people are selling to our audience, so make the sale.

    1 minute ago, Steamboat1874 said:

    I am all for these circus events on 6/14 but I fear there will be right wingers at many of these trying to disrupt them.

    I suggest arming everyone with loaded AK47’s when they arrive for protection.

    It is as American as it gets these days.

    There will absolutely be right wingers there.  Record them, and dox them.  Own the information space.  Flood it with the right kind of visuals.

    • Hook 'Em 1
    Scheiss Meister

    Posted

    1 minute ago, Steamboat1874 said:

    I am all for these circus events on 6/14 but I fear there will be right wingers at many of these trying to disrupt them.

    I suggest arming everyone with loaded AK47’s when they arrive for protection.

    It is as American as it gets these days.

    Personally, I wish that I could react that way.  Shooting, moving, and communicating to destroy a threat is more fit to my training, and much easier.  But that won't get this mission accomplished, and the mission is everything.  Maybe another day, but not Saturday.

    Scheiss Meister

    Posted

    6 minutes ago, royiv said:

    Lol at wearing a suit to an outdoor protest in Texas in mid-June. Are we trying to give all the participants heat stroke?

    I ain't scared of some discomfort, and I plan to have a gallon of water and Liquid IV with me to fend off heat illness for my wife and me.

    Brisketexan

    Posted

    1 minute ago, Scheiss Meister said:

    Personally, I wish that I could react that way.  Shooting, moving, and communicating to destroy a threat is more fit to my training, and much easier.  But that won't get this mission accomplished, and the mission is everything.  Maybe another day, but not Saturday.

    Several years back, I was in a pretty hotly contested injunction fight against a small oil company.  It was led by the kind of guy you'd expect -- a hothead who was used to always getting his own way.  After a half day of hearing, it was obvious that he was going to lose, and we were going to block his project.  The judge told us to go into the jury room and talk, based on what had happened so far, and see if we could work out a deal.

    I sat in a chair on one side of the room.  He was pacing on the other side, with his lawyer.  I told him - in a pretty measured way - how this should work out.  It meant he was going to have to move his project from the planned location.  That pissed him off.  He came at me, and it was quite apparent that he intended to throw a punch.  And I distinctly remember thinking "I'm going to leave my hands here by my side, so - in front of multiple witnesses - he punches someone who isn't a threat, and didn't even raise his hands.  Because then, I WIN."  His lawyer ran the same calculus, and ran over there to grab his client and turn him away.

    It would have sucked to get punched in the face.  But goddammit, I'd have not only won my case on all points for my client, I'd have had a nice high-dollar assault suit to go with it.  Letting the bad guy do bad guy shit where everyone can see and no longer deny they're a bad guy is one of the ways you can win big.  Wasn't looking forward to the bruised face.  But couldn't back away from the opportunity for the big win.

    • Hook 'Em 4
    • Like 2
    Pato del Muerto

    Posted

    15 minutes ago, royiv said:

    Lol at wearing a suit to an outdoor protest in Texas in mid-June. Are we trying to give all the participants heat stroke?

    Golf attire. 

    Scheiss Meister

    Posted

    1 minute ago, Pato del Muerto said:

    Golf attire. 

    That's basically my plan.

    wildcat09

    Posted

    1 hour ago, wildcat09 said:

    Yeah, Trump THINKS widespread protests help him, but they didn't help him in 2020 and they're not likely to help him now. People are confusing the fact that there is often a later backlash to protests with the immediate politics of protests.

    Would ya look at that?

     

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    • Like 1
    royiv

    Posted

    10 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

    Golf attire. 

    IMG_2409.jpeg.1a9b9aa94d3e77d8c48bee1a184adebf.jpeg

    • Hook 'Em 1
    • Haha 4
    • Drool 1
    Fudge Nuggets

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Eskimohorn said:

    The audience is always the American people, who are trying to decide who they can trust; who will not embarrass them.

    The same American people that elected Trump a second time?  Yeah not wanting to be embarrassed flew right out the window. How far up his own ass is this guy’s head?

    Pescado_Rojo

    Posted

    20 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

    Would ya look at that?

     

    I'm appalled that "Approve" is in the mid-30s.  

    • Hook 'Em 4
    • Like 1
    ChuckNorrisActionJeans

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Eskimohorn said:

    Just saw this post online…

    Zen priest, Peter Coyote, on protest: "I’m watching the Los Angeles reaction to ICE raids with trepidation and regret.

    Three years ago I taught a class at Harvard on the “theater of protest”— designed to help people understand why so many protests turn out to be Republican campaign videos working directly against the interests of the original protest.

    A protest is an invitation to a better world.

    It’s a ceremony.

    No one accepts a ceremonial invitation when they’re being screamed at.

    More important you have to know who the real audience of the protest is.

    The audience is NEVER the police, the politicians, the Board of supervisors, Congress,etc.

    The audience is always the American people, who are trying to decide who they can trust; who will not embarrass them.

    If you win them, you win power at the box office and power to make positive change.

    Everything else is a waste.

    There are a few ways to get there:

    1. Let women organize the event. They’re more collaborative. They’re more inclusive, and they don’t generally bring the undertones of violence men do.

    2 Appoint monitors, give them yellow, vests and whistles. At the first sign of violence, they blow the whistles and the real protester sit down.

    Let the police take out their aggression on the anarchists and the provocateurs trying to discredit the movement.

    3. Dress like you’re going to church. It’s hard to be painted as a hoodlum when you’re dressed in clean, presentable clothes.

    They don’t have to be fancy they just signal the respect for the occasion that you want to transmit to the audience.

    4. Make your protest silent. Demonstrate your discipline to the American people. Let signs do the talking.

    5. Go home at night. In the dark, you can’t tell the cops from the killers. Come back at dawn fresh and rested.

    I have great fear that Trump’s staging with the National Guard and maybe the Marines is designed to clash with anarchists who are playing into his hands and offering him the opportunity to declare an insurrection.

    It’s such a waste and it’s only because we haven’t thought things through strategically.

    Nothing I thought of is particularly original.

    It was all learned by watching the early civil rights protests in the 50s and 60s.

    And it was the discipline and courage of African-Americans that drew such a clear line in the American sand that people were forced to take sides and that produced the civil rights act.

    The American people are watching and once again if we behave in ways that can be misinterpreted, we’ll see this explained to the public in Republican campaign videos benefiting the very people who started this.

    Wake up.
    Vent at home.
    In public practice discipline and self control.

    It takes much more courage."
    — Peter Coyote
    Zen teacher and author/narrator, with Ken Burns

    Note: Carry an American flag. As the administration creates a fake emergency to justify a state crackdown, it's important to honor the values and vision of democracy for which we're advocating.

    When the Enquirer came for pics back in 2017, I smiled a big toothy grin and held a big flag as it felt so empowering and good to stand with my adult daughter, pastors, Franciscans, nuns, kids, parents, grandparents and some women from our women's groups for the values we tried to pass on.

    After the protest, we sang and marched to a church where we heard poignant witness of immigrants trying to build a better life for their families against insurmountable odds.

    Many Marines, National Guardsmen and vets are over on Threads and Substack expressinging their disagreement over being used by this lawless administration.

    Peace, santi and shalom to all. emoji3522.png

    — Leslie Flood Hershberger

    It's not that there isn't merit in this, but it's so exhausting that one side has to be damned near "perfect" and the other side gets to be as toxic as possible without repercussion. What are the odds that the protests can all be done with the perfect tone and complete solidarity and absence of violence/destruction from anyone? And regardless of whether it's even near "perfect", it'll be like in an abusive relationship --- "LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!"

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    • Like 1
    Longhorn_Fan68

    Posted

    30 minutes ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

    I'm appalled that "Approve" is in the mid-30s.  

    why? it used be dreadfully close to 50%. that's an improvement over equally idiotic polls and opinions of the past. celebrate the small victories

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    LCHorn

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

    I'm appalled that "Approve" is in the mid-30s.  

    Let's be honest--there's a lot of stupid in this country and social media has convinced them their opinion is valid and under-represented.   

    • Hook 'Em 2
    Eskimohorn

    Posted

    It's not that there isn't merit in this, but it's so exhausting that one side has to be damned near "perfect" and the other side gets to be as toxic as possible without repercussion. What are the odds that the protests can all be done with the perfect tone and complete solidarity and absence of violence/destruction from anyone? And regardless of whether it's even near "perfect", it'll be like in an abusive relationship --- "LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!"

    Think it misses the point. Protests against authoritarian powers need to be non-violent using coordination and organization. The goal is not to strenuously object and vent frustration. The goal is to direct action. Unmask hypocrites. Reveal their true nature to as many people as possible. Make their lives uncomfortable.

    Once there is violence and destruction, the protest is over. It’s a riot. Then the public wants to hold someone responsible. It gives the authoritarians power and control to do what they must. You see women and children and men dressed in suits get hospitalized, arrested, etc, that makes a bigger difference than anarchists getting bloodied.
    • Hook 'Em 2
    'stache

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, Eskimohorn said:


    Think it misses the point. Protests against authoritarian powers need to be non-violent using coordination and organization. The goal is not to strenuously object and vent frustration. The goal is to direct action. Unmask hypocrites. Reveal their true nature to as many people as possible. Make their lives uncomfortable.

    Once there is violence and destruction, the protest is over. It’s a riot. Then the public wants to hold someone responsible. It gives the authoritarians power and control to do what they must. You see women and children and men dressed in suits get hospitalized, arrested, etc, that makes a bigger difference than anarchists getting bloodied.

    Pretty sure you’re the one who’s missing the point. The starting point is that nothing in LA is a “riot” same with all of the George Floyd protests. With every large gathering there will be some bad actors who either support the cause using violence or who don’t care about the cause and see an opportunity to cause trouble. Local police know how to handle this without tear gassing and rubber bulletins the entire crowd (in theory at least). His other point was that anything the left protests get defined by the few while the right gets away with whatever the fuck because we are officially a shithole country. The very fact that we’re still having this conversation is obnoxious because even non troll regular contributors around here seem to be falling for the right’s tactics of defining the group by the acts of a few and more egregiously outright lies with photos of other events and bs stories from lying liars.  At minimum there should be agreement that nothing justifies national guard and fucking marines but here we are still debating what should be an open and shut question. No US military action against people on US soil. Period.

    • Hook 'Em 3
    Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand

    Posted

    Quote

    She questions how the state plans to regulate PFAS — also known as “forever chemicals” — in fracking water, when it hasn’t been able to do so in biosolids.

    “TCEQ is also the permitting authority for biosolids, and they say that they’re not able to regulate PFOs in the biosolids. So how are they going to regulate PFOS and fracking?” she asked. “There would be number one, no criminal charge that could be brought. There would be no civil case that could be brought. And that is very, very wrong."

    https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/abbott-signs-law-permitting-use-of-fracking-wastewater/287-89df9861-29c7-4faa-b658-d651f94013ae

    • Rage+1 5



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