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We’reTexas

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by We’reTexas

  1. Yes, absolutely agree. Love having my president chosen this groupthink.
  2. Yes, this is is right, but it’s complicated. SF and LA are nice places to be homeless because the weather is great. People hear that treatment centers are plentiful, which also makes it a destination for people with addictions. And finally, a la South Park, they do get bussed in from other cities. The lack of criminal prosecution certainly has an impact of the open air drug use here; I feel like every time a reporter asks a junkie why they aren’t shooting up in Oakland or San Mateo county, they respond, “Because I’d get arrested!”. But it’s certainly not clear that criminal prosecution would help the situation. If you’re curious about the situation, Google “Chesa Boudin”. Oregon, on the other hand, is very different.
  3. It is. 15 years ago they were all about freedom fries and Reaganomics. Now the Iraq invasion and free markets are a farce. But socialism is still evil.
  4. There’s no way you weren’t a “freedom fries” guy 17 years ago.
  5. I just took a spin and they’ve also embraced draft dodging (my favorite sentiment is how they are glad he dodged Vietnam so he could live to save the nation).
  6. Yes, they will be remembered as some of the most effective people to hold their respective leadership positions - particularly Pelosi in her control of the Caucus during the House ACA vote
  7. Yes, Pontchartain is a good choice. The Hot Tin is opened as a Jack Rose pop up right now (the restaurant downstairs). The Chloe, a hotel from the Leblanc + Smith group (Sylvain, Barrel Proof, Meauxbar RIP), opens this week.
  8. I disagree. Money, through whatever form it flows, will buy influence. Its obviously a problem, but I don’t think it’s governable. As for examples of the value of experience? Mitch McConnell. Nancy Pelosi. Chuck Schumer. I used to work on the Hill (both Senate and House) and can attest to the value of experience: experienced legislators build strong brands and in turn attract top staff talent and build high performing offices. Ted Kennedy, for example, was probably the most lucrative Democratic office in the 2000s. And it takes time to ascend through the party: consider the 20 year or so it took John Boehner to ascend to power. His tenure served his district, and Ohio, well. Oh, and sometimes one can actually learn be an effective legislator - see Robert Byrd.
  9. Yeah, the NYT had a great article on this a few months ago. It wasn’t groundbreaking reporting, just succinctly captured why I have been repulsed by the conservative movement for my entire twenty years of politics consciousness: insular white people who experience the complex world and are frightened by it, and because they view the world as a zero-sum game they view any push for change as an attack on their community. So they fight back, but they are just “defending their values” while anyone else is just a social agitator set on destroying America.
  10. In San Francisco and voted straight D. Living in Texas my vote never mattered - really wish I were there this year to contribute. Big measures here were Prop 15 (repealing Prop 13 for commercial - for), Prop 22 (keeping Uber drivers independent contractors - for) and locally Prop H (streamlining commercial permitting - absolutely for).
  11. We need this to be this week’s SNL cold opener, with Danny Devito as deranged Giuliani. How do we get Lorne Michaels on the horn?
  12. Because it’s really, really nice. -Dude who moved from TX to the Bay a few years ago.
  13. Windsor Court or the Roosevelt? Was in NO last week and it’s still substantially shut down (and I live in SF for reference). That was mostly because most places weren’t bothering with outdoor stuff until the weather cools down, so there should hopefully be more activity soon. Indoor dining capacity increased as well.
  14. That’s fair. I should have provided some detail, but I was simply illustrating my point that public health officials have frequently acted without regard for broader consequences and without check by elected officials. I don’t think anyone would argue health equity isn’t important, but I don’t think now is the time to solve decades of systematic inequities while small businesses are on the brink (and my understanding is the new metric could have been much more forceful). For example, the poorest neighborhoods in Alameda County are at about the 3x the county rate - that could seriously impede reopening and I’m not sure at what benefit to hit the 5% mark. And my only point here is that it’s possible to have an actual discussion over this while recognizing that the virus is not an Obama hoax.
  15. See, I largely agree with this sentiment. Public health officials are effectively governing in many areas without any thought to the broader impact of their actions as elected officials defer to them on tough decisions. I live in the Bay Area, which is especially draconian. (I shit you not that the CA reopening plan now has a health equity metric to address racial and socioeconomic disparities - even Berkeley opposed it). But being upset with the governance doesn’t mean that this isn’t a serious public health issue.
  16. I’ve been mulling over this for a while and, as a corporate attorney, I think this is one of the most ridiculous things he has ever said. A few thoughts: - Generally, this proposed arrangement often brings up acronyms like “FCPA” and “OFAC”. - The US has an extensive regulatory apparatus governing corporate activity and securities transactions to protect the public. Nominal fees are often charged, as in the case of securities offerings or HSR filings, to support the strain on the applicable regulatory authority. The idea that the government should be entitled to the value of corporate activity for enabling it is just completely discordant with every principle of our state. It literally is corruption. - Holy fuck - could you even imagine how Fox News would react if Obama proposed something like this?
  17. Yes, and will also add that the 60% of forest land in CA is federal land and that a significant number of fires start not in forests but in grasslands. The west is naturally conducive to fires - it’s climate change (and to a degree poor forest management) that have resulted in worse fires in recent years.
  18. OK Donald.
  19. Did it seriously take Mark Felt to die for you to believe Watergate?
  20. ^^^Herb Caen is triggered in his grave
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