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BevoAbyss

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  1. This is what a THEOCRACY does. In Cincinnati, in Texas, in Alabama, wherever. This is what happens when the Church and its fact-free myths take over the state. Going flat out f*cking medieval! The "Right to Life" means "Ready for Death." Expect Pain. Expect Violence. And, yes, expect deaths. Many. Coming in the faith-ruled future. Public stonings, floggings, hangings, executions. Doctors, educators, scientists will practice in fear. Medieval America is here.
  2. “When the chips were down he chose America and freedom over Russia.” Lulz. Mitch McConnell is a frat boy fascist who empowered the Handmaid's Tale and death of democracy in America -- end of story. All else is a smokescreen or trivial and irrelevant.
  3. The defining trait is doublethink. Or, as Orwell put it, believing that 2+2=5. Most people think 1984 is all about surveillance and loss of freedom under Big Brother. But, it is doublethink that props up Big Brother, the propaganda, and the entire totalitarian system. And doublethink is all over American culture, hence the rise in fascism and authoritarianism and overall idiocy. Doublethink is the cognitive ability to hold two contradictory beliefs and think both are true at the same time. Rather than feel shame, the doublethinker feels pride in knowing they can cognitively stand astride reality and believe falsehoods are truth. They have to believe that to avoid guilt and shame. That's why MAGA-GQP is impervious to facts and logic. That's why MAGA-GQP always feels superior to everyone, especially any intellectuals -- elitist, educator, leftist, scientist, philosopher, etc... -- who might demand consistency. The media will never demand that in any rigorous manner. It is doublethink -- and the ability to get away with all over the media/cultural landscape -- that empowers MAGA-GQP-Christian theocrats. It's one thing to show the funny hypocrisy, but no one will really press them on the doublethink as a form of madness. Orwell knew doublethink was madness. That the ultimate warning in 1984.
  4. This is 100% spot on. Many of the Founders were "Deist" -- a worldview counter to mere "faith" and "revelation", in favor of rational thinking, empirical evidence, and overall general Enlightenment ideals of the era. The Founders were very imperfect, to be sure, and rife with contradictions (ie, slavery and conquest of indigenous peoples). However, science played a key role in the overall thought of the Founders and how they set up of the Constitution/Division of Powers, etc. See the book, Science and the Founding Fathers by Bernard Cohen (in Amazon, the summary is excellent). That belief in general science and evidence is one reason the VERY FIRST LINE in the First Amendment mandates "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." The Christian Nationalists utterly ignore that line, like they ignore any evidence that counters their fanaticism. Let me add to the posts above: 1) "Christian Nationalists" are, in fact and deed, Christian theocrats. They hide behind the seemingly patriotic term of "nationalists." They 100% want an American theocracy, in which they rule the nation under the Bible. For them, in their historical ignorance, the Bible is the foundation for America and trumps any secular laws or science. -- Hence, we will see much more anti-science lunacy followed by tyranny based in the lunacy and madness. 2) These are not fake Christians. They believe that God ordained that America be a Christian nation ruled by the church, at the very outset. That can only mean that God/Christianity approved of the genocide/ethic cleansing of the indigenous peoples living in the "Americas" prior to 1492. Racism and White Supremacy are 100% at the very start of America. It was never about peace and love, until after conquest, colonization, and conversion to Christianity. In their irrational conquest for "purity," they have proven to be barbaric and blood thirsty. -- Surly posters, please spare the apologia based in cherry-picking verses from the Bible and Sunday School, and noting a few good deeds done for those already colonized. MAGA-GQP-Evangelicals-Fundamentalists-Creationists are not fake Christians.
  5. This is 100% correct. So was DEVO in the 1980s. In my lifetime on this speck hurtling through the cosmos, the Christians (and highly religious from all faiths) have been all about restricting choices in the name of God's will, "Satan" is evil, "Sex is a sin," the "Bible says so," etc.. etc...etc. Especially restricting the choices for women, but eventually everyone. I saw it with the Baptist Bible thumpers at my high school, who were no different than the GQP theocrats running Texas and now moving for a national takeover. LULZ to everyone from the Left or Right who is somehow "surprised" by what the GQP is. ... or "can't understand" it .... or think the "incels" are to blame... or the "grifters" ... or the "weird". All terms I have seen used in Surly to describe the GQP and remain in denial. Bottom line, The Christians/GQP and are taking society backward. Jerry Falwell said that was the goal 40 years ago! Hell, badass DEVO saw it coming 40 F*CKING YEARS AGO! Their name was about the devolution of society. The "new wave" foretold the old wave. Here are lyrics that conclude their song, "Freedom from Choice." "Freedom of Choice is what you got, Freedom from choice is what you want" Indeed, we are in DEVO-lutionary times... the Devolutionists are running Texas and the SEC South ... The Devolutionists are winning.
  6. With all due respect, there is one group, and one group only "driving" it -- Christians and the highly religious, incel or not. No different than the Bible-thumping Baptists in my Texas high school a few decades ago. Christian fundamentalists, evangelicals, creationists (FEC) are on the march, almost completely unchecked, across America. The Christian FEC have taken over the GQP, own the Supreme Court. They a get a free pass from the US media and corporate America, yet still complain that their "freedoms are under attack." These are NOT fake Christians or fake faithful, so save the apologia for someone else. The history of Christianity (and religion in general) across the millennia has long been fueled by patriarchy, misogyny, sexism, and oppression of women (not to mention the racism and genocide of native peoples). Add on the anti-science idiocy, and we see a movement taking 21st century society backwards by decades and centuries. The cultural goal is not merely to end recreational sex. It is to turn the clock back to the Christian view of the good ole days of "faith and virtue" -- to use the law of the state to impose pain, guilt, humiliation, misery, and endless degradation of women as autonomous self-directing humans with equal rights. As was clear in the ancient legal citations in the Alito Dobbs opinion, the goal is to return to medieval times, with a violent fascist theocracy ruling an ever-more barbaric America. And, you know what -- the Democrats will not call them out (in any serious way) for fear of losing voters. Or being called "intolerant." Imagine that, can't call out the most intolerant people in America for fear of being called intolerant ... and attacking their "freedoms." As they attack the freedoms of everyone else!
  7. Theocracy on the march in America. Clock going backward by decades, centuries, to Alito's medieval times. Texas, Bama, Mississippi are leading the way. Looks like UT joined the right conference for the theocratic politics of MAGA-ruled Texas. The SEC, formerly just the confederate conference, now home to the idiot world combo of malignant MAGA fascists and Bible-thumping theocrats. FYI: Anyone on this board who thinks Texas joined the SEC only for "big boy" football/sports and $$$ is utterly naive. Football/sports is the smokescreen for the underlying BOR-BMD goal is to align Texas with the fascist theocracy emerging from the South.
  8. Bottom line: Rogan is just the latest illustration of a massive intellectual collapse or devolution in 50-60% (or more) of the US population. How/Why? Not sure when it "began," but it accelerated after the Apollo moon landings, secularism's great technological triumph for all to see. 1) TV has long been accelerating the collapse -- especially with endless shows celebrating every kind of idiocy, supernaturalism, UFOs, Ancient Aliens, conspiracy theories, and presenting anti-intellectualism/anti-science as a virtue, etc. -- Why did I say 50-60%? Because I have met far too many people on the "Left" (or libs or dems) who believe in array of conspiracy theories and general anti-science beliefs. All in the name of being "anti-capitalist" or "anti-corporate" and embracing cultural relativism. Meaning that all beliefs are "relative" and there are no universal standards for empirical truths -- except, of course, for the belief in anti-capitalism. -- The first anti-vaxxers I ever met (or even heard about) were leftist/liberals at UT-Austin around 1990. 2) Followed by social media platforms, which are empowering idiocy far beyond TV and are literally overrunning our secular education systems. 3) Underneath much of this is religion, of course, especially the unchecked proliferation of evangelicalism-fundamentalism-creationism since the 1970s. 4) The failure of art, science, and secular philosophy to develop a meaningful narrative for a shared destiny in the wake of Apollo moon landings, Hubble telescope, and the cosmology of the big bang. For example, Hollywood cranks out endless space monsters and Star Wars rebel-tribal battles, nowhere enough 2001 or Star Trek quest for knowledge and understanding. -- The failure to develop a widely embraced narrative to unity humanity as a single species, sharing a tiny planet with all other life forms, hurtling around a spiral galaxy in a universe of two trillion galaxies stretching across 100 billion light years. 5) The first 4 are anchored in humanity's narcissism (collectively and individually), which might be impossible to overcome, as we all want the universe to revolve around us and our little existence, to make us feel super-special with an important or eternal destiny. Thus, consumerism, social media, and religion fit the bill. Bottom line, I think America is devolutionary toast, long-term, and will drag down the rest of the world. Final stop: Planet of the Apes (1968 version). And the evolution starts all over again.
  9. The idea that Trump or MAGA or GQP is close to being "finished" or have no policies or agenda or legislative prowess is utterly laughable. Hell, it is unfolding right before our eyes! MAGA-GQP-Trump has been building for 40 f*cking years. Since Reagan and the Bushes, especially W the idiot and the Tea Party. Trump will leave the scene, at some point, but the next GQP leader will be just as fascist (or worse), even as they seem reasonable. -- They have very clear policies, all well-known, which are 100% fascist and theocratic. Their stated goal is white Christian rule under the Bible, which "trumps" the Constitution. They own the Supreme Court and shot down Roe, women flee for their lives to exercise their reproductive rights, Abbott has a war machine and prison camp at the border with guns aimed at immigrants (brown people). The rights of LGBTQIA people are under assault. They are systematically undermining elections, voting rights, and secular education, while banning books, attacking science-doctors-educators. And this is all for starters. It is the plan that keeps working across time: Target/terrorize others, celebrate violence, claim patriotism, undermine knowledge, champion a sacred text, anoint "great leader," attack "reality," sow chaos, seize power, impose violent rule, silence/marginalize any resistance, etc... But, yeah, Trump and GQP and MAGA are "finished" and have no winning agenda. Only some well-off dudes in the burbs could believe that....
  10. LULZ on any comment that claims Trump or MAGA or GQP is "finished" or destroyed or have no policies.
  11. At least Texas Monthly called it what it is: "Christian Theocracy." That rag known as Texas Tribune (#bothsides) does not have the brains and/or backbone to label anything MAGA-GQP as Christian Theocracy. Same with any Texas newspaper or TV-radio news, I would imagine. None of this is surprising, if one has been paying attention for the past 4 decades. I'll say it again: the Christian fascist theocracy been building since Reagan-Falwell, expanding right through the Bushes and megachurch clown-show Texas, and seizing power through Trump chaos and MAGA idiot-world America. Any vote for Reagan, the Bushes, Trump, or any Texas GOP politician helped enable all this Bible-thumping theocratic, fascist BS.
  12. This is a friendly reply everyone. Exactly. I used the term "football gods" as a metaphor for fortunate or random events in the universe that often seem inexplicable. It's a metaphor! This is not making an excuse for Texas losing or going aggy. Repeat: It is a metaphor! Did y'all not take a literature class at UT? Never listened to rock music? Metaphors galore. 1. I never said Washington was not the better team. They clearly were last night. -- Sometimes the "best team" wins, despite the football gods or random strange events (Washington did). Sometimes the "worse team" wins (Tech in 08) due to strange, fortunate events (Gideon dropped INT followed by Crabtree catch). That's what are also often called "upsets." 2. But, somehow Texas had 4 shots to win the game with the Huskies, through the gaffes/fortunate events that gave Texas a shot. Pick what ever metaphor you want: Washington opened the door or failed to close the door, random luck, fortunate events, football gods, tossed a bone. (Switzer called OU's continual lucky plays "Sooner Magic." Grrrrrr!) 3. Last night, it was as if the football gods (or random chance in the universe) reached out to Texas, as if to say, here is your chance to make up a bit for 2008 (Tech) and 2009 (Bama). The Longhorns blew the chance to play for a very winnable title in Houston. I get it, we are all happy with the Big 12 title and Sark this year has done way more than the previous two dudes and late Mack. That's great. But history shows "title chances" are generally rare and you have to seize chances (especially the unlikely chances) when presented, and especially when you are not the best team on the field. That's why the loss was "catastrophic" and will remain so, no less than 08 Tech, 09 Bama, 01 Colorado. Just my take, using some book learnin' from UT (and elsewhere). Carry on. Have a good year!
  13. The football gods lined up the stars for Sark, Ewers, and Company. Sadly, they blew it at the end. 1. Title game in Houston, making it like a de facto home game. 2. Bama chokes, meaning Horns don't have to beat Saban twice in a season (not impossible, but surely a tall task). 3. Washington's massive gaffes on last drive literally gift us a chance to snatch the game. 4. The football gods then give us two epic completions, followed by 4 shots from inside the 15. None even close to being a score. Mind-boggling bad calls from Sark, bad passes from Ewers. We all saw it. -- If we score a TD pass, Sark/Ewers are instant eternal Longhorn legends. If we score, I think the title game would be in the bag vs. Harbaugh's crap offense in Houston. The UT crowd energy would have been through the roof after a miraculous comeback. That's why this game had a f*cking catastrophic ending! The ending of this game will trigger misery for Longhorns for decades. I think this game exceeds the Simms collapse/Colorado loss in 2001 Big 12 title game, when the stars lined up for a title chance and Mack/Simms blew it. It is what it is. A lost chance to play for CFP title in Houston. And title game chances are rare and must be taken when presented, especially when given by the football gods. (And a chance to inflict apocalyptic Aggy misery!)
  14. Roma. You are 100% spot on. "Climate change" is nowhere near accurate/serious enough to describe what humanity is doing to Planet Earth—from global warming ... to plastic-filled rivers/oceans ... to CO2 spewing in the atmosphere ... to loss of biodiversity .... to habit destruction ... to humanity creating its own fossil layers as we transform the Earth's surface and ecosystems. Scientists have a name for it: the "Anthropocene," the human epoch. And it is leading to the 6th Extinction Event. Most of the world is in denial. Similarly, pundits, editors, talking heads, and almost all the mainstream media do the exact same thing with MAGA-GQP-Republican Party. They are not mere "conservatives" ... or "hard right ... or "extremists" ... or "evangelicals" ... or "Christian nationalists." These terms are too neutral, not strong enough, or longer even accurate. It's clear to anyone with the eyes and ears open, MAGA-GQP-Republicans are fascists and theocrats, at least according to any dictionary not tossed out of a Texas high school library. The MAGA-GQP-Republican goal, as they have repeatedly said and shown is to install and impose fascism (racist, nationalist, authoritarian, suppression of opposition), backed with violence, all under Biblical rule, i.e., a theocracy. That's the goal. They are working hard on it. They are making it happen. Fascism and theocracy need to used in the headlines and all talking points when discussing Trump, Abbott, MAGA, GQP, Republicans. But it won't happen. Most of America is in denial. That apparently includes most Democrats. Same with terms like climate catastrophe, climate cataclysm, Anthropocene, etc. Not happening either.
  15. The goal is not protect purity, but to make people feel guilty. As Orwell showed, making people guilt/shame about sexual pleasure is a powerful way to control/suppress their existential desire for freedom/liberation. Hence the "Anti-Sex League." Of course, behind the scenes, sex was totally happening among the Party Elite. Not unlike Moms For Liberty founder threesomes and whatever sex MGA-GQP power brokers are in to. Amazing how Orwellian is the Party of Freedoms!
  16. 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of Gregory Johnson burning an American flag in Dallas, across from the Convention Center holding the Reagan coronation that was the 1984 Republican National Convention. Johnson was arrested and convicted of violating a Texas flag protection law. The case made it to the Supreme Court and in a 5-4 opinion, the Court sided with Johnson and held that flag-burning was "symbolic speech" and protected by the First Amendment. Has anyone in Texas burned a Texas flag in protest of Abbott, Paxton, MAG-GQP, anti-abortion law? (I don't live in Texas, so I might have missed that story.) Will any of the Surly Leftists get out the matches/gasoline and torch a Texas flag in protest of Abbott, Paxton, MAGA-GQP? Or is the Lone Star love too deep, even as fascism/theocracy take over the state? Or the fear of MAGA-Proud Boys-Kyle Rittenhouses exercising their Second Amendment rights to shoot Leftist protestors?
  17. Imagine Texas ruled by MAGA-GQP for decades longer or perhaps the rest of the century. The border issues will include stopping "illegal" immigration, but also stopping the other "Threats to Texas" seeking to exit the Lone Star State. Even it is just barricades and razor wire along the borders, the wall is sold to Texans for keeping immigrants out, but also conveniently used to keep people in. The wall will be branded something like the "Lone Star Wall" or "Davy Crockett Alamo Wall" and will also include the New Mexico border and perhaps the other states. Depends on the exit routes. Police, vigilantes, and social media posses will be approved to hunt them down. First targets will be: -- Pregnant women seeking an abortion (and those who help them). -- Doctors charged with bogus crimes for treating/aiding women during pregnancy. -- "Illegal" immigrants seeking to avoid 10-year jail terms for merely being in Texas, 20 years if they held a job a Texan could have had. Anyone helping immigrants. The list of "Threats to Texas" will grow to include the following people on the run: -- Librarians with banned/unapproved books hidden in their homes or public storage units. -- LGBTQIA people and those who help them. -- Educators teaching evolution in secret meetings in backrooms of homes, libraries, bars, indie coffeehouses. -- Any educator not teaching the GQP-MAGA-Christian approved history of Texas and the world. -- Scientists not teaching the 6000-year old universe in their courses. -- Flag burners who torch the Texas flag as form of protest (and you know it is coming very soon!). -- Environmentalists protesting widespread eco-destruction approved under Christian Dominion ideology. -- Religious believers who have not shown sufficient allegiance to the approved Christian theology, White Christian rule, etc. -- Atheists -- And who knows what other targets for Texas thoughtcrimes will be created in this glorious future. Long Live the Lone Star State!
  18. Solid post. But the "intellectual concept you are describing for has been identified and fully explained. It is called "doublethink" -- the cognitive process in which a person holds two opposite, contradictory propositions and believes both to be true at the same time and in the same respect. Thanks to George Orwell and the masterpiece 1984. Most people think 1984 is all about Big Brother and surveillance. But the underlying ideology and mass cognition was doublethink expressed through "newspeak" (dumbed down language), powered by the Ministry of Truth. That kept the entire totalitarian Oceania/Big Bro system running. We now have social media, which empowers doublethink and newspeak on a planetary scale, in ways that Orwell could hardly have imagined. One other key thing Orwell pointed out about doublethink: Deep inside, the doublethinker knows they stand astride truth and falsehood, so it must be ingrained in them to feel huge pride (not shame) in their cognitive powers. The must feel awesome as they tower above above logic and reason, thumping their chest for all to see, especially Big Bro and the Party Intellectuals. And for Republicans, we all know Big Bro is Trump and the Party Elite is MAGA.
  19. Y'all can keep making lame excuses for Abbott. But, the 100% unimpeachable fact is: Greg Abbott is a fascist theocrat who is doing what 55% of Texas voters want. That's implementing laws to impose a fascist theocracy in Texas. The goals of MAGA-GQP include Texas under Biblical rule in a merger of church and police-state. How much more evidence do y'all need? Texas is fast becoming a full-on fascist theocratic state. It's only going to get more authoritarian and insane. The ACLU is correct to issue warnings. And Texas will be fascist/theocratic until 51% voters say otherwise for a couple of decades.
  20. Oh, we know who a large swath (45-60%) of Abbott's Texas is, what they believe, the world they desire. Dystopian sci-fi predicted it, Hollywood has filmed it for decades.
  21. The belief that a Supreme Court ruling represents the "opportunity to reset the GOP" is one the most laughable things I have read on this site. -- But it expresses an underlying belief system for some (not all) Republicans/conservatives on this site and in America. Namely, that Trump is an anomaly, somehow. And if the cancerous Trump is gone, GOP will return to its halcyon days of defending tradition, capitalism, lower taxes, and, of course, keeping American strong with nukes, guns, flags, eagles, etc. Where in the hell have you Republicans/conservatives been for 40 years? Sitting in your McMansion counting your $$$ with a Ronnie Reagan portrait above your desk? Everything that is happening now in the MAGA-GQP has been building for decades. Since Reagan! There is NO going back. -- They finally got Roe and abortion. On the table since Reagan. 35 years before Trump/MAGA showed up. -- They are targeting the "immigrants" with razor wire, partial border walls, and now can arrest anyone who might be an illegal immigrant. On the table since Perot's United We Stand convention. 20 something years before Trump/MAGA. -- They are attacking secular education on all fronts, getting the Bible/God in schools. On the table since Reagan and Falwell held hands. 35 years before Trump/MAGA -- They are attacking science on numerous fronts: evolution, medical science, environmental science, cosmology. All on the table since Reagan. 35 years before Trump/MAGA's idiot world of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. Hell, these f*ckers attacked medical science during the worst global pandemic in 100 years, leaving 1.2 million Americans dead (and still counting). You think they care about people dying under their rule? -- They are attacking LGBTQ, people of color, and they will come for the non-Christians of all types. "Crossfit Atheists," look out, you'll soon be a target. "Reset the GOP." Lulz. It has been set for decades. MAGA-GQP will not stop, even with Trump gone. There is no going back. NO! It will only get worse.
  22. Lulz. Abbott and his fascist warriors ain't gonna FAFO anything. Nope, nada, nothing. Rather, the BMDs might FAFO with challenging MAGA-GQP policies. All Abbott has to do is hint is BMDs are "woke."
  23. Just think Longhorn fans: At the Sugar Bowl, Abbott will be on the sidelines hanging with CDC, McConaughy, Clemens, VY, and other UT celebs. Wouldn't be surprised to see Cruz there, too. Great look for our university on national TV. I'll say it again. Texas is home to a nakedly fascist GQP, with political ground zero in Austin, led by a UT alum, also an obvious fascist. What a f*cking disgrace.
  24. In their ranking of Texas House members, The Texas Tribune uses the standard labels of "conservative" and "more conservative" to completely normalize fascism and theocracy in Texas. Check out the article below. -- Meanwhile, women are fleeing for their lives, west Texas cities want to blockade the highways to catch them, Abbott installs razor wire at the Rio Grande, kids in cages, mass deportation of immigrants, open calls for Biblical domination of Texas, attacks on educators, book bans, anti-science idiocy everywhere (from Covid to Climate Catastrophe), the Governor endorsing for president a known insurrectionist who seeks to install himself as dictator ... The list just keeps growing. -- But the Tribune treats it like we're still in the 1980s and its just liberals v. conservatives ... when we're in 2023 and the issue is democracy vs. fascism and theocracy. (Of course, most of American media do the same.) -- The evidence is right before our eyes. The Republican Party, MAGA-GQP is fascist and theocratic, by any definition in a dictionary not tossed out of a Texas high school library. -- Saying anything less is utter denial and gaslighting the rest of us. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/15/mark-jones-texas-house-special-2023-liberal-conservative-scores/
  25. So can women of theocracy. Because that's where the anti-abortion madness is coming from. The Church. The goal is Texas Gilead.
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