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Two Billionaires Dragging Texas Hard Right, Trying to Destroy Public Education (Spent Millions on Huffines)


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  • atomheartbevo changed the title to Two Billionaires Dragging Texas Hard Right, Trying to Destroy Public Education (Spent Millions on Huffines)
11 minutes ago, Jhawkmvp said:

When it comes to how others live their lives, a normal person is like is what they are doing affecting me? Are they hurting anyone? If not, then live and let live. The problem with highly religious people is they can't just leave others alone. They have to push their religions tenants onto everyone. Religion in politics is what is driving our country to the brink. Politics is compromise.  There is no compromise with true believers and now the Republican party has done the same to politics with the evangelical/fundamentalist infection.

was just gonna say this. 

i've never understood the need to tell others what to do. that level of insecurity is so damn strange. 

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A competent opposition party in Texas would make these guys more famous than Soros and make every campaign about them.  Hell, competent Republican leadership would have beat them back before they caused the suburban backlash. 

Anyway, it's not like any of this is new:

https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/power-issue-tim-dunn-pushing-republican-party-arms-god/

Edited by WBT
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54 minutes ago, Jhawkmvp said:

When it comes to how others live their lives, a normal person is like is what they are doing affecting me? Are they hurting anyone? If not, then live and let live. The problem with highly religious people is they can't just leave others alone. They have to push their religions tenants onto everyone. Religion in politics is what is driving our country to the brink. Politics is compromise.  There is no compromise with true believers and now the Republican party has done the same to politics with the evangelical/fundamentalist infection.

It's not just religious zealotry that drives this, but a self centeredness that's at the heart of much of American life. Even if it's not a "I don't want other people to do things I don't like", we all have a little bit of "I don't want my money to be spent so that other people can do things that I don't like" in us. In this case, people with copious amounts of money feel even more territorial about it, and have the leverage to make everyone else's life miserable.

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10 minutes ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

They need to be famous, and not in a good way.

They would welcome the publicity at this point - think of Mitch McConnell and the wall in his office decorated with articles and political cartoons attacking him.  And unless another billionaire or two steps up and funds candidates to run against their candidates, nothing will or can change.  

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If about 30 - 50 million people who don’t vote don’t start voting  nationwide we are fucked to Bolivia. It’s about to be that bad and not recoverable. It’s almost over folks figure out how you want to watch it end because it’s about 11 o’clock in the evening and the end is nigh, the clock will strike midnight within the next couple of years. 

Edited by troph
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1 hour ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

They need to be famous, and not in a good way.

I learned more about ted cruz's dad in that brief program than everything to date.  Explains a whole lot of Cruz's motivation and moves.

These two zealots names should be the instant rebuttal to every time Soros is mentioned.  Dominionism should be the the rebuttal every time socialism is mentioned as an evil.   

But instead of just using words and names, we need to be able to define these people, talk about what they are doing in simple terms.   Expose their shit for what it is.

Why the TDP hasn't already started this I have no idea.  

MTG was pushing this from some pulpit today, the christian nationalism.  

Here's a good follow.  

 

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4 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

The Texas Declaration of Independence specifically cited the lack of a public education system as one of the reasons they were seceding from Mexico

This will be erased from the new Christian Nationalist textbooks 

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2 hours ago, Voldemort86 said:

Yeah…..

the legislature proved last year that they don’t give a fuck about people. They didn’t do shit to reinforce the power grid. All they care is guns, bibles, and sticking it to transgenders / gay people.

“God, guns, and gays.”

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34 minutes ago, CTC2 said:

I have no problem with God.  What I do have a problem with are those people who think they know what God wants.

The religious right thinks God wants exactly what they do. And so should you. And if you don’t then that makes you bad. 

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11 hours ago, staboner said:

was just gonna say this. 

i've never understood the need to tell others what to do. that level of insecurity is so damn strange. 

Dude, they believe in bullshit and they need to constantly validate that belief so as to not shake their fragile “confidence” in it. Every fallacy that can be used to justify this behavior has been used, and every argument that has been used to justify this behavior is fallacious.

The biggest ones they use are false equivalence and projection wherein they make believe that they’re the victims of persecution. They pretend “evolutionism is being forced down our throats against our will,” “prayer in school is illegal,” “conservative political thought isn’t allowed,” etc…all while simultaneously trying to force “intelligent design” into biology courses, reintroducing the nation to compulsory prayer in public schools, and passing all sorts of laws banning the teaching of so-called “critical race theory.”

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8 minutes ago, hpslugga said:

Dude, they believe in bullshit and they need to constantly validate that belief so as to not shake their fragile “confidence” in it. Every fallacy that can be used to justify this behavior has been used, and every argument that has been used to justify this behavior is fallacious.

The biggest ones they use are false equivalence and projection wherein they make believe that they’re the victims of persecution. They pretend “evolutionism is being forced down our throats against our will,” “prayer in school is illegal,” “conservative political thought isn’t allowed,” etc…all while simultaneously trying to force “intelligent design” into biology courses, reintroducing the nation to compulsory prayer in public schools, and passing all sorts of laws banning the teaching of so-called “critical race theory.”

Grouping them with the Taliban government in Afghanistan would not be out of the question (were the Christian centered government they desire be realized). In Afghanistan, girls over the age of 12 have still yet to be allowed back in school.

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12 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

So, I had never heard of these yokels.  

Turns out the brothers Wilks are not even Christian by any normal definition.  They are Assembly of Yahweh (7th Day), which is some weird little Old Testament, Jews for Jesus type of thing.  https://www.halleluyah.org/who-we-are

That’s double down fundamentalist. Btw normal definition Christians don’t have a problem with secular government. 

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1 minute ago, Homercles said:

Believe it was here in the CR that someone posted a very succinct Twitter thread that surmised these peoples whole life revolves around ‘I can tell you what to do, you cannot tell me what to do’.  And that is exactly the crux…

They'll shove gun, abortion, transgender, identity politics down your throat trying to force everyone into their ideal but the moment any legislature is proposed on gun control it’s “big government is overreaching”

The irony across the board…every accusation a confession, they all beat you over the head with the word freedom, they plaster themselves in American flags.  It’s disgusting 

My big government overreach is superior to yours.  You can’t tell me what to do, but I can tell you what you CAN’T do

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2 hours ago, Homercles said:

Believe it was here in the CR that someone posted a very succinct Twitter thread that surmised these peoples whole life revolves around ‘I can tell you what to do, you cannot tell me what to do’.  And that is exactly the crux…

They'll shove gun, abortion, transgender, identity politics down your throat trying to force everyone into their ideal but the moment any legislature is proposed on gun control it’s “big government is overreaching”

The irony across the board…every accusation a confession, they all beat you over the head with the word freedom, they plaster themselves in American flags.  It’s disgusting 

I literally know people who insist that “freedom of religion” as read in the first amendment is supposed to be interpreted to mean “freedom to choose between denominations of Christianity.”

They won’t say it out loud, but whenever they say “freedom of choice,” that’s supposed to mean “freedom to choose between the choices I give you.” 

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At what point do these guys' wants and needs start running afoul of the multinationals in Houston or the Joe Lonsdales and Elon Musks of the world and other PE/VC money coming to Texas (Vista, etc.)?  The playbook is there to spend a modicum amount of money on local races to get a desired result.  

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4 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

So, I had never heard of these yokels.  

Turns out the brothers Wilks are not even Christian by any normal definition.  They are Assembly of Yahweh (7th Day), which is some weird little Old Testament, Jews for Jesus type of thing.  https://www.halleluyah.org/who-we-are

Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption was already taken. 

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57 minutes ago, A-Tex Devil said:

At what point do these guys' wants and needs start running afoul of the multinationals in Houston or the Joe Lonsdales and Elon Musks of the world and other PE/VC money coming to Texas (Vista, etc.)?  The playbook is there to spend a modicum amount of money on local races to get a desired result.  

Only if their taxes go up.  In other words, never.  Your taxes and mine on the other hand…

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9 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Only if their taxes go up.  In other words, never.  Your taxes and mine on the other hand…

Fair.  Probably a bit naive on my part.  I’m not an Elon fan, but he’s enough of a troll to go after/compete with these guys presuming TWTR ends up being just a flesh wound.  

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3 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

Dunn and Wilks. Haven't seen a photo but I am imagining obesity meets Western Wear. amiwrong amiwrong?

Dunn reminds me of Ron Johnson and Wilks reminds me of that fat bald cop from breaking bad.   Neither of them are over the top in appearance.  Pretty low key looking guys.  

I watched that series on the mormon fundamentalist branch that were under a "Prophet" and trafficked young girls.  These two guys def give off that "Prophet" vibe.  

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21 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

It hasn’t reached the point where they’re bad for business, yet, but I agree with your point.  If they push too far, there are deeper pockets and bigger interests that would return fire.  Right now people like Dunn and Wilks just care more and spend more time and money influencing primaries and state and local politics, but eventually they will piss others off enough to get them equally as motivated for those races which otherwise wouldn’t catch their attention.

Of course, what constitutes “too far” to most Texans is probably way further than what most of this board would like. But these guys in particular are kind of trying to catch the tiger by its tail.  Even the other Evangelicals and MAGA types aren’t going to go along with it if they really get what they want, like replacing public schools for Tim Dunn’s version of education.  It’s not just progressives these guys can’t get along with.  These are two guys who had to start their own churches because the regular small town fire and brimstone Baptist and Church of Christ places were too progressive for them (or even just too under someone else’s control for them).

School choice sounds all well and good to the base until those people realize he really means their kids have to go to the kind of school Tim Dunn chooses, not the one they choose.  Then the holy wars start and are just as bitter as the R vs. D stuff.

Yeah, I have felt for a while that the issue in Texas that's going to eventually fuck them is going after public schools.  Small town folks love their local high school sports teams and are going to have a fit when they're put in danger.  Jr. is going to play football at Insert Name Here High School just like his dad did and if you do anything to hurt that, God have mercy on your soul.

Edited by kevwun
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2 hours ago, hpslugga said:

I literally know people who insist that “freedom of religion” as read in the first amendment is supposed to be interpreted to mean “freedom to choose between denominations of Christianity.”

They won’t say it out loud, but whenever they say “freedom of choice,” that’s supposed to mean “freedom to choose between the choices I give you.” 

And not Catholics.  Because they do like taking orders from the Vaticans.  And a lot of Catholics are minorities.

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