Those of us who live in Texas see this nonsense every day, at every level of "gummint." The people who run this state, from local school boards to town & city mayors to county sheriffs and on to Austin, are cynical (not to mention corrupt as all get-out).
How much did AG Paxton's PAC contribute the Lt. Governor's PAC? $3 million. Who presided over AG Paxton's impeachment trial? The Lt. Governor. I don't know about you, but I'm seeing a pattern...
Texas was fucked up 56 years ago when I was there running the Oleo Strut coffeehouse in Killeen. The goat ropers were the dumbest white boys I had ever seen (all the Wallace stickers on the pick'm up trucks with the gunracks in the rear windows). The politicians (all masquerading as "Democrats" then) were a collection of crooks. The only differences today is the goat ropers are dumber and the political scum now masquerade as "Republicans." What they were then, and are now, is Southernists.
I don't want to read it either. One of the things I have appreciated about Joyce's substack is that folks generally know how to express themselves without resorting to foul language. Mark was civil in his request to TCinLA. He is the parent and he (not you) can decide what his daughter 'should' know so far as cursing words. Mark may wish that she be privy to some of the best legal analysis in the US so she can be an informed voter. Why should he have to print the whole thing and redact TCinLA verbiage for his teen to read? This is a substack that should be shared with all teenagers - and adults and they shouldn't have to filter the language.
Mark was correct to ask TCinLA to please not use this language.. it's offensive period. We should try to keep the discussion civil. But no discussion can be so monitored to suit the preferences of a parent. When people are angry they say the "F" word or S**T ( I feel ridiculous writing it this way). I notice even the NYTimes uses these words though in quoting. But sometimes even a substack writer will...or a podcast guest. Kids old enough to want to know about the obscenities on the border are old enough to know about why people use these words- that is the antidote- and that they are not good to use in civil discourse.. But sometimes they are okay and we give them a pass.
Point taken. Thank you for taking your time to explain - and I understand full well where TCinLA is coming from. He is a screenwriter and F is everyday vernacular for him. I am not advocating censoring anyone. The audience here is not the screenwriters’ room with colleagues.
I am not advocating censuring anyone - just to be sensitive to all the readers here. The readers here want the experience of Joyce’s wisdom, and the perspective of their fellow substance readers, which adds so much depth, but for many, their personal preference is to not have the F word. Indeed, it needs filtered. We expect it in certain movies, publications, but not here, because this is more like Joyce’s classroom. We don’t expect this in classrooms or in graduate school communities. We expect it in graduate school parties, high school students freely, use it and so do my adult children who were shocked when I first used the word. I was an early reader, and I was seven years old when I had finished all of Steinbeck’s novels on my parents shelves, and had begun reading Hemingway. One day I left my spot by the fireplace and trout it into my mom’s kitchen and asked her “what does it mean when the Earth moves?” She took that book away. I was censured - and had to turn to reading her French books and her own college medical books. My parents bought me a large dictionary, which was the best book I ever had. They also purchased a set of Britannica encyclopedia so I could entertain myself, and subscribed to National Geographic and Popular Mechanics (still today my favorite magazine besides Wired). I read everything I could get my hands on - and I was back to reading Hemingway, Steinbeck and more. My grandma gave me my first volume of Will and Ariel Durant’s history of the world ‘’The Story of Civilization’ when I was bored in high school - falling asleep in freshman history US - i was beyond that in 5th grade) and then grew my set to the entire eleven volumes - she thought I needed those before I went to college. As soon as I was able, somewhere in my teens, I got my hands on Hemingway again. I didn’t like being censured at seven years old. And I’m not saying we censure TC. But just make language nonoffensive for all, so ‘all are welcome’ here on this most vital of all substacks. There are plenty of places on Substack one can vent. I know we are not going to get TC to say “oh pooh” when he is upset, but some us will try - for here on the Substack at least here - on Joyce’s Substack. Why? Because we need every single person here. We need to all feel vital and welcome and stay together long enough to defeat the orange monster. Indeed teenagers need to be welcome because they will soon be voting. Marc’s daughter may be 18 before November 5, 2024. Or her friends may be turning 18 and she might be the person who can inform them in making their own voting choices. What will fit their own morality? That is informed by having a clear idea of what the legal issues are with Trump and the country today Parents who want to suggest a filter for some of the writers should have their request respected. I almost wrote ‘until November 5, 2024’ but I have the sense that we are going to be together working against the egregious Christian nationalist Reconstructivists for a long while after Election Day 2024.
I love that a teenager is engaged in reading this sub stock. Reading is active. Listening to any news station no matter how clear or how much truth that has is still passive. I’m hoping Marc’s daughter submits her thoughts in writing.
Mark can ask, but that doesn't equal compliance. When Mark writes a substack, Mark can monitor language. And I promise, Mark's daughter is using this word with her friends.
You took offense, but does that make the word "offensive"? I can think of so many things that are more offensive than any four-letter word, but I shut them out at my peril.
“And as soon as they (chimpanzees) learned the poo sign they began using it like we do the word sh*t,” Byrne said. “Cursing is just a way of expressing your feelings that doesn’t involve throwing actual sh*t. You just throw the idea of sh*t around.”
Maybe TC could use the smiley poo emoji when politely mentioning atrocities at home and abroad. Nah, that’s complete bullshit. 💩 Let’s all get completely offended by the things that matter.
She knows the word. Does that fact make it ok to use in a civil discussion? She also knows porn exists on the internet. Should she be subjected to an amount, any amount, of porn simply for the fact she has been exposed to or has knowledge of its existence?
Not sure what, if any relevance her admitted knowledge of either subject has on my request to keep a discussion(admittedly an otherwise excellent one) civil.
thanks...By and large this is a civil discussion ( as others on substack, less the internet in general) and I object to people using these words and CAPS etc. in discussion. But it is open and not strictly monitored as well. It's part of learning how to navigate the world and discern. So kids, or protective parents beware.
I wonder why this word is SO forbidden by some and forever and so (therefore) used by others.. It seems to be the word we reserve to make people react, to shock. It does not make sense to me. It's the way people use it.. to let off steam, to direct anger, to shock. This is what children and all of us should understand.. and that will diffuse this reaction... not the horror that THIS word, above all is being used. It's the intentions of it.
Porn is not comparable in any way. Porn is another topic.
Kids need to know the world they are rising into beyond surface tabooing of words and not talking about realities. Not easy. They should learn the difference between a word and what people do.
I once read that profanity is the language of hate. That stopped me dead in my tracks. I grew up with a violent alcoholic Father. He used profanity when he was drunk and angry. It was like a gut punch when he got like that. I know people say it is healthy, but not for me.
And I have read multiple articles that indicate those who swear have higher IQ’s. That being said, I swear in almost every sentence I speak. Those words do not bother me, but they are not typically found in this particular Substack. If I comment, I try and tone it down. But in no way will I ask another person to speak in a way that only makes ME comfortable. You do you. And yeah, my highly educated child heard it every day too.
Mark, Exactly. Full support. I absolutely agree: your teen nor any other reader who finds 'that word' offensive needs to see it here (see my response to Potter above). Readers on Joyce's substack have addressed the same issue in the past. For some time, we have abided by unspoken mores of 'can swear like pirates in our own homes, but if we are old enough to engage in a substack like this one, be kind to the other readers: and respect those who do not want to read curse words - because they are not filtered.'
You think that "swearing like pirates" is okay in the home is okay? That's where kids learn it! One of Trump Sauce's not so secret ingredients and part of his rise is that it's okay to show your anger this way in public.. no more political correctness was/is his mantra and mode. Do we keep kids from the news?
I agree in some places, like here, we want to keep things civil. Being civil, appealing to reason, not emotion, is the better way. We should call out incivility (I do) not only in specific words. A person can use all the "right" words and still be uncivil. But an otherwise civil comment that uses THAT word should be allowed to slide imo.
Brava Mark, for encouraging your teen to read Joyce's substack. It is a fabulous preparation for when she goes to the polls. And she is getting the truth about what is going on in our country today. The 2024 election (and that is what Trump's narrative truly is all about) will have vital impact for her. I also believe that by the time someone is old enough to go to graduate school, they can figure out how to communicate without using their preferred choice of curse words: that's what I told my grad students when their words offended international students (Asian) whose culture did not include cursing in classrooms. If 'all are welcome' all need to be respected. We have had mores on this substack - TC forgot.
Of course, what Joyce has written about that’s happening in Texas isn’t even perhaps more obscene than any words used here? I want to believe that was perhaps the point in using the language used.
Native Texan here. Texas is not red. It's purple, and could very easily go blue if our districts were not so gerrymandered AND if we could just get every eligible voter to vote. In other words, about half the population is as appalled as we are. Ken Paxton is so corrupt, yet people keep voting for him, and the people who don't vote continue not to vote.
Also--I see this whole thing as a threat to our national security. Because I'm interested in eastern Europe and follow Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine closely, I also watch a lot of Russian State TV. Their hosts regularly talk about and praise Trump and lately, Mike Johnson, almost every day, including the border crisis. They refer to Trump as "Our Trump" and sometimes, "Our Trumpushka." All of them say that Russia's only hope is for a Trump presidency in 2025. Follow @JuliaDavidNews. She is a Ukrainian American who reads/speaks/understands fluent Ukrainian and Russian, and is an indispensable source for things that Russian apparatchiks say out loud about Trump and US politics. Sometimes hosts will make fun of Trump and call him a clown--which they did during his presidency. Once one of them said (during his presidency) that if Trump needed to leave the country, he might be able to find an apartment on the same street in Moscow as Viktor Yanukovitch. Yanukovitch, you will recall, had a close association with Paul Manafort, who was also Trump's campaign manager until it was discovered that he helped Putin favorite Yanukovitch get elected president of Ukraine. As a result of the Revolution of Dignity on the Maidan--the large town square in Kyiv--in late 2013 - early 2014, Yanukovitch was forced out of Ukraine by the Ukrainian people because he broke his campaign promise to the Ukrainian people by not signing a European association agreement, probably under pressure from Putin, and with Putin's man no longer in charge, Russia invaded Crimea and Donbas on Feb. 24, 2014. You may also recall that Manafort had a close relationship with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, a close Putin associate.
And we now know that Mike Johnson has received campaign $$ from Russia. If Ukraine falls, the West will fall, and that is not an exaggeration. It would be the end of the Pax americana that has been in place since the end of WWII. As problematical as the American Century has been it has, for the most part, kept the world together.
This is from last Friday night: "This fine Friday evening, I wanted to expose our Donald Trump and his plan!" -- Popov: "What else has he done?" Response: "From a standpoint of political technologies, the dude is pressing forward full force." Note the use of "our Trump." The hosts are talking about the chaos that the Rs are helping to foment, which the hosts say is to Russia's benefit. They are cheering the chaos. https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1751377767654953423
Sorry this is so long, but Americans should know that this is what is discussed on Russian State TV, almost every day. They are deliriously happy about and grateful to Trump and the Rs in the House.
I am aware of all of it and more. That Trump is running for office again and not in prison due to the slow walking of his prosecution is as much falt as his acceptance as a freaking candidate! It angers me that so many citizens take democracy for granted. Or that it was impossible to educate them on what a corrupt loser Trump has always been. Most still don't realize his real occupation-money laudrying. Sheesh. Craig Unger has written articles and books on him as have others. The film Active Measures could be a companion piece to Unger's book.The pace we are losing local news; newspapers and TV/ radio stations is in direct proportion of increased ignorance on just what is happening here much less the awareness of around the rest of the world.
I'm happy to know someone out there who 's read Craig Ungar and knows what's going on. I know there are a lot of us, but few are aware of the tiny details like we are. When I'm not following the war in Ukraine, I'm reading mostly eastern European history, which also helps me to understand the current moment.
Most Americans think the US exists outside of history and for that reason isn't subject to its vicissitudes. Because they don't know how rare and fragile democracy is, they can't imagine that the US could fall. But not only is democracy exceedingly rare in history, it never lasts, and internal strife has always been an invitation for other countries to act. One of these days the Rs just might push us off a cliff.
I do hope SCOTUS does the right thing. We should know more after oral args on Feb. 8.
They've already nearly pushed us off a cliff, before Trump. Remember the 2011 debt ceiling crisis, when our credit rating was lowered? The Tea Party people were dressed in 18th-century costumes + powdered wigs, holding signs that read, "Let her fall," "Keep your government hands off my Medicare" (!), and "Obama is a tyrant." Natural-born US citizens don't know what tyranny is. They don't know what it's like to be pulled off the street and charged with a crime they didn't commit. They don't know what it's like to be sent to the gulag, or to be tortured for hours on end for days, without a break. In the Soviet Union it was called the "conveyor method": A group of torturers would "clock in" for a few hours and when their shift was over, another group would come in and the torture would continue.
Nor do they understand the consequences of letting the US fall. Everything would stop. People would starve, etc. They're like 5-year-olds.
So true! I think they live in some delusion. I also think of East Germany and the constant spying on people, even in their own homes! And especially in their own homes for some. I recall people coming from Europe when I was school-age that were helped to the US by my Grandparents and other church organizations. I was too young to understand the politics but I could see they were traumatized. That impression never left me.
It must be that people led by authoritarianism have left behind their critical thinking skills in exchange for the fantasy. I actually know people that said they had to stop getting the local paper ( Milwaukee Journal) because they no longer agreed with it. Not FOX newsy enough apparently.
Indeed. Good to have company with others that realize the true issues that we struggle for here and in Europe. One of the reasons I believe many people are so myopic regarding the perils of living in a democracy and especially during times of unrest maybe because they have never lived with a history of being invaded in ways most of Europe has. I don't believe the Civil War is an equivalent situation. And WW2 is gone as a living memory for the most part of anyone here to remember it or the family members that lived it and then lived here.
For the people that want to"shake things uo" or worse, take the "administrative state down" I never hear what they will do after. It always seems like an aspiration but considering the same people whine and carry on about the smallest things, continously I really don't think they know what kind of chaos they are asking for. Because really, what happens next will look a lot like Putin's Russia and changing it back like a bad dinner order will not happen.
"I really don't think they know what kind of chaos they are asking for." They do not. This has been a recurrent a theme of mine. They have no idea what they're asking for--a stock market crash and an inability to find the most basic necessities, for example. The example I always use is central and eastern Europe after WWI. The war didn't end for those people in Nov. 1918. It continued until 1923. Everything fell apart. There were more people killed in central and eastern Europe between Nov. 1918 and July 1923 than were killed in the militaries of the US, Britain, and France *combined* between Aug. 1914 and Nov. 1918. There were thousands of political assassinations--376 in Germany alone. A variation of that is what they're asking for. Historian Robert Gerwarth (University College, Dublin) refers to it as "the war that failed to end."
Also, if you have lived in Europe or South America that helps clarify the issues, I believe. Nothing like tear gas and mounted police clearing the streets to get an idea, that, yes Dorothy your not in Kansas anymore!
Native Texan here. Governor (Abbott) and Senate races (Cruz, Cornyn) are not gerrymandered. Ever. I also used to consider Texas blue/purple, but that dog won’t hunt any longer. According to UT, even as of December, only 41% disapprove of Abbott, and 11% “don’t know.” That’s not blue or purple.
How many Texans does it take to change a lightbulb? None, the lightbulb is fine, but 29 million need to acknowledge their state government is broken and bringing down the entire nation, oh, and fix the power grid while they're at it.
If I'm not mistaken, Biden's "open borders" policy, with Biden's refusal to enforce laws already on the books, is at the heart of Texas’s outrage at the federal government. I suspect that, as this second secession crisis festers, it will metastasize and Texas won't secede alone. (Last time around, it was South Carolina who was way ahead of the other seceding states.)
I suspect that ruining Social Security -- as a result of the impending financial "debt spiral" meltdown that nobody wants to talk about -- will come before the open secession crisis.
On pulllease. The biggest employer in Texas is the Federal Government. The Space Center is the Federal Government. The interstates are the Federal Government. Social Security, SSI and FEMA are the Federal Government. You know what’s not.. . Texas’ own electric grid. How is that working out for Texas? Nobody, especially Texas is going anywhere. And if it does, it should go back to Mexico who it was taken from.
Didn’t the Russians infiltrate Dhonensk Province with heavy identity propaganda, Active Measures, and political corruption $. Get Dhonensk to cry foul of Kiev, and “accept” the Russian invasion as “saving” them from Kiev Federal government (nazi’s)? There are a lot of similarities here with Texas!!!
Yes, the Russians did invade Donets'k (Донецьк) Oblast (Region), as well as Crimea, in 2014, and they used propaganda that spread all over the world and was so confusing that hardly anyone knew what was happening. Reporters in the West, including the US, unwittingly repeated it.
I see you use the blue and yellow flag so I know you support Ukraine. So I hope you won't mind my correcting your spelling of Kyiv. "Kiev" is the Russian spelling. The Ukrainian language was suppressed for hundreds of years, first in the Russian Empire, then during the Soviet Union, and now in the occupied areas of Ukraine. Books in Ukrainian have been removed from libraries in the occupied areas, and Ukrainians are not permitted to speak Ukrainian. Ukrainian children are being forced to learn their lessons in Russian. So it's Kyiv, not Kiev; Kharkiv, not Kharkov; Odesa, not Odessa; Zaporizhzhia, not Zaporizhia, etc..
Yes, the similarities in *propaganda* are the same, but I would otherwise refrain from comparing what's happening in Texas to what's happening in Ukraine.
Kyiv! got it! (I'm a regular educated middle class American, that see's the war in Ukraine as part of the global threat to democracy waged by oil authoritarian governments like Russia and her allies.
I'm pointing out the similarities of propaganda to destabilize a region or country via identity politics. Destabilization is not just performed prior to a physical invasion. It can be waged way beyond the battlefields to weaken resolve and support by your enemies allies.
The battle front is not just fought physically in Eastern Ukraine. IT is fought everyday in the digital world, and this is where we are failing to defend democracy. Texas radicals and the GOP is proof we are not fighting the digital component very well. Proof is how leaders within the GOP echo Kremlin talking points without even realizing it.
If everyday Russian citizens start asking, "if Ukraine can have democracy, why cant we have it here in Russia?" So, this brings another aspect to Russian inference in our politics. Russian's seek to encourage the social division here, so they can interpret and criticize our own failings, challenges, like race and immigration of non whites, mass shootings, chaos of J6, and even the Electoral College as very bad things in their domestic speeches and debates. Putin uses a lot of our social challenges in his speeches, "see how American democracy is? Do we really want that here in Russia?"
The Kremlin Playbook by Heather Conley is a great read to understand what is happening/happed to the Republican Party. How and why are so many Republicans blind to such a mass radicalization taking place in the United States? Russia did a lot of similar propaganda/active measures in Donets'k to justify their invasion. The promotion of the false claim that Russian speaking people were being discriminated against and abused, even murdered for speaking Russian. Russia uses a similar playbook to destabilize their enemies, whether in Ukraine or in the United States. In Donets'k it was to weaken the social cohesion, create division, foster resentment of "other" ( non Russian speaking Ukrainians) prior to invasion. In the Republican Party, Russia has used similar identity politics via social media, deploying their Active Measures to weaken R's resolve and retreat from NATO and support for Democratic Allies in Europe and around the world. In Donets'k it worked, the people were either confused, bought into it, their political leaders also received lots of $ in exchange for selling out their country. Similar things are happening in Texas/America ( not to say the Russian goal is to invade Texas, that's not going to happen of course). The goal of all these active measures here, which are so many to list, create social division, exploit tensions, drown out voices of reason, blame immigrants ( non English speaking non whites) is to weaken the United States and promote and fund politicians with slogans of "America First" ( to Russians means "American Last") and to retreat from global leadership. "For reasons of history and geography, Russia will never be a world power", so if Russia cant become stronger, what can it do to have more influence? The Kremlin strategy is weaken democracies abroad, bringing strong countries down to their level. Brexit is an prime example of this. Break up NATO also breaks apart the EU, or at least makes it harder for the EU and NATO to expand. The success of the EU and NATO expansion is viewed as a threat to Russia. Ukraine as a functioning democracy is a border threat to Belarus and Russia, and to Putin's kleptocracy.
Here are my influences. I think we do need more history taught in our schools, both American History, and international History to better understand what influences the far right that is becoming so radicalized we have a presidential candidate saying its okay if Texas wants to secede from the Union.
Part of me is impressed by Russian propaganda/psyops. It's the most sophisticated I've ever come across. What they do is throw out an explanation for something, for example, the 2014 invasion, then within 24 hours Russian State TV hosts will say something that contradicts what they said the day before, then the next day they'll say something else. Then they'll throw their arms up in the air and say, "Who knows what happened?" This of course is the destruction of truth.
"Putin uses a lot of our social challenges in his speeches, 'see how American democracy is? Do we really want that here in Russia?'" YES!!! There's a lot of unpredictability in democracy, which Putin cannot stand. There's no way he's going to have a democracy right next door to Russia, "poisoning" the minds of Russians.
A lot of Americans and West Europeans were fooled by the story about Russian speakers being mistreated in Ukraine. Almost all Ukrainians are bilingual. They are either born into a Ukrainian- or Russian-speaking (like Zelens'kyy and his wife) family, and they learn the other language as they grow up. My ophthalmologist is from Latvia, her first language is Russian, and her father is Ukrainian. THAT is eastern Europe. For centuries, before WWII, uneducated dock workers on the Black, Aegean, and Mediterranean Seas spoke 7-10 languages fluently. It is a world that was for the most part lost after 1945. You could be born in Poland but your first language could be German, Russian, or Ukrainian. Until the early 20th century, educated Hungarians, Czechs, and Slovenes did not speak their national languages, but German. They had to LEARN their national languages. To someone living in eastern Europe, or who is familiar with its history, the fact that the Polish writer Adam Mickiewicz opened his epic poem "Pan Tadeusz" with the words, "Litwo! Ojczyzno moja!" / "Lithuania! My Fatherland!" would not only not seem odd, but perfectly normal. Putin plays on ignorance of eastern Europe. And it works.
which is why the threat of secession is bull. But if not, the blue states would only prosper, as it's their taxes that support the others, which would no longer be the case.
I will suggest that, as the coming financial crisis unfolds, the federal government will lose much of its leverage as the programs you mention get cut to the bone.
If Schmeeckle isn't a Russian troll (he espouses all the Russian propaganda points), and if he hasn't bought into the MAGA philosophy pushed by Newsmax (where men are men, women know their place, and sheep are nervous), then he's a financial dinosaur who knows in his bones that our economy is a zero sum game - if we gain a bit, it must mean that he is losing a lot. The last was actually true. As we gained, he lost his mind. Well, I guess he only lost a little.
I've stopped responding to him a while ago. Like others, I've stopped feeding the beast.
I must say, I think that facts are not on your side. The "Open Borders" you refer to are not, in fact open. Biden is dealing with a Border policy set long ago. He's been trying to get more Border Agents, more immigration Courts and trying to slow the flow. Your friend Mike Johnson is actively thwarting any progress. Trump did nothing substantive beside rant and rave.
Is that the same wall that is falling in the river. Geez, you would have thought when Trump had a majority that would have been job one. But if I recall correct the first from that Congress was protecting gun rights for the mentally ill. No really, not kidding.
Well trump did one thing. He diverted 14 BILLION dollars from the military to ‘buildthewall’ then did almost nothing. I continue to ask for an audit of that money.
Swbv, thank you for being inclined to review the facts. I agree with your point that our general immigration policy was dysfunctional before Biden arrived and reversed Trump's "seal the border" approach.
But, on Biden's watch, border apprehensions have skyrocketed:
Swbv- Stay steady with logic to discuss the “border” with Mr. Schmeeckle, who persists in using misinformation to make his point. The “blame Biden” game is already stale.
Though not directly on point, I think, as it relates to our border crisis, which I believe is real, it's always useful to ask cui bono? Who benefits from a border crisis? 1) Trump, 2) Fox News et al, and 3) the Russians. I don't think they are unrelated.
Whether the bill is good policy (I'm inclined to think it is) is different from the Republican accusation that Biden is refusing to enforce laws that already exist.
Plus the increase in the amounts of drugs they are PREVENTING from coming into this country. Thats a good thing - not of course how the Repubs are reacting. But then? Repubs??
Unsurprisingly, I see it differently. Here’s one for you——- what are the odds that Russian bots are operating feverishly in Venezuela, Columbia, Senegal and spreading the good news of open borders and workers paradise?
Or the bipartisan bill from the Senate that Johnson wants nothing of. What will Republicans run on if they actually work to do this or anything else. Strange how a Republican majority leads to no legislative activity. I wonder if their voters will ever put that together?
There is an agreement between the US government and every state that has joined since the Civil War, that they WILL NOT secede. If Tx wants to change that agreement, they have to negotiate. Otherwise the US and Tx are stuck with each other. Plus, can you see the Repubes wanting to willingly give up the 40 electoral votes that Tx has? I think not.
Perhaps Abbott’s outrage (which seems easily triggered) should be directed at Congress. Border issues have festered for decades and we do nothing. Now there is a glimmer of hope with the Senate reform bill, and yet the MAGA House refuses to agree to anything because Daddy Trump says to leave it alone until he wins…..what???? Trump was not successful at the border inspite of his bluster about the wall and his inhumane decision to separate children from families (a pro-lifer, right?). All of his policies were to punish migrants. Biden has removed and returned more illegal migrants than either Trump or Obama. He wants comprehensive reforms - not just punishment but ways to encourage legal immigration, which our country needs. He needs resources, which the MAGA House won’t approve. It’s not an open borders policy. And as for the debt, let’s remember that Trump and he corporate tax cuts contributed the major portion of our current debt. Were you criticizing him at the time? Just curious.
Yes I was. Trump the Vampire Conservative (sucking unpayable debt out of the rest of the world to pay for a tax break for thecwealthy) was worse than Biden the Vampire Liberal.
You ignore the fact that under Biden there has been an explosion of illegal immigration:
No, I don’t at all. Just aware of all that has happened in recent years - the pandemic was hugely responsible for increased global migration. Worsening conditions in countries such as Venezuela, Colombia, Haiti, and others brought migrants from these areas to the Southern border. And the GQP has never honored Biden’s request for funds to hire more law enforcement officers and more asylum judges to move this along. Trump was fortunate that he lost before the pandemic hit its stride, or he would have faced the same issues. We absolutely need to do something asap! So why does the House follow the lead of the disgraced Trump and decide that the border reform can wait for him to return. Even though they bitch about it every single day. Biden is still hopeful this bill can pass. Barring that, I am confident he will do everything he has the power to do to help the situation - not to include separating children from families or stringing razor wire at the Rio Grande.
I favor sensible immigration reform and adequate funding of the relevant agencies, and I am inclined to see Republican posturing as unhelpful, to say the least.
Why didn't the Democrats fund more law enforcement officers and asylum judges when they controlled Congress?
(The way things have been going, the Republicans could lose their thinning edge in the House before the election.)
The coming secession crisis, when it fully develops after the financial meltdown, will feature "country vs. city" divisions in many "blue" states, with the country controlling food and oil as the "red" cities starve to death, whitening the national population. Maybe that's the master plan.
That’s called “land snatching”. Surely you’ve heard of Rock Ridge? Hedley Lamarr? The Waco Kid? This is all theater. Deadly theater and will end up fizzling in the courts. Abbott knows damn right well he’s going to end up a dead end.
Yes, deadly theater, which will inflame people for the next crisis, etc. It takes a while for the cultivated outrage of a critical mass of brainwashed common people to boil over.
This insight explains Rupert Murdoch’s Montana Ranch and new power base. He is the media man for the political dark players.
I do not see how the anarchy created by runaway capitalist expansion and land grabbing that this immigration crisis is rooted in can easily run along Western cowboy era lines of town v country this time. Not without self destructive blowing up of our massively complicated and interwoven communications systems that will lead to a death spiral for both communities. I do see running turf battles in all urban areas for food and control though. We are all a blink away from becoming Gaza nowadays.
The same laws that were “on the books” not enforced by many previous administrations, and inadequately funded by this psychotic House leadership despite numerous requests? Those laws? Don’t you have a bridge to guard somewhere?
I believe that if the right kind of pressure were skillfully brought here, it may make a difference..In other words..Make them an offer they can't refuse..What kind of federal aid is going to Texas that Abbott really wants?
I say let them secede. Their electrical grid is already third world. After a couple of hurricanes they might stop screwing around. And NO you can’t get social security checks. That would be foreign aid and, of course, we have to stop giving that out.
Oh—there are many more military bases than that. San Antonio alone has Ft Sam, Camp Bullís, Randolph AFB and Lackland AFB. A short drive away is FT Hood in Killeen. The internet currently lists 15 active military bases alone.
Good one Bill but, Substack Inc has a problem as well. I have reported the Troll's August 2023 'Guideline' violations. The more important issue is Substacks Inc position on whether they will agree to take Reader's contract disputes to Mediation at the forum the Substack Inc. has chosen .... that being the good offices of JAMS SF. Substack Inc has good counsel too, WILSON SONSINI. I truly do not want to see Substack Inc lose another substantive Author like CASEY NEWTON.
Elum takes over the old NASA base and blows up several rockets killing many. One errant space X rocket hits Houston downtown, protests breakout, riots, police fire on the crowds... and we are off to the races deep in the heart of T E X A S !
You must have forgotten all the rural areas in TX...they are blood Red, always have been and probably alway will be. TX is a blood Red state, and if it weren't for the big metropolitan areas who seem to be our saving grace! Why do you think the Rethugs have taken such an interest in Harris County (Houston)?
Bruce, it kinda mirrors what's happening in the MidEast with Hamas in control of Gaza while ordinary citizens living there are being targeted by both them and the Israelis.
Rita, after my heart warmed a little at the names of Abbott’s dogs it struck me that he cares more about his dogs than he does about the thousands and thousands thousands of people - including children - suffering and even dying at the Texas border.
Texas wants to secede. Go for it! (Read this you’ll laugh your a** off 😃)
“Red States Want to Secede? Go Ahead. Make Our Day.
Nearly 1 million Americans have signed petitions calling for secession including over 100,000 in Texas and over 50,000 in Georgia. So, here's a response.
(A poll from Public Policy Polling reports that 25 percent of Republicans would like their state to secede from the Union. Nearly 1 million Americans have signed petitions calling for secession including over 100,000 in Texas and over 50,000 in Georgia. So, cribbing from a viral email that's been making its way around the internet in the spirit of fair use and adding my own evil satiric thoughts, here's a response.)
So some of you patriotic Americans in Red States are so mad that a Kenyan, Muslim, socialist black man got elected President of the USA for a second time that you want to demonstrate your patriotism by seceding from the United States of American? Go ahead. Make our day.
But be careful what you wish for. Here's how it could go down, and it might not be so pretty for you after all is said and done.
We would get the West Coast, all of the Northeast and the upper Midwest.
You would get Texas, Oklahoma and all the former slave states.
We would keep Hawaii too, the foreign country with warm water and beautiful beaches where Barack Hussein Obama was born without a birth certificate.
You can have Alaska and stare at Russia from your front porches.
To be fair, we may have to split up some states.
You get North Florida. We get South Florida. After all, what would you want with all those gay people in South Beach and old Jews in Miami?
We get North Virginia. You get South Virginia. To be fair, we'll let you keep the University of Virginia. Go Cavaliers! Plus you need at least one place to educate some leaders who believe in science.
But Austin, Atlanta and New Orleans get to be their own Blue city/states, sort of like West Berlin before the Wall came down. We'll even pay to move the capital of Texas from Austin to W's hometown of Midland, where as one native recently put it, "There used to be one Democrat in town, but I think she died".
We might even merge with Canada. That way we get single-payer healthcare, solvent banks, the Royal Canadian Mounties, and Ryan Gosling (eat your hearts our Red-nation women).
To sum up briefly:
We get Bruce Springsteen, Jay Z and Beyonce. You get Ted Nugent and Meatloaf.
Plus Willie Nelson gets to park his bus anywhere he likes in the Blue America.
We get Elizabeth Warren. You get Todd Aiken. (Hey, we'll even keep Chris Christie. He's too large to move, anyway.)
We get the Statue of Liberty. You get OpryLand.
We get the New York Philharmonic. You get the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
We get Oprah. You get Paula Deen.
And Blue America will have an easy repatriation policy for the ancestors of slaves still stuck in the former Confederate states, as well as a path to citizenship for undocumented workers and their children from both Red and Blue America who have worked hard/studied hard and put down roots. We'll even have a 21st century version of "40 acres and a mule" with education, job training and work at a fair wage for those who need it. (But here's a warning: good luck getting your crops picked, your kids asses wiped, and your pools cleaned without a bunch of low-paid undocumented workers.)
Any Red-nation NBA team that wants to gets to move to a Blue state city without its own team.
We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs.
You get backwoods crystal meth labs.
We get Intel, Microsoft and Apple. You get WorldCom.
We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss.
We get two-thirds of the tax revenue. You get to pay your fair share for once.
Speaking of all those federal taxes you love to hate. Most of it comes from us and goes to you. So stop talking nonsense about how "It's our money, not the government's money". Of the 19 states that send more money to Washington than they get back in benefits, 14 are Blue. And of 31 states that get more money back from the Feds than they pay in taxes, 23 are Red. It's not your money. It's our f**cking money. So from here on out, you can pay for your own damn roads and bridges.
Which state do you think has the lowest divorce rate? It's Taxachusetts, the first state to recognize gay marriage. Think that's some aberration? How about this? 9 of the 10 lowest divorce rates are in the Blue states. And where are the highest divorce rates? 10 of the top 10 are Red.
But gay people getting married is going to ruin the family for you? Seems like you're ruining it pretty well on your own.
So we get a bunch of happy families, straight and gay. You get a bunch of single moms and deadbeat dads.
With the Blue States in hand we will have firm control of 80 percent of the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of America's quality wines (you can serve Texas wines at state dinners) 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools plus Stanford, Cal Tech, UC Berkeley, and MIT.
With the Red States you will have to cope with 88 percent of all obese Americans and their projected health care costs, 92 percent of all US mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100% of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, and Bob Jones University.
So, as we said at the start. You want to secede? Go ahead. Make our Day. But be careful what you wish for. You might not be so happy if you actually got it. If you ask nicely, we might even take you back.”
The problem I have with a cruel state seceding is that was putin's piece in the 2016 or 2020 election. If anyone can address this, I'd be happy to listen. Do we really want to use that specific play?
I believe that US citizens living abroad still receive their social security checks. That would also be the case for SS recipients in Texas after the succession.
It's OK, Joyce. I'll dislike Abbott for you even though he has dogs. Remember, even Hitler had dogs. Abbott and his AG, Paxton are cruel and fascist leaning. Apparently their version of Christianity has Jesus calling for razor wire to maim the poor. I wonder how many dead guardsmen and border agents he's willing to sacrifice in his newest political stunt. Hate feeds him and his cronies.
These are New Testament Christians. Since we don't hear of Christ until the New Testament, I can't see how they're Christians. They're not Jews. They're not Muslims. Idk what to call them but like every other lie they tell about themselves, they're not Christians..
Christian nationalists—a reason the forefathers specified separation of Church and State. They are authoritarian and anti-democratic. They disguise themselves by thumping bibles and rallying around book burnings. They are despicable and would turn you over to the SS in a heartbeat.
They all worship sky fairies and should have no say in our civil discourse. Show me one theocracy you'd want to live in. Religion is poison for civil society.
I bet the Gov’nor didn’t name the puppies. Probably his kids or grandkids did. I know of a family with a dachshund named Peanut. They let the child pick the names for the pair of dachshund puppies they got Butter and Jelly.
While i just love the names of Abbot’s dogs, his attitude toward the law, the United States Supreme Court, and his disregard for human life makes me fairly sure someone else in his family named those dogs!
It's a tempting thought, "Erring sisters, depart in peace," as Seward said in 1860 (before he joined Lincoln's cabinet), but it would have been the wrong policy then, and it's the wrong policy now. The United States has a duty to all of its citizens, including those in Texas.
It's time for Biden to stop playing Buchanan and start playing Jackson, time to forgo rhetoric and lawsuits and enforce the laws of the United States, even if that requires troops. It's in the oath he took when he became president.
So I think he should nationalize the Texas National Guard, disarm it, and send in the Army to seize control of the border. Should Abbot resist, well, there's his Sumter.
I agree, and know a few (none of my relatives), but I’ll never understand why they will insist to their grave that they are the obvious majority. Denial is a river in Texas.
Thank you for "unless you're Texas". comments. I live in CA. We have the busiest immigrant crossing from Mexico. We don't have a problem. We welcome the migrants, process them through, and put them to work. Let us not ask what the USA is doing wrong, but rather what Texas is doing wrong. If you had a salad in the last few years, thank a migrant worker in CA.
Republicans don't actually want to stop immigration, and certainly not when they're in charge. They know that it would crash the economy, not just from what immigrants spend but because they are essential to the work force. Residential construction would grind to a halt and food prices would soar.
This is all just political theater. Good on Biden for calling their bluff.
I was not aware of Governor Abbott’s impressive official bio. I thought he was just a MAGA good ole boy trying to please Trump. Clearly, he knows he is disregarding the law to score points. All the other states, not even near a border, agreeing with him are also on the Trump bandwagon. I think even a middle schooler would agree that federal law beats state law every time. It looks like the beginning of a Civil War. We need to act instead of react. Maybe we should ask Taylor Swift to get involved as they are afraid of her.
federalize the Texass NG, then when they refuse orders, arrest them, court-martial them for disobedience of a direct order, and give them ten years in Fort Leavenworth.
This is starting to frighten me, as I read all the hate. I feel like we are forgetting who is at fault here. The Mango Muffin is creating this to deflect from himself. Focus on the real problem, please. Stop Trump!
Damn right it should frighten us all. Shitler is however powerless without the help of many “good” folk, many “religious,” but he knows he need not worry about opposition from the many who will only stand by and clutch their pearls and plead to go high when they go low - that’s money in the bank.
John, that's why I wrote about what is happening in Germany. Even in the country of "know your place", millions are coming out. So, maybe there's hope for us?
I read the article again, and I feel that the Guardian certainly does the job of digging deeper very well. And, John you may be right. Germany is not the USA, although the equality issues are very similar; however there is an existential threat at the door.
I just had this discussion with my much better half about intrinsic and extrinsic, and our (dis)ability to see ourselves critically...what are we doing? It is getting worse. I thinks it's why I also keep saying, "be prepared" for the chaos this November.
Quite a lot has been written about this subject by historians of the 20th century. Liberalism: The robber baron days > the 1929 stock market crash > ordinary citizens asking themselves, "What good are individual rights if I can't eat?" > the attraction to the Nazi Party. The Nazi Party got 2.6% of the seats in the Reichstag in the 5/20/1928 Reichstag elections. No elections in 1929, then 18.3% in the 9/14/1930 elections, then 37.3% in the 7/31/1932 elections. Before WWII was over, conservatives led the way in Europe to social democracy, and it was copied in the US. They'd all lived through the days of unregulated capitalism and understood the consequences. Then neoliberalism with Thatcher and Reagan came in the late '70s-early '80s (the subject of this article), and here we are. And those same historians have been warning us about the consequences.
😂😂 Maybe we should ask Taylor Swift to get involved as they are afraid of her. 😂😂😂
Made me laugh at the absurdity of all I've read and seen! It's both funny and sad that there are people who believe this. The ones who knowingly promote this garbage are shameless. I am exhausted by Republicans/MAGA/Fascists. They make life more difficult for everyone, unless you're oblivious to fact and truth.
It’s easy to say, “Let Texas secede”, but that’s not a viable solution. What about the people who live in Texas who don’t support Abbott & his draconian policies? Just cut them off government support, such as health care and/or social security that they have earned through years of work? Just bow to Abbott because he’s defying our Constitution? How would that work? I don’t have a quick or easy answer to this problem, but building a wall around Texas isn’t the solution.
Thanks for that. There are democrats and independents in Texas. If it were not for the Electoral College, we would be blue or damn close. And we do make differences in our large cities.
The Governor is directly elected, so Texans want him, or not enough people want someone else. I do think there might be a defeatist attitude of “Why vote? Texas is gonna Texas and vote Republican.” And there are real measures to suppress the Democratic vote (one drop box in all of Harris County? That’s bigger than the entire state of Rhode Island! Come ON!) But I think if the Democratic Party in Texas got their act together, progress could be made.
With all due respect, at least half of my state hates Abbott. We do have grassroots efforts to defeat him at several levels. In terms of mass protests, the better question would be why aren't ALL states having mass protests against the MAGA movement.
Tex-pat here, by choice. And it’s going to take a lot more than hating them to change Texas’ descent into hell on earth. As of December, according to UT, 48% of Texans approve of Abbott (and 20% of Democrats, WTF), while only 41% of Texans disapprove, and <cough > 11% of Texans “don’t know.” LOL. That’s why there aren’t any mass protests.
So I’ll call your tu quoque, and keep looking for another rogue Governor who is so blatantly jonesing for another civil war, and as Joyce points out, absolutely knows he’s violating law.
Not a big believer in polls. Most of us don't answer them. Red state governors are birds of a feather, and they're supporting Abbott. Of course, Abbott knows he's violating the law. He's just thrilled he has a border state so he can be the one to get the attention. Rick Perry loved it when he was governor. Trump is threatening wide-spread violence all the time. He's laid out his plans for a second term - dictatorship, persecution, retribution. He brags about overturning roe v wade. Where are all the protests?? People have lives with real every day problems. Ultimately, this will be resolved. Texas is not going to secede. Biden has been smart not to throw gasoline on the fire. Calmer heads will prevail. And if they don't, people will die and it will be on Abbott because the federal government will prevail over state government bottom line.
This will be my last response. You said you left Texas by choice. By choice. So you chose to leave and not organize a protest, lead a protest, participate in a protest, vote in local and state elections or work with the organizations we have here to change things. Don't be so quick to judge the thousands of us who stayed and are voting, contacting our representatives and working for change.
About half of us Texans hate Abbott, but we are suppressed in various ways, such as by the legislature where they preach the virtues of limited government and the necessity of local control, but they pass state laws to overrule whatever city ordinances they consider to be " too liberal."
Sorry, but according to UT, even as of last month, it’s not about half. Only 41%, disapprove of Abbott, and you can be sure a lot of those won’t go so far as to hate him. Worse yet, 11% “don’t know” their ass from their elbow: https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/set/greg-abbott-job-approval-trend
Well, if, Abbott rolled hisself down the bank to the Rio Grande, wouldn't he get his wheelchair entangled with all thet there razor wire? A old gal can dream can't she?
Careful, Jean; Florida is next on the list, after Texas. There'll be just enough time for you to get a bus ticket to, say, Martha's Vineyard before the razor wire goes up.
George Wallace decided to ignore the US Supreme Court by refusing to integrate the university of Alabama ....and then this happened:
“Kennedy issued Executive Order 11111, which had already been prepared, authorizing the federalization of the Alabama National Guard under the Insurrection Act of 1807.[15] Four hours later, Guard General Henry Graham commanded Wallace to step aside, saying, "Sir, it is my sad duty to ask you to step aside under the orders of the President of the United States." Wallace then spoke further, but eventually moved, and Malone and Hood completed their registration.”
Damn. Idaho, my state, was one of those that decided to sign on with this sort of insurrection (can I call it that? Seems like that is what it almost is.)
It's appalling and disgraceful that this so called crisis which could be resolved with funding and judges and meaningful compassionate legislation continues for a fear based political cudgel, all bowing to the most meaningless discompassionate despot this nation has been influenced by - Donnie the Pig.
Given the behavior of Ken Paxton, Abbot having served as Texas’’s AG certainly seems like a training ground for bending the law to suit political and personal purposes.
Is someone looking into where the people he is bussing to Denver came from, how they got into his "hands" to be put on these buses? It seems like nothing is being done to thwart this human trafficking, even when done in conspiracy with other Governors...and others...why isn't he having them driven back across the border if their being here undocumented is truly the issue. None of this makes sense. Map est is 1000 miles Co to Mx
Back in the 1800’s Norwegians sent agents to explore various regions in the US to promote settlers from their country to go to.. Texas was one of the places, and was soundly rejected.
I asked my cousin in Bodø, Norway, about this a few years ago, and he said it's absolutely true. When something is just too crazy to be believed even though you know it's real, it's "Texas". 😂
Those of us who live in Texas see this nonsense every day, at every level of "gummint." The people who run this state, from local school boards to town & city mayors to county sheriffs and on to Austin, are cynical (not to mention corrupt as all get-out).
How much did AG Paxton's PAC contribute the Lt. Governor's PAC? $3 million. Who presided over AG Paxton's impeachment trial? The Lt. Governor. I don't know about you, but I'm seeing a pattern...
Texas was fucked up 56 years ago when I was there running the Oleo Strut coffeehouse in Killeen. The goat ropers were the dumbest white boys I had ever seen (all the Wallace stickers on the pick'm up trucks with the gunracks in the rear windows). The politicians (all masquerading as "Democrats" then) were a collection of crooks. The only differences today is the goat ropers are dumber and the political scum now masquerade as "Republicans." What they were then, and are now, is Southernists.
Easy on the, “F” word. My teenage daughter reads these posts.
Thank you for your consideration.
she probably knows the word... should know..
I don't want to read it either. One of the things I have appreciated about Joyce's substack is that folks generally know how to express themselves without resorting to foul language. Mark was civil in his request to TCinLA. He is the parent and he (not you) can decide what his daughter 'should' know so far as cursing words. Mark may wish that she be privy to some of the best legal analysis in the US so she can be an informed voter. Why should he have to print the whole thing and redact TCinLA verbiage for his teen to read? This is a substack that should be shared with all teenagers - and adults and they shouldn't have to filter the language.
read my below please to Mark....
Mark was correct to ask TCinLA to please not use this language.. it's offensive period. We should try to keep the discussion civil. But no discussion can be so monitored to suit the preferences of a parent. When people are angry they say the "F" word or S**T ( I feel ridiculous writing it this way). I notice even the NYTimes uses these words though in quoting. But sometimes even a substack writer will...or a podcast guest. Kids old enough to want to know about the obscenities on the border are old enough to know about why people use these words- that is the antidote- and that they are not good to use in civil discourse.. But sometimes they are okay and we give them a pass.
Point taken. Thank you for taking your time to explain - and I understand full well where TCinLA is coming from. He is a screenwriter and F is everyday vernacular for him. I am not advocating censoring anyone. The audience here is not the screenwriters’ room with colleagues.
I am not advocating censuring anyone - just to be sensitive to all the readers here. The readers here want the experience of Joyce’s wisdom, and the perspective of their fellow substance readers, which adds so much depth, but for many, their personal preference is to not have the F word. Indeed, it needs filtered. We expect it in certain movies, publications, but not here, because this is more like Joyce’s classroom. We don’t expect this in classrooms or in graduate school communities. We expect it in graduate school parties, high school students freely, use it and so do my adult children who were shocked when I first used the word. I was an early reader, and I was seven years old when I had finished all of Steinbeck’s novels on my parents shelves, and had begun reading Hemingway. One day I left my spot by the fireplace and trout it into my mom’s kitchen and asked her “what does it mean when the Earth moves?” She took that book away. I was censured - and had to turn to reading her French books and her own college medical books. My parents bought me a large dictionary, which was the best book I ever had. They also purchased a set of Britannica encyclopedia so I could entertain myself, and subscribed to National Geographic and Popular Mechanics (still today my favorite magazine besides Wired). I read everything I could get my hands on - and I was back to reading Hemingway, Steinbeck and more. My grandma gave me my first volume of Will and Ariel Durant’s history of the world ‘’The Story of Civilization’ when I was bored in high school - falling asleep in freshman history US - i was beyond that in 5th grade) and then grew my set to the entire eleven volumes - she thought I needed those before I went to college. As soon as I was able, somewhere in my teens, I got my hands on Hemingway again. I didn’t like being censured at seven years old. And I’m not saying we censure TC. But just make language nonoffensive for all, so ‘all are welcome’ here on this most vital of all substacks. There are plenty of places on Substack one can vent. I know we are not going to get TC to say “oh pooh” when he is upset, but some us will try - for here on the Substack at least here - on Joyce’s Substack. Why? Because we need every single person here. We need to all feel vital and welcome and stay together long enough to defeat the orange monster. Indeed teenagers need to be welcome because they will soon be voting. Marc’s daughter may be 18 before November 5, 2024. Or her friends may be turning 18 and she might be the person who can inform them in making their own voting choices. What will fit their own morality? That is informed by having a clear idea of what the legal issues are with Trump and the country today Parents who want to suggest a filter for some of the writers should have their request respected. I almost wrote ‘until November 5, 2024’ but I have the sense that we are going to be together working against the egregious Christian nationalist Reconstructivists for a long while after Election Day 2024.
I love that a teenager is engaged in reading this sub stock. Reading is active. Listening to any news station no matter how clear or how much truth that has is still passive. I’m hoping Marc’s daughter submits her thoughts in writing.
Mark can ask, but that doesn't equal compliance. When Mark writes a substack, Mark can monitor language. And I promise, Mark's daughter is using this word with her friends.
You took offense, but does that make the word "offensive"? I can think of so many things that are more offensive than any four-letter word, but I shut them out at my peril.
I was well into using the word in my teens, moreover, so was my extremely intelligent dad. It's highly justified. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/26/health/swearing-benefits-wellness/index.html
“And as soon as they (chimpanzees) learned the poo sign they began using it like we do the word sh*t,” Byrne said. “Cursing is just a way of expressing your feelings that doesn’t involve throwing actual sh*t. You just throw the idea of sh*t around.”
Maybe TC could use the smiley poo emoji when politely mentioning atrocities at home and abroad. Nah, that’s complete bullshit. 💩 Let’s all get completely offended by the things that matter.
She knows the word. Does that fact make it ok to use in a civil discussion? She also knows porn exists on the internet. Should she be subjected to an amount, any amount, of porn simply for the fact she has been exposed to or has knowledge of its existence?
Not sure what, if any relevance her admitted knowledge of either subject has on my request to keep a discussion(admittedly an otherwise excellent one) civil.
thanks...By and large this is a civil discussion ( as others on substack, less the internet in general) and I object to people using these words and CAPS etc. in discussion. But it is open and not strictly monitored as well. It's part of learning how to navigate the world and discern. So kids, or protective parents beware.
I wonder why this word is SO forbidden by some and forever and so (therefore) used by others.. It seems to be the word we reserve to make people react, to shock. It does not make sense to me. It's the way people use it.. to let off steam, to direct anger, to shock. This is what children and all of us should understand.. and that will diffuse this reaction... not the horror that THIS word, above all is being used. It's the intentions of it.
Porn is not comparable in any way. Porn is another topic.
Kids need to know the world they are rising into beyond surface tabooing of words and not talking about realities. Not easy. They should learn the difference between a word and what people do.
I once read that profanity is the language of hate. That stopped me dead in my tracks. I grew up with a violent alcoholic Father. He used profanity when he was drunk and angry. It was like a gut punch when he got like that. I know people say it is healthy, but not for me.
And I have read multiple articles that indicate those who swear have higher IQ’s. That being said, I swear in almost every sentence I speak. Those words do not bother me, but they are not typically found in this particular Substack. If I comment, I try and tone it down. But in no way will I ask another person to speak in a way that only makes ME comfortable. You do you. And yeah, my highly educated child heard it every day too.
Mark, Exactly. Full support. I absolutely agree: your teen nor any other reader who finds 'that word' offensive needs to see it here (see my response to Potter above). Readers on Joyce's substack have addressed the same issue in the past. For some time, we have abided by unspoken mores of 'can swear like pirates in our own homes, but if we are old enough to engage in a substack like this one, be kind to the other readers: and respect those who do not want to read curse words - because they are not filtered.'
I joined a scant 5 days ago. So far I am throughly enjoying the material.
I appreciate your response(s).
You think that "swearing like pirates" is okay in the home is okay? That's where kids learn it! One of Trump Sauce's not so secret ingredients and part of his rise is that it's okay to show your anger this way in public.. no more political correctness was/is his mantra and mode. Do we keep kids from the news?
I agree in some places, like here, we want to keep things civil. Being civil, appealing to reason, not emotion, is the better way. We should call out incivility (I do) not only in specific words. A person can use all the "right" words and still be uncivil. But an otherwise civil comment that uses THAT word should be allowed to slide imo.
Sorry.. By now "fucked up" should be okay. "F--you" ... not. See the difference?
Brava Mark, for encouraging your teen to read Joyce's substack. It is a fabulous preparation for when she goes to the polls. And she is getting the truth about what is going on in our country today. The 2024 election (and that is what Trump's narrative truly is all about) will have vital impact for her. I also believe that by the time someone is old enough to go to graduate school, they can figure out how to communicate without using their preferred choice of curse words: that's what I told my grad students when their words offended international students (Asian) whose culture did not include cursing in classrooms. If 'all are welcome' all need to be respected. We have had mores on this substack - TC forgot.
Of course, what Joyce has written about that’s happening in Texas isn’t even perhaps more obscene than any words used here? I want to believe that was perhaps the point in using the language used.
Thank you. Never too old to learn. Or accept advice. I am still learning my way around while being technically challenged.
Thank you for further clarification.
Native Texan here. Texas is not red. It's purple, and could very easily go blue if our districts were not so gerrymandered AND if we could just get every eligible voter to vote. In other words, about half the population is as appalled as we are. Ken Paxton is so corrupt, yet people keep voting for him, and the people who don't vote continue not to vote.
Also--I see this whole thing as a threat to our national security. Because I'm interested in eastern Europe and follow Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine closely, I also watch a lot of Russian State TV. Their hosts regularly talk about and praise Trump and lately, Mike Johnson, almost every day, including the border crisis. They refer to Trump as "Our Trump" and sometimes, "Our Trumpushka." All of them say that Russia's only hope is for a Trump presidency in 2025. Follow @JuliaDavidNews. She is a Ukrainian American who reads/speaks/understands fluent Ukrainian and Russian, and is an indispensable source for things that Russian apparatchiks say out loud about Trump and US politics. Sometimes hosts will make fun of Trump and call him a clown--which they did during his presidency. Once one of them said (during his presidency) that if Trump needed to leave the country, he might be able to find an apartment on the same street in Moscow as Viktor Yanukovitch. Yanukovitch, you will recall, had a close association with Paul Manafort, who was also Trump's campaign manager until it was discovered that he helped Putin favorite Yanukovitch get elected president of Ukraine. As a result of the Revolution of Dignity on the Maidan--the large town square in Kyiv--in late 2013 - early 2014, Yanukovitch was forced out of Ukraine by the Ukrainian people because he broke his campaign promise to the Ukrainian people by not signing a European association agreement, probably under pressure from Putin, and with Putin's man no longer in charge, Russia invaded Crimea and Donbas on Feb. 24, 2014. You may also recall that Manafort had a close relationship with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, a close Putin associate.
And we now know that Mike Johnson has received campaign $$ from Russia. If Ukraine falls, the West will fall, and that is not an exaggeration. It would be the end of the Pax americana that has been in place since the end of WWII. As problematical as the American Century has been it has, for the most part, kept the world together.
This is from last Friday night: "This fine Friday evening, I wanted to expose our Donald Trump and his plan!" -- Popov: "What else has he done?" Response: "From a standpoint of political technologies, the dude is pressing forward full force." Note the use of "our Trump." The hosts are talking about the chaos that the Rs are helping to foment, which the hosts say is to Russia's benefit. They are cheering the chaos. https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1751377767654953423
Sorry this is so long, but Americans should know that this is what is discussed on Russian State TV, almost every day. They are deliriously happy about and grateful to Trump and the Rs in the House.
I am aware of all of it and more. That Trump is running for office again and not in prison due to the slow walking of his prosecution is as much falt as his acceptance as a freaking candidate! It angers me that so many citizens take democracy for granted. Or that it was impossible to educate them on what a corrupt loser Trump has always been. Most still don't realize his real occupation-money laudrying. Sheesh. Craig Unger has written articles and books on him as have others. The film Active Measures could be a companion piece to Unger's book.The pace we are losing local news; newspapers and TV/ radio stations is in direct proportion of increased ignorance on just what is happening here much less the awareness of around the rest of the world.
I'm happy to know someone out there who 's read Craig Ungar and knows what's going on. I know there are a lot of us, but few are aware of the tiny details like we are. When I'm not following the war in Ukraine, I'm reading mostly eastern European history, which also helps me to understand the current moment.
Most Americans think the US exists outside of history and for that reason isn't subject to its vicissitudes. Because they don't know how rare and fragile democracy is, they can't imagine that the US could fall. But not only is democracy exceedingly rare in history, it never lasts, and internal strife has always been an invitation for other countries to act. One of these days the Rs just might push us off a cliff.
I do hope SCOTUS does the right thing. We should know more after oral args on Feb. 8.
They've already nearly pushed us off a cliff, before Trump. Remember the 2011 debt ceiling crisis, when our credit rating was lowered? The Tea Party people were dressed in 18th-century costumes + powdered wigs, holding signs that read, "Let her fall," "Keep your government hands off my Medicare" (!), and "Obama is a tyrant." Natural-born US citizens don't know what tyranny is. They don't know what it's like to be pulled off the street and charged with a crime they didn't commit. They don't know what it's like to be sent to the gulag, or to be tortured for hours on end for days, without a break. In the Soviet Union it was called the "conveyor method": A group of torturers would "clock in" for a few hours and when their shift was over, another group would come in and the torture would continue.
Nor do they understand the consequences of letting the US fall. Everything would stop. People would starve, etc. They're like 5-year-olds.
So true! I think they live in some delusion. I also think of East Germany and the constant spying on people, even in their own homes! And especially in their own homes for some. I recall people coming from Europe when I was school-age that were helped to the US by my Grandparents and other church organizations. I was too young to understand the politics but I could see they were traumatized. That impression never left me.
It must be that people led by authoritarianism have left behind their critical thinking skills in exchange for the fantasy. I actually know people that said they had to stop getting the local paper ( Milwaukee Journal) because they no longer agreed with it. Not FOX newsy enough apparently.
Scary times!
Indeed. Good to have company with others that realize the true issues that we struggle for here and in Europe. One of the reasons I believe many people are so myopic regarding the perils of living in a democracy and especially during times of unrest maybe because they have never lived with a history of being invaded in ways most of Europe has. I don't believe the Civil War is an equivalent situation. And WW2 is gone as a living memory for the most part of anyone here to remember it or the family members that lived it and then lived here.
For the people that want to"shake things uo" or worse, take the "administrative state down" I never hear what they will do after. It always seems like an aspiration but considering the same people whine and carry on about the smallest things, continously I really don't think they know what kind of chaos they are asking for. Because really, what happens next will look a lot like Putin's Russia and changing it back like a bad dinner order will not happen.
"I really don't think they know what kind of chaos they are asking for." They do not. This has been a recurrent a theme of mine. They have no idea what they're asking for--a stock market crash and an inability to find the most basic necessities, for example. The example I always use is central and eastern Europe after WWI. The war didn't end for those people in Nov. 1918. It continued until 1923. Everything fell apart. There were more people killed in central and eastern Europe between Nov. 1918 and July 1923 than were killed in the militaries of the US, Britain, and France *combined* between Aug. 1914 and Nov. 1918. There were thousands of political assassinations--376 in Germany alone. A variation of that is what they're asking for. Historian Robert Gerwarth (University College, Dublin) refers to it as "the war that failed to end."
Good talking to you, RV!
Fyi my grandparents immigrated in 1918 I believe fromwhat was Yugoslavia then.
Excellent discussion. I will check out the author you mentioned-thanks!
Also, if you have lived in Europe or South America that helps clarify the issues, I believe. Nothing like tear gas and mounted police clearing the streets to get an idea, that, yes Dorothy your not in Kansas anymore!
Native Texan here. Governor (Abbott) and Senate races (Cruz, Cornyn) are not gerrymandered. Ever. I also used to consider Texas blue/purple, but that dog won’t hunt any longer. According to UT, even as of December, only 41% disapprove of Abbott, and 11% “don’t know.” That’s not blue or purple.
Exactly—That’s willful ignorance, the kind that goes hand in hand with bigotry and religious zeal.
How many Texans does it take to change a lightbulb? None, the lightbulb is fine, but 29 million need to acknowledge their state government is broken and bringing down the entire nation, oh, and fix the power grid while they're at it.
If I'm not mistaken, Biden's "open borders" policy, with Biden's refusal to enforce laws already on the books, is at the heart of Texas’s outrage at the federal government. I suspect that, as this second secession crisis festers, it will metastasize and Texas won't secede alone. (Last time around, it was South Carolina who was way ahead of the other seceding states.)
I suspect that ruining Social Security -- as a result of the impending financial "debt spiral" meltdown that nobody wants to talk about -- will come before the open secession crisis.
On pulllease. The biggest employer in Texas is the Federal Government. The Space Center is the Federal Government. The interstates are the Federal Government. Social Security, SSI and FEMA are the Federal Government. You know what’s not.. . Texas’ own electric grid. How is that working out for Texas? Nobody, especially Texas is going anywhere. And if it does, it should go back to Mexico who it was taken from.
Darn tooting.
I promise you Mexico doesn't want them either.
Cartels sure would like a republic of Texas to exploit further.
Didn’t the Russians infiltrate Dhonensk Province with heavy identity propaganda, Active Measures, and political corruption $. Get Dhonensk to cry foul of Kiev, and “accept” the Russian invasion as “saving” them from Kiev Federal government (nazi’s)? There are a lot of similarities here with Texas!!!
Yes, the Russians did invade Donets'k (Донецьк) Oblast (Region), as well as Crimea, in 2014, and they used propaganda that spread all over the world and was so confusing that hardly anyone knew what was happening. Reporters in the West, including the US, unwittingly repeated it.
I see you use the blue and yellow flag so I know you support Ukraine. So I hope you won't mind my correcting your spelling of Kyiv. "Kiev" is the Russian spelling. The Ukrainian language was suppressed for hundreds of years, first in the Russian Empire, then during the Soviet Union, and now in the occupied areas of Ukraine. Books in Ukrainian have been removed from libraries in the occupied areas, and Ukrainians are not permitted to speak Ukrainian. Ukrainian children are being forced to learn their lessons in Russian. So it's Kyiv, not Kiev; Kharkiv, not Kharkov; Odesa, not Odessa; Zaporizhzhia, not Zaporizhia, etc..
Yes, the similarities in *propaganda* are the same, but I would otherwise refrain from comparing what's happening in Texas to what's happening in Ukraine.
Take care, Ted!
Kyiv! got it! (I'm a regular educated middle class American, that see's the war in Ukraine as part of the global threat to democracy waged by oil authoritarian governments like Russia and her allies.
I'm pointing out the similarities of propaganda to destabilize a region or country via identity politics. Destabilization is not just performed prior to a physical invasion. It can be waged way beyond the battlefields to weaken resolve and support by your enemies allies.
The battle front is not just fought physically in Eastern Ukraine. IT is fought everyday in the digital world, and this is where we are failing to defend democracy. Texas radicals and the GOP is proof we are not fighting the digital component very well. Proof is how leaders within the GOP echo Kremlin talking points without even realizing it.
If everyday Russian citizens start asking, "if Ukraine can have democracy, why cant we have it here in Russia?" So, this brings another aspect to Russian inference in our politics. Russian's seek to encourage the social division here, so they can interpret and criticize our own failings, challenges, like race and immigration of non whites, mass shootings, chaos of J6, and even the Electoral College as very bad things in their domestic speeches and debates. Putin uses a lot of our social challenges in his speeches, "see how American democracy is? Do we really want that here in Russia?"
The Kremlin Playbook by Heather Conley is a great read to understand what is happening/happed to the Republican Party. How and why are so many Republicans blind to such a mass radicalization taking place in the United States? Russia did a lot of similar propaganda/active measures in Donets'k to justify their invasion. The promotion of the false claim that Russian speaking people were being discriminated against and abused, even murdered for speaking Russian. Russia uses a similar playbook to destabilize their enemies, whether in Ukraine or in the United States. In Donets'k it was to weaken the social cohesion, create division, foster resentment of "other" ( non Russian speaking Ukrainians) prior to invasion. In the Republican Party, Russia has used similar identity politics via social media, deploying their Active Measures to weaken R's resolve and retreat from NATO and support for Democratic Allies in Europe and around the world. In Donets'k it worked, the people were either confused, bought into it, their political leaders also received lots of $ in exchange for selling out their country. Similar things are happening in Texas/America ( not to say the Russian goal is to invade Texas, that's not going to happen of course). The goal of all these active measures here, which are so many to list, create social division, exploit tensions, drown out voices of reason, blame immigrants ( non English speaking non whites) is to weaken the United States and promote and fund politicians with slogans of "America First" ( to Russians means "American Last") and to retreat from global leadership. "For reasons of history and geography, Russia will never be a world power", so if Russia cant become stronger, what can it do to have more influence? The Kremlin strategy is weaken democracies abroad, bringing strong countries down to their level. Brexit is an prime example of this. Break up NATO also breaks apart the EU, or at least makes it harder for the EU and NATO to expand. The success of the EU and NATO expansion is viewed as a threat to Russia. Ukraine as a functioning democracy is a border threat to Belarus and Russia, and to Putin's kleptocracy.
Here are my influences. I think we do need more history taught in our schools, both American History, and international History to better understand what influences the far right that is becoming so radicalized we have a presidential candidate saying its okay if Texas wants to secede from the Union.
The Road to Unfreedom- Tim Snyder
The Kremlin Playbook - Heather Conley
Part of me is impressed by Russian propaganda/psyops. It's the most sophisticated I've ever come across. What they do is throw out an explanation for something, for example, the 2014 invasion, then within 24 hours Russian State TV hosts will say something that contradicts what they said the day before, then the next day they'll say something else. Then they'll throw their arms up in the air and say, "Who knows what happened?" This of course is the destruction of truth.
"Putin uses a lot of our social challenges in his speeches, 'see how American democracy is? Do we really want that here in Russia?'" YES!!! There's a lot of unpredictability in democracy, which Putin cannot stand. There's no way he's going to have a democracy right next door to Russia, "poisoning" the minds of Russians.
A lot of Americans and West Europeans were fooled by the story about Russian speakers being mistreated in Ukraine. Almost all Ukrainians are bilingual. They are either born into a Ukrainian- or Russian-speaking (like Zelens'kyy and his wife) family, and they learn the other language as they grow up. My ophthalmologist is from Latvia, her first language is Russian, and her father is Ukrainian. THAT is eastern Europe. For centuries, before WWII, uneducated dock workers on the Black, Aegean, and Mediterranean Seas spoke 7-10 languages fluently. It is a world that was for the most part lost after 1945. You could be born in Poland but your first language could be German, Russian, or Ukrainian. Until the early 20th century, educated Hungarians, Czechs, and Slovenes did not speak their national languages, but German. They had to LEARN their national languages. To someone living in eastern Europe, or who is familiar with its history, the fact that the Polish writer Adam Mickiewicz opened his epic poem "Pan Tadeusz" with the words, "Litwo! Ojczyzno moja!" / "Lithuania! My Fatherland!" would not only not seem odd, but perfectly normal. Putin plays on ignorance of eastern Europe. And it works.
Good talking to you, Ted!
🎆🎆🎆
Mexico...with which Texas fought a war. To preserve slavery. What a proud history.
which is why the threat of secession is bull. But if not, the blue states would only prosper, as it's their taxes that support the others, which would no longer be the case.
Hard to resist feeding the trolls...
I will suggest that, as the coming financial crisis unfolds, the federal government will lose much of its leverage as the programs you mention get cut to the bone.
What financial crisis??
he is a troll. I reported him (again).
Me too (again).
Took the words right out of my mouth 🫨
he is a troll. I reported him
Come on Charlie, you know the one that been coming, just around the corner and any day now for 20 years! That one?
If Schmeeckle isn't a Russian troll (he espouses all the Russian propaganda points), and if he hasn't bought into the MAGA philosophy pushed by Newsmax (where men are men, women know their place, and sheep are nervous), then he's a financial dinosaur who knows in his bones that our economy is a zero sum game - if we gain a bit, it must mean that he is losing a lot. The last was actually true. As we gained, he lost his mind. Well, I guess he only lost a little.
I've stopped responding to him a while ago. Like others, I've stopped feeding the beast.
Oh, that one!😵😵
Schmeeckle is trolling this site; I made the initial mistake of responding as if he were authentic or honest about conversing here.
Me too, but at least others fooled like me will read what I wrote and dismiss the drivel as bullshit
I must say, I think that facts are not on your side. The "Open Borders" you refer to are not, in fact open. Biden is dealing with a Border policy set long ago. He's been trying to get more Border Agents, more immigration Courts and trying to slow the flow. Your friend Mike Johnson is actively thwarting any progress. Trump did nothing substantive beside rant and rave.
He built a useless wall for big bucks, took land away from people without paying them.
Is that the same wall that is falling in the river. Geez, you would have thought when Trump had a majority that would have been job one. But if I recall correct the first from that Congress was protecting gun rights for the mentally ill. No really, not kidding.
Well trump did one thing. He diverted 14 BILLION dollars from the military to ‘buildthewall’ then did almost nothing. I continue to ask for an audit of that money.
Swbv, thank you for being inclined to review the facts. I agree with your point that our general immigration policy was dysfunctional before Biden arrived and reversed Trump's "seal the border" approach.
But, on Biden's watch, border apprehensions have skyrocketed:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/329256/alien-apprehensions-registered-by-the-us-border-patrol/
And that's good, right? Or at least indicates the border is not wide open.
Swbv- Stay steady with logic to discuss the “border” with Mr. Schmeeckle, who persists in using misinformation to make his point. The “blame Biden” game is already stale.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/29/will-trump-be-able-kill-bipartisan-immigration-deal/
Republicans are openly refusing to pass the best bipartisan legislation since Trump sabotaged the very bill he approved in 2018.
Though not directly on point, I think, as it relates to our border crisis, which I believe is real, it's always useful to ask cui bono? Who benefits from a border crisis? 1) Trump, 2) Fox News et al, and 3) the Russians. I don't think they are unrelated.
Whether the bill is good policy (I'm inclined to think it is) is different from the Republican accusation that Biden is refusing to enforce laws that already exist.
Amen
Plus the increase in the amounts of drugs they are PREVENTING from coming into this country. Thats a good thing - not of course how the Repubs are reacting. But then? Repubs??
No, it's a symptom of the catastrophic influx of immigrants during Biden's "open border" tenure.
Unsurprisingly, I see it differently. Here’s one for you——- what are the odds that Russian bots are operating feverishly in Venezuela, Columbia, Senegal and spreading the good news of open borders and workers paradise?
Well, there's that.
Or the bipartisan bill from the Senate that Johnson wants nothing of. What will Republicans run on if they actually work to do this or anything else. Strange how a Republican majority leads to no legislative activity. I wonder if their voters will ever put that together?
There is an agreement between the US government and every state that has joined since the Civil War, that they WILL NOT secede. If Tx wants to change that agreement, they have to negotiate. Otherwise the US and Tx are stuck with each other. Plus, can you see the Repubes wanting to willingly give up the 40 electoral votes that Tx has? I think not.
Did NOT think of that, Patricia - and I'm guessing there are lots more "little" side effects that will influence this mess!
Go away, troll
...said Coke-head the troll
Which "planet" are you speaking from? Uranus?
Perhaps Abbott’s outrage (which seems easily triggered) should be directed at Congress. Border issues have festered for decades and we do nothing. Now there is a glimmer of hope with the Senate reform bill, and yet the MAGA House refuses to agree to anything because Daddy Trump says to leave it alone until he wins…..what???? Trump was not successful at the border inspite of his bluster about the wall and his inhumane decision to separate children from families (a pro-lifer, right?). All of his policies were to punish migrants. Biden has removed and returned more illegal migrants than either Trump or Obama. He wants comprehensive reforms - not just punishment but ways to encourage legal immigration, which our country needs. He needs resources, which the MAGA House won’t approve. It’s not an open borders policy. And as for the debt, let’s remember that Trump and he corporate tax cuts contributed the major portion of our current debt. Were you criticizing him at the time? Just curious.
Yes I was. Trump the Vampire Conservative (sucking unpayable debt out of the rest of the world to pay for a tax break for thecwealthy) was worse than Biden the Vampire Liberal.
You ignore the fact that under Biden there has been an explosion of illegal immigration:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/329256/alien-apprehensions-registered-by-the-us-border-patrol/
No, I don’t at all. Just aware of all that has happened in recent years - the pandemic was hugely responsible for increased global migration. Worsening conditions in countries such as Venezuela, Colombia, Haiti, and others brought migrants from these areas to the Southern border. And the GQP has never honored Biden’s request for funds to hire more law enforcement officers and more asylum judges to move this along. Trump was fortunate that he lost before the pandemic hit its stride, or he would have faced the same issues. We absolutely need to do something asap! So why does the House follow the lead of the disgraced Trump and decide that the border reform can wait for him to return. Even though they bitch about it every single day. Biden is still hopeful this bill can pass. Barring that, I am confident he will do everything he has the power to do to help the situation - not to include separating children from families or stringing razor wire at the Rio Grande.
I favor sensible immigration reform and adequate funding of the relevant agencies, and I am inclined to see Republican posturing as unhelpful, to say the least.
Why didn't the Democrats fund more law enforcement officers and asylum judges when they controlled Congress?
(The way things have been going, the Republicans could lose their thinning edge in the House before the election.)
The coming secession crisis, when it fully develops after the financial meltdown, will feature "country vs. city" divisions in many "blue" states, with the country controlling food and oil as the "red" cities starve to death, whitening the national population. Maybe that's the master plan.
That’s called “land snatching”. Surely you’ve heard of Rock Ridge? Hedley Lamarr? The Waco Kid? This is all theater. Deadly theater and will end up fizzling in the courts. Abbott knows damn right well he’s going to end up a dead end.
Fact Check : FALSE Karen on many levels. No 'fizzles' FYI, Court dockets are easily accessible but, not as easy as tropes.
Yes, deadly theater, which will inflame people for the next crisis, etc. It takes a while for the cultivated outrage of a critical mass of brainwashed common people to boil over.
This insight explains Rupert Murdoch’s Montana Ranch and new power base. He is the media man for the political dark players.
I do not see how the anarchy created by runaway capitalist expansion and land grabbing that this immigration crisis is rooted in can easily run along Western cowboy era lines of town v country this time. Not without self destructive blowing up of our massively complicated and interwoven communications systems that will lead to a death spiral for both communities. I do see running turf battles in all urban areas for food and control though. We are all a blink away from becoming Gaza nowadays.
The same laws that were “on the books” not enforced by many previous administrations, and inadequately funded by this psychotic House leadership despite numerous requests? Those laws? Don’t you have a bridge to guard somewhere?
https://joycevance.substack.com/p/texas-ignores-the-constitution-and/comment/48630203
Anybody else tired of this guy’s unfounded, unreferenced speculation?
I have brought discussion, which modified my thought. Perhaps my contribution has given useful thoughts to others.
"Gummint" ...haha.
Can you vote them out? What's happening with Dem's there? Beto?
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uGo5S9ePE7aznpYwS6DWJneLs-H8-Wh3ibKrEjyw_Qs/edit?usp=drivesdk
I believe that if the right kind of pressure were skillfully brought here, it may make a difference..In other words..Make them an offer they can't refuse..What kind of federal aid is going to Texas that Abbott really wants?
I say let them secede. Their electrical grid is already third world. After a couple of hurricanes they might stop screwing around. And NO you can’t get social security checks. That would be foreign aid and, of course, we have to stop giving that out.
Oh, and I almost forgot: We’ll be needing NASA back. Houston, you have a problem.
NASA, and a couple air force bases and an army base.
And please, no more recruits bringing their hate with them.
Oh—there are many more military bases than that. San Antonio alone has Ft Sam, Camp Bullís, Randolph AFB and Lackland AFB. A short drive away is FT Hood in Killeen. The internet currently lists 15 active military bases alone.
We’ll move them to OK, NM, AR, and LA to stem the tide of Texans trying to escape. LSMFT. Lord Save Me From Texans. (Apologies to Texan friends)
Good one Bill but, Substack Inc has a problem as well. I have reported the Troll's August 2023 'Guideline' violations. The more important issue is Substacks Inc position on whether they will agree to take Reader's contract disputes to Mediation at the forum the Substack Inc. has chosen .... that being the good offices of JAMS SF. Substack Inc has good counsel too, WILSON SONSINI. I truly do not want to see Substack Inc lose another substantive Author like CASEY NEWTON.
Elum takes over the old NASA base and blows up several rockets killing many. One errant space X rocket hits Houston downtown, protests breakout, riots, police fire on the crowds... and we are off to the races deep in the heart of T E X A S !
Bill, "them" is some of us! There aren't any more RED and BLUE states, the map is wrong (typical Binary thinking) we are mingled in everywhere.
You must have forgotten all the rural areas in TX...they are blood Red, always have been and probably alway will be. TX is a blood Red state, and if it weren't for the big metropolitan areas who seem to be our saving grace! Why do you think the Rethugs have taken such an interest in Harris County (Houston)?
40% against, and the rural areas are under fascist Sheriffs. Who shot the Sheriff...it was in self defense (of my rights)
Bruce, it kinda mirrors what's happening in the MidEast with Hamas in control of Gaza while ordinary citizens living there are being targeted by both them and the Israelis.
Rita, after my heart warmed a little at the names of Abbott’s dogs it struck me that he cares more about his dogs than he does about the thousands and thousands thousands of people - including children - suffering and even dying at the Texas border.
Lynell, they say there ain't nothin' new in love or war!
Texas wants to secede. Go for it! (Read this you’ll laugh your a** off 😃)
“Red States Want to Secede? Go Ahead. Make Our Day.
Nearly 1 million Americans have signed petitions calling for secession including over 100,000 in Texas and over 50,000 in Georgia. So, here's a response.
(A poll from Public Policy Polling reports that 25 percent of Republicans would like their state to secede from the Union. Nearly 1 million Americans have signed petitions calling for secession including over 100,000 in Texas and over 50,000 in Georgia. So, cribbing from a viral email that's been making its way around the internet in the spirit of fair use and adding my own evil satiric thoughts, here's a response.)
So some of you patriotic Americans in Red States are so mad that a Kenyan, Muslim, socialist black man got elected President of the USA for a second time that you want to demonstrate your patriotism by seceding from the United States of American? Go ahead. Make our day.
But be careful what you wish for. Here's how it could go down, and it might not be so pretty for you after all is said and done.
We would get the West Coast, all of the Northeast and the upper Midwest.
You would get Texas, Oklahoma and all the former slave states.
We would keep Hawaii too, the foreign country with warm water and beautiful beaches where Barack Hussein Obama was born without a birth certificate.
You can have Alaska and stare at Russia from your front porches.
To be fair, we may have to split up some states.
You get North Florida. We get South Florida. After all, what would you want with all those gay people in South Beach and old Jews in Miami?
We get North Virginia. You get South Virginia. To be fair, we'll let you keep the University of Virginia. Go Cavaliers! Plus you need at least one place to educate some leaders who believe in science.
But Austin, Atlanta and New Orleans get to be their own Blue city/states, sort of like West Berlin before the Wall came down. We'll even pay to move the capital of Texas from Austin to W's hometown of Midland, where as one native recently put it, "There used to be one Democrat in town, but I think she died".
We might even merge with Canada. That way we get single-payer healthcare, solvent banks, the Royal Canadian Mounties, and Ryan Gosling (eat your hearts our Red-nation women).
To sum up briefly:
We get Bruce Springsteen, Jay Z and Beyonce. You get Ted Nugent and Meatloaf.
Plus Willie Nelson gets to park his bus anywhere he likes in the Blue America.
We get Elizabeth Warren. You get Todd Aiken. (Hey, we'll even keep Chris Christie. He's too large to move, anyway.)
We get the Statue of Liberty. You get OpryLand.
We get the New York Philharmonic. You get the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
We get Oprah. You get Paula Deen.
And Blue America will have an easy repatriation policy for the ancestors of slaves still stuck in the former Confederate states, as well as a path to citizenship for undocumented workers and their children from both Red and Blue America who have worked hard/studied hard and put down roots. We'll even have a 21st century version of "40 acres and a mule" with education, job training and work at a fair wage for those who need it. (But here's a warning: good luck getting your crops picked, your kids asses wiped, and your pools cleaned without a bunch of low-paid undocumented workers.)
Any Red-nation NBA team that wants to gets to move to a Blue state city without its own team.
We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs.
You get backwoods crystal meth labs.
We get Intel, Microsoft and Apple. You get WorldCom.
We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss.
We get two-thirds of the tax revenue. You get to pay your fair share for once.
Speaking of all those federal taxes you love to hate. Most of it comes from us and goes to you. So stop talking nonsense about how "It's our money, not the government's money". Of the 19 states that send more money to Washington than they get back in benefits, 14 are Blue. And of 31 states that get more money back from the Feds than they pay in taxes, 23 are Red. It's not your money. It's our f**cking money. So from here on out, you can pay for your own damn roads and bridges.
Which state do you think has the lowest divorce rate? It's Taxachusetts, the first state to recognize gay marriage. Think that's some aberration? How about this? 9 of the 10 lowest divorce rates are in the Blue states. And where are the highest divorce rates? 10 of the top 10 are Red.
But gay people getting married is going to ruin the family for you? Seems like you're ruining it pretty well on your own.
So we get a bunch of happy families, straight and gay. You get a bunch of single moms and deadbeat dads.
With the Blue States in hand we will have firm control of 80 percent of the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of America's quality wines (you can serve Texas wines at state dinners) 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools plus Stanford, Cal Tech, UC Berkeley, and MIT.
With the Red States you will have to cope with 88 percent of all obese Americans and their projected health care costs, 92 percent of all US mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100% of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, and Bob Jones University.
So, as we said at the start. You want to secede? Go ahead. Make our Day. But be careful what you wish for. You might not be so happy if you actually got it. If you ask nicely, we might even take you back.”
The problem I have with a cruel state seceding is that was putin's piece in the 2016 or 2020 election. If anyone can address this, I'd be happy to listen. Do we really want to use that specific play?
I believe that US citizens living abroad still receive their social security checks. That would also be the case for SS recipients in Texas after the succession.
Your argument doesn’t work because its Texans would no longer be “U.S. citizens.”
Could be...
It's OK, Joyce. I'll dislike Abbott for you even though he has dogs. Remember, even Hitler had dogs. Abbott and his AG, Paxton are cruel and fascist leaning. Apparently their version of Christianity has Jesus calling for razor wire to maim the poor. I wonder how many dead guardsmen and border agents he's willing to sacrifice in his newest political stunt. Hate feeds him and his cronies.
Sure feels odd to "like" your comment, though I agree with every word of it!
“agree” is better than “Like”.
These are New Testament Christians. Since we don't hear of Christ until the New Testament, I can't see how they're Christians. They're not Jews. They're not Muslims. Idk what to call them but like every other lie they tell about themselves, they're not Christians..
Christian nationalists—a reason the forefathers specified separation of Church and State. They are authoritarian and anti-democratic. They disguise themselves by thumping bibles and rallying around book burnings. They are despicable and would turn you over to the SS in a heartbeat.
And witch burnings, as cited as authorities by Aliito.
American Xtian Taliban is a better name for them. Nothing "Christ-like" about them.
They all worship sky fairies and should have no say in our civil discourse. Show me one theocracy you'd want to live in. Religion is poison for civil society.
Quakers?
I bet the Gov’nor didn’t name the puppies. Probably his kids or grandkids did. I know of a family with a dachshund named Peanut. They let the child pick the names for the pair of dachshund puppies they got Butter and Jelly.
Exactly.
While i just love the names of Abbot’s dogs, his attitude toward the law, the United States Supreme Court, and his disregard for human life makes me fairly sure someone else in his family named those dogs!
My thoughts exactly.
Oh can’t we allow Texas to secede?! We could fortify the northern borders of the new country.
And Republicans wouldn’t win the US presidency for at least a generation.
It's a tempting thought, "Erring sisters, depart in peace," as Seward said in 1860 (before he joined Lincoln's cabinet), but it would have been the wrong policy then, and it's the wrong policy now. The United States has a duty to all of its citizens, including those in Texas.
It's time for Biden to stop playing Buchanan and start playing Jackson, time to forgo rhetoric and lawsuits and enforce the laws of the United States, even if that requires troops. It's in the oath he took when he became president.
So I think he should nationalize the Texas National Guard, disarm it, and send in the Army to seize control of the border. Should Abbot resist, well, there's his Sumter.
Great idea.
Let them secede and then (after the good folks have gotten out) nuke them as the terrorist-supporting failed state they are.
That’s crazy talk.
Bad idea. They'd implode on their own- I'd guess it'd be Somalia inside of 6 months.
Plenty of decent people live there who are being silenced by gerrymandering. And nuking innocent animals?
A better idea would be to starve Abbott of Federal money and get tough, as Eisenhower did when the Confederates tried to keep schools segregated.
No. It's the principle of the thing.
Texas. How embarrassing. For them.
I keep hearing there are a lot of “good” people in Texas, but I’m just not seeing it. Where are the mass protests? Crickets....
Abbott/Patrick for Prison, 2024
Thee are good folks in Texas. I know many of them. There's just not that many of them.
I agree, and know a few (none of my relatives), but I’ll never understand why they will insist to their grave that they are the obvious majority. Denial is a river in Texas.
Maybe it depends on the definition of good.
Texas is big mad that TaylorSwift made it to the Superbowl before Zak Prescott.
Who? (I know who Taylor Swift is)
Thank you for "unless you're Texas". comments. I live in CA. We have the busiest immigrant crossing from Mexico. We don't have a problem. We welcome the migrants, process them through, and put them to work. Let us not ask what the USA is doing wrong, but rather what Texas is doing wrong. If you had a salad in the last few years, thank a migrant worker in CA.
Republicans don't actually want to stop immigration, and certainly not when they're in charge. They know that it would crash the economy, not just from what immigrants spend but because they are essential to the work force. Residential construction would grind to a halt and food prices would soar.
This is all just political theater. Good on Biden for calling their bluff.
I was not aware of Governor Abbott’s impressive official bio. I thought he was just a MAGA good ole boy trying to please Trump. Clearly, he knows he is disregarding the law to score points. All the other states, not even near a border, agreeing with him are also on the Trump bandwagon. I think even a middle schooler would agree that federal law beats state law every time. It looks like the beginning of a Civil War. We need to act instead of react. Maybe we should ask Taylor Swift to get involved as they are afraid of her.
federalize the Texass NG, then when they refuse orders, arrest them, court-martial them for disobedience of a direct order, and give them ten years in Fort Leavenworth.
This is starting to frighten me, as I read all the hate. I feel like we are forgetting who is at fault here. The Mango Muffin is creating this to deflect from himself. Focus on the real problem, please. Stop Trump!
Damn right it should frighten us all. Shitler is however powerless without the help of many “good” folk, many “religious,” but he knows he need not worry about opposition from the many who will only stand by and clutch their pearls and plead to go high when they go low - that’s money in the bank.
John, that's why I wrote about what is happening in Germany. Even in the country of "know your place", millions are coming out. So, maybe there's hope for us?
Nope.
https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/29/donald-trump-americans-us-culture-republican
I read the article again, and I feel that the Guardian certainly does the job of digging deeper very well. And, John you may be right. Germany is not the USA, although the equality issues are very similar; however there is an existential threat at the door.
I just had this discussion with my much better half about intrinsic and extrinsic, and our (dis)ability to see ourselves critically...what are we doing? It is getting worse. I thinks it's why I also keep saying, "be prepared" for the chaos this November.
Thank You, John, I think. Shared the article.
Thank you for this! I have shared it on my facebook page.
Thank you for this link--very interesting article.
Quite a lot has been written about this subject by historians of the 20th century. Liberalism: The robber baron days > the 1929 stock market crash > ordinary citizens asking themselves, "What good are individual rights if I can't eat?" > the attraction to the Nazi Party. The Nazi Party got 2.6% of the seats in the Reichstag in the 5/20/1928 Reichstag elections. No elections in 1929, then 18.3% in the 9/14/1930 elections, then 37.3% in the 7/31/1932 elections. Before WWII was over, conservatives led the way in Europe to social democracy, and it was copied in the US. They'd all lived through the days of unregulated capitalism and understood the consequences. Then neoliberalism with Thatcher and Reagan came in the late '70s-early '80s (the subject of this article), and here we are. And those same historians have been warning us about the consequences.
Nailed it!
Most of the 1/6 rioters got slaps on the wrist for actual treason. I'll be pleasantly surprised to see any Texan traitors get more...
😂😂 Maybe we should ask Taylor Swift to get involved as they are afraid of her. 😂😂😂
Made me laugh at the absurdity of all I've read and seen! It's both funny and sad that there are people who believe this. The ones who knowingly promote this garbage are shameless. I am exhausted by Republicans/MAGA/Fascists. They make life more difficult for everyone, unless you're oblivious to fact and truth.
Billionaires love their tax cuts...the R trash are going to keep going
Others have been on that for a while
Don't you know Taylor Swift is a Democratic Operative? Maybe she should embody the role?
It’s easy to say, “Let Texas secede”, but that’s not a viable solution. What about the people who live in Texas who don’t support Abbott & his draconian policies? Just cut them off government support, such as health care and/or social security that they have earned through years of work? Just bow to Abbott because he’s defying our Constitution? How would that work? I don’t have a quick or easy answer to this problem, but building a wall around Texas isn’t the solution.
Thanks for that. There are democrats and independents in Texas. If it were not for the Electoral College, we would be blue or damn close. And we do make differences in our large cities.
The Governor is directly elected, so Texans want him, or not enough people want someone else. I do think there might be a defeatist attitude of “Why vote? Texas is gonna Texas and vote Republican.” And there are real measures to suppress the Democratic vote (one drop box in all of Harris County? That’s bigger than the entire state of Rhode Island! Come ON!) But I think if the Democratic Party in Texas got their act together, progress could be made.
Those people who don’t support Abbott? The ones out organizing mass protests? Sorry, I must have missed them.
With all due respect, at least half of my state hates Abbott. We do have grassroots efforts to defeat him at several levels. In terms of mass protests, the better question would be why aren't ALL states having mass protests against the MAGA movement.
Tex-pat here, by choice. And it’s going to take a lot more than hating them to change Texas’ descent into hell on earth. As of December, according to UT, 48% of Texans approve of Abbott (and 20% of Democrats, WTF), while only 41% of Texans disapprove, and <cough > 11% of Texans “don’t know.” LOL. That’s why there aren’t any mass protests.
https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/set/greg-abbott-job-approval-trend#overall
So I’ll call your tu quoque, and keep looking for another rogue Governor who is so blatantly jonesing for another civil war, and as Joyce points out, absolutely knows he’s violating law.
Not a big believer in polls. Most of us don't answer them. Red state governors are birds of a feather, and they're supporting Abbott. Of course, Abbott knows he's violating the law. He's just thrilled he has a border state so he can be the one to get the attention. Rick Perry loved it when he was governor. Trump is threatening wide-spread violence all the time. He's laid out his plans for a second term - dictatorship, persecution, retribution. He brags about overturning roe v wade. Where are all the protests?? People have lives with real every day problems. Ultimately, this will be resolved. Texas is not going to secede. Biden has been smart not to throw gasoline on the fire. Calmer heads will prevail. And if they don't, people will die and it will be on Abbott because the federal government will prevail over state government bottom line.
Then an appeal to the stone it is.
This will be my last response. You said you left Texas by choice. By choice. So you chose to leave and not organize a protest, lead a protest, participate in a protest, vote in local and state elections or work with the organizations we have here to change things. Don't be so quick to judge the thousands of us who stayed and are voting, contacting our representatives and working for change.
Out in my state, the turkey vultures clean up the road kill before the MAGAts have a chance to breed in them...
About half of us Texans hate Abbott, but we are suppressed in various ways, such as by the legislature where they preach the virtues of limited government and the necessity of local control, but they pass state laws to overrule whatever city ordinances they consider to be " too liberal."
I have no doubt Rosa Parks would agree with you.
Sorry, but according to UT, even as of last month, it’s not about half. Only 41%, disapprove of Abbott, and you can be sure a lot of those won’t go so far as to hate him. Worse yet, 11% “don’t know” their ass from their elbow: https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/set/greg-abbott-job-approval-trend
Those people not supporting him may make short work of him.. an errant wheelchair into the rio grande.. i just cannot unsee that darn it..
Well, if, Abbott rolled hisself down the bank to the Rio Grande, wouldn't he get his wheelchair entangled with all thet there razor wire? A old gal can dream can't she?
TL, you meant razor WHAR right?..he certainly would be messin’ with texas for sure..
Yessuh...lak bob whar only narstier.
Yes, Jean. As I said above, this to me looks like the Palestinians in Gaza being caught between Hamas and the Israelis.
Careful, Jean; Florida is next on the list, after Texas. There'll be just enough time for you to get a bus ticket to, say, Martha's Vineyard before the razor wire goes up.
VOTE!
I guess those voters had better get involved and DO something to rid themselves of corrupt officials.
George Wallace decided to ignore the US Supreme Court by refusing to integrate the university of Alabama ....and then this happened:
“Kennedy issued Executive Order 11111, which had already been prepared, authorizing the federalization of the Alabama National Guard under the Insurrection Act of 1807.[15] Four hours later, Guard General Henry Graham commanded Wallace to step aside, saying, "Sir, it is my sad duty to ask you to step aside under the orders of the President of the United States." Wallace then spoke further, but eventually moved, and Malone and Hood completed their registration.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_in_the_Schoolhouse_Door
Damn. Idaho, my state, was one of those that decided to sign on with this sort of insurrection (can I call it that? Seems like that is what it almost is.)
It's appalling and disgraceful that this so called crisis which could be resolved with funding and judges and meaningful compassionate legislation continues for a fear based political cudgel, all bowing to the most meaningless discompassionate despot this nation has been influenced by - Donnie the Pig.
So weird. This despotic cult.
Dear FredRock. Call it what it is: "Roosters Strutting and scratching for a fight". I feel the 1800's! Too much Yellowstone on TV?
Given the behavior of Ken Paxton, Abbot having served as Texas’’s AG certainly seems like a training ground for bending the law to suit political and personal purposes.
Is someone looking into where the people he is bussing to Denver came from, how they got into his "hands" to be put on these buses? It seems like nothing is being done to thwart this human trafficking, even when done in conspiracy with other Governors...and others...why isn't he having them driven back across the border if their being here undocumented is truly the issue. None of this makes sense. Map est is 1000 miles Co to Mx
From Snooes:
Norwegians say "Texas" as slang to mean wild or crazy.
Rating:
True
A claim about Norwegian slang has regularly been shared on Texas-oriented social media
accounts for nearly a decade: Residents of the Scandinavian nation use the name of the U.S. state as a word for something crazy and lawless.
For example, the assertion was shared to the subreddit r/Texas in this September 2023 post:
Back in the 1800’s Norwegians sent agents to explore various regions in the US to promote settlers from their country to go to.. Texas was one of the places, and was soundly rejected.
I asked my cousin in Bodø, Norway, about this a few years ago, and he said it's absolutely true. When something is just too crazy to be believed even though you know it's real, it's "Texas". 😂
You gotta love them Norwegians!