The Republican Civil War - it will be because we destroyed ourselves

[Bozo_Casanova 25909]

33 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Wait a minute....

This ISN'T satire?

If only

Quote

Now why would a relatively small player in the culture wars be used here as an example of pushback against the Taylor Swifts of the world?

I think it comes down to what’s going on behind the scenes.

The left controls all the big messaging outlets known as the mainstream media. But the right seems to have a whole army of rabble-rousers behind the scenes in social media. In political days of yore (Nixon in the 1970s), the term “silent majority” referred to the folks who were a strong, powerful motivating force in the culture but did not have a media megaphone. Something very similar is stirring today.

Bold, outspoken champions on the right may have been shoved to the sidelines. (Think of Tucker Carlson, whose newfound home on X is roaring like a house on fire.) But add to their continued influence rising stars like Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk and mainstays like Glenn Beck and Eric Metaxas (both of whom I have worked with previously), and let’s just say that America’s personal 2024 Super Bowl, this year’s presidential election, is far from played out.

Be encouraged. Our movement is grassroots. And when we can build on the conservative clawing and scratching of a guy named Catturd, anything is possible.

 

[YGIFS 19445]

57 minutes ago, WBT said:

This shit needs to ramp up in Texas.  The House has been able to barely hold on under the last 3 speakers but where are the primary challengers to Abbott, Patrick, and Cruz?

First off, in most races---somebody attempting to primary a prominent incumbent in Texas has to swing even further to the right, correct?  I think we can all agree that's the case usually.  How does one 'out-batshit right tack' Cruz, Patrick, or Abbott?  It's impossible.  There's no flank to their pandering to the stupids.  Nobody's gonna try that angle.  What somebody could do, and I don't fault them for wanting to fight an uphill battle and probably have their children's lives threatened by MAGA lunatics...is some moderate tries to out-primary them by simply getting a few hundred thousand Democrats/Independents to come out and go for them in both a primary and run-off.  For the umpteenth fucking time, I'm not saying it's the Democratic Party of Texas' responsibility to rid us of these three fucking lunatics, but nobody from that party is going to take either of those seats by the end of this decade.  It's just not going to fucking happen and the sooner you make peace with it, the better.  But if they can find a moderate Republican (spare me the 'those do not exist' bullshit) that they can work with, they can turn out just a few hundred thousand of their own plus the fed-up GOP'ers whom would gladly vote against these guys and at least have somebody who's not a fucking monster in office until the demographics switch down the road in the 2030's.  It's not fucking complicated.  It's not the Democrat's fault here, but the system is what it is.  In terms of turnout, it's a +5 state for Republicans (depending on the cycle).  That's just a fact right now.  We can discuss voter suppression in the other thread. 

The maths are the maths.  And the primary system is the primary system.  Several hundred thousand Democrats would have to be convinced by said primary opponent to Cruz or Patrick to not pull a D ballot in March/May and instead choose to put their ballot chips all in behind this hypothetical moderate candidate on the R-side.  And it's done, it's over with.  Game over for Cruz or Patrick.  Now as soon as it looks dicey for them, they'll change the law that says we all have to be registered and the open primary system is dead, but that's the battle after that.  And we can bitch and moan about this new moderate tilting too far right once in office, but that's the battle after that.  And the battle for blue control down the road is the battle after that.  And on and on and fucking on we go.  The D primary votes for judges in Houston or State rep are largely performative anyway, it's not changing jackshit but in a handful of districts.  

But wouldn't it just be fucking nice to for a couple of goddamn years to live in a State with no Cruz or Paxton or Patrick.  Sure it'd be somebody most of you don't prefer or even respect, but at least it's not one of these insurrectionist cunts.  Then you can boot 'em out the next cycle.  This is not that fucking difficult, but nope-let's throw another $80mm at Beto for something and act like voting in a GOP primary makes you a fascist.  Oh hey---maybe Wendy Davis will have a third act to her political career, right?  These guys are not going anywhere until you kneecap them in a primary.  

[BearSchlong 8015]

This shit needs to ramp up in Texas.  The House has been able to barely hold on under the last 3 speakers but where are the primary challengers to Abbott, Patrick, and Cruz?

I don’t know, but in southeast Texas, Dade Phelan is trying to run to the right of his primary challengers. And it’s fucking hilarious. TV spots with a low-angle camera shot of him with a private Pyle-like psychotic leer, emptying a semiautomatic pistol into what I can only guess is a mass of imaginary brown people.

11”x17” glossy mailers in the mailbox EVERY DAY, including pleas from Rick Perry to reelect a Texas hero.

I can’t wait to see the Trump-backed David Covey flame out.

IRL Dade is about as laid-back country club Republican as they come, so this MAGA cosplay is amusing.

[Js1 83679]

19 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

I don’t know, but in southeast Texas, Dade Phelan is trying to run to the right of his primary challengers. And it’s fucking hilarious. TV spots with a low-angle camera shot of him with a private Pyle-like psychotic leer, emptying a semiautomatic pistol into what I can only guess is a mass of imaginary brown people.

11”x17” glossy mailers in the mailbox EVERY DAY, including pleas from Rick Perry to reelect a Texas hero.

I can’t wait to see the Trump-backed David Covey flame out.

IRL Dade is about as laid-back country club Republican as they come, so this MAGA cosplay is amusing.

If that is what Dade has to do to win re-election, fine.  He's the only thing keeping a small modicum of sanity in the Texas House.  He loses and it's going to ramp up to 11

[bolverk 29105]

29 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

First off, in most races---somebody attempting to primary a prominent incumbent in Texas has to swing even further to the right, correct?  I think we can all agree that's the case usually.  How does one 'out-batshit right tack' Cruz, Patrick, or Abbott?  It's impossible.  There's no flank to their pandering to the stupids.  Nobody's gonna try that angle. 

Allen West and Don Huffines say "hi."

 

Quote

 

What somebody could do, and I don't fault them for wanting to fight an uphill battle and probably have their children's lives threatened by MAGA lunatics...is some moderate tries to out-primary them by simply getting a few hundred thousand Democrats/Independents to come out and go for them in both a primary and run-off.   

 

It's funny that moderate Republicans are too chickenshit to run against Right Wingers in the primaries, but liberals, progressives, and moderate Democrats aren't in the general election every cycle.

[YGIFS 19445]

Yeah good point.  No matter how dumb some folks think every single fucking Republican is, Dade is a smart cat.  I know it objectively and subjectively.  He's doing what he has to do to prevent being out-primaried, even though it's not genuine.  So that he can retain the Gavel and provide some level of decorum in our state.  Don't vote for him, don't donate to him, berate him online, all fine with me.  But in a land of Paxton, Patrick, Abbott, and Cruz.  He absolutely 100% need to stay in power because what comes after him is gonna way the fuck worse than anything you could possibly imagine.  

[YGIFS 19445]

1 minute ago, bolverk said:

Allen West and Don Huffines say "hi."

 

It's funny that moderate Republicans are too chickenshit to run against Right Wingers in the primaries, but liberals, progressives, and moderate Democrats aren't in the general election every cycle.

Yeah, how'd those two guys do btw?  They tried to outflank and lost horribly.  And lost a shitton of money and career goodwill in the meantime.  Both can't even get a corporate speaking gig nowadays.  Don can't get his phonecalls to UT returned anymore he pissed off so many fucking people.  Not saying my solution is easy or pleasant, but it's a fuckton better than anything else I've seen or heard.

And maybe it's funny to you about moderate Republicans.  Every one of them I know has either dove into the deep right end of the pool to go along/get along, or they simply drifted back into the shadows and just don't engage or broadcast.  Nobody is in the middle of their spectrum anymore.  At least not publicly.  There are liberals, progressives, and moderate Democrats in every single general election cycle.  And please feel free to vote for them when that time comes.  My suggestion is merely to rid ourselves of a Cruz, paxton, or Patrick (preferably all three).  There is simply not going to be a Democratic candidate who beats them head-on until 2030/2032.  It's just not going to fucking happen.  So take advantage of the primary system before the demography/turnout shift finally happens.  And beat them with a moderate candidate on their own party ballot that is at least less disgusting. 

And oh yeah, here's the kicker.  You seem smart and probably already figured out the long game.  This person who garnered enough primary support from Democrats and Independents to beat a Cruz/Patrick/Paxton?  In the general, you can all go back to voting Democrat.  And your guy/gal will actually win.  Because the RPT turns on the moderate who won the primary and says they're a RINO/Democrat in GOP sheep's clothing.  Their own party would canibalize them and change the rules and your candidate gets in due to disgusted/frustrated MAGAts staying at home during our big cycles.  Boom, Boom.

[bolverk 29105]

3 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

And maybe it's funny to you about moderate Republicans.  Every one of them I know has either dove into the deep right end of the pool to go along/get along, or they simply drifted back into the shadows and just don't engage or broadcast.  Nobody is in the middle of their spectrum anymore.  At least not publicly.  There are liberals, progressives, and moderate Democrats in every single general election cycle.  And please feel free to vote for them when that time comes.  My suggestion is merely to rid ourselves of a Cruz, paxton, or Patrick (preferably all three).  There is simply not going to be a Democratic candidate who beats them head-on until 2030/2032.  It's just not going to fucking happen.  So take advantage of the primary system before the demography/turnout shift finally happens.  And beat them with a moderate candidate on their own party ballot that is at least less disgusting. 

First, you say that moderate Republicans won't run up against them in the primary and drift back into the shadows. But, then, you say we should vote for these non-existent moderate candidates in the GOP primary. Can you see why we're a little perplexed here?

[YGIFS 19445]

Well yeah, we need to throw them a bone/glimmer of hope.  You gotta get one that hasn't gone off the bat-shit deep-end and enable/engage them with some tease of support/votes/money to go up against one of the Big 4 Douchebags.

Look man, my long diatribes aside-it's simply "The lesser of two evils" tale.  You get some bipartisan support around some lesser shitbag R on their name who could possibly pull it off a primary upset.  Maybe they don't exist in your world, but that doesn't mean they don't exist in reality.  The system allows for them to pull off the upset with the correct/strategic broad-based support at primary/run-off levels.  The icing on the cake that makes it worth it is you can then kneecap them in the general for your Democrat of choice by causing an astroturf grassroots campaign to the RPT and hardcore Texas GOP'ers to stay home because this primary challenger winner of Cruz/Paxton/Patrick is a pussy RINO who'll open the border back up or whatever the fuck.  I mean, that candidate's family will also probably be murdered by a MAGA lunatic, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.  

If there's another way to get rid of Cruz or Patrick or Paxton besides death or a miracle, I am all fucking ears.  Otherwise, this state is just pissing away money on Beto or Wendy or Allred that could be better spent trying to win the 3-4 U.S. House races from the Lone Star State that are actually competitive.  

Edited February 7 by YGIFS

[bolverk 29105]

2 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

Well yeah, we need to throw them a bone/glimmer of hope.  You gotta get one that hasn't gone off the bat-shit deep-end and enable/engage them with some tease of support/votes/money to go up against one of the Big 4 Douchebags.

Look man, my long diatribes aside-it's simply "The lesser of two evils" tale.  You get some bipartisan support around some lesser shitbag R on their name who could possibly pull it off a primary upset.  Maybe they don't exist in your world, but that doesn't mean they don't exist in reality.  The system allows for them to pull off the upset with the correct/strategic broad-based support at primary/run-off levels.  The icing on the cake that makes it worth it is you can then kneecap them in the general for your Democrat of choice by causing an astroturf grassroots campaign to the RPT and hardcore Texas GOP'ers to stay home because this primary challenger winner of Cruz/Paxton/Patrick is a pussy RINO who'll open the border back up or whatever the fuck.  I mean, that candidate's family will also probably be murdered by a MAGA lunatic, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.  

I understand all that, but they have to step up to the plate first to take that swing. Right now, any potential moderate Republican challenger that might be out there has proven him/herself to be a neutered/spayed pet that's just happy to take whatever scraps they can get from their crazy owner and that they haven't yet been euthanized.

[YGIFS 19445]

Partially agree on the self-identification point.  But totally agree that Neutered Spayed Euthanized would make a great band name.  And our first song will be a cover of Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" for the Puppy Bowl this Sunday.  

[WBT 20280]

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

If that is what Dade has to do to win re-election, fine.  He's the only thing keeping a small modicum of sanity in the Texas House.  He loses and it's going to ramp up to 11

I don't know...the House is just more moderate than the Senate and so they elect less loony Speakers.  Straus, Bonnen, and Phelan have all had similar clashes with Patrick.  Even if it's not Phelan I would expect the next Speaker to be similar because he would need rural and D votes to be elected Speaker.

My theory is that with more seats in the House, they haven't been able to gerrymander the same overrepresentation of fundie Christian suburbs that they have in the Senate.

[Js1 83679]

Just now, WBT said:

I don't know...the House is just more moderate than the Senate and so they elect less loony Speakers.  Straus, Bonnen, and Phelan have all had similar clashes with Patrick.  Even if it's not Phelan I would expect the next Speaker to be similar because he would need rural and D votes to be elected Speaker.

My theory is that with more seats in the House, they haven't been able to gerrymander the same overrepresentation of fundie Christian suburbs that they have in the Senate.

This is very incumbent (no pun intended) on the incumbent reps who voted to impeach Paxton survive primary challenges backed by Paxton/Abbott/Cruz

[pyrohornIII 4772]

4 hours ago, WBT said:

This shit needs to ramp up in Texas.  The House has been able to barely hold on under the last 3 speakers but where are the primary challengers to Abbott, Patrick, and Cruz?

Abbott and Patrick won't be up for re-election until 26.  So far the only Dem who is talking about either is Rep Vicki Goodwin of north Travis Co.  She's in the same mold as Talarico, she's been instrumental in the voucher fight and other hot issues the past few sessions.  It's hard to see these new brighter stars in the Texas lege because the media is constantly focused on the political theater Abbott and his ilk keep producing. 

There's a really good daily podcast of 10-15 minutes duration that gives you a rundown on things in DC and Austin affecting us.    Progress Texas on Spotify and other platforms.  

Cruz is up this year and I like Roland Gutierrez.   He's not apologetic about being a Dem and he's not pandering to the right side of the aisle to swing a few never trumper votes.  And while a lot of his campaign focuses on the Uvalde massacre, he has some solid ideas for addressing other issues like immigration, codifying Roe V Wade, etc.  He wants to expand the USSC to match the number of districts, which makes a lot of sense.   Check him out.

 

[pyrohornIII 4772]

3 hours ago, YGIFS said:

First off, in most races---somebody attempting to primary a prominent incumbent in Texas has to swing even further to the right, correct?  I think we can all agree that's the case usually.  How does one 'out-batshit right tack' Cruz, Patrick, or Abbott?  It's impossible.  There's no flank to their pandering to the stupids.  Nobody's gonna try that angle.  What somebody could do, and I don't fault them for wanting to fight an uphill battle and probably have their children's lives threatened by MAGA lunatics...is some moderate tries to out-primary them by simply getting a few hundred thousand Democrats/Independents to come out and go for them in both a primary and run-off.  For the umpteenth fucking time, I'm not saying it's the Democratic Party of Texas' responsibility to rid us of these three fucking lunatics, but nobody from that party is going to take either of those seats by the end of this decade.  It's just not going to fucking happen and the sooner you make peace with it, the better.  But if they can find a moderate Republican (spare me the 'those do not exist' bullshit) that they can work with, they can turn out just a few hundred thousand of their own plus the fed-up GOP'ers whom would gladly vote against these guys and at least have somebody who's not a fucking monster in office until the demographics switch down the road in the 2030's.  It's not fucking complicated.  It's not the Democrat's fault here, but the system is what it is.  In terms of turnout, it's a +5 state for Republicans (depending on the cycle).  That's just a fact right now.  We can discuss voter suppression in the other thread. 

The maths are the maths.  And the primary system is the primary system.  Several hundred thousand Democrats would have to be convinced by said primary opponent to Cruz or Patrick to not pull a D ballot in March/May and instead choose to put their ballot chips all in behind this hypothetical moderate candidate on the R-side.  And it's done, it's over with.  Game over for Cruz or Patrick.  Now as soon as it looks dicey for them, they'll change the law that says we all have to be registered and the open primary system is dead, but that's the battle after that.  And we can bitch and moan about this new moderate tilting too far right once in office, but that's the battle after that.  And the battle for blue control down the road is the battle after that.  And on and on and fucking on we go.  The D primary votes for judges in Houston or State rep are largely performative anyway, it's not changing jackshit but in a handful of districts.  

But wouldn't it just be fucking nice to for a couple of goddamn years to live in a State with no Cruz or Paxton or Patrick.  Sure it'd be somebody most of you don't prefer or even respect, but at least it's not one of these insurrectionist cunts.  Then you can boot 'em out the next cycle.  This is not that fucking difficult, but nope-let's throw another $80mm at Beto for something and act like voting in a GOP primary makes you a fascist.  Oh hey---maybe Wendy Davis will have a third act to her political career, right?  These guys are not going anywhere until you kneecap them in a primary.  

Another problem is that a lot of counties have no Dems in local races, so if people in Possum Piss need to vote for cousin clyde for constable, they can't vote in the Dem primary.  

[YGIFS 19445]

Yes I forgot about all those important Democratic Party primaries in bumblefuck rural Texas counties that so frequently go on to efficiently expend resources to win so many rural races against GOP candidates in the general.  And Gutierrez or Allred had absolutely zero chance to chance to best Cruz.  But make sure to throw $50mm at one of them and “turn out the vote”.  When there’s actually a couple US house races you could win instead.  Oh, maybe have a celebrity concert.  That’ll work:  

[Blotto 23293]

On 2/5/2024 at 8:24 PM, Gatorubet said:

I think we need to start thinking ahead on how to sell these idiots trinkets commemorating Trump’s death.  Digital Death Cards.   Trump descending the escalator Trump, hugging the flag, Trump‘s booking photo, etc.   Without Trump’s dipshit force field protecting his kids, they will both be arrested and convicted for grifting rubes within a couple years.
The key here is to have the merch ready for shipment as soon as he croaks

That would work for some extra walking around money. But I'm after that Elon Musk money.......Trump Resurrection memorabilia.

When the rubes descend on Mar A Lago besides themselves with grief, I'm gonna be out in front of the Garden Tomb master suite shithouse to get these folks believing again. 3 days isn't really enough time to maximize revenue, so I'm gonna have to massage the timeline a bit....

That should buy us at least a couple of years of fleecing,easy.

1.) Obtain a few thousand surplus pillows from Lindell to sell as the official resurrection pillow used by the big guy himself

2.) Slap a 45 logo on 'em, roll 'em around in cheeto dust. 

3.) Profit

"Buy three pillows and get a Boobert handjob FREE!"

 

Edited February 8 by Blotto

[gmr548 16316]

Oh cool we're in the Lobo/Cruiser/YGIFS Republican primary rant stage of the election cycle once again.

Look, if you took every Democrat that voted in the 2022 Primary and had them vote for the second place Republican, Abbott goes to a runoff and wins, and Dan Patrick wins by over 250k votes. It's a stupid pipe dream. That's before considering that for those of us who don't live in aggystan exurbs or rural areas, the Democratic primary is functionally the general election at the local level. I'm not passing on that to tell people how edgy I am for voting in the GOP primary.

[YGIFS 19445]

Fair, but it certainly beats the fuck outta the current strategy---pissing away tens and tens of millions of dollars at futile efforts to win lost cause races when we could direct it at a handful of more tactical efforts.  

We'll all be back here in 9 months time wondering how a big music festival and $75mm in outside money didn't get Cruz defeated  by a super-duper Democrat.  

[Js1 83679]

We will? Bc I think it’s been said here, by many Democratic voters, that Cruz will win convincingly. Because this state sucks and Cruz represents the state perfectly 

[bolverk 29105]

12 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

Fair, but it certainly beats the fuck outta the current strategy---pissing away tens and tens of millions of dollars at futile efforts to win lost cause races when we could direct it at a handful of more tactical efforts.  

We'll all be back here in 9 months time wondering how a big music festival and $75mm in outside money didn't get Cruz defeated  by a super-duper Democrat.  

Yes, Beto lost, but you're not going to get away with sneaking that into your argument. Beto raised more money, both in-state and out-of-state.

 

 

[YGIFS 19445]

So raising the most money gets him the win?  Is that like who has the biggest rally attendance automatically wins the election?  JFC folks, I'm on your side.  I busted my fucking ass to raise nearly $200k for Biden in futility to show that Texas would be vulnerable to the GOP in 2020.  We can all exchange pissing contest political resumes.  I'm just saying Paxton, Patrick, and Cruz are not going away in the next 2-8 years.  They're just not.  The blueprint is just pissing away money that can be spent on the 2-4 competitive US House races from Texas and at least swing away a GOP super-majority in the State Senate.  Everything else is just fucking panacea noise.  Neg rep all you want, this fucking thing isn't going anywhere until 2032, at best.  Not saying my idea is foolproof but it's got some agreement from some moderate Republicans.  Yeah, it has a very low chance of happening but at least it humiliates these asshats and makes them more awkward than they already are.  

Nobody wants Ted on the SCOTUS or their cabinet.  And we know he can't be nominated as President.  So we're literally stuck with him for 30 more fucking years unless somebody primaries his ass. 

Ken Paxton cannot be taken out by the cartels as long as he holds office.  And that guy can work the fuck outta the legal system and the impeachment process.  So he ain't going anywhere for 20 years.  

Dan Patrick is either gonna be our Lt. Gov or Governor for 20 years as well.  Unless he's beaten in a primary by a non-raging lunatic.  

There are competitive races to be won.  And those folks need resources.  But we're just pissing up a rope right now thinking we're gonna Rock the Vote our way to victory in 2024/2026 in Texas.  Fucking send the money and effort to Arizona, at least it'd make a fucking difference.  We're all just gonna be back on here in 9 months time wringing our hands saying, "But Guitierrez/Allred raised so much money, how could this have possibly have happened.  And oh yeah (checks notes), we lost a couple House races from South & East Texas and even a few more State Legislative seats...but we raised so much money against Ted...how could it possibly be?"  

Edited February 8 by YGIFS

[Biff Tannen 45226]

11 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

That is one ugly jeep

One SNUGLY jeep.

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

28 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

Dan Patrick is either gonna be our Lt. Gov or Governor for 20 years as well.  Unless he's beaten in a primary by a non-raging lunatic. 

Are we sure that Dan Patrick is not filled with formaldehyde? He looks like maybe he is. I used to think he'd be a candidate for an STD because of how he protests so much about sex but now I'm halfway convinced he's just been filled with preservative and poured into his starched jeans and plaid shirts and his hair sprayed with so much lacquer he sounds like foil when he walks.

[BearSchlong 8015]

This ad is on loop on ABC.

https://www.fox7austin.com/news/house-speaker-dade-phelan-fights-back-against-some-texas-republicans.amp

Yesterday CPS removed some very young kids from a truly stomach-turning, uphauling situation, and Mrs. Dade Phelan was appointed ad litem. She does the lord’s work. If I worked for the state I'd just go around pistol-whipping and kneecapping motherfuckers all day long for their sins against the innocent. Think Russian war crimes equivalent evil, except in Texas. Replete with AK-47s.

My wife just commented “fuck, if Dade ever cheated on Kim that ad would be the end of him.”

[StassneyHorn 6446]

When Trump is the turnout magnet for GOP voters and Dem voters, and can only get 52% of the vote, I think you should always take the chance. Especially if you think he's lost some of the turnout buzz for GOP voters but still has people walking through glass on the other side to go against.

2016 Trump had 52.2%
2018 Cruz had 50.9%
2020- Trump had 52.1%
2024 will have both of them on a ballot.

Also Lt. Dan has been aging pretty quick. Not gonna guess if he runs again in '26. Would be 75.

Nov. 2020 Texas voter registration- 15,279,870 non-suspended
Jan. 2024 Texas voter registration- 16,092,426 non-suspended

[Dnaguy 11599]

12 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

Are we sure that Dan Patrick is not filled with formaldehyde? He looks like maybe he is. I used to think he'd be a candidate for an STD because of how he protests so much about sex but now I'm halfway convinced he's just been filled with preservative and poured into his starched jeans and plaid shirts and his hair sprayed with so much lacquer he sounds like foil when he walks.

 

I can't get over that idiot's nose.

Where is it?

Did he lose it?

Was he born this way?

Was there a terrible accident IDK about?

Is his inner terribleness just manifesting itself on his face in a lack of a nose?

Did the model from Seven not kill herself and became a stereotypical looking lesbian who later identified as a Dan Patrick?

All the major Republican office holders look like they're characters from a Nightmare Before Christmas live action remake.

Hot wheels, No-nose Dan, Lazy eye Paxton, Child Molesting Grown-up Teen Wolf Cruz, Rotating-head Sid Miller, and the hangin' soulless judge John Cornyn.

Edited February 8 by Dnaguy

[YGIFS 19445]

7 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

Are we sure that Dan Patrick is not filled with formaldehyde? He looks like maybe he is. I used to think he'd be a candidate for an STD because of how he protests so much about sex but now I'm halfway convinced he's just been filled with preservative and poured into his starched jeans and plaid shirts and his hair sprayed with so much lacquer he sounds like foil when he walks.

It's funny you mention that.  I can't remember his name for the life of me, but he used to run these TV ads on local Austin stations in the early/mid 2000's when apartment finder companies still existed.  And he had this weird hair coif, and even with TV makeup 'n shit, he just looked plain weird.  And I was dating my now wife at the time, and I knew it was gonna make me sound bizarre (even more than I am obviously am).  But I couldn't help it.  The guy would stand by a fireplace and talk about helping you find your next rental and there was just something really off about him, even for a real estate/TV personality.  And just the strangest fucking voice too.   And I asked her, "Do you ever feel like you see people in real life or on TV that aren't really human, like they're wearing a human suit and faking our language?"  And the second I said it, I regretted it.  But she turned to me and said, "Oh my god, I totally know what you mean."  

I get that impression with Dan Patrick.  From the moment he came into my old office because my ex-business partner was a big donor to him, I just felt something was woefully off about him.  Eventually, his politics enraged me ,but I didn't know jackshit about him at the time.  But it was just surreal how, even for a fake politician feigning civility (plenty of those, Lord knows), there was just something off about him just in terms of physiology.  A year later, I saw him speak at this Texas Lyceum deal in the RGV.  Which is purpose-built to be non-partisan.  And he was wearing these starched jeans and goofy rancher shirt.  And he actually, in all honesty (neg rep me all you want), gave a decent talk.  And everybody was happy to have him there and he was very cordial and polite and well-spoken and had some good points.  But I remember he was around this fire pit and it was maybe 50-75 of us, and the way he'd walk back and forth and his pacing and cadence, it was so fucking weird to me.  But nobody else raised an eyebrow, D or R or I.  And I was a guest of somebody so didn't want to mumble under my breath, but there was something so fucking weird about his body language and his cadence.  Like he was trying to remember his instruction manual by his creator.  He just doesn't seem like that's his skin he's in.  /csb  

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

3 minutes ago, Dnaguy said:

 

I can't get over that idiot's nose.

Where is it?

Did he lose it?

Was he born this way?

Was there a terrible accident IDK about?

Is his inner terribleness just manifesting itself on his face in a lack of a nose?

Did the model from Seven not kill herself and became a stereotypical looking lesbian who later identified as a Dan Patrick?

All the major Republican office holders look like they're characters from a Nightmare Before Christmas live action remake.

Hot wheels, No-nose Dan, Lazy eye Paxton, Child Molesting Grown-up Teen Wolf Cruz, Rotating-head Sid Miller, and the hangin' soulless judge John Cornyn.

Did you ever watch the Coen brothers' classic, O Brother Where Art Thou? Maybe it's like Tommy, who sold his soul to the devil only instead of being able to play the guitar they swapped for the ability to be like one-eyed Big Dan (the Bible salesman) and they just wanna kill toads and hurt people. Big Dan was like the Cyclops, but I bet...I bet if you was to pick up a copy of Homer's Great Work you'd find that just about every monster in that epic has a doppleganger in the GOP. The rest of us? We just want to get home.

[Biff Tannen 45226]

14 minutes ago, Dnaguy said:

 

I can't get over that idiot's nose.

Where is it?

Did he lose it?

Was he born this way?

Was there a terrible accident IDK about?

Is his inner terribleness just manifesting itself on his face in a lack of a nose?

Did the model from Seven not kill herself and became a stereotypical looking lesbian who later identified as a Dan Patrick?

All the major Republican office holders look like they're characters from a Nightmare Before Christmas live action remake.

Hot wheels, No-nose Dan, Lazy eye Paxton, Child Molesting Grown-up Teen Wolf Cruz, Rotating-head Sid Miller, and the hangin' soulless judge John Cornyn.

Well it's either one or the other.

 

 

 

[YGIFS 19445]

Stiles from Teen Wolf, "What are you looking at, Dicknose?"  

[pyrohornIII 4772]

36 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

So raising the most money gets him the win?  Is that like who has the biggest rally attendance automatically wins the election?  JFC folks, I'm on your side.  I busted my fucking ass to raise nearly $200k for Biden in futility to show that Texas would be vulnerable to the GOP in 2020.  We can all exchange pissing contest political resumes.  I'm just saying Paxton, Patrick, and Cruz are not going away in the next 2-8 years.  They're just not.  The blueprint is just pissing away money that can be spent on the 2-4 competitive US House races from Texas and at least swing away a GOP super-majority in the State Senate.  Everything else is just fucking panacea noise.  Neg rep all you want, this fucking thing isn't going anywhere until 2032, at best.  Not saying my idea is foolproof but it's got some agreement from some moderate Republicans.  Yeah, it has a very low chance of happening but at least it humiliates these asshats and makes them more awkward than they already are.  

Nobody wants Ted on the SCOTUS or their cabinet.  And we know he can't be nominated as President.  So we're literally stuck with him for 30 more fucking years unless somebody primaries his ass. 

Ken Paxton cannot be taken out by the cartels as long as he holds office.  And that guy can work the fuck outta the legal system and the impeachment process.  So he ain't going anywhere for 20 years.  

Dan Patrick is either gonna be our Lt. Gov or Governor for 20 years as well.  Unless he's beaten in a primary by a non-raging lunatic.  

There are competitive races to be won.  And those folks need resources.  But we're just pissing up a rope right now thinking we're gonna Rock the Vote our way to victory in 2024/2026 in Texas.  Fucking send the money and effort to Arizona, at least it'd make a fucking difference.  We're all just gonna be back on here in 9 months time wringing our hands saying, "But Guitierrez/Allred raised so much money, how could this have possibly have happened.  And oh yeah (checks notes), we lost a couple House races from South & East Texas and even a few more State Legislative seats...but we raised so much money against Ted...how could it possibly be?"  

Fuck you.  I generally always agree with your point of view, but you won't make me feel like some idiotic second-class citizen because I have to live in a rural county.  This kind of talk that their votes don't matter has been driven into their minds by the urban elite so much that they believe it.  Believe it down to the point where the votes don't matter because too many stay home, why should they vote?   I get no funding from the state, none from national level and very little from local.  Our volunteers out here in rural Texas pay with their time and checkbooks every time they travel to someplace in county for an event or knock on a door or two.

It wouldn't have taken but a one or two percentage increase in rural turnout to make a big difference in the outcome of the 22 elections.  But everyone insists that the urban vote will turn us blue and there is no doubt that's where our strength lies.    But there are just as many if not more blue voters in counties like Harris that stay home too.  And the bulk of all this funds you bitch about were spent in those locales.

And the funding has targeted seats that can be flipped, and not all.  It is hard to watch some local candidate run for HD or CD and they get no support from the state or DC if their races are considered long shots.    They make the effort to run and know they won't win, but they do it anyway because they feel someone has to offer an alternative.

But this kind of talk is just as harmful to our chances of winning, if not more, than underfunding.  Our rural Dems are ridiculed and laughed down at by the Dunning Kruger assholes, some have their jobs threatened, their kids at school taunted and other slights just for standing up for the party of reason and empathy.  It's not a hard decision to stay home and not vote.

I don't have all the high level contacts you do, nor those experiences, but I do know rural Texas and the blue voters there, and the challenge of getting them to the polls to vote.  I would appreciate you think about those people before you dismiss them as dumbasses from Possum Piss who don't mean shit when it comes to voting.   Maybe just keep this logic to yourself, or modify it where you aren't denigrating a large base of voters.  We have enough problems with turning out Texas Dems without having our own people telling them they are pointless.  

 

[Bozo_Casanova 25909]

14 minutes ago, pyrohornIII said:

Our rural Dems are ridiculed and laughed down at by the Dunning Kruger assholes, some have their jobs threatened, their kids at school taunted and other slights just for standing up for the party of reason and empathy.  It's not a hard decision to stay home and not vote.

I don't have all the high level contacts you do, nor those experiences, but I do know rural Texas and the blue voters there, and the challenge of getting them to the polls to vote.  I would appreciate you think about those people before you dismiss them as dumbasses from Possum Piss who don't mean shit when it comes to voting.   Maybe just keep this logic to yourself, or modify it where you aren't denigrating a large base of voters.  We have enough problems with turning out Texas Dems without having our own people telling them they are pointless

Our rural Dems are literally the *only* people fighting for rural Texas because the urban dems are mostly concerned with urban issues and our “rural Republicans” are mostly concerned with sparkly statewide culture war bullshit and also not rural besides, due to gerrymandering. 
if the TDP wasn’t organized to lose, they’d spend 80% of their time and money on your county courthouse steps, because that’s the path to victory to Texas, as it ever was. 

Edited February 8 by Bozo_Casanova

[YGIFS 19445]

I'm all for rural D turnout and have put my money where my mouth is.  I'm just saying, everybody decent needs to take one for the team and fuckoff with pulling a D primary ballot for one cycle and vote a Paxton or Patrick or Cruz outta office.  That's all.  I don't see any other fucking way.  You guys got another roadmap, I am all fucking ears.  If somebody you admire doesn't get your runoff vote in rural Texas for one election ballot but one of the Big 4 dipshits has to eat shit...let's do it.  There is just simply no other way forward for the next 8-12 years.  There's just not.  If there is some room of y'all somewhere figuring this out, please fucking tell me and I will bring to bear resources beyond your wildest dreams.  But you do not get rid of cunts by pissing into the wind.  I'll shut the fuck up on this thread forever, if you can just tell me what the fucking plan is to get rid of these guys that doesn't involve syphoning money away from actual competitive races to just back a rock-star Democratic candidate who's gonna get their ass beat in 24/26+.  

[bolverk 29105]

15 minutes ago, pyrohornIII said:

Fuck you.  I generally always agree with your point of view, but you won't make me feel like some idiotic second-class citizen because I have to live in a rural county.  This kind of talk that their votes don't matter has been driven into their minds by the urban elite so much that they believe it.  Believe it down to the point where the votes don't matter because too many stay home, why should they vote?   I get no funding from the state, none from national level and very little from local.  Our volunteers out here in rural Texas pay with their time and checkbooks every time they travel to someplace in county for an event or knock on a door or two.

Amen. It takes a good amount of bravery to be a moderate (much less a liberal) in rural parts of this state, where you can easily be labeled as an affront to god and all things holy if you portray yourself as anything but a hardcore conservative Christian Republican and risk being both professionally and socially ostracized.

I seem to recall an article from a couple of years back where a nice older woman was verbally abused and accused of being a Socialist Satanist (or some such -- I can't recall all the details) in public for voting for a Democrat in one of the elections.

It's my personal belief that part of the dominance that the GQP has in rural areas is in some large part due to this kind of treatment, and it results in de facto voter suppression. Liberals, for certain, are scared of being outed.

[Biff Tannen 45226]

10 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

I'm all for rural D turnout and have put my money where my mouth is.  I'm just saying, everybody decent needs to take one for the team and fuckoff with pulling a D primary ballot for one cycle and vote a Paxton or Patrick or Cruz outta office.  That's all.  I don't see any other fucking way.  You guys got another roadmap, I am all fucking ears.  If somebody you admire doesn't get your runoff vote in rural Texas for one election ballot but one of the Big 4 dipshits has to eat shit...let's do it.  There is just simply no other way forward for the next 8-12 years.  There's just not.  If there is some room of y'all somewhere figuring this out, please fucking tell me and I will bring to bear resources beyond your wildest dreams.  But you do not get rid of cunts by pissing into the wind.  I'll shut the fuck up on this thread forever, if you can just tell me what the fucking plan is to get rid of these guys that doesn't involve syphoning money away from actual competitive races to just back a rock-star Democratic candidate who's gonna get their ass beat in 24/26+.  

I think it was mentioned some pages back, but what "more moderate" Rs have we been given as choices against Cruz, et al?  The only legit R contender I remember right now is that gremlin that went against Abbott last time and he was WAY further Right.  I'm not saying I want a Dem in R clothing in order to vote in the R primary, but if anything, the choices are the opposite.  So you are asking me to vote for someone worse?

[YGIFS 19445]

Good point.  Sadly, I think "conformity" is actually more weighted in rural/exurban Texas than urban/suburban Texas because you're just constantly around the same people you know every single day.  Even though 90% of Texas is now suburban/urban, we don't know the vast, vast majority of the thousands upon thousands of people we see so we can still kinda stand alone and find our cliques.  But it's a pain in the ass, I imagine, to be in a smaller community where you have to look the same hundred folks in the eye everyday and pretend you're on their team when you're not.  And they probably also feel the same alienation but can't express it to you because they don't know how to go about it either.  

I have lived in a town of 3000 people.  And I have lived in a city of 3,000,000 people.  And a bunch in between.  Some days you feel so connected to the people around you and a part of something wonderful.  Some days you feel so alone and could take or leave humanity without a moment's hesitation.  In the end, we're still in the middle rough patch of a tribal nature 100,000 years in the making.  And we still can't fucking help but divide ourselves, no matter the size of our tribe, our band, or even our species.  We are stuck on a rock hurtling around a boiling star at 67,000mph.  I just want a handful of truly shitty people to be gone from this place.  And if anybody has a good way to do it, I'm all in.  Because for now, there ain't no rock but this one...

[bolverk 29105]

20 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

I think it was mentioned some pages back, but what "more moderate" Rs have we been given as choices against Cruz, et al?  The only legit R contender I remember right now is that gremlin that went against Abbott last time and he was WAY further Right.  I'm not saying I want a Dem in R clothing in order to vote in the R primary, but if anything, the choices are the opposite.  So you are asking me to vote for someone worse?

Yeah, that's the whole thing with the RINO shit and the partisan purity tests. Obviously, liberal Democrats behave the same way to a degree but not nearly to the extent that we see on the Right. Take Biden, for example, most Democrats were willing to set aside differences to ensure an acceptable electable candidate was selected.

Republicans, on the other hand, aren't really concerned with electability, according to the recent polls I've seen. They want Trump come hell or high water. And, down ballot, if you ain't with Trump, you're the enemy. Hence, the Republican Civil War that's the topic of this thread.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13318]

Sad but slightly enjoyable watching Sen Lankford yesterday realize that the GOP is not about progress but only getting Trump in office. Didn’t he get the  memo because the rest of the GOP is aware of that.

The sad part is while I don’t care for this guys politics, he did seem to give a honest attempt at bipartisanship for a partisan issue, and the right is going to kick him to the curb for that sin.

Edited February 8 by Nice Guy Eddie

[Voldemort86 2241]

5 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Sad but slightly enjoyable watching Sen Lankford yesterday realize that the GOP is not about progress but only getting Trump in office. Didn’t he get the  memo because the rest of the GOP is aware of that.

The sad part is while I don’t care for this guys politics, he did seem to give a honest attempt at bipartisanship for a partisan issue, and the right is going to kick him to the curb for that sin.

He’s a marijuana hater so fuck him.

[Bozo_Casanova 25909]

8 hours ago, YGIFS said:

I'm just saying, everybody decent needs to take one for the team and fuckoff with pulling a D primary ballot for one cycle and vote a Paxton or Patrick or Cruz outta office. 

Cruz and Patrick have never had real primary challengers since taking office. As for Paxton … it’s one thing to need a few realists to come help push an essential candidate over the top in a local primary (like Dade Phelan), but are you saying you are disappointed that *Democrats* couldn’t make up a 36% gap for Trump’s Texas co-chair, George P Bush? 
I am zero ideology and all realpolitik, so I’m sympathetic to your frame of mind but as a strategy it’s not workable on the statewide level here because there’s too much Republican unanimity to overcome for the worst offenders. 

Edited February 8 by Bozo_Casanova

[pyrohornIII 4772]

I agree with Bozo, it works better on a local level than it does statewide.  The primary to replace Bryan Slaton, House District 2 had a 'jungle' primary.  All candidates were on the same ballot, regardless of party.  So that meant there were no individual party primaries.   Texas does not register you as a D or R or L, that only happens when you vote in one of those parties' primaries.  If you vote in the Dem primary this cycle, you cannot vote in any runoff other than a Dem one.  And same for Red side.   You cannot hold county or precinct chair positions or be a delegate to the state convention if you vote in a republican race.     There are a few other implications, but those are the major ones.

In a jungle primary there is no party association, so people can cross over during that primary.  This happened in HD 2 where once the local Dem candidate, Kristen Washington, did not gain enough votes to make the runoffs, many of the local Dems went in and cast votes for Jill Dutton over Brent Money.  Money had been endorsed by the 3 evil stooges.  Money did not get sizeable donations from outside the districts, ala Dunn, Wilks or any others.  I guess Abbott and his klan calculated their endorsement alone would win the day.    

So that was a short term win, and Dutton is no prize, but she's lengths better than Money.  But now they are all on their party ballots again for the 24 primaries, and Dutton will serve out the rest of this term until 1/25 no matter who wins the primary now. 

Even locally like that, it was only like 100-120 vote difference.  It will be interesting to see the results of a normal primary.  

https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/30/brent-money-jill-dutton-texas-house-district-2/

[YGIFS 19445]

I honestly don't know how it'd play out in Texas.  But there does seem to be more rumblings nationwide about ranked voting in both generals and primaries.  Our run-off rules are also especially unique, so that's the third question.  I don't see it shaking out in Texas anytime soon, but it's certainly worth a robust discussion.  For now, the system we have has some glaring gaps.  Voter suppression is real and GOP primary opponents trying to usurp usually try to out-flank from the right.  But in all fairness, it is somewhat simpler to vote in Texas than in most states and the GOP doesn't really see the blind-side.  Most urban and suburban voting precincts have multiple outlets with nearly two weeks of voting possibilities with generous hours.  There's some real suppression efforts but even with young kids and multiple jobs, it's still not that hard to vote here.  Don't get me wrong, they'll clamp that shit down one day when it backfires.  And the primary system and lack of straight tickets is just screaming to be taken advantage of.  My idea doesn't have legs, I get it.  But I promise you all with 100% sincerity, in ten years time...you'll look back on this era and think, "Oh shit, we used to actually have relatively okay voting capabilities and a primary system to be taken advantage of."  The crackdown coming by 2032 is going to make this look like the Salad Days.  

[pyrohornIII 4772]

The best thing that could happen locally would be to make all races county level non partisan.  School districts and municipalities, service districts already are like that.  Go with non partisan and ranked choice.   The 134 PAC which is a Dem PAC west of 35 is pushing for ranked choice, but the parties won't support it.   

And your point about the ease of voting in the urban area holds water until you get into the historically blue sections of town.  The recent election law changes have increased the hours and locations, but have not held the counties accountable for where they place the polling locations, nor for how many machines they put in them.    And the Lege didn't grant any more funding to the SoS to pass down to the counties to pay for those new locations and hours, so they are having to cut early voting locations to fit the additional polling day sites into their budget.   And finding additional election workers is a grind too.   So it's kind of like micro gerrymandering.

Your idea has merit and gets tossed around a lot, but there's still a loyalty to party that people have out of pride that keeps them from voting Red.  They feel under attack and if and when they can vote, they will vote their party line out of protest and with the hope others are doing so.  The strategy you suggest just isn't something they would ever think of doing.  

[Js1 83679]

18 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

But there does seem to be more rumblings nationwide about ranked voting in both generals and primaries. 

A) In certain places.  One party keeps suing to stop it everywhere it's been implemented. 

B) Adopting and then keeping FPTP elections from the British was just another stupid thing we did.  

C) Texas 50% run-off rules are not *that* unique - 7 states have the same rules.  What if I told you they are in former Confederate states to keep black people from holding office? Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.

[Horn Under a Bad Sign 20304]

Holy shit this is so fucking funny.

Jack Posobiec:  Sebastian Gorka is who he'd cast as "fat, gay guy in a movie."

Gorka goes off on Jack Posibiec: He's "a dollar store version of Alex Jones."

Then Gorka REALLY goes off on Posobiec


 https://www.mediaite.com/news/seb-gorka-mercilessly-mocks-pizzagate-huckster-dollar-store-version-of-alex-jones/




 

[dcbc 14282]

Edited February 9 by dcbc

[Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13485]

13 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

Holy shit this is so fucking funny.

Jack Posobiec:  Sebastian Gorka is who he'd cast as "fat, gay guy in a movie."

Gorka goes off on Jack Posibiec: He's "a dollar store version of Alex Jones."

Then Gorka REALLY goes off on Posobiec


 https://www.mediaite.com/news/seb-gorka-mercilessly-mocks-pizzagate-huckster-dollar-store-version-of-alex-jones/




 

*Suddenly, MTG comes sprinting down the aisle towards the ring. She too is pregnant with Vince McMahon's baby*

[Fudge Nuggets 19001]

On 2/7/2024 at 8:59 PM, pyrohornIII said:

We have enough problems with turning out Texas Dems without having our own people telling them they are pointless.  

Lobo isn't one of us.  He'll be one of the first to go running back to the GOP if they ever run someone half sane again.

[YGIFS 19445]

I’m not a registered Democrat in Texas?  Shocker.  Neither are you.  There aren’t any.  Since 2016, I’ve voted roughly 60% Dem, 20% Libertarian and 20% Republican at generals.  Obviously at the muni level, vote non-partisan.  Since my first Presidential election in 1996, have only voted GOP one time-2000.  And voted in every single one.  In terms of primaries, I think I’ve pulled probably about 50/50 Over the years for strategic purposes.  I don’t vote in primaries to get people I like into office, I use my vote to hurt the other guy.  
 

have been appointed by a liberal mayor And liberal councilwoman to multiple positions.  
 

did more for Biden in Texas in 2020 than you will in your whole life.  Helped Kopser try to defeat Chip Roy.  Worked with Eddie Rodriguez and Sara Eckhart on more than you know. 
 

I don’t subscribe to the Democratic Party.  You got me there.  But they are the most efficient entity out there with which to hurt MAGA and so I serve at their pleasure.  Because the look in the eyes of a person who knows they’ve been swindled and defeated is a high I can never kick.  
 

I’ll be the guy who just gets shit done to hurt the GOP. You can be the other guy.  

Edited February 9 by YGIFS