mattyt36

Deep breath, @Blue Dogs Looks like my theory may be closer to the case than it was this summer If correct, this means Harris County will no longer be competitive Surely Mealer, Patrick, Ed Young and the Republican machine have seen the same poll results internally, which explains why Young was so embittered and angry last week and Mealer today is calling to hire 1K new police officers out of nowhere for … er … reasons? Sounds like a totally judicious use of funds. Looks like @august948’s tongue-in-cheek posting of Mealer with colleagues in fatigues saying they’re fighting crime in Houston may not be far off from how these guys see themselves … 1K new officers walking around on top of what we already have, where will she put them and what will they do all day?! (Wonder how she even came up with 1K? Because it was larger than 100 and 10K sounded a bit too ridiculous, even to these professional fearmongers?) Abbott behind similarly, I honestly would’ve expected Mealer to run ahead as she has no history and is avoiding telegraphing she is a Republican—however she’s somehow running slightly behind—this is great indication that it has little to do with Mealer and is more just anti-Republican (greatest Governor in history … I guess? … looks like your fellow Texans strongly disagree). If the voters are anti-Republican (what I believe you have referred to as a “wave” before), ain’t nothing much poor Mealer can do … maybe her campaign should’ve been something other than Mattress … Woman … Latina … Crime … War! I say thank God it looks like the majority of Harris County residents can see the Republican Party for exactly what it is and they say NO THANK YOU Of course I won’t put it past Abbott to just proclaim Mealer won anyway, and I can’t say I have much faith in the crooked Republican judges (Aileen Cannon anyone?)

Color me confused as to why you would opine so strongly initially without reading the media coverage to begin with. There is only one newspaper of record in Houston, so it’s not even a tough Google. “I think we’d have to examine the actual speech Ed Young made,” you said. Uh huh. It’s called Google if you are so obsessed about what was or wasn’t said. Seriously, dude, give me a break. Yeah, “Thanks for the link,” for sure. The rest of your response can be dismissed due to the disingenuousness with which it began.

Augie, I don't think you're dense or of the dim variety, so I must question myself, how can that be "the take" of someone who I may disagree with politically, but think is sensible. It's either you think this is all some sort of game, in which "nothing really matters" or you actually earnestly believe what you wrote. To, as you say, "paraphrase": Second Baptist pastor Ed Young calls for Democrats to be voted out during sermon (chron.com) During Dr. Ed Young's sermon to Second Baptist Church in Houston Sunday, the prominent preacher called on congregants to vote out elected officials who he considers at fault for the city's crime. The pastor argued that "delayed justice," including bail bonds, is to blame for the rising rates and is what occurs when "you put left-wing progressives in office." "If Houston and Harris County is to survive, we had better throw those bums out of office." said Young, who's served as lead pastor at Second Baptist Church since 1978. "They are not doing their job that we have called them to." That seems, er, pretty black and white. Either it happened mostly as it was described or it didn't. Maybe it was an innocent "slip of the tongue," so to speak. If it didn't happen as described, Ed Young has had a week to correct the record. He hasn't. Ergo it more than likely happened mostly as it was described. So, I ask again--very simple question--assuming the above happened (without even asking if you believe it), on a simple question of the rule of law as it exists (again, whether you agree with it or not is immaterial) . . . this is, as we say, "a question of principle" . . . do you think that guy should maintain the privileged tax-exempt status? Just say yes, absolutely, this guy has it right and I don't care. In fact, it'd be much better if the US had more religious leadership, the foundational tenet of religious freedom in the Constitution be damned. It's much easier than going on about how "we don't have the facts . . . we only know what we have read" (Surely you never thought you would be one to say such a thing, or do I have you completely wrong?) and "actually, a quick read of the IRS code says . . . " (If there's one thing I give the Republicans credit for, it's endurance, as I would find such pretzel logic beyond exhausting.)

Oh boy, Augie, I didn’t know it was THAT bad. I know people saying things and hundreds of other people hearing it directly and then it being confirmed independently has increasingly confused a certain political demographic for a long time for matters of convenience (admittedly now at a logarithmic scale since 2016). For whatever reason, said demographic is completely incapable of contemplating that things as written, which make complete sense on their face by simple powers of observation, are or even can be accurate. Are you holding that it is likely that Ed Young didn’t even make the comments alleged in the Chronicle and it is all an innocent misunderstanding? Has Ed Young clarified, or perhaps apologized in good faith for any potential misunderstanding to “advance the dialogue”? Just say “SO WHAT? I don’t care.” Instead of arguing over the circumstances, let’s start with first principles. IF the article is more-or-less accurate, why not tell us your position on the tax-exempt status? Cuz, pardon me for being presumptuous, survey says your answer is probably doesn’t matter, regardless (or, probably more likely “every tax-exempt organization is corrupt, so why does it matter?”), so why waste your time on arguing simple technicalities? Best to focus on the substance of the issue than going out of the way to employ gaslighting techniques, i.e., “Did anyone hear him say literally those things, and, if he did, did anyone ask him if he was joking? And if he wasn’t joking, did anyone ask him if he literally believed it? Because if he believed it, no matter how ridiculous it was, it’s OK.” (Same sort of logic with claiming FBI planting documents, and then saying documents were declassified, then saying the documents were in private cartons, etc, and people still thinking everything is A-OK … half the country has seem to have lost its mind trying to make excuses for the absolute obvious. OJ Simpson and Claus Von Bulow would want you on their juries … everything is all just a coincidence and so many people have it out for me, so it can’t possibly be true! It’s certainly no coincidence Trump has Dershowitz in common between those two.) Such is how propaganda works (if you even believe it to begin with, that is). But I suspect you know this. (At least the part of you that has not completely surrendered to cynicism does.)

This is why am always skeptical of this crime rhetoric, which always rears its head in election season. I really wish people like Ed Young would face consequences for being so overtly political (there are of course plenty of other and worse examples across the country). Time to yank tax-exempt status and come clean that this was all part of a deliberate political operation.

Is this some Law Enforcement Agency Endorsements=Certain Victory axiom that you read about on Breitbart? I guess someone better tell Donald Trump. (Something tells me your predictions were off in November 2020 as well. If people can’t see what an absolute cult the Republican Party has become, I’m not sure what to say.)

There are no hills in Houston

Fantastic show by my vote

Sure, well done Greg from Gregg County, I am confident he was totally behind this. Must’ve been keeping him up for nights. Likely #2 priority for him after making sure there are no dead intrafetal dead babies. (Not to worry, extrafetal totally copacetic.)

Well done TxDOT

Well when I hear “blight remediation,” a certain building comes very quickly to mind.

Ah, yes, I see now, def the exact same conditions … you’re right, Republicans are def a shoo-in, it’s a true fait accompli. 🙄

I don’t remember a bunch of Carter supporters storming the Capitol, threatening a Civil War, or Nixon becoming president again in 1980, but pls correct me if I’m wrong.

Only in the feverest of fever dreams. The only way this happens is if they cancel or override the elections. (Which, admittedly, they're pretty much openly saying they will do now, so I suppose certainly within the realm of possibility.) I'd say equally poorly researched.

A little research would show that this is entirely attributable to a change in how they counted enforcement actions--see CBP Enforcement Statistics Fiscal Year 2022 | U.S. Customs and Border Protection "Beginning in March FY20, OFO Encounters statistics include both Title 8 Inadmissibles and Title 42 Expulsions. To learn more, visit: Title-8-and-Title-42-Statistics. Inadmissibles refers to individuals encountered at ports of entry who are seeking lawful admission into the United States but are determined to be inadmissible, individuals presenting themselves to seek humanitarian protection under our laws, and individuals who withdraw an application for admission and return to their countries of origin within a short timeframe." "Beginning in March FY20, USBP Encounters statistics include both Title 8 Apprehensions and Title 42 Expulsions. To learn more, visit: Title-8-and-Title-42-Statistics. Apprehensions refers to the physical control or temporary detainment of a person who is not lawfully in the U.S. which may or may not result in an arrest." This page shows counts of those, which were not in the data prior to March 2020: Title 8 Apprehensions and Title 42 Expulsions: 1.817MM for the 10-month period ended July 2022. Title 8 Inadmissibles and Title 42 Expulsions: 201K for the 10-month period ended July 2022. Your data appears to be some subset of the CBP enforcement action data. (I mean, c'mon, you could see from one look at that that something was very likely off . . . why politicize?)

Well, actually we may not have to wait until 2024. The Former Guy is now calling for the 2020 election to be called for him, almost 2 years after the fact, and if that doesn't work, a "do-over" election. So, I guess Biden may actually be out before 2024, considering this will eventually become the official position of the Republican Party and its base of wannabe Confederates. Trump Demands a New 2020 Election Right Now! (nymag.com)

What a world we live in thanks to social media. They are either closed for renovations or they were evicted. I mean, what an absolute joke. The business is either still feasible, and so feasible that they’re renovating while opening a second location in the process, or they got evicted for not paying the rent. Pretty diametrically opposed outcomes there. I know what I would bet on.

@editor or other mods, would it be possible to put a geographic reference (or something else for context, maybe Shipley HQ) in this thread title?

Well, it is unfortunate the young lady does not know how to spell Ann Richards but point stands! The only reason people love Greg Abbott is for negative partisanship reasons … he “owns the libs,” and, for whatever reason, a lot of people get, er, stimulated by that. But at the end of the day, he’s like the preacher in Footloose (how ironic!), just getting in the way of things for no good reason. Sure people hate Ann Richards’s politics, but those that love her love her as the absolute idea of Texas, a woman who beat the Good Ol Boys and lived life her way and who is an iconic Texan for that very reason, just like every other iconic Texan. People like Greg Abbott because … uh … they think he keeps people in line and is, um, somehow “closer to God”? (Yes, I know for sure plenty of people like him for this exact reason.) Give me a break. Greg Abbott is an iconic Texan only in the sense that he is exactly what the Texans have mythologically supposedly always been against and is a symbol of the fact that Texas is not Texas anymore. At the end of the day, no one wants to live in a police state run by the whims of superstition, even the superstitious, especially by an absolute blowhard/pretender … he wishes he could be Dan Patrick! Thankfully, for the most part, the true, law-and-order old school conservatives (you know, Blue Dogs, the ones who your friends are very likely to call “RINO”), for the most part, are passing the test nationally. I am worried when it comes to locally in a way I never was before … I used to laugh at the thought of Texas becoming Mississippi, but here we are. Anyway, this’ll catch up with him and the Texas Republican Party soon enough … as us natives would say, the politicians have “gotten too big for their britches.” It just ain’t good for business, at the end of the day. If they are still in power 10 years from now, it’ll be a completely different party. Or I guess most of us will be dead from a nuclear war, which is a very logical outcome of Trumpism. SORRY, Mr Blue Dog. (Or maybe that would count as “owning the libs” and therefore somehow all be worth it? I dunno … you tell me.)

@hindesky this is looking better, so your advice was well taken

Well, I’m not denying that it’s his race to lose, but here’s a thought … why not compare his margin of victory in November 2022 when all is said and done with the margins of victory for every gubernatorial race since Bush, and I think you’ll be unable to deny that your opinion does not jibe with the majority of the State. And why is that? Because he has gotten needlessly radical on ridiculous culture war issues, thus alienating a not insignificant portion of conservative voters, who look around and now think the Republican Party is the party of total whack-jobs, and with each passing day, noticing more and more how corrupt the party has become. I was admittedly very early to this party, and it hasn’t been easy, but common sense has the best chance it has had in the past decade because the Republicans have really risked overplaying their hand. Sure the voters of Shelby County, Texas are singing hallelujah over the absurd idea that abortion is just going to go poof and we’ll all be closer to God as a result, but I wouldn’t be bragging about Abbott being the best governor in the history of the state when he presided over completely alienating and losing the big cities where all the economic production is, the hopelessly conservative Ft Worth being the last domino to fall. And you may want to be ruled by Shelby County superstitions and values, but let me assure you the state has been slowly waking up and realizing that that is a path backwards. If you want to live in some 1950s fantasy of America, just do us all a favor and move to Shelby County, where most people will agree with your take and you can sip iced tea with your neighbors and all fantasize about the FBI framing Trump, a transparently obvious career criminal, while ruing the fact that you heard on Facebook there is 1 transgender athlete in Ohio and thinking therefore the rapture is coming. (I know the type.) Abbott could win by a 20-point margin if he followed Perry’s and Bush’s lead and avoided this nonsense. This simple fact seems to elude most cheerleaders. In short, sir, your claim does not hold up and is, in fact, rather ridiculous on its face. But keep on drinking the Kool Aid, friend. It’s certainly much easier when things are so black-and-white, which they definitely appear to be for you. If the very, very weak Hidalgo manages to eke out a win, it is finally game over for Republicans in Harris County as it will be confirmation that people are now voting Democrat by default, much like the prior generation voted Republican by default—in other words the county is solidly blue and, guess what, the sky didn’t fall and we aren’t all communists and socialists and child predators and pro-crime. And Greg Abbott can take full credit for that. Hmmm, on that note, maybe I agree with your take after all …

In other news, Greg Abbott called Beto a poo-poo head and blamed the DFW floods on critical race theory and the Uvalde school shootings on Hillary Clinton. What does everyone think the chances are that Joe Biden will resign? #RedWave!

Disappointing to see the leadership of the Sheriff's Department, the Constable's Department, and the union leadership engage in what, at the end of the day, is described best as soft extortion, as are many similar law enforcement agencies across the country.

Can't wait to hear what the Stop I-45 group says now.