Why Are People ALWAYS Bashing Texas & Houston? (Spring, Howe: crimes, tax)

[kittyhawk]

Texas and Houston get bashed because the coastal media types see them as the poster child for all the evil in the world right now. What is Texas known for and what has been discussed on this thread? Oil, independence and self-determination, toughness, the death penalty, church going people, sprawling cities, lack of tolerance of outsiders. These things are all evil, evil, evil! Now we are associated with an unpopular and so-called conservative president. Basically, media grunts take every conservative principle and stereotype it as evil. Whether they are true or not, Texas allegedly represents all these things.

...and who really cares? I *could* stereotype all New Yorkers as rude, pretentious clods and everyone from Seattle as cold, depressed, hippies. However, truly intelligent people won't look at it that way. These boards and the posts that are on them say a lot about people.

[TX_AGGIE13]

Originally Posted by kittyhawk

Texas and Houston get bashed because the coastal media types see them as the poster child for all the evil in the world right now. What is Texas known for and what has been discussed on this thread? Oil, independence and self-determination, toughness, the death penalty, church going people, sprawling cities, lack of tolerance of outsiders. These things are all evil, evil, evil! Now we are associated with an unpopular and so-called conservative president. Basically, media grunts take every conservative principle and stereotype it as evil. Whether they are true or not, Texas allegedly represents all these things.

...and who really cares? I *could* stereotype all New Yorkers as rude, pretentious clods and everyone from Seattle as cold, depressed, hippies. However, truly intelligent people won't look at it that way. These boards and the posts that are on them say a lot about people.

If those are the reasons outsiders bash Houston then I say Bash Away!!!! Those are the reasons I love Houston!! Sounds like the bashers are a bunch of pansys......

[lonewolfmccoy]

People love to bash the best!

[AK123]

- A lot of people are thinking of a Houston from a decade or two ago. It has changed immensely since then (for the better)
- A lot of people generalize parts of Houston to the entire city, which isn't really fair (i.e. the industrial east side suburbs such as Channelview or Baytown; sub-par suburban areas such as Greenspoint or Bammel)
- A lot of people have only seen Houston from the freeways (not a good way to see it, and not representative of how most of the city looks because of all the billboards/ugliness along the freeways)

When I was living in Austin, people there were always bashing Houston; when they did give reasons (which wasn't very often) it was always because one of the above mentioned, or they would just complain about traffic, crowds, concrete, sprawl - all problems Austin has as well these days so I don't get that. I think it's pretty sad when residents of a state bash (and seem to know so little about) the largest city; I suppose it's a pet peeve of mine, if you can't tell!

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by Sandy Springs Rep.

I agree with the "liberal and the bleed hearts". (not sure when having a heart become a bad thing, but...) It is a proven fact that the part of your brain that controls judgement and self-control is extremely underdeveloped at that age and teenagers (including 18 and 19-year-olds) have significantly worse judgement and self-control than adults (a.k.a thinking about the consequences of an action before you do it).

In fact, that's the type of thing Texas is known for. Or rather, that's the type of thing that people who don't like Texas use against it to prove it's "backwards" or whatever. Not saying I necessarily agree that Texas is backwards, but that's just what they use as evidence.

But I do think executing someone for a crime they committed at age 17 is backwards, no matter what state it happened in. So that just makes me like Texas even less. Good job.

I fundamentally disagree. I see nothing wrong with taxpayers paying to keep people alive, "slime" or not.

And I fundamentally disagree with every single thing you said in your post.

Furthermore, whether an outsider likes Texas and Texans or not is the least of my worries. Who cares?

So what are we supposed to do with this SOB who kills an innocent man for a @#$ car? If he can do that as a kid, think of what kind of adult he would have become had he not been executed. But no...you see nothing wrong with supporting and paying for these scums for life, if necessary. What a horrific waste of money on people who didn't have any problem taking some innocent person's life. Then they beg for mercy for their own?

Even worse, bleeding hearts like Amnesty International would like for Texas and other Death Penalty states to abolish the death penalty. The DP doesn't need to be abolished. It just needs to be made faster and cheaper to save taxpayers money.

So....bash away.

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by seattlesoulstar

SOME POINTS ID LIKE TO MAKE:

1. GEORGE BUSH IS NOT FROM TEXAS!!!! HE RELOCATED THERE FROM A NORTHEASTERN STATE!!!! (a simple google search can reveal wonders!)

"Can't we all just get along?" -Rodney King

He was not born in Texas and that matters not. He was a toddler when brought to Texas and was raised in Texas. It could have been the other way around, being born in Texas but raised elsewhere. One poster said it best, "Your home is where your heart is."

Sure, we can all get along, but we all don't have to think alike.

[blkgiraffe]

Originally Posted by Canine*Castle

He was not born in Texas and that matters not. He was a toddler when brought to Texas and was raised in Texas. It could have been the other way around, being born in Texas but raised elsewhere. One poster said it best, "Your home is where your heart is."

Sure, we can all get along, but we all don't have to think alike.

raised in Texas BY HIS PARENTS.

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

raised in Texas BY HIS PARENTS.

Yes and my children were raised in Texas by their parents, one a westerner, one a northerner. My children are Texans. I was raised in California by my parents, one an easterner and one an immigrant from Germany who lived 25 years in the east. I am a Californian.

[houstoner]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

raised in Texas BY HIS PARENTS.

No, it's much, much worse than that. He was raised in Texas BY HIS BLUEBLOOD YANKEE PARENTS WHO "SUMMER" IN MAINE. (Not only aren't they Texan enough to take the heat, these are people who use "summer" as a verb!!!)

However, I think we can all agree that Bush's wife and daughters are true Texans.

Originally Posted by Canine*Castle

Yes and my children were raised in Texas by their parents, one a westerner, one a northerner. My children are Texans. I was raised in California by my parents, one an easterner and one an immigrant from Germany who lived 25 years in the east. I am a Californian.

I hate to break it to you, but you just made yourself more of a case as to why your children will never be considered true Texans by anyone other than themselves and you. I wouldn't advertise that, if I were you.

[grindin]

Well, I am someone who is "cool" with Texas. I don't hate the place, but it's not my favorite place either. Texas does get unfairly bashed, but I think a lot of people are turned off by the so-called arrogance and boastfulness of SOME Texans. It's not fair to portray all Texans in that light, just as it is unfair to dismiss all Californians as "Godless Liberals" as some people do. I mean, how old are we, really.

Houston does get a bad rap, but it doesn't help that some Houstonians get VERY defensive and whiny at even the slightest criticism of their city. Now, I've visited Houston many times, had a good time, and have great museums and restaurants (I have NEVER, EVER, EVER EVER had a bad meal in Houston, EVER), I can see how people's perception of the city can really put it in a bad light. Think about the routes most people come in on to get into Houston. You have the North Freeway, which is lined with unsightly billboards, furniture stores, etc, etc. The East Freeway is lined with belching chemical plants while the Katy Freeway is lined with unsightly sprawl. It doesn't help that the city is flat as a pancake and a lot of it lies in a coastal prairie, so there is nothing to hide the sprawl. I live in another sprawling boomtown, Atlanta, and we have lots of horrible, ugly sprawl, but most of it is hidden behind lots of tall trees and hills, so it's not as "in your face" as Houston and Dallas (which sits in the middle of an unattractive natural setting) is. Now that is a circumstance of geography and H-Town and D/FW can't really do anything about it.

I understand people getting defensive over an unfair portrayal of their city, but when it gets to nitpicking and turning everything into a pi**ing contest (We have more skyscrapers than you, blah blah blah) and denigrating other cities to make yours look good, it comes off as extremely childish and silly.

Just my .02 - At least Houstonians do seem to give a crap about how they "look" to others, Dallasites seem to be too self-absorbed to care (but I do see some of the "Hey, we're a real city too!" arguements from them, and ATL is just as guilty too)