Will Texas politics settle down and become more moderate after the next election cycle? (Houston: college, live in)

[Sunderpig2]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Well CNN is certainly not a conservative news network a la Fox News.

My point wast that the facts I presented regarding the education levels & voting patterns from the last election cycle DID NOT COME from a conservative news outlet.

But CNN is a "conservative" "news" outlet. And it's "Conservative" only in that they conserve the status quo (rich, white, powerful elite having a firm grip on the media and the voice for America, not of America). And "news" in that is isn't news, but rather a bunch of talking heads babbling incessantly about stuff that they disguise as news.

I remember having cable TV in the early 90s. Back then CNN really did contain news. But I saw it more recently, and it had no resemblance to before. It was filled with a bunch of talk shows with idiots babbling on, pretending to discuss something serious in an educated manner. It's a complete joke. If you don't see this, then it's a real shame. You're duped into thinking it's news, which is exactly what they want you to think.

[TXTwizter]

Well about the above comments about the mudslinging............if these politicians would clean up their act, then there would be no need for mudslinging ads.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Do people think the rhetoric in Texas has already been turned down a bit? If Pres. Obama is re-elected, rather than the Republican challenger, will the political rhetoric decrease even though Texas will presumably still be a Republican-controlled State -- or not?

If the GOP wins the 2012 election, then Texas will be as quiet as a shy boy on the first day of school. TX politicians will then say that "We are all Americans and we need to support the president, and anyone that doesn't is unpatriotic."

If Obama wins 2012, then Texas will again talk about seceding, Perry will almost blow a gasket talking about how America is going into the ground and how "It's our right to protest, guaranteed by the 1st Amendment (Freedom of Speech)."

Sounds hypocritical, it is, but just wait and see. I'd bet the family farm on this - any takers?

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by cBach

If the GOP wins the 2012 election, then Texas will be as quiet as a shy boy on the first day of school. TX politicians will then say that "We are all Americans and we need to support the president, and anyone that doesn't is unpatriotic."

If Obama wins 2012, then Texas will again talk about seceding, Perry will almost blow a gasket talking about how America is going into the ground and how "It's our right to protest, guaranteed by the 1st Amendment (Freedom of Speech)."

Sounds hypocritical, it is, but just wait and see. I'd bet the family farm on this - any takers?

You are absolutely positively on the money. When President Clinton was in office, Republicans investigated him for his entire eight years. Bush is appointed by the Supreme Court, they are happy. President Obama is elected, they go crazy again. If they voted Donald Trump/Sarah Palin into office, they would be perfectly happy and it wouldn't matter what the Trump/Palin administration did.

[Sunderpig2]

A lot of good, sane, and rational observations here. Kudos.

[TXTwizter]

Originally Posted by cBach

If the GOP wins the 2012 election, then Texas will be as quiet as a shy boy on the first day of school. TX politicians will then say that "We are all Americans and we need to support the president, and anyone that doesn't is unpatriotic."

If Obama wins 2012, then Texas will again talk about seceding, Perry will almost blow a gasket talking about how America is going into the ground and how "It's our right to protest, guaranteed by the 1st Amendment (Freedom of Speech)."

Sounds hypocritical, it is, but just wait and see. I'd bet the family farm on this - any takers?

It's something BOTH parties are guilty of.

[doctorjef]

I don't recall such intense political rhetoric in Texas under either Dem or Repub administrations prior to Rick Perry. Some of the Dem populists might have been accused of shrillness - Atty Gen. Jim Maddox and sometime Ag. Commissioner Jim Hightower (am I correctly recalling their first names?) come to mind. But generally the volume was turned down pretty low except for Pampa Repub Warren Chisum back in the old days. I don't think Ann Richards either could be accused of making the same sort of hot-head statements that issue forth from the orifice of Rick Perry.

Although the Congressional Republicans were after Bill Clinton from the get-go, I don't think that the same level of vituperation and venom issued from the Republican State leadership in Texas at the time (the same isn't entirely true, of course, for the Texas Congressional delegation). I'm certainly open to correction of my memories in this regard; however, it seems to me that the State government of Texas only became so politically extreme since the election of Obama.

[R_Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by jluke65780

What's wrong with my post???

I simply stated I've seen statistics suggesting highly educated people are more likely to vote democrat. Was I wrong for stating that??

Nope the 1st amendment guarantees your right to have an opinion - it's just that you didn't post the studies, you didn't support the assertion, then later you said that your assertions were fact... when in fact, several other posters showed you different studies that were in complete disagreement with your post.

It's a specious argument. I hang with a lot of "highly educated intelligent people" and because we do the research, don't listen to the manipulations of the media, and do a lot of Critical Thinking -- which "highly educated intelligent people tend to do" -- we are worried sick about the economy, this administration, the trillions in debt which are democrat-based (No, you cannot keep laying this one on Bush. He did TARP, but BHO's programs have been egregious in adding to the national debt.)

Right now, most "highly intelligent people" can see the handwriting on the wall. People on the dole, people working for government, people using medicare and living off social security, don't think about exactly WHAT it will mean to them when QE II ends (Qualitative Easing. Look it up.) This dandy program was created by the Democrats and ends on June 30. At that point, it is highly possible the dollar will crash and burn, will be removed as the #1 currency for world trade, and we will all be in a world of hurt. This has been brought to us by a whole group of people in charge who have 1) Never met payroll - or sweated not being able to meet it; 2) couldn't run a lemonade stand let alone a small business; and 3) don't appreciate that it's the millions of small businesses in America that have provided the bulk of jobs, employment, and innovation over the past 100 years.

Because the current administration doesn't understand these things, and because they have lots of "book learnin'" but not a lot of smarts, we are in the situation we are in. They have attacked business, and college professors and the Liberal media have made "Profit" sound like a bad thing -- when in fact, PROFIT is the only way the brave souls who put their lives and homes on the line to start the business ever get paid.

The polarization in this country falls a lot at the feet of the media, which is why my TV stays off, and I listen to radio for the music. Instead, this "highly educated person" reads the Congressional record, the transcriptions of the proceedings of certain committees, goes to the places where things are happening to see it first hand, and pays attention to the Presidential Executive Orders and the Supreme court reports. IMHO, anyone who does that would suddenly find themselves in a more conservative camp.

In very short order, there will be no money to pay all these govt unions, there will be no money to pay for the millions of handout programs the Dems cook up, and there will be serious times for Americans. And when that happens, you don't get to blame George Bush. This one falls directly in the lap of BHO and the gang. (Yes, I know, the idiots on the Right helped create some of these problems and I don't claim to be republican. But don't for a second believe that Wall Street recipients of BHO's largesse aren't giving it back to him in spades. The Prez net worth was in the hundreds of thousands when he went into office. It was just reported in the millions.)

So tell me how "intelligent educated people" are allowing our country to slide into oblivion. If that's intelligence, I'll burn my degrees.

[doctorjef]

One thing this thread seems to be demonstrating is the inability of people to restrain their need to try to advance ideology rather than to respond to the posted topics of discussion. I'm asking about the polarisation of political discourse in Texas, specifically amongst state office-holders. No need to hear how worried sick you are about the deficit, nor how Texas has become the home to politically fringe reactionaries. We could start a thread on that topic, but that's absolutely what I was trying to avoid here.

[Seacove]

doctorjef, You're right. It's hard to read some responses and not react. I live in Seattle and have seen a lot of Texas license plates on the roads lately. It makes me wonder why, since Seattle could not possibly be more different from Texas in every way. If Texas is so comfortably extreme in their right wing rhetoric, I can't imagine these visitors will want to stay in Seattle long.