Hays County Republican Women
There’s a lot of things in life I don’t understand despite being old enough where I should be in the “wizened elder” mode, but I will never understand how they attract anyone outside of the wealthy white male demographic. All the platforms downgrade or degrade minorities, women, etc. There shouldn’t be anyone in the party outside of the ‘harumph’ guys from Mel Brooks’ governor board room in Blazing Saddles.
Exactly. He was probably chuckling because the rifle was invented sooner than Vietnam, or the stopping power described is actually for 300 feet or whatever.
The last vestige of credible rhetorical ledge that gun nuts have to stand on is, “you don’t understand guns therefore you shouldn’t speak about them”. It’s thin ground, but any tiny factual imperfection in discussion about them gives them permission to trumpet from this position and declare rhetorical victory.
They are backed into a corner and they know it. This is all they have left.
There were also quite a few online who just had to gunsplain that an AR-15 wasn’t an M-16 (except for all the parts that are).
I give him credit for using mother-f’er. I’m not Beto O’Rourke’s biggest fan, but when a man’s right, I give him credit for mincing no words and tolerating no assholes.
That’s the thing, they don’t have any choice but to wrestle that pig. Trying to maintain decorum and stick to the high road(*) often only results in looking ineffective, like just standing around and being perfectly fine with the pig getting you muddy while you do nothing to resist it.
(* – At least in discourse. I would object if Democrats started to pull the same shenanigans to suppress votes or other illegal actions.)
Agreed. Maintaining decorum and seeking compromise in an effort to appeal to some hypothetical “moderate Republican” has gotten us nowhere. Anyone who is still willing to throw their vote and support to an openly fascist party is no longer reachable and any effort to do so only alienates the folks who will, unquestionably and with great vigor, support more progressive positions. Maybe some are learning this?
I wonder if the people who voted for Trump the first time, because he wasn’t like other politicians and “says it like it is” but found him to be a terrible president, would vote for Beto for similar reasons they went for Trump before. I know one person who voted for trump the first time and now thinks Beto is great, but not in Texas so can’t vote for him.
There was a gobbet of Abbottoids that were constantly trying to disrupt the proceedings.
Kinda surprised they weren’t heavily armed.
About time someone called out these evil bastards in no uncertain terms. No doubt there will be wailings from the Sensitive Snowflakes about the uncivility of the communist candidate and the radical rabble that cheered him on.
All of whom are in thrall to their owners; this is fascism as defined by Mussolini & has been going on for decades.
Not to mention the fallout from the Big Freeze. One of Czar Abbott’s contributors made a huge profit from the skyrocketing gas prices, and the rest of us have to pay the utilities to make up the shortfall:
Legalized price-gouging during the freeze
During the last session, the Politboro could have chosen to claw back those ill-gotten gains, but noooo… nor did they choose to fix this system of legalized robbery.
As it is, fully a third of my electric bill goes to pay off those thieves.
DAMN right!
That’s at least two different demographics they appeal to. You Know Who made it okay for the latter demographics to be racist, sexist, etc.
Nothing wrong with wrestling pigs, as long as you remember to get out of the sty, afterwards.
Josh Marshall coined the phrase “B**** Slap Politics” back in 2004, which is how authoritarians maintain power: by attacking and ruining decorum, they care more about showing dominance than about actual policy. It’s the trick Trump used to bring the party under his incompetent rule. Bullying. Behaving like animals in a documentary, where the older bull has to fight off challengers instead of like humans.
Which is why Beto’s response was so effective, it knocked the blusterer off of his game and most importantly stripped him of all respect. These creatures crave affirmation, so knocking him hard with scorn robbed him of any ability to influence the rest of the discussion.
(Note that B****, the word meaning a female dog, is forbidden word according to Discourse, not fake modesty)
I see it as all too human, though. What jumps out at me is the lack of maturity involved. 45 and his supporters say things that should’ve been left behind in high school. The tantrums, reactions to being questioned in any way, toxic masculinity, misogyny, etc. are terrible to see among adults in positions of power. Even that phrase highlights another problem with this group - it reflects abusers and their behavior. Beyond just a show of dominance, their goal is to harm others - individuals, groups, and institutions.
I saw it more as the relief of a buildup of tension. Tension resulting from Beto conjuring the image of 17 schoolchildren, 2 teachers being slaughtered and the fact that an ostensible adult is publicly mocking their lives and deaths.
Hmm, I try to imagine this in other contexts:
We need reasonable speed limits on city streets.
Do you even know how a catalytic converter works?!
Probably because in the US, politics are akin to spectator sports. (With all the irrational team attachment that implies)
“Hah, he said that the gun fires at 500 rounds per minute, but that’s only true of the A4 model and only at sea level on a cool day, but here in texas in the heat of summer that drops to only 490 rounds per minute. And he called it a ‘gun’ not a ‘weapon’! N00b!!”
/s
They might seem that way to some people, but ultimately the whole subject here is that it’s not actually true. Real people are getting hurt and killed and plenty of us are fed up with that being treated as if it doesn’t matter…which is why O’Rourke got cheers.
In a world of Alex Joneses, be a Col. Buzz Aldrin.
That’s the way the media covers US politics, not a complete picture. It represents a larger failure of media reporting than anything else.
If political “news” reporters covered other topics, they would look just like sports too. I use “news” in quotes, since they might as well be sports reporters instead based on how they cover stuff. You can see this in any topic where the political reporters cover something instead of the actual reporters who normally work that topic. Frequently an issue in science topics.
At the rate they’re going, political reporters should be worried that the sports and entertainment desks are going to replace them. They’re already better at covering sports and entertainment and if that’s the only framing, might as well use the experts in it.
We will all be doomed, but think of all the clicks along the way. 
Meanwhile, in Even The Liberal Media news, NPR gasps at the incivility.
