As a child of the bus wars, Slate’s new series of articles on the late Civil Rights Movement rings painfully true. Once the Civil Rights campaign progressed beyond equal access and voting rights, it began to take on a harder tone, wavering between condescending elitism and vengefulness. The headlong rush to build a utopian post-racial order required cracking a few eggs. The brunt of the impact was felt by working class whites, both North and South, who lacked the money or political clout to escape the devastating consequences of liberal ambitions.
Whether the old Dixiecrats would shift en masse and intact from the Democratic Party to the GOP was still an open question in the early 70’s. Heavy-handed measures pushed by national Democrats that destroyed local districts finished the job. Forced busing, more than any other measure, finished the story. It gave the old racial coalition a legitimate plank on which to build its continued existence. Along the way it reminded the public at large of the danger of liberal social engineering and the advantages of more organic change promoted by traditional conservatives.
Here’s the Slate series.
Here’s an old GOPLifer piece on the bus wars in Beaumont.
And an excellent book covering the impact of the Civil Rights Movement on working class whites.
Chris Ladd is a Texan living in the Chicago area. He has been involved in grassroots Republican politics for most of his life. He was a Republican precinct committeeman in suburban Chicago until he resigned from the party and his position after the 2016 Republican Convention. He can be reached at gopliferchicago at gmail dot com.
GOPLifer 
Wow. I check back after a few days and I see someone torched the place! I’m not going to dig through all the rubble to see who did what to whom, but just hope it’s been resolved.
So, to the issue. Many thanks for the Slate link, because that was a very intelligent and illuminating read. Two points about that (which hopefully aren’t repetitive, but as I said, I’m not digging through charred rubble). First, the author made a most excellent point about a better metric for the success of integration being who the kids are sitting with in the cafeteria. That made me reflect on who I socialize with and why. People tend to group together over things they have in common. For me, the people I socialize with the most are people I met in grad school (or who currently attend my grad school alma mater), people I work/ worked with, and those who share my recreational activities. It just so happens that the overwhelming majority of people in those categories are white or Asian. It’s the last category where there’s the most chance of any socialization with someone black or Hispanic. It’s not that I don’t interact with people of all different races/ ethnicities almost every day, but that’s not the same as someone being in your circle of friends. My field (biological research) does not seek to exclude by race, yet there is a racial imbalance. Of course, under representation of certain groups in the sciences is a blog post or three onto itself.
Second point, the author of the article is doing for the Dems what Chris is doing for the GOP, challenging them to do some critical and difficult self-reflection. I wonder how much backlash he got from diehard lefties.
I enjoyed your piece on busing in Beaumont. It brought back a lot of memories. I still remember my dad coming home freaking out because he drew the wrong ping pong ball. I ended up in some of those fly by night fundie schools for the duration of middle school but by 9th grade made the decision to go back to public school even though it would put me on the bad side of town for 9th grade until I was able to get into West Brook. Which, btw is majority black. It’s not majority black like French but is still 65% black. If memory serves, that’s about what it was when I went there too.
Sounds very familiar. I remember the ping pong balls. When I was in high school French High had been converted into the freshman campus for Central High. We had 1400 freshman that year. We started senior year with 680 students. We graduated about 430.
My parents scraped together some money to send me to Beaumont Christian high for a couple of years. It was like a little summer camp for white fundies. Had to bail out of there to have any hope of getting an education. Central was a war zone but at least we had real textbooks.
My wife and I recently purchased a juicer. At first we were apprehensive. After the first few days, we adjusted quickly. I actually do feel a difference with all the fruits and veggies getting right into my system. I will caution you that it is not a cheap diet. Fresh produce and veggies cost money.
The first breakfast I juiced 2 carrots, 1 beet, 3 apples, 1 stalk of celery, three eggs and 2 sausage patties. It was very good. Just kidding on the last two.
We do have a sensible meal every once in a while because we do need protein and fiber.
We decided to juice fast Monday, Wednesday and Friday and the rest of the week, juice with one meal per day added.
If you do this, be careful not to use too many carrots as it will eventually turn your skin orange. We know how much liberals hate orange people. 😉
A juicer is one appliance we don’t have. Are you on a diet to lose weight, or to get your needed supply of natural vitamins?
DanMa’am just bought a Ninja. Since her dad keeps us stocked with Ruby Reds we enjoyed our first batch of her frozen version of Salty Dogs last Sunday.
It is hardly credible to think that the juicer industry is creating apprehension among consumers. The literature appears to be benign…
I got one for Christmas. It’s great and one big glass of juice with kale, spinach, apples, oranges, whatever other fruit gives you more than your fair share of vitamins every day. It also gets those veggies done with so you can concentrate on the steak.
“The first breakfast I juiced 2 carrots, 1 beet, 3 apples, 1 stalk of celery, three eggs and 2 sausage patties.”
I seriously wtf’d on that one. Glad you were only kidding. Also, glad to hear that you and your wife are trying to live healthier lifestyles.
Also glad to see that you’re capable of having a sense of humor. You genuinely made me laugh on that one, Buzz.
We went this route as more of a lifestyle change. We are older now so we have to be more diligent about what we put into our bodies. We love all foods just about but seem to skimp on veggies and fruits plus we have heard from friends how great they feel with all those nutrients getting into their systems.
There was a energy wall we hit but didn’t last long.
I bought a Briele juicer, a really good one. That way if it doesn’t work out I can use it as a wood chipper. The thing is noisy though. My dogs bark at it until I shut it off. It’s either that or they know I’m not eating meat so their not getting anything.
Thanks Buzz. It sounds like something we would be interested in.
I’ll start:
More money poured into schools – or at a minimum, more thought put into the money put into schools.
Setting specific standards for spending tends to be goofy, but let’s go with, whatever the funding is for the military during a period in which we are not at war, education spending should be half that. That should motivate us to increase education spending and/or decrease military spending.
Then, pay teachers more…a lot more. Fire the bad teachers (which will take a monumental and costly undertaking to best identify the bad ones) and administrators (easier to identify).
Year round gig for teachers (and near year round for students). Along with a pretty generous amount of vacation time, teachers are in structured training programs (or pursuing a new degree) when not teaching students.
Colleges and universities that continue to put our poorly trained “teachers” where education is the easiest major at the university (my undergraduate top 10 graduates had 8 education majors) should quickly find that their graduates are not getting hired for $100k a year teach jobs.
Massive outreach to retired professionals (or professionals that want a change of pace) to get some educational training and become part time teachers. No one expects a socially awkward 50 year old engineer or accountant to be able to handle rowdy kids all day long, but he/she could pop in for a couple of specialized classes a few times a week.
Every student gets free lunch and breakfast. No one learns well on an empty stomach, and I don’t care if your parents are too poor to feed you or too busy running Goldman Sachs to remember to feed you, you are getting a free lunch (and yes, nothing is free because we are all paying for it).
I’ll let Stern push control down to the state and local entities as much as possible, but there will be a set of federal standards that must be met (e.g., Texas cannot teach intelligent design in a science class).
Hugely increased emphasis on vocational programs that make sense for the area. Houston would greatly benefit if our high schools were producing kids who had dreams of becoming electricians, instrumentation techs, and industrial mechanics.
Great after-school education, athletic, and art programs as well.
Federally paid maternity and paternity leave and subsidies for early childhood and Pre-K education. Mom and dad are working two jobs to keep a roof over their heads so they don’t have time to read to little Timmy or they are just horrible parents who do not read to their kids, but someone at pre-school will be reading to Timmy.
Continued emphasis on birth control in high school (and sadly middle school) so that only folks who want and are ready for kids are having kids. Reducing early term abortion hurdles so that only folks who want and are ready for kids are having kids.
Putting a man on the moon type effort for education.
I have no idea how to make any of this happen. So many entrenched interests that won’t want to give up power and/or control.
Jesus…I agree with everything you just said yet like you, have no idea what to do to help any of this happen…
Vote. Read. Vote. Participate here and in other on line areas where ideas and writings are shared. Play. Fair. Be biased and balanced. Don’t participate in generalizations-have (more) fun.
“Hugely increased emphasis on vocational programs that make sense for the area. Houston would greatly benefit if our high schools were producing kids who had dreams of becoming electricians, instrumentation techs, and industrial mechanics”.
Vocational classes were very popular when our sons were in HS. They have since done away with most of them which is a crying shame. I’ve hired many young people with a strong vocational background that were/are excellent employees. College isn’t for everyone.
I remember vocational classes. I even took wood shop. A lot of the guys in the mechanics and AC classes would leave school early and go to work somewhere in that field which they still do in the UK I believe. Good idea because, yes, too many parents here stress college as the end all and be all but then their kids get out and can’t find jobs.
I would totally vote for you.
Oh, and add in government-funded free college tuition (or vocational training) for those who qualify… with colleges required to accept the government’s contribution, whatever it may be, *as full compensation* for tuition, or lose access to federal research grants, etc.
This!
Amen
“Affirmative action”, but based on economic status. We definitely need to make sure that any qualified poor student can afford college or trade school.
I shall politely disagree with most every solution you propose. I like the idea if seasoned professionals or those with experience stepping into the classroom on occasion. If they have eliminated shop classes in high schools I will blame that on those that control education. I will posit that same group controls media, Wall St. and the national Chamber of Commerce now.
I attempted to wade through that Slate article Chris linked and found the tone of the author too stilted to give it much credence. Chris’ article from 2011 was very interesting, but I would contend Beaumont, while perhaps not being liberal back in the 70’s was and remains today (perhaps a bit less so) solidly democrat and the democrat party is doggedly mired in advancing any agenda that thwarts our constitution…that document of negative rights as Obama refers to it. And I will admit they are winning at the citizen’s expense. Young people are being burdened with debt that will impact their entire working lives. And to counter that accusation the administration happily claims they are freeing people from the burdens of having to work.
It should be noted that at the time the heavy hand of the federal government that turned Chris’ educational experience upside down coincides exactly with the dramatic rise of the American Federation Teachers, an AFl-CIO offshoot. The Texas charter of the AFT was established in 1974.
Both Tanner Colby’s and Chris’ articles relate the failures and frustrations they observed during the efforts to promote desegregation, I note there is no mention of the collapse of the effectiveness we see in advancing public education and the resources that are being shoveled at it.
I am adamantly against federal requirements for pre-K. It is a sop to teacher’s unions and will only set the decline of our children’s education off on an earlier start. I would support it at the local level and by that I mean at the neighborhood level. If the neighborhood wanted their elementary school to provide that, let them organize it, run it and solicit funding at that and perhaps the district level. I see no reason for the federal government to provide day care for toddlers when there are plenty of day care providers that can meet that demand.
I am adamantly against providing and expanding federal funding of school breakfast, lunch, after school snacks and dinner. It is one of the reasons low income neighborhoods don’t have decent grocery stores. A couple of years ago I tried to identify every nutrition program offered at the federal, state and local level. It is impossible. Texas probably has 5 or 6 overlapping agencies and/or programs pushed through the schools, then there is WIC, SNAP and a host of others.
Teachers used to be regular people who were motivated to teach. I bet many still start out that way. Unfortunately the system allows few to advance on their merits and the unions protect those that are being carried by the protection that tenure affords.
Demanding federal maternity benefits and family leave is a total non-starter for me. If districts want to provide it fine. Let them pay for it.
The most dramatic drop in teen pregnancy occurs when benefits are cut for having children out of wedlock. Obama has reversed every gain made in this regard and it is creating another huge generation of welfare addled and broken families. That is by design as it creates a dependency. A dependency that always will be exploited as you succinctly observe:
“So many entrenched interests that won’t want to give up power and/or control.”
Condensed version: Whatever is wrong with anything, It’s all the fault of democrats, unions, the eeeeevil librul media, and them there welfare bums. Oh, and Obama.
truth hurts Craig, every day is another bruise when you deny it
I don’t know where to begin with this other than breaking my rule regarding replies starting with a profanity. You make ridiculous correlations, blame a few children and make assertions without a shred of empirical evidence or logical structure. Ok, that should be enough praise. Birth control and food stamps don’t cause sex or hunger and you prove a point the author and I have been beating for months now–a guaranteed income program would (1) lower government costs, (2) shrink the size of government and (3) respect the supposedly conservative ideal of the individual doing what is best for him without interference from government.
you should have stopped at the first assertion Crogged
empirical evidence? do you believe education has improved or fallen behind when measured against other industrialized nations since the mid 70’s? you don’t need a link to answer that do you?
do you think Headstart is making a positive impact in childhood development?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/03/05/does-head-start-work-for-kids-the-bottom-line/
I could add more but our humble host has blocked comments with more than one link but you don’t exactly bring facts with your take
Your own link notes that Head Start could be improved and doesn’t call for it to be scaled back.
And ‘teachers used to be regular people’ and the assertion of a strong teachers union existing in Texas are out and out ridiculous. Why go point by point, belief is immune to evidence.
“The most dramatic drop in teen pregnancy occurs when benefits are cut for having children out of wedlock. Obama has reversed every gain made in this regard…”
The rates of teen pregnancy are the lowest in decades. There has been a marked decrease, even during the Obama administration.
http://www.cdc.gov/teenpregnancy/aboutteenpreg.htm
The highest teen pregnancy rates are in NM, MS, TX, AR, NV. Three of the five are hard-red states. The lowest are in MN, MA, NH, VT, ND. Four of these are the deepest of blue.
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-ATSRH.html
“I am adamantly against providing and expanding federal funding of school breakfast, lunch, after school snacks and dinner. It is one of the reasons low income neighborhoods don’t have decent grocery stores.”
Wow. I’m not sure where to start here, so I’ll keep it to the factual. I’ve see a number of suggestions for the root causes of urban food deserts, but competition from free school breakfasts has never been on that list. Ever.
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/04/04/food-deserts-where-have-all-the-inner-city-grocery-stores-gone/
“I am adamantly against federal requirements for pre-K. It is a sop to teacher’s unions and will only set the decline of our children’s education off on an earlier start.”
Later you linked to a washingtonpost.com column that I can’t believe you actually read, because it concludes that,
“Weighing all of the evidence and not just that cited by partisans on one side or the other, the most accurate conclusion is that Head Start produces modest benefits including some long-term gains for children.”
In addition, early schooling enables parents more time for work.
“the democrat party is doggedly mired in advancing any agenda that thwarts our constitution”
With this as a starting point, it is inconceivable that you could have any claim to an unbiased view of solutions to national problems. One side is right, no matter how idiotic the solutions they present, and the other is always wrong. It’s just a small-minded view of the world.
That is the most optimistic part of the article, that it could be improved..by expanding it and making it more focused and getting the federal role reduced.
So you reject the correlation of the decline in educational measures vs union influence in education? do you believe they have any impact at all?
I note you clipped the rest of the conclusion JG. Why?
I don’t need anyone to tell me providing a large percentage of the nutrition load from an area through the schools will result in a lower demand for food purchases by the end user and the same area. That is an easy reach.
Your information on teen pregnancy only diminishes Stay at Homer’s call for more spending it seems.
My statement on the constitution stands and I have the reference of Jonathon Turley coming out this week saying as much. “Jonathan Turley, faithful Obama supporter and liberal professor of constitutional law at Sandra Fluke’s alma mater, Georgetown University Law School, is sounding the alarm that “a system in which a single individual is allowed to rewrite legislation or ignore legislation is a system that borders on authoritarianism.”
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/02/jonathan_turley_says_the_thing_speaks_for_itself.html#ixzz2tKVPL14t
Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook
I did not need Mr. Turley to tell me that but I think its interesting he did.
Let’s ask this–why do teacher’s unions exist and have you ever felt that because there are police unions we should abolish them? I mean, unions, bad. Always.
Has there ever been union overreach in states you and I don’t live in? Yes, absolutely. It’s not an issue in Texas-next.
http://www.hpou.org/
Dan, let’s blow your mind even further. I wasn’t talking maternity and paternity leave for teachers…I was talking about that for everyone. Let’s put some teeth into it when you talk about family values.
It seems that under Obama, we are having the fewest number of abortions since before Reagan. Hard to see how that is giving up gains. We seem to be making strides in that direction.
Just so that I follow the logic, if we stop feeding poor children in school, Whole Foods and Randalls will build grocery stores at Gulfton and Renwick? Really?
So, in the State of Texas, where no Democrat has won statewide election in well over a decade, the elimination of auto shop, drafting, wood shop, etc. (in addition to art, music and theater), is not due to cuts in education funding, but is instead due to liberals? Okie dokie.
I want teaching professionals just like I want engineering professionals and software professionals. I want to pay them a bunch, and give them very generous vacation because dealing with kids all day every day deserves a lot of time off. You are going to get six to eight weeks off (which is more than almost all other jobs get), but we are going to give you education and training outside those six or eight weeks (and that would certainly count as your CE) when school is not in session. Some of that time could be the existing teachers teaching some of the retired engineers and accountants how to teach.
People talk about wanting teachers who have a passion to teach and that to them it is not a “normal 9 to 5 job”. There are not enough of those folks around, and those that are around may not necessarily be the best teachers.
I want engineers who have a passion to do engineering, but I also want them to know a lot about engineering, and I’m going to pay them enough to offset the years of school it took to obtain that knowledge.
People often will talk about the teacher that made a huge impact in their lives and the connection that teacher had with them. People will talk the same way about the accountant, the engineer, or the manager who was really good and helped them understand and develop in ways they had not experienced before.
This “passion to teach” is not exclusive to folks with education degrees.
The relative flexibility of teacher schedules and the time off are attractive to people, and it is also one very common excuse for keeping teacher pay down. It is a serious job for serious people, and we are going to compensate them as such and hold them accountable as such. Plus, in my model, you can be a part time teacher.
This might be a fiasco because maybe being a teacher is so different than any other profession that no other model works for teachers, but I’d like to see it tried before coming to that conclusion.
absolutely not Crogged. The police and others in dangerous jobs should have the representation of unions for safety’s sake. Even Craig may remember me affirming his OCAW membership for that very reason.
Teachers have created their own monster with their unions and we are witnessing the allegiance to them as they fold in Wisconsin when the option to not be members is offered. Unions despise right to work states. Why do you suppose that is? They know few people will choose to pay for the benefits they have sloganized that are already law.
Why do municipal clerks need unions? To negotiate huge pension increases that are not funded in the present? Watch what’s coming with this mess.
“I don’t need anyone to tell me providing a large percentage of the nutrition load from an area through the schools will result in a lower demand for food purchases by the end user and the same area. That is an easy reach.”
It is also wrong. Free breakfast/lunch programs district-wide is a relatively new trend. Free lunches for poor kids is not – these programs have existed for decades. They came into being because kids were unable to focus on their education because they were hungry. For whatever reason, poverty, inattentive parents, tapeworms, they were not getting enough food. The food that was not being consumed was also not being purchased at local grocery stores. The urban food deserts are caused by poverty (less money to spend there), crime (high costs of security, vandalism, theft), high costs of distribution, lack of sufficient retail space, etc. Competition from the local school district is nonsense.
“Your information on teen pregnancy only diminishes Stay at Homer’s call for more spending it seems.”
While the rate is decreasing it remains twice as high as Canada and parts of Western Europe, despite similar rates of sexual activity. The difference: much higher use of contraception in those places. We still have some work to do. See the Guttmacher link for data.
“If the neighborhood wanted their elementary school to provide that, let them organize it, run it and solicit funding at that and perhaps the district level. I see no reason for the federal government to provide day care for toddlers when there are plenty of day care providers that can meet that demand.”
In other words: the well-off can prosper and the poor can suck it.
Let me guess: you vote Republican?
This is when I miss the “thumbs up” button. Great list
So this is where y’all have been hanging out:)
HT, for the most part I agree with your solutions, however paying for them would be almost impossible. I also don’t think that we should eliminate the perks teachers already have and replace them with money. Yes teachers are underpaid and the good ones should be compensated to reflect their knowledge and skills but many good teachers choose to teach for the family/ work life balance that teaching offers. Requiring teachers to be “in structured training programs (or pursuing a new degree) when not teaching students” seems a bit ridiculous. They already have to maintain a certain amount of continuing education so I am assuming this proposed structured training would be in addition to their current continuing education and would take place during their generous vacation time? Maybe I misunderstood you but I definitely do not agree that transforming teaching into a generic year round 9-5, 2 week vacation office type job would recruit good teachers.
Teachers ‘family work balance’ means they work from seven every morning until nine every night keeping up with grades and district documentation requirements, from the second week of August through the first week of June. Then during the extended vacation time they can do continuing education in addition to the doctor’s appointments missed and the reintroductions they make to the rest of the family.
I agree Crogged. I’m not a teacher but the ones I know work at least a 10 hr day with only a 30 minute lunch, which many times involves supervising children, but surely they can fit in some extra structured training:)
Intrigue! So good to see you posting comments! My sister is a teacher and she would agree with your assessment.
Hi Obv!!! Good to see you on here:)
My sister teaches at a prestigious accredited private school. She’s the most requested teacher and somewhat of a celebrity in her community because of her teaching skills. She makes at least $10k less than the public schools but wouldn’t trade it even if they offered her an impressive six digit salary. She has a passion for teaching and would rather teach at a school that let’s her use her talent to motivate and inspire children without the ever changing curriculum and overhead.
Your sister a treasure. I’m not sure of Homer’s take on teachers in general. Most of the teachers I’ve met are intelligent and caring and have gone into teaching because they sincerely want to make a difference in the lives of their students. They often work against insurmountable odds.
It’s worth mentioning that one of my nephews managed to get into a really cool STEM program that I wish would be available to all students. His school system in Ohio dedicated one elementary school to STEM students. All students were eligible to apply and admission was by lottery. My nephew was one of the lucky ones
The students spend their mornings in traditional classes and their afternoons doing hands on science and math projects. Recently, I saw my nine-year-old nephew’s paper on circuits and was quite impressed. He had not been doing well in school and was totally bored with schoolwork until he entered the STEM program. All of a sudden, learning was fun. Unfortunately,the program is only for elementary students at this time. I wish there were more programs like this in every school
now that’s what I’m talking about Intrigue, we have one of those in our family too
Well…see the above post for some comments related to these comments.
My additional teachers and smaller class sizes would likely appeal to the teachers working from 6am to 10pm, and I don’t need a professional teacher overseeing kids at lunch. Someone else is doing that work.
My model is going to cost a fortune, but and I think it could be done in a way that pleases the good teachers you know, and I hope it pisses off the bad teachers we know.
My sister is a teacher. Started in public school and now teaches at a private, religious school.
She loves to teach, loves kids, and would probably do it for free. We absolutely need that type of person, but there are not remotely near enough of those types of people around to educate the 75 million school aged kids in the US.
We have to find another model of finding or growing great teachers.
HT in the last 9 years with 2 students enrolled in the public school system I have maybe come across 1 bad teacher. I have had some carefully chosen words with a few I strongly disagreed with but they were still good teachers. I could name maybe 2 teachers whom I would classify as exceptional and to be honest they really just had a gift that could not duplicated by training or education.
From my limited knowledge, based solely on documentaries, the problem seems to be recruiting good teachers to troubled school districts. I’m not sure if more compensation and training would solve this problem especially considering burnout seems to be the #1 reason for good teachers leaving troubled school districts.
OV, they actually have something similar here in Intermediate School called the Magnet program. The focus is on Science and Math and it seems to have great success.
My son will be entering High School next year and they have actually added quite a few new incentives for the students that I really like. One new idea is that students pick a path that they are interested in and choose electives related to that path. My son chose the STEM path, Science, Technology, and Math. He is voluntarily planning on taking Math courses all the way up to Calculus. He also plans on taking Spanish 1, 2, and 3.
Another incentive is if a student graduates in the top 10% of their class and takes Algebra 2 they automatically qualify for acceptance in ANY Texas public University.
How about “NO”, HT? Here is something that you should consider, spending half of the military budget. We either need to reduce spending on education, or increase spending on the military. Right now the 2014 budget for public education is 17,011.4, in billions. Our military budget is about 700, in billions.
The rest of what I see there is “free this, free that, and more free stuff.” TANSTAAFL.
Stern…Obviously, I’m talking about federal spending (because hey, that is the only type of gov’t of which I am aware – according to you).
Your numbers however, including state and local spending, do not match anything I’ve seen.
When combining state, local, and federal spending, education and defense are closer, but we’ve been spending more on defense than on education as a whole for the past several years.
I’d be happy to see your numbers to see why mine are so off.
yep, it seems all of his solutions are expansions of what is already not working. I recall Einstein addressing this concept in one of his observations.
Sure, HT. FYI, I don’t think that figure included federal spending on public education, about another $140 billion.
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/compare_state_education_spend
Hmmm…Thanks for the link. I’m looking at historic 2011 and 2012 numbers from Forbes, and military spending was expanding faster than education since 2008 (because Obama/Clinton are neo-con hawks), and then in 2011 and 2012, defense spending exceeded all state, local, and federal spending on education.
Other than the site you reference, I do not see anything confirming that the trend reversed.
However, clearly acknowledge that overall education spending is equivalent (or slightly higher or lower depending on the year) to federal spending on education. My point is that we should increase federal spending too.
It isn’t the money, there is plenty of that in education already. One of the biggest problems is federal intervention. That and the attempted indoctrination instead of just educating.
Then there is the way the system is handled these days. My lady and I have teachers in our families, talking to them reveals a major issue, they are the only ones held responsible for the grades of the students. Students are not responsible, parents are not responsible, school administrations are not responsible, only the teachers. And they are not allowed to give students a failing grade in many cases. See a problem there?
I have long enjoyed the discussion that Chris’s posts provoke on some serious and timely issues. Over the last few weeks, though, we’ve been going increasingly off-topic with music videos, personal attacks, holiday wishes and the like, leading to hundreds of posts to wade through to separate the wheat from the chaff. Could we keep a little more to the subject at hand?
I just can’t resist, Happy Valentines JG.💖💖
I totally agree. The comments are going way off topic with personal conversations. Boring.
Happy Valentines Buzz. 😾💔
Someone forcing you to hang around?
Yea, but buzzy, watching you get proved wrong over and over gets a bit tiresome too so you know, there’s always that…(shrugs shoulders)
“The comments are going way off topic with personal conversations. Boring.”
What, like long tales about juicers?
Lol at Owl. You’re one tough cookie, Owl…and I love that.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
It’s the nature of the beast. I dare say that if you get together with 10 or 15 friends the conversation is going to stray from where it began. To me, that’s the beauty of the open forum. Roll with it.
Thanks for the suggestion Des.
Sorry JG, I couldn’t resist either. We luv ya!
I agree with you John Galt. Another counterintuitive–the previous hosting spot didn’t allow for cursing, which in my mind is a good thing for a place such as this. Certainly with some member(s) a hearty ‘bullsh*t” is the first word which comes to my mind on nearly everything they say, but restrictions in format make for more creative, thoughtful, responses. I allowed myself to get caught up in a spat of snark recently, it was fun, sort of. Eventually that sort of thing makes the subject of the writing the author, and frankly, none of us seem to be in the top 10000 of the most interesting people in the world.
Actually you have a good point Crogged. I’ve found myself cursing here which, of course, the Chron would shut down. Good thing is I’ve still toned them down from the actual words I’m thinking. Some of those are really bad. but I still going to try and watch myself.
JG does have a good point. However, I think the perfect formula for a blog is a mixture of conversations that are both on topic and off. Let’s say 80/20. 80% on and 20% off (I’m probably responsible for at least 20% off topic comments here myself). But I must say…I love the freedom to drop an f-bomb every now and then. I have a mouth like a sailor. I think we’re all adults here and are capable of dealing with it. Now, if you’re dropping an f-bomb every other comment than yea, that’s a problem but I haven’t seen that happen here.
And the topic that Chris is discussing at the moment was before my time and therefore, I’m not that knowledgeable about it. So, I figure, instead of wasting peoples’ time in acting as though I know what I’m talking about, I’d rather stick to the things that I do know about. Good music, friendly discussion about food, holidays, etc and silly gifs. Those things, I have quite the extensive knowledge.
Well put, rucas.
You damn #@!&!$#@!&!%!$!%!$+%#@$ right Rucas!
😉
But in all seriousness, I obviously agree with Des and Rucas. It’s an open forum. You take the bad with the good. Just like in a real democracy where the KKK can say what they want and congregate and protest as long as they don’t harm anyone. And so can anyone else.
And it’s Chris’ open forum. His rules. I would like to limit Cappy to 140 characters per post. (Just kidding for illustrative purposes big guy). But it ain’t my blog.
And I can personally attest that Chris does a good job of counterbalancing the open forum with the occasional need to referee/babysit the forum and reign in/b- slap (yet gently and diplomatically) those who step over the line and need it. 😉
Thanks Chris for doing both those jobs well. And allowing all of us the opportunity to indulge in what we enjoy doing with each of our own individual “styles”. Because unless you are a true masochist, why are you here?
“And I can personally attest that Chris does a good job of counterbalancing the open forum with the occasional need to referee/babysit the forum and reign in/b- slap (yet gently and diplomatically) those who step over the line and need it. ;-)”
Could never had said it better myself. Yes, Chris, thank you man for all that you do here and if I ever overstay my welcome, get mud on the carpet or play my music too loud, please do not hesitate to “reign in/b-slap” me.
In the past the unwritten rule seemed to be that Friday’s were days for the off topic and personal and I do wish the extremely personal attacks on the sincerity of whomever is writing would just stop. It’s like watching a movie with a bad script and a character says, “Look!” “FIRE!”
Lighten up.
“…extremely personal attacks…”.
I heard those words a lot the past 24 hours and I don’t know….I’m just not seeing it.
Rucus…Just my two cents:
I think anytime we drift into discussions of relationships between spouses or significant others, we have to tread pretty carefully. Sure, we should all have thick skin, but it is easy to get riled up.
It is one thing for me to talk about my tax hating, anti-welfare, anti-affirmative action, Republican voting wife, but I’d probably get a bit more sensitive if others brought her up in comments.
Stern will happily drops some bombs about me not liking my kids or imaginary grandkids because of my liberal greed and incredible desire to control everyone’s life, but he’s doing it just to be provocative…we just can’t take the bait because the conversation is going to anything but productive.
Suggesting that Stern wants Tutt in the back of the bus or chained to the kitchen is generally just doing the same thing, only in reverse, and it won’t lead to productive discussion.
Of course, Stern happily makes himself an easy target, and the interplay between Tutt and Stern here gets us kinda involved (at least a tiny bit) in their relationship, so it is easier to drift in that direction with them, but it probably is generally best to be avoided.
Plus, you open the door to have Buzz swinging like a monkey from a tire swing throwing feces and yelling “racist” and “woman hater” in every freakin’ comment, and dog knows we do not need to give Buzz any additional opportunities to do that crap.
Happily attack Tutt’s position, easily attack Stern’s positions, but probably not bring up the interplay of the relationship between them.
Was it the post where Buzz launched his attack on my makeshift deck attached to my trailer where I swill my beer? I gotta say I was pretty much crushed, and barely made it through the rest of the day. 😩
Hey Homer, thank you sir. I appreciate your 2 cents because I know that unlike the others who were offended at what I said, you’re actually impartial so your opinion carries more weight to me.
I pretty much agree with everything you wrote. But it’s this…”Stern will happily drops some bombs about me not liking my kids or imaginary grandkids because of my liberal greed and incredible desire to control everyone’s life, but he’s doing it just to be provocative…we just can’t take the bait because the conversation is going to anything but productive.”.
Exactly that. I know that it doesn’t help to get down on that level but you know, I think it’s necessary to do it sometimes and I have no problem whatsoever in doing it. They’re not the only ones who can push buttons and provoke emotion. Some of us are also good at doing that as well. Maybe even better but again, that’s really nothing to brag about.
There was a scene in the movie, Ides Of March (great movie by the way), where Ryan Gosling and Phillip Seymour Hoffman (God bless his dumb yet ridiculously talented soul) are having a conversation at a bar, towards the end of the movie and I don’t think I’ve heard anyone ever say it better. Here’s the direct quote from the movie (WARNING LANGUAGE)…
“You’re right, this is exactly what the Republicans do, and it’s about time we learned from them. They’re meaner, tougher and more disciplined than we are. I’ve been in this business for twenty five years and I’ve seen way too many Democrats bite the dust because they wouldn’t get down in the mud with the fucking elephants.”
That’s pretty much how I look at it.
“Was it the post where Buzz launched his attack on my makeshift deck attached to my trailer where I swill my beer? I gotta say I was pretty much crushed, and barely made it through the rest of the day.”
Rush you apparently weren’t swilling at the requisite Buzz be gone rate…
Desp, your politics and mine are close, but your style is much more like those with whom you disagree. Get above it, leave whatever happened in the past back there and move on.
Des has been around a long time Crogged and is known for speaking his mind which is his right to do. I have no problem with anyone on this blog and get a chuckle from some of the post that have a different view from mine. IMO, folks would do well to let Chris handle his blog and if he has a problem with any of us he will let us know.
JohnGalt: I’ve always liked your posts because you practice what you preach, stay on topic, and your comments show that you’ve put a lot of thought into them. I may not agree but I have immense respect for you.
I don’t mind the videos (I rarely click on them) or off topic discussions so much because they build a sense of community, but I agree that there are way too many of them to wade through – it’s best to leave them for social media sites like facebook.
Personal attacks have gotten out of hand – although I’ve been guilty of making them, too, while feuding with Bubba. All I can say on that subject is that hell hath no fury like a woman told to stay in the kitchen.
Thanks for bringing the subject up. I’ll try to be good … well, maybe after making a personal reply to Tuttabella ….
Yes, but some of us wouldn’t be caught dead on FB so yes we do use this blog for more social discussions too.
Well, bless your heart, GG. I don’t quite understand your logic. Let’s see if I understand you correctly …. you say you wouldn’t be caught dead on facebook, but you want this blog to become more like facebook?
Honestly, I’m more than guilty of bunny trailing discussions, but JG has a good point. I’m getting posts forwarded to my email account now and 50% don’t have anything to do with the topic and I seem to be spending more and more time hitting delete, delete, delete. The old chron format let us send personal messages and I miss that feature.
Yup you NEVER play the fake victimization card OV. Grow some nuance already. But then that would be proof of evolution. Can’t have that.
No, never said I that. I don’t like FB but that doesn’t mean we can’t add some personal conversation here. It doesn’t get anywhere near as nauseating as FB can get.
“No, never said I that.”—–Good lord, I swear late onset of dyslexia is setting in or something.
” I’m getting posts forwarded to my email account now and 50% don’t have anything to do with the topic and I seem to be spending more and more time hitting delete, delete, delete.”
How unfortunate you poor, poor thing… You do know that a quick alteration in your notifications settings can change that….correct? Or would you just rather complain about it?
“No, never said I that.”
I personally thought you were quoting Yoda.
bubba: Standing up to bullying does not constitute claiming “victimization.” I’ve called you out for a couple things you’ve written that have been either misogynistic or untrue.
Trying to denigrate me by telling me to stay in the kitchen barefoot to make you sandwiches would never pass muster with any HR department. If ;you have any doubts, and work for a midsized to large company, please forward them your original post and ask them to check for “nuance.” If you had made that remark to any woman (conservative or liberal) at work and if she had reported it, you might have found yourself out on your keister.
Also, making unfounded accusations about my personal life should not be tolerated. I would never take pleasure in someone suffering in the heat, and making up an imaginary yardman that you imagine I hire to do mow my yard is highly insulting.
Please look up the word “nuance.” You obviously don’t know what it means and you use the word incorrectly. It does not give you license to slur and demean. Exactly how does someone “grow some nuance?”.Do you plant it between the rosemary and basil?
OV you are really, really, really willfully ignorant so you can continue play the faux victimization card. I’ve told you time and again to grow some nuance. Learn what it is. I’ve explained the sarcastic context of my comments to you time and again (YOU were the one wanting to drag women back into the 17th century) and yet you still bleat the same ignorant lying bullshit ad nauseum.
At this point I can only conclude that you are nothing but stupid. Willfully or otherwise. Give it a rest.
No, bubba. In no way would my views keep women barefoot in the kitchen. You seem to have a low opinion of women and their ability to make decisions based on a number of factors.The liberal women’s movement has degraded to the point where their push is primarily to keep later term abortions legal and to force Catholic institutions to fund contraception. Pathetic.The conservative economic approach would create jobs and give women more opportunity.
As a tie breaker, please submit your original comment to your company’s HR department. Let them try to find the “nuance.” I’m sure they would be interested in seeing what one of their employees is up to online.
I found your comment to be insulting and derogatory. The explanation about intended sarcasm has no merit. The comment was still offensive. There are some things you should not joke about. Until you apologize, I will continue to feel free to bring up your misogynistic comment – although, to tell you the truth, even I am beginning to tire of it!
It’s about time YOU finally tire of your own bullshit OV. Everyone else has been way beyond tired of it a long time ago.
Feel free to whine ad nauseum. It is after all a free country. And Chris’s free blog. NOT yours. And I will feel free to highlight bullshit as long as you keep dragging me up in your pathetic manufactured lies. I’m not at work and this isn’t your blog or Iran. So no one gives a damn about your pathetic but impotently comic dictatorial control issues.
Typical infantile wingnut. Can’t make a halfway rational point so you whine, lie, and throw a tantrum to shut down the opposition. Grow up already.
Bubba, Just as I suspected.You rely on the anonymity provided by this blog to make misogynistic statements you would never be able to get away with at work.At most companies what you wrote would constitute harassment – not “nuance.”
Actually, I would love Lifer to do a blog on the subject of which policies help women succeed the most. The three top positions at the business unit where my husband works are filled by women and currently a larger percentage of women graduate from college than men. I have a daughter with two science degrees. My concern for her is not related to Catholic institutions offering birth control or the freedom to abort a perfectly healthy fetus at five months gestation. I believe women benefit most from improved economic conditions. The Democratic party has inferior policies in that respect.
OV, unnail yourself from your fake cross already. You hang onto a nonsensical point no matter how debunked it is or how ignorant you sound.
YOU were the one denigrating and insulting women. You were too dense to pick up on any subtleties in my pointing that out to you. Not my problem.
One more time, we are not at work. We are not allowed to curse at work but even Chris the blogger and blog owner does it.
Dan Troll and Buzz would be fired already for posting THEIR personal crap attacks here “if at work” AND buzz attacked a woman GG but you hypocritically don’t pipe up one bit when it’s from your cronies.
You. Don’t. Have. A. Point. Or a brain apparently.
Give it a rest already you consummate hypocritical whiner.
Yes! Happy Valentine’s Day. My daughter will be home from collage tonight and I will take my ladies out for sushi.
Sounds like a good plan Tex. Enjoy the time with your ladies.
If you haven’t tried it yet try a Shaggy Dog. It’s my current favorite. I’m cooking my special guy a dinner. He’s been off work for 4 months due to serious shoulder surgery and just started back on Monday so he’s going to be exhausted from changing from 9 am wake ups to 4:30 am.
I like the Dragon Roll. You and your special guy have a great Valentines week end GG.
Thanks and you have a good one too.
Mmmmmm, sushi! I went through a few months or so a couple of years back when I craved sushi almost every day. Kind of unfortunate because I got kind of burnt out on it. However, I’m going to say something and I know it’s going to ruffle some feathers but I’ve been to all kind of sushi places, from hole in the wall joints to some pretty posh establishments and I must say that one of the places where I had some of the best sushi I can remember was from…..wait for it…..Whole Foods!!! It’s seriously really fresh and they’ll make you pretty much whatever you want. Although, the prices aren’t that much cheaper than some of your higher end places but it’s worth it.
Don’t Whole Foods have beer and wine bars inside them now?
That they do. They’ve become quite fancy. Not my favorite place but my wife loves it.
I miss Whole Foods. They don’t have one in the Clear Lake area because some market study revealed that NASA engineers and guys in the petrochemical industry are too meat and potatoes for Whole Foods.
Oh, yea…THOSE guys. Too much machismo. I for one, hate their prices yet, I like when we shop there because it’s a relatively smaller store (compared to others) so I know we’re not going to be in there for two hours. And at first, I must admit, I wasn’t into the whole organic and non-GMO products thing but I have to say, after my wife has pretty much switched me over, I feel a lot better and just generally more healthy. I don’t know if that’s the truth or it’s just what I tell myself to help justify the cost. Lol
When you add the ridiculous spectacle of Texas public school funding on top of the failed idea of busing you can sorta, kinda, understand pessimism of the future of the state.
“I think we are where we are today because Texas has always been a low-tax state and yet it’s always been a state that believes in education, and those two commitments have been in collision for years. How do you have a strong public education system and give Texas children an economic opportunity and do that in the context of a low-tax state?”
http://www.texasmonthly.com/story/night-living-ed-complete-transcript
“it’s always been a state that believes in education,”
Back when I was a kid I’d say that was true but lately I’d say a good education is the last thing they want kids to get.
It is very difficult for me to read this, I defy anyone reading it to state what agenda there is for excellence in all Texas public schools.
First there is state rep whose name I can never spell stating, ““So let’s define the core curriculum and let’s fund that at the state level, and let’s do that on a per-pupil basis and let the local districts decide what they want to do.”
Then you have the Commissioner of Texas Education Agency (the COMMISSIONER!) point out Cy Fair’s ‘bus evacuation’ program costing 47,000 dollars as evidence of our need of efficiency.
I’m not knowledgeable on this subject myself and my son is grown but I have a teacher friend in HISD and she says the money wasted is incredible but like all budgets they have to use it. She said every kid there is on free breakfasts and the kids cannot turn it down so they have to take it and it then gets thrown out. She also said the teachers are basically overburdened with kids and the homework and tests 1st graders are being forced to deal with are outrageous and way beyond what a child that young should be expected to do. She can’t teach kids just prepare them for the almighty TAAS tests. They also force them to deal with special needs kids forcing the teachers into spending all of their time with one kid who is a problem. Then add the politics going on inside the schools. She could go on and on.
They also need a SBOE with actual teachers on it and not a bunch of right wing religious loons with an agenda.
I sang this song to my wife this morning for Valentines day (I’m sure not as good as Brenton)…
She said I had morning breath and rolled back over to go to sleep. I love that gal.
LOL
I’m with your wife on this one.
🙂
Happy Valentines ya’ll! Looks like I left the party to early yesterday.
Happy Valentines day to you and the lady as well!
The Goddess of the manor is in Israel so it’s just me and the critters at home. I’m celebrating by closing up the office & shop at lunch. Gonna stop and get a 6 pack of brewski’s, and a couple of steak for me and the critters. It’s a good week end to work on my rods & reels and tackle.
Ok, I’m absolutely envious over your V-day plans now…
What’s she doing in Israel? That sounds so exciting.
Come on over rucasdad and we will have a beer and share my steak.
GG she’s looking at property in the Caesarea area. Our youngest son lives in Haifa so we go to Israel often.
Rush, that’s very nice of you. I just may take you up on that offer one day when I’m in your neck of the woods.
You’re welcome any time rucasdad.
Meh. What a mess this entry and thread has become. Not much stuff on topic. Think I will bow out unless something on topic is being discussed, or my lady is attacked again. As Arnie said in Terminator 3, …
Oh my, this fire is a terrible thing, said the man holding the can of gasoline and a book of matches.
Spare me the faux outrage. The topic has been your favorite subject. You.
In honor of Black History Month (surprise!) . . . here’s a merging of 2 of my favorite pastimes — French film noir from the ’50s and ’60s and the incomparable Miles Davis — a film trailer from Louis Malle’s Elevator to the Gallows with soundtrack:
Hey, you got the link to work properly. Cool.
Yes, thanks. Talk to you later (wink wink).
Hey, OV, I think it’s time for me to take that vow of silence I keep talking about.
Tuttabella, I don’t blame you for feeling that way. Enjoy your Valentine’s Day with the one you love. You’ve always been the one to make peace and lighten the mood on the chron and on this blog. It’s sad to see you being driven away. I see that Intrigue is back. Could she possibly lure you back for a few more comments?
Wow! What a fun thread. Unfortunately I was busy and couldn’t participate so the liberals lefty echo chamber decided to pick on Tutt. Having read through all the nonsense I have to say Tutt did not say one think inappropriate. Rucas lost the argument so used the faux outrage tactic to change direction.
Captain, I’m really proud of the way to supported Tutt from the woman hater.
Then you have a black man that was raised in the hate era, studied, succeeded and eventually became a SC Justice and the echo chamber can say nothing but hateful, bitter things about his rise.
So, on the whole I would say if you are a liberal black the echo chamber will tolerate you but if you are a conservative black there ain’t no place for you.
Such a very sad, hateful lot. We should bookmark this one to demonstrate to other blogs what leftist hate is all about.
I have a feeling that even though I’m in Chicago and those that I’ve offended are in Texas (at least for the most part), that I’ll need to look over my shoulder tonight on my way home (especially for Tutt). I’m scared…
Be very afraid . . .
I’m just kidding, I’m not afraid. No reason to be when you’re always ready…
J/K by the way. I think you and Capt should at least appreciate that gif.
Rucas, don’t interrupt. I’m busy pissing everyone else off right now. 🙂
Rucas, I’m glad we’re on good terms again (sort of). I can’t say the same about everyone else. Oh, well, tomorrow is another day. Good night.
Listen, we were always on good terms (at least to me). I have no problem with telling someone to go f**k themselves in the morning and then buying them a beer after work. That’s just the kind of guy I am. I still think what you said was dumb but I sincerely apologize to you if you felt that I was personally attacking you because I certainly was not trying to. Oh well, we’ll give it another go tomorrow. You guys have a safe and pleasant evening.
Rucas, all you DO is personal attacks to anyone that disagrees with you. Wake up bro.
@buzzy
Wow, some folks seem to have gone off the rails a bit today. Oddly enough, this happened without the assistance of Buzz and Dan.
The back-and-forth with Rucas and Tutt and Stern is bizarre and a waste of bandwidth. Rucas went nutty and then we escalate it to allegations of hating women and more foolishness. Whatever folks are drinking, they either need to stop drinking or drink a lot more of it.
The two Slate pieces are interesting. Some of it is slightly incorrect or not explored enough (e.g., OFCCP compliance in hiring), but most of it is spot-on.
The interesting part is that the thrust of the first article, that bussing and dumping of money into urban school does not work, runs right into the second article that we need better quality and likely better funding for early education in urban areas.
I completely agree that starting to think about opportunity disparity in college and in employment having us start way, way too late. Thinking about it at those stages is not a bad thing, but it won’t address the underlying problems that start with preparing individuals for the rigors of college and the workplace.
That has to start with families and start before kindergarten, but it can’t stop there. Good intentions are relatively useless unless backed up with thoughtful, practical approaches.
Stern happily (and often) states, “We really should not focus on race…People succeed or fail on their own merits.”
I think we would all like that to be true, but it simply is not true.
Pluck 100 first graders at random from around the country and plop them down in Bellaire or West U public schools for 12 years. Plop another random set of 100 first graders into Sharpstown or Gulfton schools for 12 years. The brains, drive, and talents (i.e., merit) of those random kids will be essentially equal in the two groups, but no one would legitimately argue that they will have the same opportunities at succeeding or failing. Many folks in Belliare and West U will be screw ups, and great successes will come from Sharpstown and Gulfton, but you would be a fool not to wager on overall greater success for the kids coming out of better schools. Coincidentally or not, the quality of schools tend to differ based on the ethnic makeup of the areas in which those schools are located.
Liberals have done some monumentally stupid things without a rational voice on the other side offering solutions. Actively working to insult race groups or simply saying everyone can do fine on their own merit are not real solutions.
This has been a wide open door into which the GOP could walk. The reasons why the GOP have not even tried to knock on the door range from the naïve (and clueless) “everyone already has equal opportunity and you can’t tell me otherwise” to the selfish “everything they get is something less that I get”, to the evil “I don’t like Black folks”.
What WOULD we do without our STALWART STATISTICIAN to explain our own reality to us?
I appreciate your comment and respect your opinion. But please, tell me how I “went nutty”?
I take it that you’re implying to me talking to Capt and Tutt in regards to their, shoot first and ask questions later mentality. Am I at least correct on that? Serious question.
And please know, that I’m not at all offended by what you said but just genuinely interested in why it is you think that. Also, if anyone else got that impression, please let me know. Thanks!
Hey, Rucas, I am letting you know now that I, for one, got that impression. Oh, wait, my opinion doesn’t count.
Do I have your permission to hit Post Comment now? Here goes . . .
As the saying goes, politics ain’t beanbag. Neither are political blogs the place for the thin-skinned and the easily offended.
Oh Tutt, cheer up! Internet hug?
Des, I think I’ve said this before but if I haven’t, I dig your style and couldn’t agree more.
Tutt, air five?
Desperado, political blogs are for thick-skinned, offensive people who have nothing better to do with their time.
Care to name names Tutt? I would like to see how one sided and myopic that list is.
There really is no need to be rude or hateful when discussing politics. There can be passionate discussions because of the different views, and it can sometimes be harsh. But with anonymity, we get internet trolls.
“In Internet slang, a troll is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, either accidentally or with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.” – From Wiki
Rucas constantly tries his best to fit that definition. Today he had some success. He chose an intelligent, polite and thoughtful lady to attack. And he knows that would ruffle my feathers (no offense to Owl) because he knows that she is my lady.
Again, my apologies to Lifer for feeding the troll today.
But yet Cappy, you don’t apply that definition to Dan or Kabuzz. Now why is that?
A little more honesty will engender a little more respect. It is earned and not just given because it is shrilly and insecurely demanded.
I’m guessing it’s because Dan and Buzzy kiss his ass.
Dan and Bubba were directly addressed by Lifer. Their personal issues with each other don’t concerne me. Attacks on me are like water off a duck’s back. Attacks on my lady, different matter.
“And he knows that would ruffle my feathers…because he knows that she is my lady.”
You know cappy, it may be hard for you to accept, but it’s not always all about you. Rucas took issue with something Tutt said and challenged her on it. Tutt then took exception to his challenge and we all can read for ourselves what ensued.
Quite the knight in shining armor of you to opportunistically turn “defending your woman” into an avenue to nail yourself to the same cross also.
Incessant fake victimhood. Sounds familiar on the boards here for some reason…
Ah, but that still doesn’t address Tutt’s tacit approval does it?
Oh Capt, you’re too sensitive. Calm down, big guy, it’s the interwebs. And since you’re overly concerned about whether you hurt my feelings or not by calling me a troll…don’t fret. You didn’t. I’ve been called much worse by far better.
You want to know why I don’t debate or even bother to with you on substantial matters? There’s no reason to. You know everything. What’s your opinion is the truth and no one is going to change that. You expect courtesies from people that you yourself, are incapable of. Yet, every now and then, it gets old and I feel a need to question why it is that you say or feel the way you do and this is usually what happens.
You toss words around, switch things up, take things FAR out of context to create this fake victim complex at around 9:15 AM….only to be your own knight in shining armor at closing time around 5 PM. It’s like clockwork with you and I can see it..along with Bubba and a few others. It’s your schtick.
Thanks Tutt…happy to hear from you too.
Rucus…hard to follow the exact sequence of events given different lines of replies across the various different posts, but yours seemed a pretty big over-reaction to Tutt saying she would be quiet and reserved but standing her ground, similar to Rosa Parks.
Seems like a pretty innocuous statement and certainly not out of line compared to other comments or with what we perceive to be her personality. From there we escalated rather quickly to the point where Brick killed a guy with a trident (Anchorman joke for those who have not seen the original movie).
Folks (including Tutt as evident with the comment above) seem to be spoiling for a rumble today.
Understood. And maybe I could have created my comment/observation a bit differently. However, I still stand by it since it still seems ridiculous to me to compare yourself to someone (anyone for that matter) who went through something like Mrs.Rosa Parks did. Especially, given the nature of her significant other and the things he has said.
Anyways, thank you for the quick reply and constructive criticism. It’s been duly noted.
Thanks, HT. Here’s my condensed version of the events:
1. Rush said that if he had been born Black and experienced racial discrimination, he would have reacted like a real son of a gun.
2. I replied by saying I would have reacted like Rosa Parks — quiet and reserved but standing my ground.
3. Rucas went ballistic.
4. Everyone else either suggested I deserved it or just stood by and said nothing, thus giving their tacit approval.
5. I developed an attitude.
Tutt, come on now! I’m trying to log off and shut down but these comments are going to make me miss my train….#’s 3&4 aren’t exactly truthful or honest.
Oh buzz…I can always count on you.
I think if you read my comment again, you will find that I absolutely agreed that many kids going to Gulfton and Sharpstown would succeed. Why yes, I just looked up there, and I did, in fact, state exactly that.
It seems that you are suggesting that all things being equal, the kids at Gulfton and Sharpstown have the same opportunity as the kids in West U and Bellaire? I’m pretty sure not even you believe that.
Your position would imply that it is the all parents’ fault for the lack of success, and hey, if more of those stupid parents happen to be sending their kids to minority schools, that just is the way the cookie crumbles.
I think if you read my comment again, you will see that I said it starts with the family and starts even before kindergarten (I’ll admit, I peeked, and yep, I did say that). I think it could easily be argued that we do not do near enough to help families prepare their kids for schools.
Rucas, my shoot-first-ask-questions later mentality? When in the world have you seen that? Surely not today, when all I said was that my style of “confrontation” would be like that of a great lady such as Rosa Parks. And since when do you call women out over the views of their boyfriends or husbands?
I’m a minority myself but thankfully I have not experienced what Mrs. Parks did, although on occasion I will experience questionable behavior and comments from people over my being Mexican-American, and I have always tried to respond with grace and dignity, yet firmly, like Mrs. Parks.
Or as a Mexican-American, have I been branded a traitor or a fool for being with Captain Sternn? He’s more of a gentleman than you can ever hope to be, and he doesn’t have a racist bone in his body. He has NEVER spoken to me as you did today.
You would do well to learn from the examples of Captain Sternn, OV, and HT. Even Dan the Man has better manners than you.
“Everyone else either suggested I deserved it or just stood by and said nothing, thus giving their tacit approval.”
So Tutt, when have YOU told buzzy or Dan the Troll to reign it in? Never.
For example, you “tacitly approved” Kabuzz speaking ugly of GG when he stated “Especially GG, she can’t suck up fast enough” as you “just stood by” and said nothing to that.
I would say that is quite a bit more of an egregios personal attack than “you are no Rosa Parks” [paraphrase].
Thou doth protest excessively and one sidedly.
Tutt, I’m sure he’s a gentleman to you but he’s displayed some pretty callous regard towards women not in his family.
Tutt, no offense but you’ve been wearing this “Mexican-American” thing on your sleeve a lot. You were born here therefore you are American. We are all immigrants of one type or another except the Native Americans. The way you talk you’d think you’d come across the Rio Grande in a coyote’s truck.
StayatHome, you think Captain Sterns comment about succeeding on merits not true, yet you think you proved it with the example but did not. Many, many kids went to Sharpestown and Gulfton schools as succeeded. If parents do not care to keep their kids focused and guide them through the ups and downs of growing up, there is nothing we can do nor any amount of money that can fix that stupid. Where oh, where is it racial??? You liberals see color ALL the time in EVERYTHING. It’s amazing. It’s silly. It’s racist.
Every great civil rights move in our history was lead by the GOP. I know you liberals hate to deal with that fact but there it is.
Bubba, you beat to it while I was driving home. I was going to point out Tutt’s hypocrisy on this. I’ve never heard her say anything to Buzz or Dan about their ugly attitudes towards practically everyone on this board especially towards Chris who is basically a host.
GG, you proved my point. You, as a member of the echo chamber, laud Chris’ posts. Should anyone disagree and tell Chris he is wrong or cherry picking facts (which he does very well) you call it attacking. I was under the impression that this is a political blog wanting debate. So if the author intimates or outright accuses conservatives of being racist and you libby’s join in, I would say you fired the first shot. So toughen up and quit whining. You are not a martyr.
No Buzzy. You can disagree without coming here and spewing ugliness as soon as you pollute the place. At least try and be polite in your disagreement.
**Oh brother on the martyr comment oh poor who nails himself to a cross.
“Whatever folks are drinking, they either need to stop drinking or drink a lot more of it.”
Now that there is funny, I don’t care who you are.
Would Mi Señor like another mint julep?
Actually cappy if you said Dan or Buzz you’d be correct. They do nothing except try to sow discord.
Rucas is not a troll he just calls out what he perceives as bullshit or hypocrisy. Nothing wrong with that either.
Thank you, GG.
Can’t we all just get along.
No, thanks.
So you acknowledge your role in spoiling for a fight Tutt?
I guess Texan5142 was prescient with his “Mars Attacks” clip as apparently he got the same response here as Jack Nicholson did from the Martians.
Yes, today is the day for a fight.
Then either be combative or play the victim. Can’t play it both ways.
Thanks, OV. It takes a true lady to defend another lady, and thanks also to my own Captain Sternn for standing up for me, while other people just stand around rationalizing Rucas’s rude behavior (you deserve it, Tuttabella, for associating with Cap, or for not being a grateful minority), and others continue typing merrily away, self-righteously convinced that only THEY can truly understand the plight of minorities, while at the same time bragging about how they plan to enjoy the cheap labor of non-Whites when they retire to a lucky third-world country so grateful to be blessed with the presence of these US IMMIGRANTS (oh, excuse, me, I meant EXPATS), and patting themselves on the back for GENTRIFYING neighborhoods and chasing away the minorities who called the place home for generations. Hypocrites.
Oh, darn it, I didn’t mean to post an original comment.
Actually, yes, I did. 🙂
Good points, my dear lady. Maybe it falls in line with what OV was saying about minorities not fitting into their ideal stereotype.
You and Stern need to get over yourselves.
Actually, everyone needs to stop taking these blogs and comment boards so seriously. This is ridiculous.
at 3:36 PM
“Thanks, OV. It takes a true lady to defend another lady, and thanks also to my own Captain Sternn for standing up for me, while other people just stand around rationalizing Rucas’s rude behavior (you deserve it, Tuttabella, for associating with Cap, or for not being a grateful minority), and others continue typing merrily away, self-righteously convinced that only THEY can truly understand the plight of minorities, while at the same time bragging about how they plan to enjoy the cheap labor of non-Whites when they retire to a lucky third-world country so grateful to be blessed with the presence of these US IMMIGRANTS (oh, excuse, me, I meant EXPATS), and patting themselves on the back for GENTRIFYING neighborhoods and chasing away the minorities who called the place home for generations. Hypocrites.”
at 3:50 PM
“Actually, everyone needs to stop taking these blogs and comment boards so seriously. This is ridiculous.”
I’m glad you have rethought things.
Tutt, I’ve never seen anyone “brag” here about moving to another country for retirement. Some of us just want a better quality of life than we can get here.
Right, GG. Enjoy your retirement in Thailand where you can “literally live like royalty” at a cheap price.
You sound jealous Tutt, something I wouldn’t have attributed to you. I can indeed live very well very cheaply over there but so can anyone if they so desire. Why should I stay here and pay out the wazoo for services and basic necessities when I can go over there and do it cheaper. I wasn’t “bragging” merely stating a fact on a blog about moving abroad. It was Indonesia, BTW, a fascinating country. You probably need to go cool off you are sounding a lot like Buzzy today. Grumpy.
at 4:17 PM
“Right, GG. Enjoy your retirement in Thailand where you can “literally live like royalty” at a cheap price.”
Well, that didn’t last long!
Question: Have you ever been to a third world country? Because in essence, we’re already “royalty” for the fact that we can travel to their country….for vacation.
Let’s see, GG doesn’t want to pay out the ‘whazoo’ for services that increases in cost because her party always thinks everyone should pay. Then after all that support, she bails her country to exploit the poor workers of another country. Got it.
Jealous of what, GG?
Jealous of your hypocrisy, GG?
What hypocrisy Tutt? And buzzy what party do I belong to dear?
Tuttabella! Yes, the hypocrisy is astounding. I’ve been visiting the frozen wasteland of Ohio while Lifer was in Belize.(No internet at my parent’s house.) On the plane trip home, I read “Lone Survivor” by Marcus Luttrell. He wrote quite a bit about East Texas – the place he calls home. It seems that there are quite few military people – Navy SEALs, Green Berets, Rangers – who are from that area or who have retired there.He painted an entirely different picture than the one that was presented by some of the others here. I would say to go by your own instincts on where to retire. While there were certainly past injustices, it seems that there are many good people that live there and have served this country with honor.
In any case, the green, piney hills of East Texas seemed very appealing to me after enduring the sub-zero temps in Ohio!
I’m starting to get the feeling that I might have hurt some people’s feelings today…
😦
I could smell this link from three websites away…rucas is snow bound and ginning up his posse today!
I like Gin.
Ola Dan! We’re you been, big guy!?
How about how the tea party trying to ruin gay rights.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/13/ted-cruz-introduces-bill-to-stop-obama-feds-from-forcing-gay-marriage-on-all-50-states/
This two faced bastard Cruz is only worried about states rights when it suits him.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/04/sen-ted-cruz-not-enforcing-federal-marijuana-laws-in-colorado-is-dangerous-to-liberty/
Nowhere is it more evident that the civil rights movement has been ruined than in the way conservative minorities are treated by “tolerant” liberals.
“Supreme CourtJustice Clarence Thomas, who was born and raised in Georgia at a time of high racial tension, said race relations are worse now than decades ago — and that he actually experienced more grief from elitists in the supposed anti-slavery North than in the South. ….
“The worst things that have been done to me, the worst things that have been said about me, [were] by northern liberal elites, not by the people of Savannah” …
“My sadness is that we are probably today more race and difference-conscious that I was in the 1960s when I went to school,” he said, the Daily Mail reported. “To my knowledge, I was the first black kid in Savannah, Georgia, to go to a white school. Rarely did the issue of race come up.”
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/12/clarence-thomas-northern-liberal-elites-worse-segr/#ixzz2tEa6JuAx
Assuming, of course, that Clarence Thomas is an even-handed and impartial observer.
Which he’s not.
Beat me to it, Owl.
Owl & Rucasdad: Justice Thomas was speaking of his own experience. Minorities that go against the flow and become conservative get harsh treatment from liberals. Thomas isn’t alone.
Rucas,I was frankly shocked at the unjustified attack you made against Tuttabella. Aren’t you the one telling her to go to the back of the bus? Why can’t she be like Rosa Parks? Tutt can emulate anyone she wants – and Rosa Parks is a great role model. Just because you may not agree with her or Cap doesn’t mean that you can make unfounded accusations about her personal life and the way Cap treats her.
Minorities who benefit from affirmative action and then want to deny it to others deserve harsh treatment.
“Rucas,I was frankly shocked at the unjustified attack you made against Tuttabella.”
Ok. This I can live with. I might add, if you’re going to sell anyone on your faux outrage or self-inflicted victimhood, you should at least try and get the facts straight. Just a suggestion.
desp: So, minorities have to be grateful and in debt for all eternity? Why? Is it because you don’t think they can make it on their own? I thought the whole purpose of the Civil Rights Movement was to make all races equal in their treatment and their ability to be heard? That includes minorities making their own decisions on what to think. Why do you have such a problem with that?
ObjectiveView, perhaps Thomas was speaking of his own experience.
Or perhaps he was presenting a conveniently doctored worldview.
After all, this is the guy whose wife worked for the Heritage Foundation and founded the Tea Party’s Liberty Central group, before opening a conservative lobbying firm touting her “experience and connections” and describing herself as an “ambassador to the tea party”. Oh, and who, between 2003 and 2007, failed to disclose $686,589 in income earned by his wife from the Heritage Foundation, instead reporting “none” where “spousal noninvestment income” would be reported on his Supreme Court financial disclosure forms.
Do minority-ethnicity conservatives get flack from liberals? Sure. And so do majority-ethnicity conservatives. I don’t think either political party has a monopoly on members of any race, but the topic certainly comes up when you’re dealing with someone who, as chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under President Reagan, claimed that black leaders were “watching the destruction of our race”.
As for Thomas’ assertions, well, there are plenty of documented anecdotes from Thomas’ seminary experience in the 1960s, later college experience, and experience as a Yale law graduate in the 1970s that show quite a bit of racism, of the sort that would generate massive headlines today but were par for the course then. So methinks the justice doth protest too much.
The problem is that Thomas decided that things are equal, coincidently after he was the beneficiary of a policy that helped level the playing field. Also, if you or Clarence Thomas or anybody else thinks equality has been achieved you’re dreaming. See the voting restrictions put in place since the SC struck down part of the VRA.
rucasdad wrote: The most ironic thing about the whole Capt/Tut duo is that Tut would be like Rosa Parks (self proclaimed) and Capt would have been the one telling her to go to the back of the bus.
—————————————————————————————
I would say your remark was unjustified and just plain mean.
Where have I ever claimed victimhood? My comment was about your attack on Tutt and cap.Unfortunately, I do not have the quiet dignity of Rosa Parks – or Tuttabella. I’m calling you out for an attack on their personal life and relationship.
desp: Here is why Justice Thomas hates affirmative action:
“Thomas argued that what he called the stigmatizing effects of affirmative action put him at a huge disadvantage when he was trying to find work as a lawyer.
Thomas said he went on interviews with one “high-priced lawyer” after another who didn’t take him seriously because they thought he got special treatment.
“Many asked pointed questions, unsubtly suggesting they doubted I was as smart as my grades indicated,” Thomas told ABC News.
Affirmative action also made him miserable while he was actually attending the law school, Thomas writes in his book, according to the Yale Daily News.
“At least southerners were up front about their bigotry: You knew exactly where they were coming from,” he says in the book. “Not so the paternalistic big-city whites who offered you a helping hand so long as you were careful to agree with them, but slapped you down if you started acting as if you didn’t know your place.”
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-clarence-thomas-grew-to-hate-affirmative-action-2013-10#ixzz2tEzvoIMG
One should be honest, don’t you think, and admit that those stories are from some thirty years ago? That’s an entire generation.
That’s not to claim that everything is rosy in racial relations in the modern era. But there’s far less stigma on black professionals than once there was.
And we all have a right to our own opinions. Here, I thought we were mostly adults discussing important matters. In these discussions, we use words which these words also have meanings. Now, Capt has been around long enough that we know where he stands on certain issues, given his words. Now, we have Tutt (bless her heart!) who claims that she would have been like Rosa Parks. Never mind that it’s never a good idea to do this since no one knows how they would react to certain situations (similar to Obama comparing himself to Ghandi or Mandela and Sarah Palin to Margaret Thatcher). This in itself is irony. Yet, I don’t blame you (you’ve admitted that you’re not objective whatsoever) for not seeing this. Again, I’m just going off the words you guys type. Is that my fault?
” I do not have the quiet dignity of Rosa Parks…”. You don’t say. And please, your tough-guy routine is drowned out by the sound of the world’s smallest violin playing especially for you, Capt and Tutt.
Objective View wrote “Where have I ever claimed victimhood?”
Um how about all the damn time?
I’m not sure about objv because quite honestly, I’ve never paid much attention to them up until today. Also, I may add that this was also something I haven’t really seen from Tutt until I read her comment she made at 3:36. However, Capt and Buzzy…..FUGETABOUTIT.
Something else that I learned today is that objv, Tutt and Capt feel as though they shouldn’t be held accountable for the things they say or imply. Sorry, but that’s not how this works. Until they figure that out, something tells me they’re going to have hard times discussing matters with adults. I wish them luck.
That last comment was in regards to faux outrage and self-inflicted victimhood. I left that out.
So let me get this straight Objective View, we have condescending and insultingly prejudicial racists who don’t think Clarence Thomas is intelligent or qualified because he is Black so both you and he blame Affirmative Action? Really?
How about putting the blame squarely where it belongs, on the racists for whom Thomas would not have even got a second look were it not for Affirmative Action?
The logical disconnect with the right wing is absolutely amazing.
No wonder wingnuts don’t believe in evolution. You don’t evolve. Rather devolve if anything.
Bubba wrote: How about putting the blame squarely where it belongs, on the racists for whom Thomas would not have even got a second look were it not for Affirmative Action?
Exactly, maybe civil rights legislation could have been implemented better but I refuse to blame it for the ignorance of some people. If these interviewers cannot look at Thomas as an intelligent man based on his resume and qualifications then that is their issue not affirmative action.
Despite the missteps the nation is many times better now than it was before civil rights legislation.
Uncle Tom Justice-Time Mag
http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,134324,00.html
Sorry, ROR, that article is another prime example of what Justice Thomas was saying and is pure BS. Just because Thomas forms his own opinion, that in no way justifies him being called an Uncle Tom. Thomas is a Supreme Court Justice for crying out loud. He doesn’t have to please anyone. How is he being an Uncle Tom? He is not a politician. He’s been put in his position for life.
Forms his own opinion. Yeah, right. Thomas can’t speak while Scalia drinks a glass of water.
In addition, Thomas rarely speaks from the bench on a SCOTUS decision, either pro or con.
Quite the opinion he forms.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/us/13thomas.html
By JACK E. WHITE Sunday, June 24, 2001
These days washington seems to be filled with white men who make black people uneasy, like Newt the slasher, Bill the waffler and Jesse the crank — Helms, that is, not Jackson. But the scariest of all the hobgoblins may well be a fellow African American, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. In the four years since George Bush chose him to fill the “black seat” vacated by Thurgood Marshall, Thomas has emerged as the high court’s most aggressive advocate of rolling back the gains Marshall fought so hard for. The maddening irony is that Thomas owes his seat to precisely the kind of racial preference he goes to such lengths to excoriate. And as long as he is on the court, no other black need apply: Thomas fills a quota of one.
The most disturbing thing about Thomas is not his conclusions, but his twisted reasoning and bilious rage. In his written opinions, he begins with premises that no self-respecting black would disagree with, then veers off into a neverland of color-blind philosophizing in which all race-based policies, from Jim Crow laws designed to oppress minorities to affirmative-action measures seeking to assist them, are conflated into one morally and legally pernicious whole. He delights in gratuitously tongue-lashing the majority of blacks who disagree with him on almost every civil rights issue. He heaps scorn on federal judges who have used the bench to enforce and expand civil rights, accusing them of a paternalistic belief in black inferiority. His harshest critics, like Wade Henderson, Washington director of the N.A.A.C.P., even speculate that “if Thomas had been on the court at the time, he would have opposed the decision in Brown v. Board of Education,” the landmark 1954 decision that struck down segregated schools.
Even those legal scholars who think Thomas would have voted to outlaw segregation believe he would have done so in such a way as to severely hobble the drive toward racial equality. “He takes a more limited view than any other justice for the past 40 years of the proper scope of authority of a federal court confronted with a deliberate violation of the Constitution,” says Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe.
Indeed, Thomas last week attacked the logic of the Brown decision in his concurring opinion on Missouri v. Jenkins. In that decision the court overturned a federal judge’s order that the state continue to fund lavish “magnet” schools in Kansas City because test scores at predominantly black schools still lag behind national averages. According to Thomas, the judge had misinterpreted previous court rulings — including Brown — “to support the theory that black students suffer an unspecified psychological harm from segregation that retards their mental and educational development. This approach not only relies upon questionable social-science research rather than constitutional principle, but it also rests on an assumption of black inferiority.” This, notes Ted Shaw, the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense and Education Fund lawyer who represented the plaintiffs in the Jenkins case, “is probably the first time a Supreme Court Justice has questioned the reasoning in Brown.” That it came from a black, says Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, a former aide to Martin Luther King Jr., “makes me want to throw up.”
Moreover, despite Thomas’ hostility to “questionable social science” when it supports a conclusion he disagrees with, he does not hesitate to incorporate dubious theories into his opinions when they suit his purposes. In his brief concurring opinion in the court’s Adarand Constructors v. Pena, in which the court suggested that federal set-aside programs for minority contractors may be unconstitutional, Thomas wrote, “Inevitably, such programs engender attitudes of superiority or, alternatively, provoke resentment among those who believe that they have been wronged by the government’s use of race. These programs stamp minorities with a badge of inferiority and may cause them to develop dependencies or to adopt an attitude that they are entitled to preferences.” That claim reflects the wisdom of Gingrich country, where, as the House Speaker opined last week, most problems poor black people face are caused by their own “bad habits.”
Because Thomas is black, says Shaw, “the positions he takes in race cases give a little bit more encouragement to other Justices who advance views that are at odds with those of most black Americans.” The court will soon rule on another vital issue: whether it is constitutional to create majority black districts so that African Americans can be elected to Congress. As they await Thomas’ vote, a lot of blacks besides Wyatt Tee Walker are feeling queasy all over again.
Read more: UNCLE TOM JUSTICE – TIME http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,134324,00.html#ixzz2tEomoZEs
The only ones that can call Justice Thomas Uncle Tom, are his nieces and nephews. Again, that article is ridiculous. Thomas has been elected for life and doesn’t answer to anyone – others have to answer to him.
Not elected; appointed.
I actually do not doubt that much of what Thomas says is true regarding harsh criticism from liberal elites. His story about being the first black student in his school is true, but a little misleading. He transferred from an all-black parochial school to a Catholic seminary high-school that was previously all-white. His experience appears to have been rather different than his peers who desegregated Savannah’s public schools in 1963, when Thomas would have been 15.
http://savannahnow.com/news/2013-08-18/1963-desegregation-changed-lives-19-savannah-teens-society
I was bussed during my junior high years in the early 1970s, a small town outside New Orleans. My friends and I were sent to the school in the black neighborhood, we learned the most powerful curse word ever invented, ‘mother_____r’. The school was crumbling, the instructors worse and I agree with the conclusions of the Slate piece. Great article–including your own about your experiences with bussing.
Looks like I’ve missed all the back and forth. 🙂
Not that much. Just feeding time at the troll cage.
Aye. And I fell for it.
You ARE it.
Here’s a summary GG
“Aye. And I fell for it.”
The irony, it burns so brightly….
🙂
The victim is Sternn’s favorite role.
I didn’t know Sternn had such nice legs.
Interesting piece. As I often say, so many times when the federal government tries to do something FOR the people, it ends up doing TO the people. Being too young to remember the bussing, I can only read about it. I didn’t know the black families were fighting the forced bussing, forced integration.
The left has always been focused on race, and almost always wrong about it. Desegregation was necessary and right, but it should only have applied to public institutions and facilities, governemnt owned and operated, and only that people could not be denied access based on race, religion or ethnic backgrounds. There should never have been forced integration.
One other thing jumped out in the article, the supposed “redlining”. In attempting to “fix” that issue, Clinton started pushing banks to make loans to people that didn’t qualify back in the 1990s. The repeal of the Glass-Stegall Act only made matters worse. Some republicans tried sounding the alarm in the early 2000s, but were blocked by democrats who said nothing was wrong. That didn’t work out so well either.
We really should not focus on race. It should be irrelevant in legislation. People succeed or fail on their own merits. We only need to protect equal rights, not try to force equal outcomes or results. By attempting to pander to non-whites, the democrats have actually continued to oppress those very people. Their racist prohibition laws also work to oppress non-whites, as can be seen in our prison systems.
This is where conservatives play an important role. We want all to succeed to their fullest abilities. No pandering to this group or that group, especially not based on the color of a person’s skin. Certain groups will naturally segregate. Navarrette had a piece on the Chron about groups segregating into communities based on political prefernces and asked how we could stop it, to force people with different political views to integrate. We shouldn’t. We should allow people to associate and do business with whomever they want and not force anything on the people.
“The left has always been focused on race….”
Really? Evidently you didn’t actually read the article’s account of Richard Nixon. Or, since everyone more liberal than Napoleon is on “the left” to you, I suppose you’re going to claim Nixon was a leftist? (He *did* pal around with communists, after all….)
“[Democrats’] racist prohibition laws also work to oppress non-whites, as can be seen in our prison systems.”
Really? What, pray tell, is the typical Republican reaction to proposals to decriminalize marijuana or reduce mandatory sentencing laws?
Sternn, you’re so distant from reality it’s a marvel you still have an Internet connection.
Nixon was a Progressive, DNC Lite.
What is the reaction to decriminalizing or even legalizing marijuana? Ask Governor Perry, or fomer Governor Johnson.
Gotcha. Right. I forgot that there’s never been a president you would count as a conservative. Sternnian conservatism is entirely mythical, like unicorns. In fact, it’s an adolescent fantasy that can’t survive contact with the real world, much like libertarianism. Wouldn’t you have been better off getting enthused by *The Lord of the Rings* instead of *Atlas Shrugged*?
As for Perry, he’s swinging in the wind, following the tide of public sentiment, like many politicians. And you apparently have the historical perspective and attention span of a mayfly.
But, then, hypocrisy is a modern Republican value.
Which p[arty gave us modern prohibition based on racism, Owl? Just look back to your progressive hero, FDR and the democrats. Maybe they aren’t far enough left for you?
I view the Democratic Party as sometimes too far left, and sometimes too far right. I am thus far more ideologically flexible than some poor soul like you, hampered by having crammed yourself into the farthest corners of the garret eaves of the ideological spectrum.
“This is where conservatives play an important role. We want all to succeed to their fullest abilities.”
Correction: “some” conservatives not “all”.
Sternn wrote “We should allow people to associate and do business with whomever they want and not force anything on the people”
SternnmI think we have covered this ground before. Nobody gives 2 $hits who you associate OR do business with. If you don’t want to do business with blacks, just be your usual a$$ and they will stop doing business with you. As far as who you associate with, that is a laugh.
Sternn wrote “We should allow people to associate and do business with whomever they want and not force anything on the people”
Sternn’s hero is Gary James, owner of Gary’s Chicaros
The most ironic thing about the whole Capt/Tut duo is that Tut would be like Rosa Parks (self proclaimed) and Capt would have been the one telling her to go to the back of the bus. That has to the the epitome of irony if I’ve ever seen it.
No, Rucas, That was Obama telling people to go to the back of the bus.
Ok….
Can you offer up an actual, documented quote by Obama expressing that, Sternn?
Or are you just making up your own private version of reality again?
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/obama-to-gop-%E2%80%98they-can-come-for-the-ride-but-they-have-to-sit-in-back/
I’m not…I can’t..even begin to take that link serious. Did you read it, Capt? If so, then I STRONGLY fear for your reading comprehension skills because I know you would NEVER take a quote out of context to fit into your regressive narrative….no, never you. Please. Get serious.
Yes, Sternn. And he’s clearly referring to a *car*, not a *bus*.
Man, for somebody as nitpicky as you about parsing and definitions, you sure can fall down on those standards when you want to attack someone.
Oh, right. Hypocrisy is a Republican value.
Great links Chris. For me personally the great equalizer was the military. I do know this, had I been born black I’d most likely be the most militant s.o.b. you had ever seen. I couldn’t be like those blacks and their supporters in Selma and just take a beating without fighting back.
I would have been more like Mrs. Rosa Parks, quiet and reserved but still standing my ground.
“I would have been more like Mrs. Rosa Parks…”
What’s the matter, Rucas? Too much for you? Maybe you would rather promote violence? Or that you wouldn’t have had her strength and dignity?
Rucas, so what is your point? Or are you just being your usual rude self?
No, you’re right, Capt. It is too much for me. The idiocy is overwhelming. It’s hard to say what anyone would have done in Rosa Parks’ position, which is why I would never say something like that. Speaking of promoting violence, how has that worked for you?
And never mind the mind-bending irony that someone who associates with a known advocate for modern segregation and discrimination, would say…”I would have been more like Mrs. Rosa Parks…”.
“Rude”. That’s putting it nicely. Yea, something about courtesy and respect are thrown out the window whenever you and your other half undermine police officers, doctors and medical personnel all for the sake of 2nd amendment advocacy.
Who is a known advocate for segregation and discrimination? Oh, maybe you mean somebody that supports individual liberty and rights for all? The idea of equal rights for all really seems to set your teeth on edge.
“Who is a known advocate for segregation and discrimination?”
You are, dear. You want the “liberty” to segregate and discriminate.
In reality, as opposed to wherever it is that you spend your time, none of us have unlimited liberty. Unlimited individual liberty makes a society impossible.
“Who is a known advocate for segregation and discrimination?”
You are.
“Oh, maybe you mean somebody that supports individual liberty and rights for all?”
It’s ok. You can fool some with subtle hints and skating around the fact that you’re a known racist so you don’t actually have to come out and admit it. Call it what you will.
“The idea of equal rights for all really seems to set your teeth on edge.”
That’s ironic especially since taking your view on marriage equality amongst other things.
Owl, supporting the liberty to do something is not the same as advovating doing it.
Rucas, you have really lost it today. Undermine police officers for the 2nd amendment? I work with police officers every day. They tend to share my views.
Yes, my view on same sex marriage? I suupport having the state recognize it, but I don’t promote it. Notice the difference? Or is the whole concept too much for your tiny brain?
Known racist? That’s funny.Just shows that you don’t know diddly squat.
So your cop buddies will tell you to shoot first and ask questions later? That deadly force should be the first thing you do? That serving and protecting, something they’ve sworn on oath to do, isn’t in their “constitutional duty”? If so, I’ve got a good sized pier on Lake Shore Drive that I can sell you for cheap.
Tutt, with cappy telling you to get to the back of the bus because that is freedom
Capt, we’ve read countless times what you’ve said and no matter how much lipstick you put on that pig…it’s still a pig at the end of the day. You’re only trying to persuade yourself at this point.
The police encourge people to be armed, to get a CHL. They encourage store clerks to keep a firearm behind the counter. They know more than most that when seconds count, police are minutes away.
You are shoping not only your attitude towards women, but you total ignorance of police officers.
“My total ignorance of police officers”. That’s funny. Listen, I know this is all about anonymity and so we must take our words for truth but believe me, I know more than what you would think I’d know about officers. And just like any and every veteran LEO will tell you, deadly force is absolutely the last resort and to please call the police first and foremost. That’s an undeniable fact whether you want to acknowledge it or not.
You’re the one that has lost it by trying to create this mindset that has already killed a countless number of innocent people.
Rucas, I think you have been hitting the sauce a bit early today. Now you are just rambling and making things up. Maybe that explains you exposing what you think about women?
You can accuse me of being drunk but I don’t see how that helps your argument nor furthers your false narrative. But hey, it is fun to watch!
I’ve heard just as many cops say that they wish hand guns were not in the hands of so many civilians because too many of them are stupid, violent or careless.
Exactly GG! As have I. But I’ve also heard from the ones Capt is referring to which usually are like-minded RWNJ’s or are just trying to sell admission to their weekend CHL course.
Excuse me?
That was pretty much my initial reaction to what you said. Please, unless you’re a 101 year old black woman, stop. Not that you care but people like you really take away the meaning of what Rosa Parks stood for by so easily comparing yourself to them.
Hardly. Rosa Parks is somebody that others should look up to and try to emulate. Not that you could ever compare, Rucas.
Rucas – So, it’s okay for Rush to say how he would have reacted in a similar situation but not for me?
Tut, if you can’t tell the difference between what he said and what you said then I’m sorry.
Well, you are definately sorry. You show here how you treat polite ladies. My guess is that is how you view all women, send them to the back of the bus, keep them in the kicthen, barefoot and pregnant. Yeah, you work real hard at putting women in their place. Big man.
capppy
You also have shown how you feel about “polite ladies” that wanted to sit in the wrong part of a restaurant as well. He have just got finished blathering about how that system should have been allowed to continue. You are the best friend Jim Crow has. Be a man and for once own your words.
Readin comprehension problems again, Turtles? I specifically said that segregationist legislation was wrong and that it was necessary to end it.
I notice that Turtles will come running to the defense of Rucas in attacking polite ladies. Another that wants to keep women “in their place”.
The only thing I think people are rushing to defend is intelligence, honesty and consistency. Which is why you always feel attacked.
You’ll be ok, though.
It wasn’t me you attacked. You stick to attacking women, big man that you are.
Are you getting upset, Capt? I can understand. That’s why it’s best to not try and be someone’s white knight and to defend segregation, discrimination, unnecessary violence and basically any other general nonsense and stupidity.
Take another Tums.
No, I just called someone out for saying something really dumb. You’re the one that’s trying to be a white knight and getting butthurt in the process.
And for the record, I know the word “attacking” may help your case to GOPLifer in attempting to getting me banned but please, words have meanings. Learn how to use them.
I never ask anyone to be banned. Best to leave your rude, childish and ignorant comments showing your attitude towards intelligent, polite and thoughtful ladies.
Lifer, my apologies for participating in a manner bringing you blog down to this level. Going off to chill for a few.
cappy wrote: I specifically said that segregationist legislation was wrong and that it was necessary to end it.
Apparently, you seem to think we forgot the numerous times you have claimed that people should have been allowed to discriminate in their businesses. That was your definition of freedom.
Even Tutt has also claimed that you know that some people would use you definition of “freedom” to racially discriminate. Yet you still support that environment.
If I am wrong correct me.
FYI Cappy
Rucas does not me or anyone else to defend him. He is a big boy and more than capable of defending his own comments. Like he said comments based on honesty, intelligence, and consistency are always defensible.
Legislation, Turtles. Public property and facilities, government owned and operated. What people do in their private lives and privately owned businesses is their right as long as they don;t cause harm to others.
“Public property and facilities, government owned and operated. What people do in their private lives and privately owned businesses is their right as long as they don;t cause harm to others.”
And no one is arguing that business owners don’t have that right just like it’s futile to argue that people don’t have the right to call you discriminatory and/or racist if you do this.
Listen, ” no shoes, no shirt, no service” is fine and logical but “Hey, this guy looks like a ‘thug’ so I’m not letting him into my business” is an asshole thing to do so don’t be shocked, insulted or get emotional when you’re called one for doing so.
I think you sell yourself short. The only way for the civil rights marchers to achieve their goals was by non-violence. Fighting back against the dogs and the fire hoses and police brutality wouldn’t have shocked the country the way it did when the marchers didn’t resist, and wouldn’t have garnered the sympathy and the support for their cause that was necessary to achieve the ends.
Your’re right Des but those men (and women) were better men than I. The first nightstick that they swung at me most likely would be my last days on this earth. I saw the beating they gave John Lewis and no way would I have been man enough to just take it.
I have nothing but the utmost respect for Mrs. Parks and how she stood her ground in her own, personal, unassuming way. I will leave it at that.
Now we’re starting to think before we hit that “Post Comment’ button. Good job!
Obviously something you are not capable of, Rucas. Unless I am right and this is how you look at all women. It just comes naturally for you.
Gee, thanks, Rucas, I’m glad you approve. Can I hit Post Comment now?
I’m hungry. May I have your permission to take my lunch break?
You think I have time to read that crap?
I don’t expect you to read things.
But yet, you’re here.
Fascinating articles, Chris: thanks for the links.
Whaddaya know? Simple, cheap, quick solutions don’t really work for complex problems. It’s the same clueless exigency which generates many modern complaints about Republicans. What’s really needed are difficult, long-term, expensive efforts that start well before the full-blown manifestations of the problem.
I wonder how much of the raving loonyship of the modern Republican Party stems from the fundamentalist private schools founded in suburbs and exurbs to take advantage of “white flight” forty to sixty years ago?
Of course, the recommended solutions in this article make Wendy Davis sound far more like a problem-solver than Greg Abbott. But that’s not surprising.
…and, I suppose I should clarify, the problem-solving I’m referring to is her recently announced support for universal pre-K education in Texas. (Which, unfortunately, is far too easy to do badly.)
Very interesting piece from Slate.