Austinist: Genesis and Catastrophe

truecraig

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 14:18:02 -0600

Nah. You?

Benj

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 14:01:41 -0600

Shimon Peres was at Columbia?

piltdownman

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:56:44 -0600

True, don't you have anything better to do?

guest

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:34:50 -0600

Oppressive dictator? You mean like that sociopathic brute that spoke at Columbia yesterday?

truecraig

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:34:17 -0600

The frustrating thing about calling out a polemic is that it's an immediate pot-n-kettle conversation. Unless you're outing a "strawman" polemic.

guest

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:13:16 -0600

Huh? I grewed up in Cunneticut and donesn't no whut ur werds meen.

piltdownman

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:05:08 -0600

Overzealous Polemics: Priceless

guest

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 09:34:57 -0600

Also, truecraig whooped buttpowered's ass.

guest

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 09:34:13 -0600

Maybe if people didn't drive so much they'd remember how to walk right.

Bre

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 09:02:32 -0600

While approaching a stoplight on Congress Saturday night, this (drunken?) couple stepped out in front of our car (they were not using a crosswalk, btw, just walking between cars on the street). My friend had to slam on her brakes to avoid hitting them. They did not so much as LOOK AT US as our hearts practically stopped beating in our chests. They kept on walking, seemingly oblivious. My points: a) with all the news of cars hitting pedestrians/cyclists lately, EVERYONE needs to effing PAY ATTENTION. For the love of Christ. b) Now I'm wondering if either of those people will be an oppressive dictator someday.

truecraig

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 23:12:30 -0600

Let me sum the 'point' made by BP: "Even though Bush is from CT, a fact I will refute for no discernable purpose whatsoever before lobbing pointless incendiary comments at whole populations, at least we're not stupid and undeducated like the truck-driving, no-finance-understanding yee-haws in Texas." That, BP, is more of a baseless, mean-spirited taunt (hence my appropriate response) rather than an actual point. Much in the same way that "your mom's dick is bigger than your mouth and that's why she's so disappointed in you, huh?" isn't really a point. It's sensational hyperbole (which I'm a big fan of). But not an actual point. Has the jacket crest fallen that far? (that, too, is sensational hyperbole, and this is a smug explanation, dripping with sarcasm). Here's my point, BP: you are neither smarter nor dumber than anyone you've ever looked down upon, Texan yee-haws included, and no state has the ability to prove itself smarter or dumber than another. And the fact that you can't spell the word you use to debase others' educational efforts, whether you can appreciate it or not, is priceless.

heyzeus

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 22:27:11 -0600

I saw #4. See #5. And #19.

piltdownman

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 22:16:47 -0600

State rivalry (much like school spirit - screw the Longhorns) is just freakin' stupid. I do stand by my claim, however, that Texas underfunds education (that based on the facts) and the reason for that just may be a very manipulative one.

kenneth1

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:26:44 -0600

"GWB would had never been elected in Connecticut. The voters are too intelligent and well-educated there." Like his father, Bush attended the prestigious Philips Andover Academy in Massachusetts before matriculating at Yale University. He graduated from Yale with a bachelor’s degree in 1968... In 1972, Bush entered Harvard Business School, earning his M.B.A. in 1975. http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9232768 Care to impress us with your superior NE education by making any more brilliant arguments, Bratt? (BTW, I'm well aware that Andover & Cambridge aren't in CT., but it's still enough to make Bush a non-Texan.)

guest

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:12:29 -0600

The Piltdown Man was a hoax...as is the idea that the denizens of Connecticut are somehow intellectually superior to Texans.

brattpowered

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:10:44 -0600

Read post #4

guest

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:32:25 -0600

you are an awesome writer, benjamin! and i enjoyed the ideas you were kicking around. just one thing: f. scott f.? a brilliant, conflicted drunk with more than a few ideas impossible to hold. so i'm not sure lack of clarity is an indication of a weak mind -- maybe just a slightly unsound creative one. (i cling to that hope, at least) ;)

guest

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:25:53 -0600

His point was that he's from Connecticut which makes him better than you because he wears a monocle and drives a porshe that is..... butt. powered. HA!

truecraig

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:15:54 -0600

BP, you need to make an actual point before anyone can "respond" to it.

guest

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:56:58 -0600

buttpowered. HA!

brattpowered

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:39:00 -0600

Pilt... That makes a lot of sense to me. Keep the populace stupid, and they'll worry more about raising their trucks and sinking their paychecks into adjustable-rate mortgages on crackerjack vinyl houses than becoming involved in the political process. Now let's see if anyone actually responds to these views or cops out by picking apart posts for typographical errors...

brattpowered

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:31:22 -0600

Someone educated in Texas using an unintented typo as a replacement for a valid counter-argument? Priceless.

Benj

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:56:48 -0600

Methinks Ms. Steak and Piltdown are in cahoots.

guest

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:50:52 -0600

I'm sure there's still time enough in your life to get a teaching certificate, move to Monahans and make a difference in small town Texas, piltdownman.

piltdownman

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 14:56:21 -0600

Uh, I think Brattpowered is right on the mark about uneducated Texans. Worse than that, I think the moneyed powers that be in this god-forsaken state (Austin doesn't count) purposely underfund education to keep the general electorate stupid enough to keep them in power. http://www.window.state.tx.us/comptrol/wwstand/wws0512ed/ Cynical, but highly possible.

truecraig

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 14:26:26 -0600

"Undeducated", eh? Priceless.

guest

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 14:19:16 -0600

brattpowered is right. about the "brat" part at least.

heyzeus

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 14:10:11 -0600

Your "intelligent and well-educated" state keeps electing Joe Lieberman, whose support for the invasion of Iraq remains unwavering and led many Democrats into voting in favor of authorizing military force against Iraq. Please pat yourself and your home state on the back a little harder. It's funny.

brattpowered

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 13:53:38 -0600

I'm originally from Connecticut and have to take issue on the "GWB is not a Texan" claim. If you want to see a real Northeastern Bushie politician, look at GHWB. Sure he was a jerk, but at least he had some pragmatism to him, and knew that doing things like determining foreign policy by "listening to Jesus" and invading Iraq were moronic. GWB would had never been elected in Connecticut. The voters are too intelligent and well-educated there. He is in his position because of the bulk of rootin' tootin' undeducated Texans that were more than happy to elect a moron like him.

misssteak

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 13:13:58 -0600

I super love you. Anyone who drops "Hegelian" in a post gets my love purely based on educational snootery. The whole column (but especially that last paragraph) reminds me of the documentary Zeitgeist, which I recently watched. It's a bit conspiracy theory for me, but still intriguing.

heyzeus

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 11:47:47 -0600

Great column.

guest

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 11:45:37 -0600

If only he had been changing the radio station....