OT General Growth Properties is filing for Bankruptcy I wonder if Thomas Friedman will stop giving economic advice about the joys of downsizing?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..87640.html

The economy is still tanking the banks have funny numbers.

wasn’t it reported that he actually egged on a crowded chanting “Secede!” over and over again?

http://www.associatedcontent.c…..tates.html

http://www.themonitor.com/arti…..party.html

…the declined to reputiate his (and the crowd’s) overtly secessionist call.

OT- Turley on Rachel tearing Obama a new one…

Just how desperate do you have to be to up the ante with the 20%ers to win a GOP Primary when by doing so you risk the moderate votes you need to win a general election?

KO did a great job earlier and also a must see if you can.

in a way that was precisely what Obama did wasn’t it, ‘cept from the other direciton? Typical moderate Dem strategy – swerve left, swerve right, then end the election right down the center.

Now, things can be a mite crazy in Texas…

my, my PW – you do have a gift for understatement.

“Keep Austin Weird” pretty much means Keep Austin Funky. This city in no way espouses what Governor Perry is doing. Austin is so liberal it doesn’t even really qualify for being in Texas.

Is Perry’s accent as fake as W’s? (’cause they sure sound the same)….

This seems to be a pattern Perry is going right calling for secession.
Sarah in Alaska nominated a very anti woman candidate for state AG.

http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/4794

Why are 2 GOPers with National ambitions going extremely right now?
Nixon said you must go right to win the Primary and then move to the Center to win the General election.
But can you move back to the center after the Primary in the age of the internet? Four years from now we will still have these news clips.
I think Nixon’s wisdom… er evil advice was fine for its day but now its out of date.

Dunnam: “Perhaps [Perry] did not understand that words are important and that talk of secession carries heavy meaning.”

Oh, I’m sure he knows that…he said those words to beat Kay Bailey in the Republican primary. He’s gonna paint her as being one of those “Republicans up in Washington that are part of the problem”…and “not like the real Texas Republicans”. His goal is to play to the extremists in the party to rally ’round him…hoping the moderates sit it out and don’t even bother to vote in the General (or he’ll swing back and spew invective at his “socialist” rival).

To be honest, I wouldn’t be a bit disappointed to lose TX.

great. OPEC could get two new members.

the dude was born in texas, raised in texas, and except for serving in the air force, has pretty much lived in texas. was once a democrat and not no more.

Rachel had a writer from the Dallas Morning News on who described what Perry is doing as akin to what happened to the GOP in 1964…which as we know put them into the wilderness for a very very long time. So, go right ahead, Rick Bay-beeee. Appeal to those folks who are so far to the right they are about to fall off the edge of (what they think is a flat) earth.

same here – but there must first be devised some way to air-lift Austin outta there….

why do i think opec wouldn’t think that was a great idea?

huh. Maybe georgie emulated Perry’s accent?

My wingnut son lives in Austin. I’m sure he’d be happy as the vertible pig.

Obama did swerve left but not to the John Edwards much less Dennis Kucinich
Standard. Heck all I cared about was End the War, National Healthcare was gravy.
Perry and Sarah however seem to want to out Right everybody in the GOP?
Imagine if Obama started quoting Chairman Mao. I think a lot of GOP political advisers are still using Nixon’s text book as my previous comment mentions.
I think they are all wrong.

so maybe we don’t air-lift Austin until after Teh Rapture?

I agree Toby with what you say but I am finding it hard to follow the GOP’s logic for doing it.

I’m way over my head when it comes to Austin, TX. Perhaps, if we’re into session, we ought to let Austin decide for itself? Would it be nice to have a small blue island in a vast red state country? Would it serve my son right?

I must also mention that a very good friend in Houston has worked tirelessly for Ds. So some deeper thought may be in order. *g*

Perry is an Aggie…He Cain’t hep it.

I must also mention that a very good friend in Houston has worked tirelessly for Ds.

so have some of us commenting right here right now on this blog.

quite to the contrary, I think they’d fit right in. Especially with Saudi Arabia and Iran. Texas’ execution rate is comparable I think.

My only other comment about TX. All the while I worked on Wall St, and marketed a couple of times/year in TX, I always had the impression that I was the oldest broad in the state. My skirts were longer than any other female I met in the state (but my hair is just as blond). Apologies to Molly Ivins.

How do they survive?

yes, texas’ execution rate is an abomination. i was thinking of the oil related aspects of it, that the cartel would want to stay the exclusive club they are now.

For the record, I know many nice Texans. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that state is actually a democracy.

I hope Texas does secede. Maybe hook up with Mexico for safety and companionship. I meam a new tiny country between 2 big ones …might need some protection.

Well, the Rs chased the Ds out of the state.

To be fair, we could mock any state as mercilessly, dya think? As a NYSer, there’s plenty to criticize.

speaking of defeating the secessionists, Alaska’s legislature voted today to NOT confirm Palin’s nutty AG pick, Wayne Anthony Ross, AKA WAR.

It was a HUGE victory for progressives. It united our Alaska Native, women’s rights, environmentalist and LBGTQ communities as no issue ever has. Just as the t-baggers were starting to celebrate, we bagged the big one!

there’s lots of us in austin. it’s the liberal wing of the state, the state legislature here notwithstanding.

ot: did you know that per capita, more make-up is sold in texas than any other state. i’m sure that can’t be attributed to austin. dallas and houston seem much more likely to add to those stats.

Well, there is a better history. When I was growing up, everyone was a Demo…until the onslaught of Eisenhower Democrats…and the numbers kept growing. But there is some pushback….in Dallas Dems has been winning alot of local races, and that is sort of like “when pigs fly.”

ot: did you know that per capita, more make-up is sold in texas than any other state.

My impression exactly. (Fits in nicely with my 27.) Good to have actual evidence.

I’m of the impression that when TX was D majority, it was racism (anti-Lincoln) for the most part. Is that not accurate? Notable exceptions, of course, like LBJ.

ot: did you know that per capita, more make-up is sold in texas than any other state. i’m sure that can’t be attributed to austin. dallas and houston seem much more likely to add to those stats.

I have all of my make-up shipped in from Texas.

Some of it sure…but before LBJ we had Sam Rayburn…some real New Deal folks.

And I don’t know what it is with guns and the death penalty, etc. In the Lege. right now there is a bill to make it legal for college kids to carry concealed guns on campus…yes, here at UT where Whitman shot the place up. But the news showed good pushback with the kids protesting at the Capitol NOT to pass the law to bring guns to school. Maybe there really is hope for the youngsters.

But do you have “big hair” – Texas women have the biggest hair I’ve ever seen.

It’s sold by the pound. /s

I have all of my make-up shipped in from Texas.

uh oh, that shoots those statistics all to hell. rebel indianans, hmph!

But do you have “big hair”?

Several.

Yes, my mind boggles over that one.

My science self sez what’s the evidence. Seems to me there’s room for some really good research on guns/violence. It may exist, but I’m not aware of it.

Some European countries have higher gun ownership per capita than U.S., but fewer gun murders. Switzerland is such an example, where all the men are members of the militia and therefore have guns, but don’t go around killing random (or not so random) innocents. I think gun ownership might be pretty high in Germany too, but don’t quote me on that. Something I might have picked up in the ethers that may or may not be true.

I have big hairy hippie armpits. /s

I prolly smell funny, too.

Aha. My hair is blond, but it is anything but big. Thanks for identifying the distinction. *g*

gotta go watch KO.

I’m guessing the sheet industry in Texas is doing very well these days. You can probably even get them custom-fitted with pre-cut eye holes, heavily starched and delivered right to the, um, events.

VICTORY, EW!!!!!!!!

before we get away from this thread i just want to say
JIM DUNNAM’s my man. waaay back in the dark gloomy days of redistricting, dunnam and a big gang of dems ran away to okla and to new mexico to create a non-quorum for voting since they were going to be and eventually were outvoted.

i was very involved in fighting that delay disgustingness. speaking at the lege and at the county commissioners, showing up at the lege – i’m front and center in a newspaper photo as one of a group of sock puppeters, interrupting a perry press conference. i was there to cheer the guys back from okla when the bus came back at 6am one morning, interviewed on local tv.

i asked at one hearing if they’d considered what vicente fox (then president of mexico) thought of being in austin’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.

But we’re a country that doesn’t torture. I hope you’re wrong in your view, but who knows.

LOL LOL LOL!

Then you’ve got what it takes.

If we wrap Texas in a bow and present it to Mexico as a gift, that wouldn’t count as secession, would it?

Heh, and they think they are in the minority now…

FTR, the Texas House came within two votes… two… of turning Democratic this past election, and it is very likely the state House will be under Democratic control next election.

The Texas body politic that elected Perry and Bush has transformed. Things have changed here. Those of you who say you won’t miss Texas at all: you may come to regret those words. Yes, the state can be bloody annoying, and its past record is deplorable. But things are changing, and based on that change and demographic change, things will continue to improve. It is simply not justifiable to damn Texas today. Keep your eyes open, and please stop making assumptions based on the days when Bush was governor.

Imvho, the Secession of Texas has been Bush’s escape plan All Along.

Bush, Cheney, Gonzo, Addington, Rove and all the rest of the Texas Mafia are counting on Texas leaving the Union – which they claim is the State’s right, written into the Congressionally Approved Texas State Constitution – as part of their 1845 Annexation of the United States – in order to avoid being brought to Justice for their Many Crimes.

Anyone who thinks Perry is his own man is sadly mistaken – he’s the property of the Bush family.

Bush’s Plan is for Texas to secede and President Cornyn to protect him, and all the other Bush Criminals ‘Texians’, from extradition for the rest of their natural lives. Bush – who doesn’t leave anything to chance – fully intends to thumb his nose at the rest of US, and the World, and to have the last laugh.

If it seemed strange during the Bush Presidency that the House and Senate Republicans voted in lock-step with Bush’s Plans – as if they were All Compromised (most of them sexually) – just wait till his marionette minions in Texas shock everyone and vote to leave the Union!

Nothing’s changed – Bush is still ‘right’ and everyone else – all of US – can go to hell.

If Perry doesn’t explicitly retract his Secessionist Talk, then, imvho, We should assume that that’s still ‘the Plan.’

for everyone who hasn’t seen or read Bush’s Brain – this was to be Rove’s ultimate creation. following the simple logic that if ‘Dumb’ (GWB) was good, then ‘Dumber’ was even better. they pulled heinous shit and ruined lives on their way to Austin

but now all in pieces on the ground: he’s at 32%. even the folks who should love him are embarassed by him and everyone just accepts he’s a dumbass

To the Texans here, is it a myth that school kids are required to know the history of Texas and that they recite a separate pledge to the Texas flag in school?

Anyone doubting the lunacy of the confederates, even those who walk among us, would do well to read some of the literature on the struggles throughout the south during the Reconstruction period from 1865 to 1868. The politicians throughout the confederacy decided they weren’t going to go along with what the Republicans were requiring of them because they were “afraid” of a Negro deluge. So they followed a policy of “masterly inactivity” which meant they did nothing to cooperate with the Reconstruction Acts being egged on in their recalcitrance by the likes of Alexander Stephens (VP of the Confederate States of America) and Andrew Johnson (yes, THAT Andrew Johnson).

The united wingnut front which confronts Obama today has its roots in the politicians in the south who dragged the southern people into the war and then never were made to pay for their treason before being allowed back into congress. And the whole while they were obstructing Reconstruction, they claimed to be defending the constitution.

The script these people follow has been around for years.

Probably too late to answer….Never knew TX pledge

It’s painful to have the Texas Governor(who never would have been elected if he had run for the position instead of backdooring in after Bush was “appointed”)shilling for secession…empty words just like an empty suit (or in his case an empty pair of jeans). We will nothave to put up with him much longer. Sad to say, I don’t see a viable Democratic candidate on the horizon but Kay Bailey will do her Eisenhower thing.

Don’t count us out yet. Texas will be blue soon. We need moral support from all you bloggers for the liberal cause in this State.

Oh, and Perry is wrong, wrong, wrong. The Texas Constitution does not give this state the right to secede…only to divide into 5 states.

Here’s a thought for all you modern know-nothings. Back in the day, Sen. Ralph Yarbrough fathered the G.I. Bill of Rights. One of the great national liberal icons of national stature Cong. Maury Maverick, sired a son who followed in his footsteps. And surely LBJ would have been rated as one of the great presidents had it not been with his infatuation with the damned military. I could go on and on. But here’s the point:

Texas started turning Republican when migration patterns changed and mid-westerners and easterners of a certain mind-set started pouring in. I think if I hear the phrase “mid-western values” one more time I will barf. Those values, and I lived in Indiana and then Illinois for 6 years, as I experienced them, were headed by racism. What do you thing was the prime motivation for those damned Reagan so-called democrats?

Armey came to us from one of the Dakotas, I forget which. Cheney came to us from Wyoming. Gramm came to us from Georgia. And most famously, the effing criminal Bush dynasty came from Connecticut.

Our only fault, as I see it, was not erecting a fence to keep those modern carpetbaggers out of a state that was making good progress toward a fairly just society. The mixture of home grown racists and freemarketracists from our surrounding supposedly more intelligent states proved to be deadly.

But we’re making progress. Dallas County has turned blue, and has a lesbian sheriff who is a Chicana to boot. And the most consistently democratic city in Texas ain’t Austin, it’s El Paso, which just elected a gay sheriff. Unfortunately, El Paso’s mayor came to us from Brooklyn, and his main supporter, City Rep. Susie Mississippi Byrd’s family, came to us from the south. Both are roundly despised by the progressive majority of Chicanos.

Within a few years, it is almost a certainty that the extremists like Perry will be a bad memory. So before you continue painting with too wide a brush, better take a deep breath. You do our efforts no service. Try visiting some of the good Texas blogs, like kissmybigluebutt.com, burntorangereport.com, latinalista.com, xicanopwr.com; you might be surprised.

The man got less than 37% of the vote in the last election. All he needs is to have a bunch of people running with him being the rightmost and he has it sewed up.

Thank you. It should also be mentioned that texasobserver.com is a good web page to visit as well.