The red tide is ebbing even in Texas, people.

[PDittie]

First, some background: all of you Houstonians and most Texans know that last summer's Hurricane Rita caused a mass exodus from Houston that resulted in the worst traffic jams out of the city ever experienced. Much of the blame was laid on authorities at the state level who neglected to open the inbound lanes of the freeways to outbound traffic (despite news reports that such was occurring).

Now then ...

Tonight I attended one of my quarterly research surveys -- these are sometimes legal but almost always marketing/consumer related. Involves hand-held meters and videos and lots of questions. You get the idea.

Tonight's topic had to do with morning local news programs and particularly weather and traffic forecasts and forecasters. There were about 40 of us who conducted the intital survey and about half that many who went into a focus group discussion. One member complained about the bad data relayed by the news teams during the hurrican evacuation, and another fellow replied: "Yes, but that wasn't their fault here. That was the fault of that stupid weatherman in Austin... Rick Perry."

And I and others busted out laughin'. :rofl:

Even in Houston, it's more and more apparent that people are fed up with the Republicans.

:party: :bounce: :kick: :dem:

[muse]

1. This brings it all back

"Much of the blame was laid on authorities at the state level who neglected to open the inbound lanes of the freeways to outbound traffic (despite news reports that such was occurring)."


Being stuck on the Grand Parkway for 13 hours in basically one place for 13 hours.

The guy with the boa constictor walking up and down the Grand Parkway entertaining everyone. (fun times!)

Me getting the phone number of the governor's office and then giving it out to EVERYONE on road. Enjoying hearing the lady in the car behind me laying into whoever answered that number - over and over again about every 15 minutes for hours.

Me calling my mom in Austin at around 1 a.m. begging her to call the Houston Chronicle, Channel 2 news, anyone - we all were convinced NO ONE knew thousands of us we were out there on the Grand Parkway.

What a freaking nightmare. And, how scary. God, I was scared I wasn't going to be able to protect my children!!

And, I did indeed blame everyone at the state level starting with Rick Perry. When I called the governor's office, the lady answering the phone told me he couldn't do anything until in the moring (I was out on the Grand Parkway in the middle of the night). I was incensed that our governor was sleeping while the citizens of the Gulf Coast were in crisis, escaping a category 4 hurricane, running out of gas, pushing their cars off the side of the road, facing health emergencies and scared to death.

The thing that pissed me off the most was seeing up ahead of me those inbound lanes of the I-10 totally empty of traffic and not open to outbound traffic. A cold chill still passes through me each time I travel that route. It just makes me crazy to relive that even a little.

[babylonsister]

2. Word of warning for everyone: get your plywood, plylocks,

batteries, water, etc., together now! Don't wait til the last minute, because I fear another Rita may head our way.
We sat in this house watching the traffic on the tube, wondering what our fate might be.
Everyone zigged, we zagged at the last moment, heading to Corpus. Corpus had been evacuated so there were plenty of empty hotel rooms. The abandoned cars on the side of the road spoke volumes.
What a clusterf*ck of a weekend that was.
And I'm happy to lay all the fubars at Perry's 'red' heels.

[beerlover]

3. No Its not

I must say that is the funniest joke I think Ive ever heard.

Too Funny.

Must I remind you that outside of the cities is a: Sea of Red.

And I am a proud member of that of that sea.

[tanyev]

4. Shakabuku, beerlover.

[Lisa0825]

5. wow... tombstoned already, huh?

anyone who'd be proud to part of the red sludge is a moran.

[WolverineDG]

6. Damn!

He sure didn't last long. Aw.

dg

[muse]

7. We don't get to have fun with trolls on DU, do we?

Too bad. We had quite a good time with them on John Kerry's blog. Anyone remember those good old days? :)

Seems like a million hopeful days ago.

[crispini]

8. Wow. Shortest. Tenure. Ever.

I love it when people don't know statistics about their state. To whit: Texas is 80% URBAN, 20% rural.

So much for your "sea of red," Bubba.

[NoPasaran]

9. I'm sure it looks different

Through the bottom of a glass.

[Rocket Surgeon]

13. Very interesting...

Do Abeline, Waco, Bryan/College Station, Midland/Odessa, Beaumont and Lubbock count as urban?

I do not see those places ever being beacons of progressive thought. However we do have a good base in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

I just realized that Texas sure does have A LOT of towns that one can call metropolitan areas.

[crispini]

15. I think the split is urban AND suburban, 80%, vs rural, 20%.

And, yes, we have the 'burbs, and the cities that you named, to thank for Shrub's victory, I'm pretty sure. The 'burbs are the real strongholds, and we have to figure out how to crack THEM before we can take back the state.

The point is, though, that the "sea of red" when you're talking about the countryside, is, by and large, pretty insignificant, percent of population-wise.

[Rocket Surgeon]

16. I live in the Montrose area of Houston and finding

GOP bumber stickers is very rare.

I really do not get how suburban folk are more conservative. I could never understand how the voters of Sugar Land kept voting Delay in. I don't believe that even most suburban people in America are in line with Delay's thinking. However he did gain lots of power and clout. Perhaps the clout in acquiring pork is one of the reasons the guy kept on getting reelected. Sugar Land just doesn't strike me as a place where the majority are Bible beaters. The only thing I know about Sugar Land voters is that they are not fans of public education and they don't like paying taxes. That district will stay red.

[crispini]

17. It's an interesting mentality.

I think that people move to the burbs because either they want a new house or they have kids and they feel like the schools are better there. The thing is that at least IMO, wanting a new bigger house also goes along with wanting lots of "stuff," a.k.a. "consumerism." And wanting better schools... well, the city schools can actually be pretty good, some of them, but some of the city schools struggle more and you will have to be pretty informed and involved with your child's education. Also not be concerned about a wide swathe of socioeconomic diversity in your child's class.

I know I'm generalizing wildly here because ---it certainly doesn't apply to everyone -- but I think that many of the reasons that go along with living in the burbs correlate to being Republican.

NOTE: FSC I am not talking about you! :bounce: :7 or any of our other fine DU'ers! :P

[Rocket Surgeon]

19. I'm not in the family raising stage yet,

but I still do not get the suburbs. In Houston, one way commutes of 90 minutes are not uncommon. Although I do enjoy stuff on the AM and FM dial, I would go insane. I would gladly sacrifice square footage in my home for the extra hour and half to two hours I would get to spend with my family. Isn't spending time with one's wife and children part of "family values"?

As far as schools go, I don't trust the public school system anymore (although the Oregon schools where I did k-12 was a good experience). I do not know anyone who sends there kids to the Houston ISD. From what I see on the news, the suburbs are going through the same police state (yeah I'm overreacting a bit) routine that the city schools go through. When I was in school we didn't have all the stupid safety rules we have now (and I'm only 24). I would like to blame the Republicans for that one, but the crazy shit in our schools peaked it the 90's.

[Lisa0825]

22. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[muse]

18. I live in Sugar Land

Lots and lots of Bible beaters.

Lots of support for public education (the land of families, kids.)

People pay lots of taxes and willingly (big, huge houses - so, no problem).

[cosmik debris]

21. Waco is the home of

Jim Dunnam, Leader of the House Democrats (Killer D's)in the Texas Legislature. It is also the home of Chet Edwards, Democratic Congressman. Beaumont is the home of Nick Lampson, the next Congressman from Tom DeLay's district. Please don't underestimate us.

[derby378]

20. Even so, it's prudent not to leave the rural folks behind...

My parents are part of the rural crowd now. It's so peaceful out there.

[WestHoustonDem]

10. Did I miss a troll spotting? Damn! n/t

[WolverineDG]

11. yeah

tombstoned before we could have some fun with him. :(

;)

dg

[WestHoustonDem]

12. I hate it when that happens.

Shouldn't we be allowed to keep one around for kicks?

[Rocket Surgeon]

14. Randi Rhodes has a few of them!