# Here's another Reason Not To Live In Texas. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 11, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084 "2005-12-11T01:38:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/21 "2005-12-11T05:26:18Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > –Rectifications 14:1-9, from the Testament of Short-Haired Jesus Amen, brother! Preach it! For, lo! Ye cannot be snatched up to Heaven save ye be seized by the short hair. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/22 "2005-12-11T05:48:57Z")
I was born in Dallas in 1940. I lived in Texas until 1963. There were no DART cops in Dallas back then; the Dallas city policemen had to do their own shoving, kicking, hair-pulling, punching in the kidneys, screaming, and racial epithet calling all on their own. And, they were good at it and enjoyed doing it. Not all of them, mind you, but a significant number. I hope they are now a kinder, gentler police force; it seems they must be if they have to have surrogates inflict the kind of damage they used to be so good at inflicting themselves. I want to add that people who say “If you haven’t done anything wrong, you don’t have anything to worry about,” haven’t been involved with the (earlier) Dallas City Police Department. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/23 "2005-12-11T06:08:32Z")
(aside to **John Carter** ) Honk if you sacked Brodie… The last time I was in Texas was sixty years ago. I’ll get around to it again one of these days. I wish it were the place of fairness, justice and good guys in white hats that I thought it was when I was a kid watching those Western movies. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/24 "2005-12-11T06:34:44Z")
Eh, I got pulled over the other day for crossing the double white line comming OFF of the HOV lane. The DART cop let me off with a warning. -And I’m a guy too. So, does that make us even now? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/25 "2005-12-11T06:39:01Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > (aside to **John Carter** ) Honk if you sacked Brodie… I might as well honk, everybody else did! Well, 11 everybodys anyway… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/26 "2005-12-11T06:48:25Z")
> [@Martin Hyde](#): > > You = stupid. People don’t get dragged to death for being black with **any** regularity. That’s a lynching, and lynchings are extremely rare in the United States. Yes, some idiots did kill a black man by dragging him to death, but that wasn’t indicative of some sort of widespread practice. So, lemme get this straight, Braniac. You are saying that if every single person in Texas isn’t lynching someone, Texas doesn’t have a lynching problem? Being a defender of Texas, you probably don’t understand this, but lynching is a Very Bad Thing. You don’t have to have a hell of a lot of lynchings to have a lynching problem. And frankly, even states as benighted as my own, Georgia, gave up lynchings way back in the 50s. What’s your excuse? Oh, that’s right. You have none. > [@](#): > > Also, we’ve had various threads here on the dope pitting the New York City Transit police, I’m guessing that means New York is full of idiot assholes too? Et tu quoque, Brutus? I already covered this point when I said other states have similar problems to Texas’, but Texas seems to have them more often and worse than others. I think it’s because a lot of idiot Texans think it’s OK to defend their state no matter how stupid and depraved the behavior of its citizens. > [@](#): > > Does this stuff happen “all the time” in Texas? I don’t know, and you don’t either you stupid fuck. Sure I know, raisin brain. I read periodicals, I listen to the news, I keep track of things. The offensive frequency of stories about Texans and Texas’ authorities behaving like angry retarded chimpanzees on meth are shockingly frequent. > [@](#): > > You just let whatever fecal matter was flowing up your throat spew out your mouth there, and you had no fucking clue what you were talking about and nothing to support that assertion. You dare accuse me of having nothing to support my assertions when all you have are the impaired gibbering and foaming at the mouth that passes for reason among those who defend Texas? It is to laugh! > [@](#): > > Your post is indicative of deep-seated stupidity and lack of reason, you should think twice before posting something like this because it’s probably a crime against humanity to spread idiocy in this manner. C’mon, Texas is a huge ass at the bottom of the nation, just waiting to be kicked. You really can’t blame people for kicking a state whose conduct consists largely of one affront against common decency and humanity after another. Admitting the place to the Union is one of the biggest mistakes the US has ever made. It would work so much more naturally and nicely as a province of Mexico. The strain of attempting to behave like actual Americans is what makes Texas such a hellish place – if it was allowed to lapse into the cultural equivalent of a reptilian torpor which is its natural condition, it probably wouldn’t be so bad. As it is, Jeebus, the place sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/27 "2005-12-11T12:41:34Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > C’mon, Texas is a huge ass at the bottom of the nation, just waiting to be kicked. You really can’t blame people for kicking a state whose conduct consists largely of one affront against common decency and humanity after another. Admitting the place to the Union is one of the biggest mistakes the US has ever made. It would work so much more naturally and nicely as a province of Mexico. The strain of attempting to behave like actual Americans is what makes Texas such a hellish place – if it was allowed to lapse into the cultural equivalent of a reptilian torpor which is its natural condition, it probably wouldn’t be so bad. As it is, Jeebus, the place sucks. Well, thanks for devolving into this nonsense and making it perfectly clear that there’s no point arguing with you. If I found three stories of nice things happening in Texas would that be enough to change your mind? ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/28 "2005-12-11T15:20:21Z")
I hope these DART guys get charged with assault, false arrest, harrassment, anything that can be thrown at them. Question - are they considered “real” police, or just civilian security guards? It probably doesn’t matter, but I’m curious. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/29 "2005-12-11T15:25:35Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Texans are not civilized people. And yet the story was written by _Dallas native_ Jim Schutze. In the _Dallas_ Observer. As you can see right in your fucking link: [http://www.dallasobserver.com/Issues/2005-12-08/news/schutze.html](http://www.dallasobserver.com/Issues/2005-12-08/news/schutze.html) **Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor** , are you really this fucking stupid, or did you have to work at it? You’ve taken a story that had me outraged – in fact, I had read it two days ago, being an avid Observer reader – and made me pissed off at _you_. Fuck you, you freaking moron. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/30 "2005-12-11T15:50:43Z")
**Evil Captor** , can you explain what you ment in your last post [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6888349), please. ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/31 "2005-12-11T16:47:00Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Texans are not civilized people. > [@Evil Captor](#): > > C’mon, Texas is a huge ass at the bottom of the nation, just waiting to be kicked. You really can’t blame people for kicking a state whose conduct consists largely of one affront against common decency and humanity after another. Admitting the place to the Union is one of the biggest mistakes the US has ever made. It would work so much more naturally and nicely as a province of Mexico. The strain of attempting to behave like actual Americans is what makes Texas such a hellish place – if it was allowed to lapse into the cultural equivalent of a reptilian torpor which is its natural condition, it probably wouldn’t be so bad. As it is, Jeebus, the place sucks. Gee, another Texas bashing thread. What has it been; two, three weeks? [Bless your hearts,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6825167&postcount=11) both of you. No, really… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/32 "2005-12-11T17:02:25Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > I hope these DART guys get charged with assault, false arrest, harrassment, anything that can be thrown at them. > > Question - are they considered “real” police, or just civilian security guards? It probably doesn’t matter, but I’m curious. Two points for you: [ol][li]So far, all we have is one article which itself gives two versions of the incident in question. It may be–and I’m not saying it is, just that it may be–that the police version is the correct one. It may be–and I’m not saying it is, just that it may be–that the civilian version is the correct one.[/li][\*]Yes, they’re real police, as real as any other sworn officer. Just because they’re assigned to a transportation district does not make them any less police officers.[/ol] ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/33 "2005-12-11T17:06:55Z")
Again, this is one of the most idiotic pittings ever. Go ahead and pit the DART officers if you want. I’m well aware if you put some people in a uniform, they will abuse their power. Happens everywhere. But, I’m not going to blame the whole state of California for the Rodney King beatings. The DART police spend most of their time walking up the trains and asking for proof of payment. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/34 "2005-12-11T17:53:52Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > You can’t say all Texans are civilized, but the place DEFINITELY has its share of assholes and asshole behavior, and these DART “cops” are part & parcel of that. I lived in Texas for many years and I can certainly agree that Texas does have its share of assholes and the behavior that generally accompanies assholes. Of course Germany, Colorado, Arkansas, California, Oklahoma, and many other places also have their share of assholes and of course the asshole behavior. Marc ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/35 "2005-12-11T17:55:57Z")
> [@MGibson](#): > > Of course Germany, Colorado, Arkansas, California, Oklahoma, and many other places also have their share of assholes and of course the asshole behavior. Yeah, but they aren’t Texas. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/36 "2005-12-11T17:58:17Z")
Ignoring all of the “X state is full of worse people than all other states in the union” bullshit, idiotically started by the OP and EC… Monty, who are we to believe in this case? On one hand we have 2 civilians with matching stories, backed up by the independent recollections of 2 uninvolved civilians. On the other hand, there is the factually incorrect report given by DART. In my experience, the more out of line a police officer is on an arrest, the more incorrect his report is. It is also liable to be full of holes and missing information-just like the officers in this case who are neglecting to mention the 14 year old’s presence at all. It’s probably insanely short, considering the incident that took place. I’d like to see something good come of this, but I’ve been handled by these types of ifficers before, and I doubt the officers will even get a warning. Sam ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/37 "2005-12-11T17:59:20Z")
Wow. This was rather like a grenade. My dislike of Texas’ insitutions is secondary to the link in the original post. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/38 "2005-12-11T18:07:06Z")
[QUOTE=Monty] Two points for you: [ol][li]So far, all we have is one article which itself gives two versions of the incident in question. It may be–and I’m not saying it is, just that it may be–that the police version is the correct one. It may be–and I’m not saying it is, just that it may be–that the civilian version is the correct one.[/li][li]Yes, they’re real police, as real as any other sworn officer. Just because they’re assigned to a transportation district does not make them any less police officers.[/ol][/li][/QUOTE] I’ll change my statement to IF they are guilty, they should … As to being “real” police, I was just curious. In New York and Los Angeles, transit police are “real” police. They can enforce laws, arrest people etc. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/39 "2005-12-11T18:19:54Z")
> [@Plynck](#): > > Gee, another Texas bashing thread. What has it been; two, three weeks? Something like that. It’s like clockwork, isn’t it? Seems like whenever a story surfaces about how someone was horribly assaulted or killed by Texans in Texas, right away the Texas bashing starts. It’s peculiar how that stereotype seems to work. I’m guilty of it myself, I acknowledge. The Texas bashing, that is, not assaulting or killing innocent people. Texas is sort of like the anti-France in this regard. Unless they’re actually killing you at the moment, the French are always smeared as cowards, while any response other than total passivity feeds the pre-existing stereotype of the Texan lust for violence. Texans are faced with an awkward dilemma; when they reasonably object to their state being mischaracterized in this way, as the resident of any other state might do, they are unjustly percieved as callous yahoos trying to defend the malfeasances of their kill-crazy neighbors. It’s terribly unfair, but it seems that if Texans hope to shed their erroneously bloodthirsty image, they may have to do so by embracing a policy of total nonconfrontation. Texans can’t afford to rise to the bait of even the most inflammatory characterizations, lest they inadvertently contribute to the perpetuation of the stereotype. In the case of the OP, for example, it would have been an interestingly disarming strategy for a number of Texans to quickly post, addressing the specific issue of the beating in question while absolutely ignoring the last five words of the OP. “As a resident of Texas, I find this incident to be a horrifying abuse of authority;” that sort of thing, without even dignifying the accompanying slur with a response. If a person follows up a criticism of Jeffrey Dahmer with the assertion that everyone in Wisconsin eats people\* (another distressingly common stereotype), it’s not likely to do any good to rebut them by pointing out that not everyone in the state has a copy of “To Serve Man” on their bookshelf. It’s unlikely to convince anyone who buys into the stereotype; far better to prove them wrong by not eating them. And it couldn’t hurt for Texans to work on a more organized effort to shift the blame for W. back to Connecticut. Or maybe France. \*They don’t, do they? This is just a myth, right? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084/40 "2005-12-11T18:26:27Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > As to being “real” police, I was just curious. In New York and Los Angeles, transit police are “real” police. They can enforce laws, arrest people etc. [From the DART website](http://www.dart.org/DARTPolice.asp): > [@](#): > > {Bolding by **Monty** } > The DART Police force was established in 1989 as part of the transit agency’s mission to operate a safe system. **DART Police officers are licensed peace officers of the State of Texas who have all the rights, privileges, obligations, and duties of any other peace officer in the state of Texas while on the property under the control of DART or in the actual course and scope of the officer’s employment.** The law enforcement power granted to DART Police officers is subordinate to the law enforcement power of a municipality in which the power is attempted to be exercised. I think I’ve mentioned it before on this board, but it amazes me that many people don’t consider these police officers to be actual police officers. The same attitude is applied to university police departments. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heres-another-reason-not-to-live-in-texas/335084.md?page=3)