# It Behooves Texas Rep. Betty Brown To Shut Up **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 11, 2009, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708 "2009-04-11T01:23:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/21 "2009-04-11T17:56:58Z")
After the recommendation of another Texas state rep (one of the rare ones with a D after his name) [there is now a Betty Brown Approved Name generator](http://rumandmonkey.com/widgets/toys/namegen/12054/) for all of your Americanizing Your Strange Foreigness Away needs! ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/22 "2009-04-11T17:59:58Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > After the recommendation of another Texas state rep (one of the rare ones with a D after his name) [there is now a Betty Brown Approved Name generator](http://rumandmonkey.com/widgets/toys/namegen/12054/) for all of your Americanizing Your Strange Foreigness Away needs! If you follow the link under the action button, you can find a “name your penis” generator too! ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/23 "2009-04-11T18:01:57Z")
Does she recommend the same thing for Hispanics? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/24 "2009-04-11T18:51:09Z")
Jesus, but that could get awkward! ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/25 "2009-04-11T20:55:53Z")
Terrell, Texas used to be the location of the State Insane Asylum or whatever they called it. Might still be, I don’t know. Amazing coincidence, either way. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/26 "2009-04-11T23:21:03Z")
To paraphrase Molly Ivins (she was speaking about Oklahomans): “If the Texas legislature wasn’t so stupid and corrupt, it wouldn’t be a representative body.” ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/27 "2009-04-11T23:43:16Z")
How else are they expected to heave the entrenched crooks out of town except by electing them to state or federal office? ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/28 "2009-04-12T00:39:47Z")
Texas Rep. Betty Brown does appear to be a halfwit, but I don’t think Ramey Ko, the guy she was responding to, is going to be getting a MacArthur Genius Grant any time soon either. He basically said that people with Chinese names are going to be inconvenienced by a voter ID law because many of them have IDs with a bunch of different names on them. It seems to me that a voter ID law that requires people to choose one name and stick with it is a voter ID law that is functioning exactly as intended. The DMV, the TSA, and the IRS might also agree. Besides, even if you think Mr. Ko is right, he’s just as much of a Texan as she is, as numerous posters have noted. So I am not sure how you can draw any general conclusions about Texans from this story. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/29 "2009-04-12T00:47:55Z")
Forget it, Jake, its Texas. Asian people move there, they can’t do math any more. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/30 "2009-04-12T01:38:22Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Jesus, but that could get awkward! Brilliant follow up there luci. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/31 "2009-04-12T02:16:11Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > … So I am not sure how you can draw any general conclusions about Texans from this story. Well, if they are both Texans and both half-wits, there ya’ go! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/32 "2009-04-12T03:15:14Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > It seems to me that a voter ID law that requires people to choose one name and stick with it is a voter ID law that is functioning exactly as intended. The DMV, the TSA, and the IRS might also agree. The problem is that Chinese-Americans can’t get proper ID because the staff at the DMV and IRS can’t understand their names. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/33 "2009-04-12T04:13:06Z")
OK, so yes, there was an underlying real issue being discussed: that not just Asian but essentially \*\*anyone \*\*from a culture that does not primarily use the basic Roman/ASCII character set to write in their native language, is going to be at the mercy of what each agency’s bureaucrat may think is the “right” method of transliteration when their name is written down in an ID in a country that does use it. The Gaddafi/Khadaffy/Qadhaffi/Chumley (;)) syndrome. The thing is, this stellar exemplar of parlliamentary prowess completely missed where the problem lies and to whom she should address her concern. It’s not about “all of us learning Chinese”, and it’s not up to them to “adopt an easier name”, you barbecued-brisket-brained bint, it’s about the State of Texas not writing down something different every time they issue a document in that person’s name. AND it’s about officials and employees having enough common sense to understand that someone who shows up as Yu Lin “Hwang” of 2010 New Braunfels Road, 5’5" tall, DOB 10/11/1961, SSN#123-45-6789, quite probably IS the SAME person as appears in your list as Yu Lin “Huang”, of 2010 New Braunfels Road, 5’5" tall, DOB 10/11/1961, SSN#123-45-6789. But of course, it’s up to the Asians to figure out “easier” names “we” can handle :rolleyes: And does this woman have any idea of the bureaucratic hassle that it is for someone to correct and restandardize even a mere typo in the name under which you were issued an official document, after they’ve been using a document for a while? (Oh, never mind, I forgot that… she’s fighting that mythical horde of illegal voters we keep hearing about…) BTW: Someone mentioned the Spanish names above – that folks may get confused over those is a real concern, people. You know how our faily names are compound: “José Papasname-Mamasname”. And for ages untold, it was both culturally **and legally** fully acceptable to just use “José Papasname”. My original passport, issued in 1991, read just “J. R. Delirious”. So did all my credit cards. So does my Army Discharge, even though my Birth Certificate shows that my “legal” birth name was J. R. Delirious-Magnifico. Well, some years later when I went to replace a lost passport, what do I find? That now the name in which it is issued must coincide COMPLETELY with the name on the Birth Certificate unless there’s a legal reason (marriage, adoption, legal change of name) it shouldn’t. Fine, so now I’m JR Delirious-Magnifico to the State Department. Whoa, wait a minute. Now every time I travel stateside, various [del]drone[/del]employees are pausing to look at me funny because half my papers call me “Delirious” and the other half call me “Delirious-Magnifico”. And I strongly suspect it’s gonna bite me somewhere uncomfortable soon. So you see, I **TRIED** to simplify things and work with one simple name, and the system thwarted me!! ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/34 "2009-04-12T04:16:27Z")
She sounds like a reasonably intelligent, level headed woman to me, but maybe it’s because one our state reps is Michelle Bachmann and our perspective is way out of whack for what constitutes crazy nonsensical bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/35 "2009-04-12T04:17:05Z")
Does anyone know how to pronounce “Ko”? I’m having little trouble with it. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/36 "2009-04-12T04:37:46Z")
If only all these agencies could misunderstand the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/37 "2009-04-12T05:12:18Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > Does anyone know how to pronounce “Ko”? I’m having little trouble with it. Mangrove. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/38 "2009-04-12T05:45:58Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > Is that a transliteration of Betty Brown? If you throw Betty Brown into the Google translator then 贝蒂布朗 comes out the other end. > [@](#): > > (And for the record, I’m a she-type person.) 对不起！ ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/39 "2009-04-12T13:33:34Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > The problem is that Chinese-Americans can’t get proper ID because the staff at the DMV and IRS can’t understand their names. “Boss, we’re prosecuting this guy for tax fraud. He had four video stores all under different names and was filing separate tax returns for each.” “What’s his name?” “We’re not sure. It’s either Lin Tai Wu, Tai Lin Wu, Ty Wulein, or Milton Sharpstein.” “Ah yes…the dreaded Chinese defense.” ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708/40 "2009-04-12T14:10:03Z")
Somebody on another news site said something to the effect of, “I’ve had three girlfriends. One was named Papadopoulous. The next was named Wrzesnewskyj. The third was named Li.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-behooves-texas-rep-betty-brown-to-shut-up/492708.md?page=3)