# Once again, I'm glad I got the hell outta Texas. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 9, 2007, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067 "2007-08-09T21:05:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/41 "2007-08-10T03:01:04Z")
This is why I love Texas, and wish I had been born there to claim the word “Texan”. While everyone else is busily trying to cut God out of everyday life; Texas votes God in. It’s like a big “Fuck you!” to the rest of the country. **True** non-conformity. I don’t believe in a God, but damn- God bless Texas. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/42 "2007-08-10T03:02:42Z")
Well, He sure is taking his time about it. ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/43 "2007-08-10T03:07:01Z")
[QUOTE=Duke of Rat] \*What we called the “cowboys”. They partied, too, just dressed different. [/QUOTE] I was doing some work in Amarillo, and a bunch of guys came in to the bar (where I took up residence) dressed like cowboys. Because they were. I quickly learned that night (and subsequent nights) they aren’t like Louis L’Amour novels. Never root for the Redskins on Monday Night Football when they are playing the Cowboys. Unless you are in the mood for a bar fight. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/44 "2007-08-10T03:57:16Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] “Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible.” [/QUOTE] That’s impressive. It’s sort of like the United States Pledge of Allegiance, only much, much stupider. It starts out like a Biblical commandment, then shifts gears entirely. Who is being addressed? Thee? Texas? So the pledge reminds the indivisible state of Texas to honor the flag of Texas? “Hey, suppose we should throw anything in there about liberty or justice? Any special civic virtues or ideals that Texas embodies?” “Nah, it has God and the flag, that pretty much covers all the bases don’t it?” Texas desperately needs a State Department of Stereotype Avoidance. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/45 "2007-08-10T04:01:39Z")
With all this pledgin’ anyone else thinking about Der Furher’s Face? “Heil, Hitler! Heil, Mussolini! Heil, Hiroheto!” ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/46 "2007-08-10T07:52:01Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] All kidding aside–he wasn’t put there by God. People voted him in. God help us all. :eek: (doesn’t Texas control a great deal of the national school textbook market due to its huge student population? I seem to remember a problem with that a few years ago). [/QUOTE] As to the textbook market, Texas is a huge consumer of textbooks and there have been instances when textbooks were changed due to pressure from whatever board Texas has to oversee said textbooks. I’ve forgotten the name of the board, but IIRC it is separate from the Department of Education. Again, IIRC, the board is made up of appointees and a fair number of them are dumber than a box of clams. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/47 "2007-08-10T10:38:42Z")
[QUOTE=Clothahump] But my state legislature is full of idiotic religious assholes. [/QUOTE] Shall I tell you about my Redcoat friend who is very far from being a Texan…or an American…or part of the Texas legislature. But who lived there for years and hung out with them. As in went to the titty bars (his words) with them, and when he was the most sober of them, went back and cast votes for them. Just sayin’ ---
**Author:** ![brandt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@brandt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brandt)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/48 "2007-08-10T11:01:32Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m so glad I moved, three years ago. I just wish that they wouldn’t keep reminding me WHY I’m so glad I moved. It’s gotten so that I’m embarrassed to tell people where I was born. Please don’t come back. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/49 "2007-08-10T11:07:54Z")
[QUOTE=brandt] Please don’t come back. [/QUOTE] Hey, I wasn’t planning on it. I like being proud of where I live, don’t you? Do the Texas Legislature’s actions make _you_ feel proud? Heck, did you even _know_ about this before now? ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/50 "2007-08-10T12:38:07Z")
[QUOTE=betenoir] Shall I tell you about my Redcoat friend who is very far from being a Texan…or an American…or part of the Texas legislature. But who lived there for years and hung out with them. As in went to the titty bars (his words) with them, and when he was the most sober of them, went back and cast votes for them. Just sayin’ [/QUOTE] Exactly. It’s all very well to plead “but they’re legislative assholes–politicans who are power hungry and stupid!” but they got there some way–somebody voted for them. And kept them there. (not sure about the non-American voting, but I’ll believe anything about elections now). Perhaps it’s a case much like the USA now–where a very slight majority won the whole pie, but I doubt it. I am sure there are reasonable, rational and learned people in Texas–but they don’t make the news–or the laws, apparently. I do miss Molly Ivins. If we could somehow transmogrify 60% of Texans to be like her, I’d move there (and even eat chili…gag). T’will never happen. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/51 "2007-08-10T13:55:31Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] (and even eat chili…gag). [/QUOTE] You had me with you until there. Now I feel compelled to shun your words entirely, as anyone who holds a negative opinion of a good Texas Red chili is clearly damaged in SOME way. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/52 "2007-08-10T13:58:29Z")
[QUOTE=brandt] Please don’t come back. [/QUOTE] Dude…you post so seldom that your SDMB profile rounds your posts per day down to 0.00 - that’s crazy. You should come around and defend the honor of Texas more often. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/53 "2007-08-10T14:27:48Z")
[QUOTE=brandt] Please don’t come back. [/QUOTE] Hey now, this thread is about the Texas flag pledge, not the Texas state motto. ---
**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:** [August 10, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/54 "2007-08-10T15:30:44Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Well, He sure is taking his time about it. [/QUOTE] Hey, He blessed 'em with Barbara Jordan and Molly Ivins, which ain’t too shabby. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/55 "2007-08-10T16:14:51Z")
Back in the 50’s, when I went to elementary school here, the day began with the US Pledge & “My Country 'tis of Thee.” No “moment of silence.” No Texas Pledge. I know the Bible Thumpers like to look back to the time when prayer was common in school–but it was _extremely_ rare. The [Texas Freedom Network](http://www.tfn.org/) helps fight shit like this latest idiocy. And supplied [this link](http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/gray/5027759.html) to a piece in the _Houston Chronicle_. > [@](#): > > “I see they don’t promise ‘liberty and justice for all,’” deadpanned Douglas Laycock, an emeritus professor from the University of Texas Law School. > > Laycock, one of the country’s authorities on religious freedom, has argued that “under God” doesn’t belong in the pledge to the American flag, and he says it doesn’t belong in the Texas pledge, either. “Under God” automatically excludes the state’s atheists and agnostics. And effectively, he says, it excludes other non-Christians as well. The phrase isn’t “under the various deities worshiped in the state”; the phrase implies a One True God, the God of the Pledge, and ever since Congress added the phrase to the pledge, that job has clearly belonged to the Christian God. Allah, Yahweh and Vishnu need not apply. No, all Texans aren’t alike. Some of us continue to fight for improvement–or, at least support those who are fighting. (Time to re-up to the _[Texas Observer](http://texasobserver.org/)_ again.) Family responsibilities kept me in Texas. Now I’m too old to start over & too young to retire. But Texas does have its good points–although it isn’t 100% perfect like all those other states. Someone compared Houston to Oakland–could it be the “[minorities](http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5039230.html)”? (Austin is still OK, but it’s lost much of what made it great.) ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/56 "2007-08-10T20:53:08Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] No shit. “Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible.” Where’s the Alamo? Goliad? That chick Rosie that I met in Victoria? [/QUOTE] Yeah! And Buddy Holley! And Willy Nelson! And Bob Wills! And TOM LANDRY! Not a decent pledge at all. They missed the important things. Best scrap it if they can’t get it right. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/57 "2007-08-10T23:13:15Z")
Just teach your kids to say “one state OVER god” while they say the pledge. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/58 "2007-08-10T23:18:32Z")
[QUOTE=brandt] Please don’t come back. [/QUOTE] After careful study of you views on Paul Anka, Iraq and Online Gambling, I applaud the level of conviction of someone who posts about twice a year and decides to take the time to respond to offense on his home state (even if it only took you 17 seconds). ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/59 "2007-08-11T00:07:49Z")
[QUOTE=Zeriel] You had me with you until there. Now I feel compelled to shun your words entirely, as anyone who holds a negative opinion of a good Texas Red chili is clearly damaged in SOME way. [/QUOTE] Sorry, but white bean, Navy bean or whatever–no beans for me. Now, BBQ I can rhapsodize about… ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2007, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/60 "2007-08-11T00:09:29Z")
There are no beans in chili. Heresy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067.md?page=4)