# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/81 "2007-08-12T19:06:48Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] I don’t get it. The national pledge has “under god” in it, so how is it so strange that Texas legistlators would not balk at adding “under god” to the Texas pledge? -FrL- [/QUOTE] Because a whole lot of people have already balked at having “under god” in the pledge. So they might want to note that. They also might want to note that mandatory othes are (and should be ) unconsitutional. And silly. And as for what’s wrong with Texas, well they didn’t born G.W. but they bred him. That’s got to say something. And they came into being in a war to keep slavery. Good one! Oh and I just saw an article about a Texas church who refused to give a service for a veteran because he was gay. And they take up too much space. We here in New Jersey manage to fit in toxic wast dumps, verdant gardens, and dusty wildwoods and we do it in a couple of hundred milds and don’t go bragging about. Now where did Edison and Enstein choose to live? And where did Bush? You do the math. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/82 "2007-08-12T21:01:12Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] “Thee”? It really does say “thee”, doesn’t it. Are they pretending to be Quakers or something? [/QUOTE] I think it has to do with the punch line of a joke: “Who does that guy think he is, God?” “No, he thinks he’s James Bowie.” ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/83 "2007-08-13T01:30:26Z")
[QUOTE=betenoir] And they take up too much space. We here in New Jersey manage to fit in toxic wast dumps, verdant gardens, and dusty wildwoods and we do it in a couple of hundred milds and don’t go bragging about. Now where did Edison and Enstein choose to live? And where did Bush? You do the math. [/QUOTE] Heh. I know it’s a typo, but I like the couple of hundreds of milds instead of miles. Adds a nice visual to the sentence. New Jersey: where men are men and the miles are…mild. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/84 "2007-08-13T02:23:12Z")
Wyoming! Where the men are men, and the sheep are nervous! ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/85 "2007-08-13T10:15:53Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] Heh. I know it’s a typo, but I like the couple of hundreds of milds instead of miles. Adds a nice visual to the sentence. New Jersey: where men are men and the miles are…mild. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Hey! We’re not mild. At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines Sprung from cages out on Highway 9 Chrome wheeled, fuel injected And steppin’ out over the line (Though it’s true I don’t seem to be able to post a sentence withought a typo. I think I’ve burned out the spelling part of my brain. Which was never that good to begin with.) ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/86 "2007-08-13T12:32:08Z")
[QUOTE=betenoir] Now where did Edison and Enstein choose to live? And where did Bush? You do the math. [/QUOTE] Edison spent a lot of time in Fort Myers, Florida; he had a large estate on the river and extensive gardens there. His buddies Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone had estates on either side of his. Just like today, make your money elsewhere and then move to Florida. ---
**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 13, 2007, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/87 "2007-08-13T13:27:58Z")
[QUOTE=light strand] I lived in TX for six years, first in Houston, then in Dallas. The six longest years of my life. I finally moved to MA in May and can’t wait to sell my house in Plano, just so I can be totally out of that God-forsaken hell hole. [/QUOTE] Plano is part of the Metroplex–but it isn’t Dallas. It isn’t even Fort Worth. Larry McMurtrey called Arlington–also in the Metroplex–“The City of a Thousand _cul de sacs_.” Grad School at Rice left him with a soft spot for Houston. Let me guess–when you lived in Houston, you really lived in Sugar Land. The Metroplex & Greater Houston both have vast suburban wastelands. Live there at your peril. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/88 "2007-08-13T15:37:32Z")
[QUOTE=betenoir] Hey! We’re not mild. At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines Sprung from cages out on Highway 9 Chrome wheeled, fuel injected And steppin’ out over the line [/QUOTE] Is THAT what Springsteen is singing? I’ve never known the lyrics to that song–just mumblemumble highway 9 mumble… ---
**Author:** ![light\_strand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@light\_strand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/light_strand)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/89 "2007-08-13T21:16:48Z")
[QUOTE=Bridget Burke] Plano is part of the Metroplex–but it isn’t Dallas. It isn’t even Fort Worth. Larry McMurtrey called Arlington–also in the Metroplex–“The City of a Thousand _cul de sacs_.” Grad School at Rice left him with a soft spot for Houston. Let me guess–when you lived in Houston, you really lived in Sugar Land. The Metroplex & Greater Houston both have vast suburban wastelands. Live there at your peril. [/QUOTE] Actually Spring. However, “Dallas” and “Houston” are for frame of reference because, unlike you, I’m not an ass who thinks that everyone here should know where Spring and Plano are. I worked for Baylor School of Medicine in Houston, and Baylor Medical Center in Dallas. And yes, that is the city proper, so it’s not like I don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about. It’s people like you which made me glad I’m not there anymore. ---
**Author:** ![lobstermobster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobstermobster/32/10033_2.png) [@lobstermobster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobstermobster)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/90 "2007-08-13T21:42:09Z")
Texas is dead to me. If you’re ever in the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Econolodge in room 104, check out the bathroom because I wrote “I MESSED WITH TEXAS” on the wall, in sharpie. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/91 "2007-08-13T21:52:56Z")
Do I support the addition of “Under God” to the Texas pledge? Why, heck yes I do! It’s easy to throw stones, but y’all just plain don’t have the same relgious concerns we have down here in Texas. Specifically, you only have to worry about the Devil. In Texas, we have to worry about the Super Devil, who is six inches taller than the regular Devil, has longer horns, and rides a motorcycle that can fly. Clearly, action needed to be taken to protect our children. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/92 "2007-08-13T22:08:27Z")
[QUOTE=LouisB] Edison spent a lot of time in Fort Myers, Florida; he had a large estate on the river and extensive gardens there. His buddies Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone had estates on either side of his. Just like today, make your money elsewhere and then move to Florida. [/QUOTE] Fine. But I’m still claiming Enstein. He wasn’t fool enough to move to Texas or Florida. (Oh wait…you’re from Florida…sorry about that :o 😛 ) ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/93 "2007-08-14T01:44:12Z")
[QUOTE=betenoir] And as for what’s wrong with Texas, well they didn’t born G.W. but they bred him. That’s got to say something. And they came into being in a war to keep slavery. Good one! Oh and I just saw an article about a Texas church who refused to give a service for a veteran because he was gay. [/QUOTE] You can add the [Kenneth Foster](http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20070810/cm_thenation/4221949) case to your list. He’s scheduled to die in two weeks for a murder that, quite literally, everyone knows he didn’t commit. > [@](#): > > Foster, who was in a car about 100 yards from the crime when it was committed, was convicted under the controversial Texas state “law of parties”, under which the distinction between principal actor and accomplice in a crime is abolished. > > … > > Texas is the only state that applies this statute in capital cases, making it the only place in the United States where a person can be factually innocent of murder and still face the death penalty. Yee-ha. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/94 "2007-08-14T02:26:02Z")
[QUOTE=Bridget Burke] Plano is part of the Metroplex–but it isn’t Dallas. It isn’t even Fort Worth. Larry McMurtrey called Arlington–also in the Metroplex–“The City of a Thousand _cul de sacs_.” Grad School at Rice left him with a soft spot for Houston. Let me guess–when you lived in Houston, you really lived in Sugar Land. The Metroplex & Greater Houston both have vast suburban wastelands. Live there at your peril. [/QUOTE] I owned a house in Plano, once upon a time. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/95 "2007-08-14T02:52:18Z")
[QUOTE=Sublight] You can add the [Kenneth Foster](http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20070810/cm_thenation/4221949) case to your list. He’s scheduled to die in two weeks for a murder that, quite literally, everyone knows he didn’t commit. Yee-ha. [/QUOTE] and my light-hearted, but genuine mockery of Texas ends here. That is some fucked up shit. Again, some majority of people must agree with this stuff to keep it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/96 "2007-08-14T03:38:45Z")
[QUOTE=betenoir] And they came into being in a war to keep slavery. Good one! [/QUOTE] _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/97 "2007-08-14T03:41:44Z")
[Quote=Elucidator] Wyoming! Where the men are men, and the sheep are nervous! [/Quote] Pennsylvania! Where the men are men, and despite the camoflage, you can still see their hats! ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/98 "2007-08-14T09:36:28Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] and my light-hearted, but genuine mockery of Texas ends here. That is some fucked up shit. Again, some majority of people must agree with this stuff to keep it. ☹ [/QUOTE] Research some voter turnout numbers if you want your blue face to shift into the indigo and violet spectrum. The VAST majority of political decisions are made by minorities, and I’m not just talking swinging an election. I’m talking about every single person who exercised their political power during an election added together is still a minority of the population which was eligible to speak out about the issue. About the only elections with more than 50% turnout are Presidential elections. Local and state level elections are even more succeptible to tyranny of the vocal minority. I’m afraid the founders of our Republic were right when they decided we needed representatives because the common man wouldn’t be bothered to do the work required by true self-governance. I don’t think they foresaw the political machines which would spring up and influence so much of our system, however. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/99 "2007-08-14T14:37:18Z")
[QUOTE=Mtgman] Research some voter turnout numbers if you want your blue face to shift into the indigo and violet spectrum. The VAST majority of political decisions are made by minorities, and I’m not just talking swinging an election. I’m talking about every single person who exercised their political power during an election added together is still a minority of the population which was eligible to speak out about the issue. About the only elections with more than 50% turnout are Presidential elections. Local and state level elections are even more succeptible to tyranny of the vocal minority. I’m afraid the founders of our Republic were right when they decided we needed representatives because the common man wouldn’t be bothered to do the work required by true self-governance. I don’t think they foresaw the political machines which would spring up and influence so much of our system, however. Enjoy, Steven [/QUOTE] Are you saying this is true specifically about Texas, or about the USA in general? I do know there was generally a feeling in Texas among us non-republicans that it was almost useless for us to vote, since the result was a foregone conclusion. (Probably about the same as the way Republicans feel here in California…) -FrL- ---
**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 14, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067/100 "2007-08-14T16:03:15Z")
[QUOTE=light strand] Actually Spring. However, “Dallas” and “Houston” are for frame of reference because, unlike you, I’m not an ass who thinks that everyone here should know where Spring and Plano are. I worked for Baylor School of Medicine in Houston, and Baylor Medical Center in Dallas. And yes, that is the city proper, so it’s not like I don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about. It’s people like you which made me glad I’m not there anymore. [/QUOTE] Well, I’ve known too many people working in Houston’s TMC who didn’t know more about the city than the quickest routes back to suburbia. “What a neat mousepad–where did you get it?” “At the Contemporary Art Museum gift shop.” “Where’s that?” (Two miles away from here, you idiot!) I’m also glad you’re not in Texas any more. (For non-Houstonians: Spring is another distant suburb.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/once-again-im-glad-i-got-the-hell-outta-texas/415067.md?page=6)