A word to all of those making wisecracks about Rita and Texas

You. Are. Not. Funny. I have family in Galveston and this is not humorous at all. Some of the things being said in these threads are starting to make me very sick.

I WILL KICK THEIR ASS; hurricanes are no laughing matter.

try this one...start about halfway down, forget the "irony" of the OP...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4832849

Rex (1000+ posts) Tue Sep-20-05 09:24 PM
Response to Reply #15
20. Regionalism


I still can't believe some people equate states with people. People are people all over the country. We all bleed red, guess that's not enough for some people.

Some people still think we Texans still ride horses to work! Well we do! To bad Boosh is afraid of horses (hmmm).

we saw how awful the force of nature can be, I and the bluedawg clan wish for a safe passage through the storm for the folks in harms way.

Peace.

for our fellow Americans. Bless Texas. Bless Louisiana. Bless us all.

Or the OP? I'm not sure what you are upset about. Was there anyone whom wished the people of Texas to suffer? Maybe I missed it.

Good that the mods locked it

It's more that the comments are a way of pointing out the absurdity of the fundamentalist's claims that the last Hurricane was to punish us for abortion -- or because God was mad at sinful New Orleans, gays, liberals, etc.

Hope they'll be ok. (your family)

Some people have no shame, or compassion, or sense.
I hope your family stays safe...

ALl you know is that they have morbid senses of humor.

It's possible to have both despite your bias to the opposite.

I bet. :eyes:

and worrying about people you care about sucks more.

I can't imagine what they're feeling right now.

:hug:

What is so amusing about a possible Cat 4 hurricane bearing down on thousands of people. This is very serious for Texas and the rest of the country.

I wished only the best for all the others, and i'll with the same where ever this one lands.

:hi:

I hope your family stays safe.

This is not funny but some of the scathing humor that has come out of hurricane Katrina has done more to undo BushCo than all the measured criticism. Making a point unsing humor isn't necessarily a bad thing though it can get over the top and become tasteless.

Mz Pip
:dem:

Making light of the Idiot in Chief in regard to how he handled Katrina, yes. Texas get with a disaster, no.

in Galveston as a banquet manager. I lived there for almost 3 years. I miss the coast .

Could never afford it, though.....

I live in a landlocked state now and I miss the coast, too. I would ride the ferry to Bolivar peninsula just for fun and feed the gulls.

I could walk to the seawall in five minutes. With that seawall Galveston will be OK. (fingers crossed)

It is such a beautiful place. It had overstuffed funiture and palmettos in the lobby. I felt like I had walked into a 1940's movie set. We ate at that restaurant across the road, out on the end of the pier (sorry, cannot recall the name of it). The absolutely BEST butterfly prawns I've ever had in my life, and the service was spectacular.

Edited for spelling.

At least they have the sea wall now, which I know won't stop the winds, but will help against the water (I hope!). I love Galveston. Only been there that one time, but I've always had a love for the place.

Geez, i was just there last fall. I don't think the seawall is designed to handle that, is it? It looks only about 15 feet tall. I could be remembering that wrongly, though.
The Professor

now that we're at a category 5, it will be pressed.

195 mph winds projected at landfall. They're calling it a 'PERFECT' hurricane in the media locally.

An irrational fear...but a fear nonetheless.
That and I couldn't cross Rainbow Bridge in Bridge City.
Two things you won't catch me doing.

The Galvez is one of my favorite weekend getaway spots. I have fond memories of sitting downstairs in the lobby listening to the evening piano sipping gin and tonic.

I love the island - but just couldn't take living under yearly threat of hurricanes. But it still feels like home, probably always will.

I live in earthquake country (CA) and I have never seen as much devastation as in the Gulf. Give me an earthquake any day cause they only last about a minute, and after it's all over, you usually say "Damn, that was a good one". Hurricanes are really destructive.

My husband's cousin and his family live in Katy, which is about 30 miles west of Houston. From what I'm seeing on the news right now, Rita is expected to be a Cat 4 by the time it hits that region, and they are projecting it will land southwest of Houston. No, not funny at all. I hope to God that people will be safe.

My parents are northwest 150 miles inland from Galveston. I hope they'll be OK. My dad just had knee replacement surgery. He can't walk yet and he and my mom are pretty old.

Praying for your folks:hug:

I love that city. The weird thing about it is that Galveston is like NO in so many ways. I'll pray for whoever is in the path of Rita. Thanks for the thoughts for my folks, I hope they can hunker down. Many poor people and old people in the town they live in, I'll pray for them, too.

Not that it matters, cause there are a lot of great people in Tx.

Ah think of

Lyndon Johnson, warts and all (the Great Society took some serious courage on his part)

Anne Richards (he was born with a silver FOOT in his mouth!)

Molly Ivins, a genius and a fabulous wit...

and there are many, many other WONDERFUL Texans. The faux emperor shames them, but in the long view, he only shames himself.


Let's hope the hurricane, if it must hit Texas, miraculously confines itself to the acreage of a certain pigfarm in Crawford. Enough to fuck with the monkey's vacations until his impeachment....

remember that keynote speech (what year?). Her quiet calm and dignity during Watergate.

Various Texas authors

He wasn't even born in the state.

Excuse me making up a verb but really, I don't wish this on anyone and I don't know anyone who does.

Seriously, I don't think anyone wants ANYONE to get hurricaned! They won't be able to put food on their family, make their pie higher, and so on.

Of course, after the Katrina disaster, I'm hoping that monkeyboy takes his own words to heart--fool me once, uh, unnnnnnnh, heh, uh...won't git fooled agin!!!!

red don't deserve our prayers and compassion.

Care to try again?

I have not seen such threads.

I hope people will keep in mind that 2.8 million Texans voted for John Kerry. That's more votes than Kerry received in 45 other states.

Most of it is pretty subtle, but it's so annoying.

It's an open internet board though. You are going to find all sorts of crud coming through to disrupt things as well.

It's the few that are that I'm talking about. Don't mean to give that impression at all. :)

A separate thread like this one will not get their attention. Direct response to the offense or affront, civillly, stating your concerns, should effect a course correction or elicit a degree of awareness.

These are human beings, not votes. :banghead:

I wouldn't wish a hurricane, or its devastation, on anyone.

My husband's business partners live around Houston; I'm concerned.

Texans are in my prayers (positive, affirming, nonjudgmental prayers).

All people, no matter what state, political party, etc.

I forget the name but it was a womans name. It was a doozy and the seawall did its job. Houston was hit really hard also. Thats was back in the mid eighties or thereabouts. That was a scaryass night, believe that.

Just checked

cured forever of my love of storms. Any hurricane headed my way, I'm out. And Alicia was just a babe, I do remember though hearing of 120 mph gusts. It was a frightening night, never to be forgotten.

I think all of those posts should be deleted. They show the worst in people and don't make DU look very good in the process. People should be ashamed of themselves, but sadly for many it doesn't matter who gets hurts as long as they get their laugh in.

those sentences, you'd be locked or deleted faster than you could hit "reload".

I honestly do not understand why region bashing is given such a pass on DU. It makes us look ignorant.

I'll just bet some lurking freepers are drooling all over themselves, not that they don't anyway. But seriously, I can imagine some of the links posted at freeperland:grr:

I'm sick of such snide threads too. They accomplish nothing, they're just mean natured. There was one, which I believe started out seriously enough, about "who do you see when you heard the words 'drug addict'" and of course it descended into adolescent, snarky attempts at "humor". No concept in any of the minds, of course, that some people here might be dealing with the agony of having a loved one who is a drug addict and that such smallness of mind and meanness of spirit can be hurtful, and certainly doesn't accomplish anything.

I hope you and yours are okay in the coming days and that somehow, this hurricane will just peter out and not harm anyone.

Anyone who wishes direct harm on anyone else really needs to do some serious thinking about how they would feel if they or their loved ones were affected by a natural disaster.

What is the point of such threads - to show what witty, snarky folks we are? They don't inform, it isn't discussion - just a bunch of people trying to rank each other in being mean.

Welcome to DU Seen the light.

(to lighten things uo - Is Gaido's still there?)

check back later this week to see if it still is!

I regret I never made it to a "Dickens on the Strand," though.

I grew up down on the coast and spent a lot of time on that island.

It will come back. Dickens on the Strand is a lot of fun - while you're there next, plan to take in a show at the Grand Opera House. It survived the 1900 storm. A beautiful, small Victorian theatre. Worth a trip to Galveston if you're a theatre buff.

Do you know if that place is still there? My sister worked at Tuffy's as a waitress when I was a kid, and I used to sit at the bar and get treated to their food. I named one of our family cats Tuffy.

My sister got married on the beach there in Galveston, too---that was years ago, but I have fond memories of it.

P.S. I still have family in and around Houston, including a brother who was packed and ready to move to NO the weekend Katrina hit---he managed to get his old job and apartment back, thank goodness.

I don't like the negativity surrounding this impending storm either, although I realize some folks are just trying to poke fun here with Bush & Co.'s connections in TX. I for one am sending good thoughts to the good people all along the coast in the Gulf.

where on the island is it?

This was back in the mid to late 70's. The only Tuffy's that I've been able to find now, though, is just outside Beaumont, TX, but that's not it---too far away from where my sister lived--she was in Galveston, near the Strand. I do recall that several years later, the Tuffy's she worked for was robbed, and in Houston, the local news covered it. The restaurant had a macaw that lived in a cage, and on the news they made sort of a joke about the only witness to the robbery was the bird---and he wasn't talking...or something like that.

Anyway, seems it's not there anymore.

and cities that I like better than others. And there are some states and cities you could not pay me enough money to live in. But I try to avoid naming them here on this board because I also know that some very nice people also live in those places I dislike.

Plus, I live in a place that some people like to make fun of, so I try to be nicer than that.

Of course, one on one I'll happily trash my least favorite places.

Still wishing a safe passage through this sotrm to all the folks in it's path.

Peace and prayers.

There is some real nastiness on this board but it's bound to happen when you're in the 10's of thousands of users. Just ignore it. I run into it and remind myself that when you gather this many people together of any type on any forum, there are some totally insensitive types who run their mouths.

We're all for you, the 99% faction of DU. Screw the 1%.

Galveston is a great city and I really like the medical school campus there. First rate.

That's all you can do. I went through Andrew and all the other hurricanes in Miami.

Anybody who's been through a hurricane will never make comments like that. They just have no clue how deadly it can be.

Blast oven hot, flat and ugly, industrial refinery "futureworld" vision from hell!

(Edited because I can't spell)

I am a strident liberal and

No one deserves to lose their homes and possibly their families.

And welcome to DU, Seen The Light.

:toast:

Problem is, anyone can post on this forum and say whatever they like (more or less).

In every group of humans, no matter how you slice it, there will always be assholes.

Just ignore them, and accept what I'm sure is the vast majority of DUer sentiment, which is our hopes for the safety of all caught in the path of this storm.

I'm going to quote what I wrote on another thread:

"But while I'm worried about my family evacuating tomorrow (finding hotels, flying grandfather out), just as my co-worker from New Orleans was doing 3 weeks ago, everyone on DU that equates Texas with Bush (and redneck and republicans, though there is a good amount of blue in this state) can have a good little laugh."



That's right my entire extended family is evacuating tomorrow, including my 83 year old grandfather.

Just as I would not joke about an earthquake or tornado or hurricane hitting anywhere else, I would hope that the minority on this board that continues to bash Texas at every chance, realizes that these are real people down here.

And really, it shouldn't matter if they're liberal or conservative, they're running for their lives when they evacuate from a storm of this magnitude.

I live just north of Woodlands, Tx, and am mainly worried about flooding where I am. I believe Galveston is being evacuated, but will definitely keep your family, and all of those in this storm's path, in my prayers.

After Katrina, I think government officials at all levels are being much more careful this time. On local news this afternoon, I felt so heartbroken for the people still in shelters in Houston, who had come here when Katrina hit. Now some of them are being moved to other states. That's got to be horrible, to be sent to two different places within such a short period of time.

Here's hoping it's not as bad as it looks, and everybody stays safe.

Blessings to your family and all the people in the path of this storm. I hope it putters out somehow or something! Good luck to you and yours and everyone who is worried about Rita tonight. Safety first!

I'm not far from there myself (Brazoria County), and we're getting out of Dodge Thursday morning...waaay out of Dodge...all the way to Kansas. Hotel reservations made.

Even if Crawford takes a nasty hit from Rita, * won't be there, so he won't care. Halliburton will just rebuild the ranch.

... I can only say that I hope your family is safe and will not suffer.


Peace.

Hope your family will be fine. Did they leave for high ground? My family still lives in San Antonio and I know that when any kind of major storms hit the Galveston area San Antonio will end up feeling too.

Oh and by the way Bush is no Texan. To be a True Texan you have to have been born there. We take pride on the fact that at one time we were our on Nation. Ask any true Texan and they will tell you that they are a Texan first then a American second.

last year when hurricane Charley was churning towards my town (and I was truly frightened, having never faced a hurricane before) someone on this board suggested that Florida DESERVED every bit of destruction it received because of the 2000 election. I wrote that I worked tirelessly for Gore and that Florida DID vote for him over *, but that it was stolen by the GOP, the RW SCOTUS, and the MSM. The poster (a longtime DUer) STILL insisted that I *deserved* to have my home destroyed because I live and work in a state governed by Jeb Bush, and I personally failed to stop selection 2000. It was vile.

Though I find the concept of divine retribution appealing (because there are so many truly awful misdeeds these days) BELIEVING in it shows any of us to be as misinformed and backwards as anyone who follows Pat Robertson."God" hasn't been smiting the wicked-quite the opposite;the wicked have a stranglehold on the planet right now. Global warming has caused seasonal tropical depressions to become powerful hurricanes. It's science, not the hand of the almighty, which drives them.

finding humor in the misery that might come to others randomly is very freeperish. :puke:

environmental damage, but for my money I'd hope for a hit between Corpus Christi and Brownsville.

That area's rather sparsly populated because a lot of it is the vast King Ranch.

I shudder at the thought of what Rita could do to the human populations between Corpus Christi and Beaumont, or to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge where the endangered Whooping Cranes spend their winters.

http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/aransas.html

Shameful to wish ill to Texas or anywhere. The people of Texas have been welcoming Katrina's victims and, in spite of electing horrifying politicians, have proven themselves to be warm, generous souls.

I hope Galveston is spared as well as everywhere else. I'm sick of death and destruction! Best wishes to you and your family.

Julie

It sickens me that so many DUers buy into the "red state, blue state" mentality to such extremes.

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whole state for their RWers and the fake cowboy prez. I fear that if Kansas were in a hurricane's path, we'd get some very similar comments. :grouphug:

I was all out of breath last night.

It's saddening to see so many on DU wishing HUMAN BEINGS harm.

Hopefully this will stop.

Btw- Welcome to DU!

during these storms and it's not funny at all.

They see Texas as a red state, so everyone MUST be a Republican even though nearly 40% of the people voted for Kerry.

Best wishes to your family. Hope they remain safe and sound.

Texans have enough to deal with without folks here making light of a potential disaster.

on W's hypocrisy. He rushes to help Texas, but in New Orleans it's the mayor and governor's fault. You're right--it isn't funny that Texas is about to get slammed with a Cat 4, but saying something about the rush to help isn't insensitivity.

That maybe... just MAYBE lessons were learned from Katrina?

OR shall we just politicize this hurricane?

They're doing this only to repair his public image--and it's a terrible way to do it with a hurricane of Rita's size threatening Texas.

This storm could well be a monster. If it is, and it hits Texas on or near Galveston, no amount of premature bragging and patting themselves on the backs will curb the damage.

I still have no faith in FEMA nor bush* to get their 'act' together. As for our idiot Governor, he's useless.

If almost feels as if these people never considered that this could actually be a cat. 4 or 5 by the time it hits Texas. It's insane to brag before they even have a firm grasp of what damage could occur.

Then figure in to the equation the fact that they should have been this prepared before Katrina hit NO since they knew what that storm had potential to do to the city. I don't see how they can expect this to repair anyones image, but you're correct, that is what they're attempting.

I know he's said to expect the worst, but has he actually done anything?

Plenty of government officials have been planning for evacuations, etc. But they all work for the cities & counties involved.

I would assume that he might be quicker to the draw this time, considering what a terrible rep he's gotten himself courtesy of Katrina, but I don't know for sure.

I'm in the DFW metro, so not in Rita's immediate path. If she stays on course we'll see her this weekend. We're hoping that Rita loses some of her steam and hits the coast in a relatively unpopulated area, then swings north to deliver the rain that we all desperately need up here.

I have friends in Galveston. I hope you're family makes it through okay. And don't let a few people give you a bad view of DU as a whole.

her husband and 4 kids are in Houston. I'm thinking of offering them our spare room, but I know that they've got lots of relatives who are a lot closer than the DC area.

the stupidity of a few.

is safe. Tell them to get out as soon as possible and make the necessary precautions to home and property.:hug:

may they weather this storm, and may all your loved ones be safe! and hats off to the real Texans, Ann Richards, Jim Hightower, Molly Ivins, Barbara Jordan and Willie Nelson.

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