Austin turned out Stevie Ray Vaughn. It can't be ALL bad.

"Liberals from the coastal cities aren't quite as nasty, or flat-out lunatic, as Texas Democrats seem to be."

That has not been my experience, after living on both coasts as well as in the middle. Though not Texas.

I lived in Austin for 10 years. I love the place and I miss it terribly. It's pretty and warm and great for hiking and movies and has great music and food and Barton Springs.

But everything in this article is true. Did you see "Slacker"? Well, then.

I had a college friend who moved from San Fransisco to Austin, and he found Austin to be Hell on Earth. He has since moved back to SF, where he's working in financial services. I think that tells you a little bit about Austin.

That's all I have to say.

We call it our very own Berkley here in TX. You're 100% right about Texas Dems - they're crazier than shithouse rats.

Having spent considerable time in Texas, I concur. I found Texans to be perhaps the most patriotic people in this county.

Although, one wonders, are they patriotic towards America or to Texas. The answer is both, but Texas would come first...and I have no problem with that. (they have a saying down there, you can become an American, but you have to be born a Texan)

That must be a driving factor in the liberal's nutty-ness. That unwavering sense of loyalty and pride that Texans have to State and Country that liberals find so, so primal and ignorant.

Having grown up in Austin, I can attest that 100% of the article is correct. Fortunately, I escaped, but sadly, my mom and sister did not. They are stuck in this hell.

Of course, in true liberal fashion, many of them are hypocrites. I knew people that had never in their entire lives voted for a Republican. Publicly, they said all the right things. Privately, I heard them make fun of minorities in the exact same way they accuse Republicans of doing. They saw nothing wrong with the city council authorizing benefits for unmarried (read: same-sex) couples but went bonkers when the taxpayers rose up and rebelled against it and demanded a vote.

Personally, I think most of the people in that area really don't care. However, the radicals have hijacked so many aspects of the society that they just get tired of fighting back all the time.

In the South, the Democratic party still holds power at the local level. Too many people remember the days when the Southern Democrats were the most conservative bunch going. Over time, many of them have learned that it is not the case any more. They have switched allegiance to the Republicans. As the article pointed out, Tecas elected it's first Republican governor since Reconsruction in 1978. In the 26 years since then, the governor has been a Democrat for only 8. The Austin Democrats just don't get it.

I found the "Liberals from the coastal cities aren't quite as nasty" impossible to believe, until I realized that I don't really know any Austin liberals personally. So it's quite possible they are a psychosis beyond my imagination. The more experienced comments seem to back you up.

The sense of entitlement that Dems have regarding their "right" to control the U.S. House of Representatives pales in comparison to that of Texas Dems -- mainly because until recently they totally controlled the state and ran unopposed for decades.

The older FDR and LBJ "yellow dogs" are dying out and most of sensible Dems have switched over to the Republican side, leaving a high concentration of moonbats -- kind of like the sludge in Barton Springs Pool after the creek floods.

Like elections, you put up with the inconvenience of draining the pool periodically to power wash away the sludge and then it's back to a constant 68 degrees and crystal clear.

Barton Springs link

Ok...as a Texan in San Antonio which is as you know a spit from Austin I have a suggestion I have offered over and over to fellow Texans. The source of this hideous liberal nonsense is in fact Austin as you point out. Before all the left coast silicon valley guys started infecting Austin it was not so bad. See, those hideous California genetics have tainted the dna here.

Most of the Dems here were in fact Union guys working within the oil and petrochemical industries. How do you think Jack Brooks managed to get reelected for over 40 years. BTW that was my home district at the time and you could not have unseated that old fart with dynamite. In the end he cut his own throat and voted for gun control legislation. Where I grew up you can't throw a dead cat without hitting a hunter.

My suggestion to deal with the Austin problem is a wall. If we built a wall around Austin it would contain the outbreak. Starve em out. It is the only way!

The Dems aren't just marginalized in the state - they're getting marginalized within the area. Williamson County and Round Rock to the north are well-known in the region as a strong conservative area. Northwest Austin was just added to a strong conservative district in the redistricting that took place. And where are the high-growth areas in the Austin metro area? That's right, north and northwest.

There will always be a liberal stronghold in the central city - the combination of the University of Texas and the union state workers will ensure that.

The problem is that the outlying regions have been unwilling to assert themselves in local politics. As a result, the city government continues to lean way to the left.

However, there is hope that the city's mismanagement of the regional transportation plans will inspire a bit of a shift to the right. Not much hope, but some.

I work in Austin and live in the suburbs. I've pretty much grown up here, although I did spend a few years in college at Texas A&M.

The politics in this town are a tremendous boil on the ass of the great state of Texas. Sadly, Austin is an island of lunacy in a sea of otherwise good folks.

However, things are looking up. Travis County is the heart of the liberal cancer, but the fastest growth in the area is taking place in Williamson County to the north, which is a steadfast Republican stronghold. Also, the wacked-out "Keep Austin Weird" lefties here are aging rapidly.

Austin will always be an anomaly - the presence of the University [sic] of Texas and the Texas Legislature ensures that - but things may be changing. At least I hope so, but it will take another 30 years for this place to even come close to resembling the rest of Texas politically. But hey, Protest Warrior has set up shop here, so that's good.

I live in Texas and the only Democrats left in the state are San Francisco style liberal freaks. They have lost power in this state (not one state wide elected pol)and they are just completely losing it. A Texas Democrat is somewhat akin to those protestors that crash G8 summits. They are mean, they are nasty, and they all live together in Austin.

The article is spot-on. The seige mentality among the Lefties is not only omnipresent in Austin, but they wear it as a badge of honor. It is like music -- Austin is filled with people who have spent their whole lives telling people that they "listed to [insert band here] before they became popular." That self-selected misfit-ostracism is summed up in the pro-local-business bumper sticker campaign that Scott mentioned: "Keep Austin Weird." I had planned to make a rival bumper sticker: "Force Austin to Become Normal," but we moved away before I got around to it.

I grew up in San Antonio, went to school at UT, and lived in Austin for a while as an adult. Having moved back there after a considerable absence, I noticed immediately the intense anti-Republican, anti-conservative vibe. My perspective shifted when I transitioned from school to work. As a student, I never ventured much from the student enclaves, and I naturally suffered from a soft-headed, namby-pamby kind of juvenile liberalism. That all ended when I became an adult. But Central Austin is the land that time forgot.

The biggest cultural factor is, of course, the University. It attracts an academic set from around the country. Academics are just grad students with less hair. You should not be surprised if you hear French being spoken (loudly) in the French cheese aisle at the grocery store, the fucking posers.

Another Austinite here.. (now living in LA though). Yup its all true.. Not one wrong comment on this thread about Austin.. I grew up in South Austin (most liberal part) and I was infected early on. It took me nearly 30 years to shake that nasty liberal mentality, but I do credit that time in my life for my particularly strong libertarian positions today. The rest of my life will be a sustained backlash against the desperate stupidity that surrounded me as a kid..

as nasty and pathetic as Austin Liberals are, they are fun as hell to get drunk with. Sooner or later, like me, they wake up. (however judging from the geriatric condition of the bulk of the people in those "I'm sorry Saddam" pictures, I could be wrong.

Arvin

Liberals from the coastal cities aren't quite as nasty, or flat-out lunatic, as Texas Democrats seem to be.

"AHhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahannnnnnnnnnope," he corrected, kindly, from the god-forsaken liberal abscess better known (and justly ridiculed, worldwide) as "Seattle."

Geez Ace-- way to start using John Hughes analogies to describe lefty politics.

Too bad I beat you to the punch:

http://garfieldridge.blogspot.com/2004_09_26_garfieldridge_archive.html

Cheers,
Dave

Ace: you know and I know which specific bit of '80s iconography, really and truly, is most perfectly suited to pithy analogizings of rote, braindead liberal bleatings:

Mark. Alan. JJ. Nina. Martha.

The original MTV Veejays. :)

'Nother Austinite here. I was born and raised there until I went to college. The liberalism there (to a kid growing up, anyway) is like water to a fish. You have some sense that it's there, but you can't quite see it because it's too pervasive. I just knew that 'reality' didn't quite hold together. It took a decade or so of self-deprogramming to get my brain well ordered. All those years being brainwashed *did* teach me how to blend in with liberals, though I prefer not to.

This is the danger of a minority party without any real responsibilities.

As some have pointed out, there is a line over which Bush could not go during the debates to defend himself because he actually has to govern. For instance, he couldn't properly defend himself on Iraq because he can't hold up the French, German and Russian involvement with Oil-For-Food because he has to actually work with those governments on a whole range of issues beside Iraq. Kerry, on the other hand, has no real responsibility so he can say whatever irresponsible thing pops into his liberal head.

Austin is a perfect example of such thinking. They don't have to worry about bipartisanship and making sure they don't step over the line too far because they don't have to worry about working with the other side in order to make progess.

They're out of power. They know there's no likelihood of a return to power. So they indulge their inner psychotic and let loose with every attack imaginable. This is the fate of the national Democratic Party when they lose the upcoming election.

Be afraid...

Here's yr average Molly Ivins column: "Oh Lordy, things are SO BAD! Stupid stupid stupid! God, that rams my pussy! OH LORDY KOFI HELP US!"

We're just always ahead of the curve down here. You damn yankees™ will understand once you catch up in the next 20 years. :)

As for SonOfNixon asking whether a Texan's patriotism is for Texas or the U.S., that's not really important because the rest of the U.S. isn't going to do anything that pisses us off badly enough to make it important, RIGHT? ;)

Point of order here: Stevie Ray Vaughn is from Dallas, not Austin. They just did a good job of stealing his history.

Another point: we have successfully corralled and marginalized the vast majority of the Loony Left in one city in our state. They're necessary to take on the soul-grinding work of administering our ridiulously massive state govt. No self-respecting conservative or libertarian would ever be happy with a lifelong gummint job.

To avoid any confusion, I believe that the Texan's love of Texas should be considered a compliment.

No disrespect meant. I love every part of Texas that I visited...from Beaumont to Fort Worth, from Dallas to San Antonio. (Didn't enjoy the I-10 traffic in Houston, though)

No display of ruffled feathers intended, sonofnixon. I was just agreeing with you, albeit indirectly.

Hey guys:

I've lived in Austin for over twenty years after moving here from Ann Arbor.

Great place and every one gets along. I know lots of folks from both sides of the aisle and they all love the town.

Remember besides GWBush for seven years, Lance Armstrong calls Austin home and that great all American wealth producer Michael Dell lives here. In fact young conservative republican Michael has made many of the liberals in town very rich so they do not bash conservatives all that much here in Austin. Michael is also very active socially and philanthropically with many of the more liberal arts organizations in town.

The only two exceptions to getting along are those two old dames-- Molly Ivins and 'Ma' Richards and both have really left town. Molly to Marathon, Texas out in the western wilds and 'Ma' Richards to anywhere but here. I don't think anyone really misses them.

(The real reasons Texas works is that we elect our state judges so there are no outrageous state judicial rulings. (plus no income tax.))

Ace,
Just thought you should know, Conservative Raido Talk show host (KPRC 950 am, Houston, kprc950.com) has proclaimed that Dan Rathers Texas Citizenship has been revoked, and he did this more than a year ago.

Vulture 6

Most of this is spot on... except that the "born a Texan" bit, while true, is a bit misleading. Some people are born Texans, but unfortunately the stork makes a mistake and delivers them to some other, misbegotten portion of the Earth. The lucky ones find their way here before it's too late, and we welcome them and try to help them adjust so's to be able to claim their birthright. George Bush is one of those.

Capitano has it absolutely correct. The recent furore over redistricting, and occasional sourness still arising from it, illustrates that perfectly. Even people who know about it, though, aren't usually aware that it was the second time it had happened. The first time, after the 1990 census, there were still quite a few Democrats in power, and the "run to Oklahoma" tactic worked. Texas Democrats still haven't quite adjusted to the fact that it didn't, this time.

Kent, I hope you get an opportunity to make an extended visit to Austin. Jim B is correct. I've been in and around Seattle off and on for the last twenty years, and I can assure you that, however much it may make you wince, Austin beats Seattle in Democratic lunacy by several points. (9.9 from the East German judge.) Seattleite Democrats still have a hope of remaining in, and perhaps gaining, power for their party. Austinite Democrats have been watching their power not trickle away, but gush away like a broken dam, and it makes them confused and desperate.

It's still fun to go listen to the music, though, and there's lots to see in the area. I like visiting Austin, but I'm glad I don't live there.

Regards,
Ric Locke

Austin isn't so bad, but I lived in Berkeley for more than two years and never had the vicious debates I have here all the time with liberals. They are deeply hurt by just about everything, but they aren't Texans, not by any stretch of the imagination. Not to me and not to themselves. Self-loathing to the bone.

But it's a nice place to live, when it's not summer. Nice to be near so much water, and great mountain biking at Emma Long park. Some of the best I've seen. "Live Music Capitol of the World" is a big stretch, but the Austin City Limits Music Festival is the best outdoor event I've ever been to two years in a row. Really a fantastic time.

Eric Johnson may not be from here, but he seems to live here, and so does that guy who played Lowell on Wings, can't remember his name but he seems nice enough.

I was lucky enough to attend a Richard Garriot party one July 4th and it was an absolute blast. Lots of naked people and fire jugglers/breathers/dancers/walkers, and a huge fireworks show overhead. It was a Thunderdome theme (we were greeted at the gate by a guy with a real MG42 and most of the Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome characters were portrayed by Garriot's friends), and they had an actual Thunderdome, a huge hemispherical jungle gym in which partygoers could strap into the bungie rigs and battle each other with fake axes and maces and such. Then at night they had a suspension show in there, people hanging from fishhooks through the flesh of their backs, bouncing around on the bungies and bleeding.

They had a big tent under which beanbag chairs and pillows lay on a big tarplike floor, and a roast pig and half a roast cow were served. No utensils, just roasted meat on bread plates, and napkins. Garriot came to the middle of the tent to make a welcome speech and someone nailed him in the chest with a hunk of roast pork, which started a food fight I had to escape after someone fastballed half an ear of corn into the side of my skull from about eight feet away. DAMN that was a fun party. I wore a loincloth without underwear and felt right at home until we did the fire walk. Oh boy.

Memories . . . that reminds me, I've got to find the pictures and post them.

I forgot to bring up the best thing about this town: pretty girls everywhere you look.