A Real Confederacy of Dunces
Thank you to all of you who have offered to let me come to your blue state if Texas secedes. I do appreciate it. I guess I’ll have to fight for my homeland.
One of my favorite books is a fiction work titled “A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole. The book has nothing to do with politics but a lot to do with people entirely detached from reality. Much like today’s Republican Party.
Dana Milbank calls them The Confederacy of Takers.
Red states receive, on average, far more from the federal government in expenditures than they pay in taxes. The balance is the opposite in blue states. The secession petitions, therefore, give the opportunity to create what would be, in a fiscal sense, a far more perfect union.
The ones who want out are the ones who take most.
Now, I’m not saying we should let them go.
Okay, quit booing.
I am saying that they need to be reminded that there are worse things than having a black President. Starving in the cold with no health insurance might be one of them.
They are silly people with silly ideas. Don’t be outraged. Be amused. And when they get on your last nerve, grin to yourself and think how things will get worse for them — once they realize that the Presidency is going to a woman in 4 years.
These bozos call themselves patriots and want to secede? Really? No wonder their party is in the shape it’s in…lunatics running the asylum is the phrase that comes to mind.
1I’m looking at the bright side. In ten or fifteen years, the Hispanic population will be the majority. If Texas secedes, the Hispanic majority may take over and name Spanish as the official language. Then they could reunite us with their motherland. This has all sorts of potential for backfiring.
2We may also have had our last white male president in Bush.
3I just finished reading “As Texas Goes… or How the Lone Star State Hijacked the American Agenda.” by Gail Collins. If everyone would read this, the whole state would vote a straight Democrat ticket every time. It really nails the Republicans to the wall.
4Rod
I just finished reading “As Texas Goes…How the Lone Star State Hijacked the American Agenda.” by Gail Collins. It really nails the Republicans to the wall. If every one read it, we would vote a straight Democrat ticket every election.
5Rod
Juanita, something is bothering me about this whole secession issue. Republicans lost the election, and now they think *they* get to decide to secede? That they get to stay but we’re supposed to get the heck out?
I’m thinking in particular of TexasSparkle (BFFF w/Miss True the Vote, Catherine Engelbrecht):
https://twitter.com/KatMcKinley/status/268087968294649857
She chaps my butt on a regular basis but this one is really stinging.
http://blog.chron.com/texassparkle/
You don’t get to take your ball and go home, because it’s NOT your ball anymore, and you are in MY house. YOU get out.
6I think the last two posts sum up the situation pretty well. These folks want to secdee, because they can’t add or subtract either.
7“While most of the petitions come from states that supported Mitt Romney in last week’s election, a few swing states and even the deep blue Northeast are represented.
Petitions have been filed for Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.”
WashPost by Rachel Weiner (10-12-12)
8What makes my grin even wider when I read about these secessionists is this—if you hated a black president and went crazy over a woman president, just think how you are going to feel when your governor and US Senator are twin Latinos whose community organizer mom helped to found La Raza Unida. A righteous rain is gonna fall…
9“A Confederacy of Dunces”, a great book and also one of my favorites. My God, Juanita Jean, you’re awfully literate for a hair bender who loves shiny.
10The Tax Foundation did a study of Federal Spending vs Taxing (1994-2004), released in March of 2006. This group has been around since 1937, funded by GOP cronies & criticized by Paul Krugman. However, what a hoot that Dana Milbank used their own data to prove a point!
I used their spending-to-tax ratio data in a spreadsheet, separated the Red & Blue states based on the 2012 election, and then averaged them. The average federal spending-to-tax ratio in FY2004 for the 5 biggest “Donor States” was 0.66, whereas average ratio for the 5 biggest “Taker States” was 1.84. The average ration for ALL the dates:
Red States: 1.21 (FY1994) — 1.38 (FY2004) +0.17
Blue States: 0.97 (FY1994) — 0.97 (FY2004) +0.00
I haven’t double-ck’d the 2012 list yet, but doubt the averages will change much if I made a mistake.
11Well, it figures> We can count on JJ to say it first: a woman president in 2016. I’m all for it. How about Chelsea in 2024. Lots of good genes working for her.
12Spending-to-Tax Ratios are driven by demographic factors (age & average income). Results show “wealth redistribution” but it is from higher middle-income residents of more prosperous states to those with lower middle-income of poorer states. States with higher incomes pay progressively higher federal taxes that are unlikely to be matched by federal spending to those states.
When Perry wanted to secede, I thought why not just divorce Texas & move our major government assets to states that would appreciate them more.
13Oh yeah! Secession worked so well the last time around. Ever heard of American history, pinheads? Suggestion: take off for South America and join up with the descendants of the Secessionist who took off after the last try. Improve our country.
14This should be giving the NRC a case of the dysenteries. I’m guessing most of these “I wanna take my marbles and leave” hissy fits would, if successful, further increase the Democratic Senate majority (to the point of being filibuster proof) and diminish or eradicate the Republican House majority. I gather there is now a petition at the White House site to revoke the citizenship of those signing the secession petitions and then exile them.
15Yep… had VA as a Red State so now that’s corrected since VA went Blue, here are the correct average federal spending-to-tax ratios:
Red States: 1.20 (FY1994) — 1.37 (FY2004) +0.17
16Blue States: 0.99 (FY1994) — 1.00 (FY2004) +0.01
re: A woman president in 4 years?
ohsweetjesus … please please please
17@Pat in S.A. – from your lips to God’s ears. Now that will be a great day to be a Texan. I’m a native Texan and the only governor I’d give two cents for was Mark White. He gave the teachers a huge raise. I will always thank him for that. In fact, I got to meet M.W. a couple of years ago and I told him how much that raise meant to a new teacher (me). He actually got tears in his eyes when he thanked me for telling him that. That raise cost him his next term.
18I just told a fib. Chalk it up to my old age. I adored Ann Richards. Don’t think she got to do everything she planned but I thought she was a good role model.
19Sorry to be talking to much but will it be Hillary or Elizabeth Warren in 2016?
20Hillary won’t be able to run for president – she’s going to be busy as a Supreme Court judge
21Hey Juanita: have you seen this? What is going on in your state there? http://www.buzzfeed.com/rebeccaberg/gop-lawmaker-nominates-newt-gingrich-for-speaker
22Ooops. Back there in post 15 I transcribe RNC into NRC. Now why would the Nuclear Regulatory Committee care about secession? Then I realized, that when you get that much dense together in one spot one can trigger fusion, which is a nuclear reaction. Maybe we could tap into that energy source.
23Bill & Hillary are just tweaking the junk-yard dogs over at Fox. Think younger people are the key to 2016, so think younger women for candidates. I really like Susan Rice & believe her to be very smart & competent, but it takes charisma, too.
I want a woman president, but not if she’s like Palin/Bachmann. Congress is where the power is & women aren’t even close to being representative of our society. Women are now 20% of the Senate, but we have a long way to go!
24Confederacy of Dunces is an excellent book – I was living in NOLA when I read it – especially fitting. They had planned movie starring John Belushi, alas, it did not happen. They could do it now with Jack Black or someone in the movie line-up now.
25There are now petitions for all 50 states to secede. I believe the petitions should be approved. The states can then form a new country called, say, “The United States of Whatever.) They will need a new government quickly, so they can use the rules (and voters) already in place. We will then elect Obama to his first term.
26John G: We may also have had our last white male president in Bush.
Well… Petraeus is half there, but the other half seems particularly unlikely now.
27One of my all time favorite books–you have great taste–we will need some kind of blowout getting all the women (leaving the”girls” out) to pull together, other countries are doing fine with women leaders, we would too. I don’t know if I could support a Republician woman, ever! And I used to vote for individuals, as did my male partner–no more, it’s Dems all the way—for a really long time to come…
28I’m not fixed on race or gender, but I vow to fight tooth and nail against anyone else named ‘Bush’ in the White House- unless he’s the butler.
29Juanita for Pressident! Free manicures for everyone!
30Good news for secessionists!
31http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/14/1161606/-All-Secessionists-Can-Secede-By-Renouncing-Their-Citizenship
“We may also have had our last white male president in Bush.”
Anyone noticed how long it’s been since a white man was Secretary of State? You have to go back before Madelaine Albright. Now it looks like it will be Susan Rice, not John Kerry, succeeding Hillary Clinton.
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