I'll bet Austin is where Natalie Maines and the rest of the Dixie Comrades live...

I s'pose. Austin is the "Boulder" of Texas (I always say that they both profit from the association).

I was with research scientists and academics. It is funny to me how they would launch fusillades at the President and his party, without the slightest thought that there might be, among the strangers in the room, someone who disagrees with them. Nope -- as nobody's knuckles were visibly dragging on the pavement when they walked, there were surely no Republicans among us.

I think this is a real problem for the Dems; they don't know or understand Republicans or Conservatives (this is certainly not an original thought on my part). I get exposed to liberals and their viewpoints frequently, whether I seek them out or not.

These PhDs cannot imagine what a Republican looks like. Machiavelli and Sun Tzu would advise them to know their enemy, but they would rather hide in a world where everybody thinks like them.

Disclaimer: this is a generalization -- of course there are hidey-hole conservatives and well-versed liberals. But as a rule, it is a problem for them. It is somehow easier to avoid Rush Limbaugh and Fox News than NPR.

Not surprising. My principal (she is wonderful, unlike my English teacher) is a Texan and she is anti-Bush. Perhaps Texas is overly stereotyped for having the tough gun-toting meat-eating conservatives when really conservatives, like liberals don't rest in any particular place. If I'm a conservative in Lalawood, then there ought to be a liberal or two to balance it out a bit...

Actually, Austin is the seat of government in Texas, the home of UT Austin, and a place people in Texas move to because of the countryside and "environment." Thus it is, like Washington, DC, the home of Harvard, and Seattle -- as well as like a seething, fermenting outhouse -- a home of 'Homo leftis.' (You know, descendants of Marx, Engels, Mao...)

You would run into the same sample of the population if you went to a public school or a university's college of education -- a prejudiced sample, NOT a random sample.

Next time, try Abilene, Tomball, or some other real Texas town, wherein reside Homo sapiens.

See ya' on down the trail.

From deep in the heart of Texas,

Cyrano

P.S. I just got back from a two-hour ride on my cayuse -- that means "horse" to ya'll yanks...

P.P.S. And we can talk and hold deep, philosophical and intellectual conversation down here, thank you...

JK,

I actually find that some of the most fun, sitting in a room of people of the opposite political persuasion listening to the talk without them knowing you don't agree with every word. I think talking only with those with whom you agree is an age old custom. Miss Manners would even say that polite people just don't discuss religion or politics. Of course the stereotyping and tossing of insults at the other side probably don't help everyone feel comfortable, see above comments for examples - "Dixie comrades" or "fermenting outhouse". So we can't fix everyone else, we just have our discussions here. This is why I selflessly read all this conservatism and occasionally stick a few liberal ideas into the pot.

We already know you don't agree with every word.

But hey, we agree on the important stuff, like beer and coffee! Forget the sanctity of marriage, let's defend the sanctity of beer.