(10-28-2018 07:26 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I don't understand the uproar about Beto. Is it even an Hispanic name? I've never met anyone with that name before. I certainly wouldn't hear it and immediately assume it's an Hispanic name.

Are you a native Texan? If so, you must have been raised in the most white bread places, something I think,is true of most Anglo liberals. But that is a discussion for another time.

Beto is a diminutive nickname for any name ending in “-berto”,such as Roberto, Alberto, Heriberto, etc.

I have a Hispanic cousin named Roberto. He goes by Bobby. To have an Anglo choose to be known as Beto just smacks to me of an attempt to curry votes from Hispanics or liberals, which would make sense for an Irish-American candidate from El Paso. Remember, he had to beat Silverstein Reyes for his seat. Not a big deal. Slight irritant for dishonesty, but hey, he IS a politician, born and bred.

Someone listed part of his platform as the eleimination of needless regulations. Isn’t that what President Trump is doing? Fracking?

OO, there are Hispanics everywhere (unless you're saying it's a Texas thing). I've been here since 1986, and I've never heard of that abbreviation and I would also think you'd see it in athletics (baseball or soccer somewhere). Are there any famous athletes who use Beto as their nickname?

(10-28-2018 09:30 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  OO, there are Hispanics everywhere (unless you're saying it's a Texas thing). I've been here since 1986, and I've never heard of that abbreviation and I would also think you'd see it in athletics (baseball or soccer somewhere). Are there any famous athletes who use Beto as their nickname?

No idea. Never heard of a famous athlete named Paco or Nacho, either. But growing up on the border, heard of lots of Betos.

Are you trying to say it is NOT a Hispanic nickname because you never heard it?

Beto

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beto_y_Los_Fairlanes

(10-28-2018 07:51 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 07:36 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  Well, given that he’s running as a liberal, it makes sense that he won’t align with your views on many issues.
But reasons to vote for Beto that I’m guessing you can get behind. I could give you more reasons as to why I support his candidacy, but I doubt you’d agree.
- Legalization of cannabis
- Not wasting tax dollars on a wall along the southern border
- increasing funding for veteran benefits
- Per his website: Ensuring the government works more efficiently and costs less by eliminating redundant or outdated federal regulations and improving transparency and oversight of federal agencies.
Beto especially has been running very much on his stances and why people should vote for him, as opposed to focusing on negative attacks against Cruz. If you want to see what attacking the other side looks like, just take a leak at the governor’s race in Florida, where that is all that is happening between the two candidates.

He's not running as a leftist, he IS a leftist. He's running as some sort of bipartisan healer. He is nothing of the sort. He would go to Washington and be Chuck Schumer's lapdog, just as he has been Nancy Pelosi's lapdog. I'm not going to vote for someone who aligns with Pelosi or Schumer 90+% of the time.

If he wanted to run as a liberal, he should say, "I voted with Nancy Pelosi 90+% of the time. If that's what you want in the senate, then vote for me." Of course, he wouldn't get to first base in Texas with that approach, so that's not what he does. If I had his voting record, I would do exactly what he is doing. His lack of honesty and transparency causes me to doubt anything he says.

How do you feel about the stances I outlined?

Again, I don’t expect to convince you to vote for him, but those are some stances, and not platitudes, I imagine you could support.

But getting to issues that Texans in general can support, he has been very vocal in his support of providing better funding for rural infrastructure improvements and support, which does fit snuggly in the Democratic Party line of using government as a tool to support under-served communities.

(10-28-2018 09:10 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 07:26 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I don't understand the uproar about Beto. Is it even an Hispanic name? I've never met anyone with that name before. I certainly wouldn't hear it and immediately assume it's an Hispanic name.

Are you a native Texan? If so, you must have been raised in the most white bread places, something I think,is true of most Anglo liberals. But that is a discussion for another time.

Beto is a diminutive nickname for any name ending in “-berto”,such as Roberto, Alberto, Heriberto, etc.

I have a Hispanic cousin named Roberto. He goes by Bobby. To have an Anglo choose to be known as Beto just smacks to me of an attempt to curry votes from Hispanics or liberals, which would make sense for an Irish-American candidate from El Paso. Remember, he had to beat Silverstein Reyes for his seat. Not a big deal. Slight irritant for dishonesty, but hey, he IS a politician, born and bred.

Someone listed part of his platform as the eleimination of needless regulations. Isn’t that what President Trump is doing? Fracking?

Yep - which is why I was saying there are stances that conservatives and libertarians can get behind. My issue with Trump’s execution is that I disagree with many of the policies he finds “needless.” But I do think all politicians should be more proactive about reviewing existing legislation and tweaking and updating it as necessary.

(10-28-2018 10:12 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 09:10 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 07:26 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I don't understand the uproar about Beto. Is it even an Hispanic name? I've never met anyone with that name before. I certainly wouldn't hear it and immediately assume it's an Hispanic name.

Are you a native Texan? If so, you must have been raised in the most white bread places, something I think,is true of most Anglo liberals. But that is a discussion for another time.

Beto is a diminutive nickname for any name ending in “-berto”,such as Roberto, Alberto, Heriberto, etc.

I have a Hispanic cousin named Roberto. He goes by Bobby. To have an Anglo choose to be known as Beto just smacks to me of an attempt to curry votes from Hispanics or liberals, which would make sense for an Irish-American candidate from El Paso. Remember, he had to beat Silverstein Reyes for his seat. Not a big deal. Slight irritant for dishonesty, but hey, he IS a politician, born and bred.

Someone listed part of his platform as the eleimination of needless regulations. Isn’t that what President Trump is doing? Fracking?

Yep - which is why I was saying there are stances that conservatives and libertarians can get behind. My issue with Trump’s execution is that I disagree with many of the policies he finds “needless.” But I do think all politicians should be more proactive about reviewing existing legislation and tweaking and updating it as necessary.

So what regulations are considered needless by O’Rourke? Is he specific?

(10-28-2018 10:10 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 07:51 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 07:36 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  Well, given that he’s running as a liberal, it makes sense that he won’t align with your views on many issues.
But reasons to vote for Beto that I’m guessing you can get behind. I could give you more reasons as to why I support his candidacy, but I doubt you’d agree.
- Legalization of cannabis
- Not wasting tax dollars on a wall along the southern border
- increasing funding for veteran benefits
- Per his website: Ensuring the government works more efficiently and costs less by eliminating redundant or outdated federal regulations and improving transparency and oversight of federal agencies.
Beto especially has been running very much on his stances and why people should vote for him, as opposed to focusing on negative attacks against Cruz. If you want to see what attacking the other side looks like, just take a leak at the governor’s race in Florida, where that is all that is happening between the two candidates.

He's not running as a leftist, he IS a leftist. He's running as some sort of bipartisan healer. He is nothing of the sort. He would go to Washington and be Chuck Schumer's lapdog, just as he has been Nancy Pelosi's lapdog. I'm not going to vote for someone who aligns with Pelosi or Schumer 90+% of the time.

If he wanted to run as a liberal, he should say, "I voted with Nancy Pelosi 90+% of the time. If that's what you want in the senate, then vote for me." Of course, he wouldn't get to first base in Texas with that approach, so that's not what he does. If I had his voting record, I would do exactly what he is doing. His lack of honesty and transparency causes me to doubt anything he says.

How do you feel about the stances I outlined?

Again, I don’t expect to convince you to vote for him, but those are some stances, and not platitudes, I imagine you could support.

But getting to issues that Texans in general can support, he has been very vocal in his support of providing better funding for rural infrastructure improvements and support, which does fit snuggly in the Democratic Party line of using government as a tool to support under-served communities.

Legalization of cannabis -- no problem here. Which step are we talking about, the Federal decriminalization or state decriminalization? Cruz himself supports the former per his answer in the debates as well. As to the Texas question, a federal officer has zero input into that vote aside from their own status a portion of the general Texas electorate.

Increasing veteran benefits -- No problem here. I think that each candidate has both supported and voted for increased veteran benefits. Do you think that anyone would not be a proponent of this?

Ensuring the government works more efficiently and costs less by eliminating redundant or outdated federal regulations and improving transparency and oversight of federal agencies -- Again no problem here. I think both candidates adhere to this stance. I would hazard a guess that Cruz thinks that far more items are redundant or outdated. And I would hazard a guess (pretty much buttressed by his voting record) that O'Rourke's stance on 'eliminating redundant government' is far eclipsed by his liberal stances on introducing even more federal regulations and laws. So in O'Rourke's case one can pretty much assume a net positive re: governmental rules, regulations, and intrusion, even with his stance on removing supposed redundant ones.

As to the border there are stark differences between the two. In addition to being a (literal) wall critic, O'Rourke ventures even farther than that. He has stated that the border with Mexico “has never been safer” and calls for an end to the “militarization of our immigration enforcement system.” (End ICE, so to speak). I would hazard a strong guess that someone who states that the border has 'never been safer' and approaches the 'end ICE' position, one might be safe to assume that they are 'anti-wall'.

(10-28-2018 10:16 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 10:12 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 09:10 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 07:26 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I don't understand the uproar about Beto. Is it even an Hispanic name? I've never met anyone with that name before. I certainly wouldn't hear it and immediately assume it's an Hispanic name.

Are you a native Texan? If so, you must have been raised in the most white bread places, something I think,is true of most Anglo liberals. But that is a discussion for another time.

Beto is a diminutive nickname for any name ending in “-berto”,such as Roberto, Alberto, Heriberto, etc.

I have a Hispanic cousin named Roberto. He goes by Bobby. To have an Anglo choose to be known as Beto just smacks to me of an attempt to curry votes from Hispanics or liberals, which would make sense for an Irish-American candidate from El Paso. Remember, he had to beat Silverstein Reyes for his seat. Not a big deal. Slight irritant for dishonesty, but hey, he IS a politician, born and bred.

Someone listed part of his platform as the eleimination of needless regulations. Isn’t that what President Trump is doing? Fracking?

Yep - which is why I was saying there are stances that conservatives and libertarians can get behind. My issue with Trump’s execution is that I disagree with many of the policies he finds “needless.” But I do think all politicians should be more proactive about reviewing existing legislation and tweaking and updating it as necessary.

So what regulations are considered needless by O’Rourke? Is he specific?

You forgot 'redundant'. You forgot 'redundant'.

And no, there seems to be zero specificity in that stance per his website.

(10-28-2018 10:10 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 07:51 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 07:36 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  Well, given that he’s running as a liberal, it makes sense that he won’t align with your views on many issues.
But reasons to vote for Beto that I’m guessing you can get behind. I could give you more reasons as to why I support his candidacy, but I doubt you’d agree.
- Legalization of cannabis
- Not wasting tax dollars on a wall along the southern border
- increasing funding for veteran benefits
- Per his website: Ensuring the government works more efficiently and costs less by eliminating redundant or outdated federal regulations and improving transparency and oversight of federal agencies.
Beto especially has been running very much on his stances and why people should vote for him, as opposed to focusing on negative attacks against Cruz. If you want to see what attacking the other side looks like, just take a leak at the governor’s race in Florida, where that is all that is happening between the two candidates.

He's not running as a leftist, he IS a leftist. He's running as some sort of bipartisan healer. He is nothing of the sort. He would go to Washington and be Chuck Schumer's lapdog, just as he has been Nancy Pelosi's lapdog. I'm not going to vote for someone who aligns with Pelosi or Schumer 90+% of the time.
If he wanted to run as a liberal, he should say, "I voted with Nancy Pelosi 90+% of the time. If that's what you want in the senate, then vote for me." Of course, he wouldn't get to first base in Texas with that approach, so that's not what he does. If I had his voting record, I would do exactly what he is doing. His lack of honesty and transparency causes me to doubt anything he says.

How do you feel about the stances I outlined?

Fair enough, I should have responded to those.

Cannabis - I agree.
Wall - I am not in agreement that a wall is the way to go, but I do believe in much stronger border enforcement than I believe Robert supports. I actually kind of thought that the wall could be an interesting trade piece if Trump chose to use it that way. Give up a physical wall along the entire border to get a wall in those places where a wall works (are there are several) plus much enhanced electronic or other surveillance along the rest of the border, guest worker status ("red card") without a path to citizenship for those already here illegally (if they want citizenship, go back and do it right, which I'm guessing few if any really want), expanded merit-based legal immigration, and a policy that those who arrive at the border without visas are detained on the other side of the border until vetted and processed, instead of catch-and-release. Basically, adopt the same immigration policies as the rest of the developed world.
Veterans benefits - as a veteran, I obviously support this; I find it sort of curious that Robert does, except that Ft. Bliss is in his district, so it's a parochial thing; sine this does not appear to be a priority of democrats as a whole (they gutted TriCare to make Obamacare work) not sure how strongly he would commit to this if he were representing an entire state instead of El Paso (or San Antonio, but considering that a lot of his support would come from those areas, I suppose e would continue to give it at least lip service)
Efficient government/less regulation - what politician has ever said he/she did not favor more efficient government; I actually don't, in the sense that I see government engaged in a constant battle to steal power from the people, and I don't want them to be very efficient in doing that; as for eliminating regulations, Trump seems to be doing that very effectively and the economy seems to be responding well; one side comment about regulation, the Europeans have a totally different conceptual approach, or at least they did until the EU got too big for its britches, in that they give you a target for, say emissions, and you use your best efforts to it it, whereas we tend to specify in great detail exactly how you must go about achieving it; ours works better to create jobs for bureaucrats, theirs works better to reduce emissions; for example, they've been drilling in deep water in the Northeast Sea for a lot longer that we ave, nearly 50 years, and how many Deepwater Horizon events have they had?

I guess where I really come down are two things. One, cherry-picking a few isolated issues in the context of a voting record that is with Nancy Pelosi 90+% of the time is hardly convincing stuff. Two, in the midst of naming all those post offices, how much legislation has he sponsored or even co-sponsored to address any of those issues? Maybe as a member of the minority he can't get much done. But I'm sure bills to address every one of those issues has been put forth, I'm sure any put forth by republicans would have welcomed a co-sponsor from across the aisle, and how many did he co-sponsor?

Quote:Again, I don’t expect to convince you to vote for him, but those are some stances, and not platitudes, I imagine you could support.

He is talking the talk in his campaign, but he has not walked the walk. And without walking the walk, they are platitudes.

Quote:But getting to issues that Texans in general can support, he has been very vocal in his support of providing better funding for rural infrastructure improvements and support, which does fit snuggly in the Democratic Party line of using government as a tool to support under-served communities.

Again, Trump has been pushing infrastructure. The needs are so massive that it certainly appears that the kind of combined federal/state/local/private financing that Trump is proposing is the only way to raise the funds needed. But democrats have not been onboard with that. Is Robert going to ride to the rescue somehow? If so, then why has he not already done so?

Bottom line: He can say what he wants. Based on his actions, I don't believe him.

(10-28-2018 10:54 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  they give you a target for, say emissions, and you use your best efforts to it it, whereas we tend to specify in breast detail exactly how you must go about achieving it; ours works better to create jobs for bureaucrats, theirs works better to reduce emissions; for example, they've been drilling in deep water in the Northeast Sea for a lot longer that we ave, nearly 50 years, and how many Deepwater Horizon events have they had?

Piper Alpha for one. (Here is a joke you *never* tell a Scots oil worker: what has four legs and goes 'woof'?)

I can think of at least one more accident that killed 40+ people but I forgot that name.

(10-28-2018 10:43 AM)tanqtonic Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 10:16 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 10:12 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 09:10 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 07:26 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I don't understand the uproar about Beto. Is it even an Hispanic name? I've never met anyone with that name before. I certainly wouldn't hear it and immediately assume it's an Hispanic name.

Are you a native Texan? If so, you must have been raised in the most white bread places, something I think,is true of most Anglo liberals. But that is a discussion for another time.

Beto is a diminutive nickname for any name ending in “-berto”,such as Roberto, Alberto, Heriberto, etc.

I have a Hispanic cousin named Roberto. He goes by Bobby. To have an Anglo choose to be known as Beto just smacks to me of an attempt to curry votes from Hispanics or liberals, which would make sense for an Irish-American candidate from El Paso. Remember, he had to beat Silverstein Reyes for his seat. Not a big deal. Slight irritant for dishonesty, but hey, he IS a politician, born and bred.

Someone listed part of his platform as the eleimination of needless regulations. Isn’t that what President Trump is doing? Fracking?

Yep - which is why I was saying there are stances that conservatives and libertarians can get behind. My issue with Trump’s execution is that I disagree with many of the policies he finds “needless.” But I do think all politicians should be more proactive about reviewing existing legislation and tweaking and updating it as necessary.

So what regulations are considered needless by O’Rourke? Is he specific?

You forgot 'redundant'. You forgot 'redundant'.

And no, there seems to be zero specificity in that stance per his website.

Well, I wanted Lad to tell me the specifics. He brought up the platform.

But I will say this in favor of O’Rourke - he says he is against bad things and for good things, and will work to eliminate the bad things and maximize the good things. I certainly support that stance. What could go wrong? How could I not vote for somebody who is for good and against evil. I think I will write in Batman.

(10-28-2018 09:30 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  OO, there are Hispanics everywhere (unless you're saying it's a Texas thing). I've been here since 1986, and I've never heard of that abbreviation and I would also think you'd see it in athletics (baseball or soccer somewhere). Are there any famous athletes who use Beto as their nickname?

Lots of it in soccer. It seems to be more common in Brazil and Portugal than in Spain or Spanish-speaking countries,

Wikipedia lists 41 at least moderately famous ones, 12 soccer players (11 from Brazil), 7 others from Brazil, 5 others from Argentina, 4 others from Portugal, 2 others from Mexico, 6 others from the USA (including O'Rourke), and 5 others from elsewhere.

It's clearly an effort by a non-Hispanic to curry favor with the Hispanic community. It's a weirdly contrived affectation. Doesn't the left call that cultural appropriation? Then again, pretty much everything he does for politics is a lie, so why shouldn't that be too?

Going back to the thread: the fact that there are three or four stances that O'Rourke takes doesnt make him necessarily 'in step' with Texas voters' views.

Using that criterion, I am pretty sure I can find 3 or 4 Cruz positions Lad would hold on to. We just named three, but above and beyond those. That singular, sparse, and selective cherry picking I dont think in any way would make Cruz acceptable to mainstream progressivism (begs the question of exactly what that term is today), nor in any way acceptable to progressives.

(10-28-2018 11:24 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 10:43 AM)tanqtonic Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 10:16 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 10:12 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 09:10 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  Are you a native Texan? If so, you must have been raised in the most white bread places, something I think,is true of most Anglo liberals. But that is a discussion for another time.

Beto is a diminutive nickname for any name ending in “-berto”,such as Roberto, Alberto, Heriberto, etc.

I have a Hispanic cousin named Roberto. He goes by Bobby. To have an Anglo choose to be known as Beto just smacks to me of an attempt to curry votes from Hispanics or liberals, which would make sense for an Irish-American candidate from El Paso. Remember, he had to beat Silverstein Reyes for his seat. Not a big deal. Slight irritant for dishonesty, but hey, he IS a politician, born and bred.

Someone listed part of his platform as the eleimination of needless regulations. Isn’t that what President Trump is doing? Fracking?

Yep - which is why I was saying there are stances that conservatives and libertarians can get behind. My issue with Trump’s execution is that I disagree with many of the policies he finds “needless.” But I do think all politicians should be more proactive about reviewing existing legislation and tweaking and updating it as necessary.

So what regulations are considered needless by O’Rourke? Is he specific?

You forgot 'redundant'. You forgot 'redundant'.

And no, there seems to be zero specificity in that stance per his website.

Well, I wanted Lad to tell me the specifics. He brought up the platform.

But I will say this in favor of O’Rourke - he says he is against bad things and for good things, and will work to eliminate the bad things and maximize the good things. I certainly support that stance. What could go wrong? How could I not vote for somebody who is for good and against evil. I think I will write in Batman.

Damn I thought the double redundant comment was good...

I agree with that characterization in the second paragraph --- but dont almost all candidates for office do that to some extent?

I mean the Republican Congressional incumbent campaign yesterday called me to inform me he was for term limits. Whoop de doo. Great stance, but 1) who isnt; and 2) how is my electing him going to change that Constitutional issue? I think every candidate does that second paragraph to an extent.

(10-28-2018 11:28 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 09:30 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  OO, there are Hispanics everywhere (unless you're saying it's a Texas thing). I've been here since 1986, and I've never heard of that abbreviation and I would also think you'd see it in athletics (baseball or soccer somewhere). Are there any famous athletes who use Beto as their nickname?

Lots of it in soccer. It seems to be more common in Brazil and Portugal than in Spain or Spanish-speaking countries,

Wikipedia lists 41 at least moderately famous ones, 12 soccer players (11 from Brazil), 7 others from Brazil, 5 others from Argentina, 4 others from Portugal, 2 others from Mexico, 6 others from the USA (including O'Rourke), and 5 others from elsewhere.

It's clearly an effort by a non-Hispanic to curry favor with the Hispanic community. It's a weirdly contrived affectation. Doesn't the left call that cultural appropriation? Then again, pretty much everything he does for politics is a lie, so why shouldn't that be too?

Again, Beto has been going by that nickname since he was a kid. It seems to be such a silly thing to be hung up on.

(10-28-2018 11:39 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 11:28 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 09:30 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  OO, there are Hispanics everywhere (unless you're saying it's a Texas thing). I've been here since 1986, and I've never heard of that abbreviation and I would also think you'd see it in athletics (baseball or soccer somewhere). Are there any famous athletes who use Beto as their nickname?

Lots of it in soccer. It seems to be more common in Brazil and Portugal than in Spain or Spanish-speaking countries,
Wikipedia lists 41 at least moderately famous ones, 12 soccer players (11 from Brazil), 7 others from Brazil, 5 others from Argentina, 4 others from Portugal, 2 others from Mexico, 6 others from the USA (including O'Rourke), and 5 others from elsewhere.
It's clearly an effort by a non-Hispanic to curry favor with the Hispanic community. It's a weirdly contrived affectation. Doesn't the left call that cultural appropriation? Then again, pretty much everything he does for politics is a lie, so why shouldn't that be too?

Again, Beto has been going by that nickname since he was a kid. It seems to be such a silly thing to be hung up on.

I don't know the O'Rourkes well, but I know enough about them to know that they don't do anything without considering the political impact. My guess would be that when he was a kid, they said, "Hmm, when he grows up he's going into politics in El Paso, and he could probably use a Spanish nickname. So let's call him Beto."

It's a silly thing to be hung up on, except that it's a metaphor for how they do almost everything. Young Robert has run a senate campaign almost without touching on any substantive policy issues. "Look at me, I've got a cute grin, and I've had selfies made in every county in Texas. So I'm obviously the perfect person to bring us all together." His idea of unification is, as I used to say about Obama, "Hey, let's all meet at the left end of the political spectrum." That is not a way to unify people. It's a way to divide them.

(10-28-2018 11:42 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 11:39 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 11:28 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 09:30 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  OO, there are Hispanics everywhere (unless you're saying it's a Texas thing). I've been here since 1986, and I've never heard of that abbreviation and I would also think you'd see it in athletics (baseball or soccer somewhere). Are there any famous athletes who use Beto as their nickname?

Lots of it in soccer. It seems to be more common in Brazil and Portugal than in Spain or Spanish-speaking countries,
Wikipedia lists 41 at least moderately famous ones, 12 soccer players (11 from Brazil), 7 others from Brazil, 5 others from Argentina, 4 others from Portugal, 2 others from Mexico, 6 others from the USA (including O'Rourke), and 5 others from elsewhere.
It's clearly an effort by a non-Hispanic to curry favor with the Hispanic community. It's a weirdly contrived affectation. Doesn't the left call that cultural appropriation? Then again, pretty much everything he does for politics is a lie, so why shouldn't that be too?

Again, Beto has been going by that nickname since he was a kid. It seems to be such a silly thing to be hung up on.

I don't know the O'Rourkes well, but I know enough about them to know that they don't do anything without considering the political impact. My guess would be that when he was a kid, they said, "Hmm, when he grows up he's going into politics in El Paso, and he could probably use a Spanish nickname. So let's call him Beto."

It's a silly thing to be hung up on, except that it's a metaphor for how they do almost everything. Young Robert has run a senate campaign almost without touching on any substantive policy issues. "Look at me, I've got a cute grin, and I've had selfies made in every county in Texas. So I'm obviously the perfect person to bring us all together." His idea of unification is, as I used to say about Obama, "Hey, let's all meet at the left end of the political spectrum." That is not a way to unify people. It's a way to divide them.

I went to the same grade school and high school as O'Rourke. Knew (and know) at lot of his 'compadres' (he is younger than me by 6 or 7 years). He was typically known as Bobbie.

Knew his family decently. His dad was known as Pat, not Patrick. When Pat changed from Democrat to Republican to run against an incumbent he was referred to by some of his ex-party as "gabacho chingon de la O".

Charlotte and Erin didnt have nicknames.

Only after he got back to El Paso after college did the full fledge Beto come to the fore. I will grant you that he has used Beto for 23-25 years or so, maybe more if used in college.

Again, Lad, perhaps you care to share some of your first hand experiences on this. You state the case so exceptionally you must have some. You state that so defiantly you must have some first hand knowledge of this. Or is this a case of defiantly restating something you have read?

(10-28-2018 11:42 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  Young Robert has run a senate campaign almost without touching on any substantive policy issues. "Look at me, I've got a cute grin, and I've had selfies made in every county in Texas. So I'm obviously the perfect person to bring us all together."

You obviously don't have teenagers. That's how you connect to teenagers and young people these days. If it gets him within 0-5 percent (and helps convert a few down tickets to Democrats), it worked for both him and the Democrats.

I've tried to back off on the anti-Trump rhetoric just because I'm trying to be a good American, but I'd still rather have that type of politics than rampant hate-mongering.

When I mentioned the two hate crimes earlier in the thread, I forgot about the white guy in Kentucky who randomly killed two black people at a Kroger parking lot for no reason (perhaps only because he couldn't get into a black church).

All three of those incidents clearly show it's been a horrible week in America. I don't think we're trending in the right direction as a country. I think that's a million times more important than worrying about a nickname about someone who grew up in an Hispanic town who may or may not have that nickname since he was 4.

(10-28-2018 11:21 AM)tanqtonic Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 10:54 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  they give you a target for, say emissions, and you use your best efforts to it it, whereas we tend to specify in breast detail exactly how you must go about achieving it; ours works better to create jobs for bureaucrats, theirs works better to reduce emissions; for example, they've been drilling in deep water in the Northeast Sea for a lot longer that we ave, nearly 50 years, and how many Deepwater Horizon events have they had?

Piper Alpha for one. (Here is a joke you *never* tell a Scots oil worker: what has four legs and goes 'woof'?)
I can think of at least one more accident that killed 40+ people but I forgot that name.

Wow, 1988, just realizing how long ago that was. And that was in much shallower water (around 500 feet, IIRC). Are you thinking of Alexander Kielland in 1980 as the other one?

We've come a long way in terms of damage control capability since then. And while both involved signifiant loss of life, neither involved the kind of massive oil spill that Deepwater Horizon did. Ixtoc in 1979 is the other massive oil spill that I can recall, and that was Mexican and in about 160 feet of water in the Gulf of Campeche.