Said Beto O'Rourke, quoted in "O’Rourke calls Abbott a 'thug' and an 'authoritarian' who’s 'got his own oligarch here in the state of Texas'/The Democratic nominee for governor slammed the Republican incumbent in harsh terms, presaging a bitter lead-up to an election nearly eight months away" (The Texas Tribune).
Now, I think O'Rourke is utterly unqualified to hold serious power, because he seems to have had the delusion that he could aggressively assert that Abbott is part of the "rise of authoritarians and thugs across the world" without needing to back up his statement with any fact or argument. And this was not a casual, unguarded remark. He was sitting — "in a crowded hall at the South by Southwest festival" — doing an interview with Evan Smith, the CEO and co-founder of The Texas Tribune.
Of course, Smith pushed for more: "Greg Abbott is a thug in your mind?"
O’Rourke repeated the charge — "He’s a thug, he’s an authoritarian" — even as he knew he had no argument to make. He proceeded — as he put it — to "make the case." He went on about Abbott's failure to "keep the lights on in the energy capital of the planet last February." That may be a basis for criticizing Abbott, but it doesn't make him a thug and an authoritarian.
O'Rourke then switched to the subject of voting: “You think this stuff only exists in Russia or in other parts of the world? It’s happening right here.... You think they rig elections in other parts of the planet? It is the toughest state in the nation in which to vote, right here.” It's tough to vote, so the election is "rigged," and that — what? — makes Abbot like Putin?
The most thuggish thing here is Beto's own asserting that the election is rigged. It's Trumpian.
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82 comments:
Beto O'Rourke, quoted in "O’Rourke calls Abbott a 'thug' and an 'authoritarian'
let's see;
how about: "You keep using that word, i no think that word means what you think it means"?
how about: Please give us JUST ONE example?
how about: Please explain A surge in Republican turnout across South Texas, a longtime Democratic stronghold dominated by Latino voters. In five U.S.-Mexico border counties, nearly 30,000 people voted in the GOP primary, an increase of more than 25% in participation from 2020.
Come ON Beta!
More Hispanics in Texas voted for a Republican Pres in 2020 than voted for You (much more)
Except that Trump had valid reasons for saying so. Beto doesn't.
Beto promises to unilaterally,(authoritarian?)strip 2cnd amendment rights from citizens.
But he can read the polls. He denounced CRT in grade schools and high schools. But it only shows that he will ditch his principles when that's what takes to pander to the voters.
Abbott will kill him on the voting rules, if Beto is stupid enough to bring it up during a debate.
the charge — "He’s a thug, he’s an authoritarian" — even as he knew he had no argument to make. He proceeded — as he put it — to "make the case." He went on about Abbott's failure to "keep the lights on in the energy capital of the planet last February."
So, the argument is: He's a fascist, because he DOESN'T make the trains run on time?
Speaking of railroads.. There's a vote going on in Texas for Railroad Commissioner
One of the candidates is a cute girl that poses Naked, riding an oil pump* in her ads
you KNOW who gilbar supports
riding an oil pump* in Texas, the Railroad Commissioner is in charge of Oil production.
Her slogan; "Drill It Baby, Drill It!
The Left has become dependent on the media uncritically repeating everything they say.
There is no journalistic reason they’re inserting “Putin Price Hike” into every story right now.
Beto O'Rourke sounds as batshit crazy as our own beloved Achilles. He should have called it the Abbott Regime.
This seems to be a pattern of the left, make accusations, without support, which at the end of the day actually reflect how they would govern. Justin Trudeau comes immediately to mind as I read the opening statement.
Is calling a white guy a "thug" cultural appropriation?
Biden, Pelosi, Beto, Kamala - is it illegal for democrat politicians to have an IQ greater than 70?
Beto is facing another humiliating defeat, ergo the desperation tactics.
This is the second high profile outing for O'Rourke, a man without a trace political moxie, not even enough to become a time-serving flunkey like Slow Joe Biden. The fact that a man without a single asset except for a mouthful of Kennedyesque teeth can win a primary race shows what an obsolete product the Obama Democrats have become.
Spot the difference between "tough to cheat" and "tough to vote." "Tough to vote" is a Democrat talking point meant to be vomited up by simple-minded people who find thinking hard.
It's also "tough" to get your money out of your bank account because you have to prove who you are, so Democrats should drop all such protection on their accounts under the guise of "improved customer service." Why even bring up vaccine mandates and passports, the double-think is way too strong among Democrats for them to even get what you are trying to say.
Fear, bullying, and intimidation INSIDE the left led to many parroting the statements of the most extreme leftist bullies. There's no logic because it's simple psychological projection of their own flaws onto Abbott (as it was against Trump previously).
It's tough for some to resist any message forced by their "friends" who control power in the party. Children fully depend on their parents. Unelected politicians fully depend on those who were elected and those who donate to campaigns.
AA: "That may be a basis for criticizing Abbott, but it does make him a thug and an authoritarian."
Should that read : "That may be a basis for criticizing Abbott, but it does not make him a thug and an authoritarian."??
The difference between #BetaBoi Beto and former President Trump is that the latter was correct in his assessment. None is so blind as to see the multiple countings that got shut down in the middle of the night and miraculously got a deluge of Biden* votes when they resumed.
Beto is such a vacuous lightweight, he's like a helium balloon. No wonder he waves about in the wind of public opinion.
Russel Brand lays into Justin Trudeau for saying similar things
It's. funny.
iowan2 said...
"But it only shows that [Beto] will ditch his principles when that's what takes to pander to the voters."
When you have no principles it's easy to ditch them.
Beto can't run a positive campaign on a platform that pushes his agenda, because it wouldn't be supported by Texans. His best argument is the power outages of 2021, but Beto's policies would just make it worse. And we are all supposed to pretend he didn't call for executively amending 2A.
I am very thankful, Althouse- that you can call it as you see it. That’s exactly the kind of journalistic integrity this country and world need.
The sad thing is that people seem to want to be told how to see things: w/out any factual evidence.
And then they repeat the sound bite and add to the cacophony of falsehoods and untruths.
Chaos is always right there.
I don’t think it wise to invite her in.
That’s what beto is doing.
Lies are the work of the devil.
Open borders, anti second amendment, anti free speech democrat. The democrat party itself has become a fascist party.
To our Leftist friends here: Was Beto justified in using those labels? If so, why?
“Thug” and “authoritarian” are terms that the Dems are applying to government officials that are actually staying within the guardrails of their role - those that use the deliberative legislative process to make the changes they advocate. People like Fauci, Weingarten, Newsom, and Witmer actually fit the definition of those terms much more. Funny how that works.
“He went on about Abbott's failure to "keep the lights on in the energy capital of the planet last February."
And the reason was Texas has way too many wind turbines. And the reason for that is federal tax credits thanks to the Dems.
“Do not crucify Americans on a cross of wind turbine blades!” Dave Begley.
Well, the good news is that Beto is meeting with the ambassador from the EU.
The world is in good hands, folks--nothing to worry about!
No wonder someone sits out elections if they take random things they read about each candidate and pronounces them disqualified from office.
The guy who promised to "TAKE" your AK-47's aways from legal gun owning Americans is calling Abbott exactly what HE is himself. Look in the mirror.
That may be a basis for criticizing Abbott, but it does make him a thug and an authoritarian.
I’m fixing this sentence needs fixing.
The most thuggish thing here is Beto's own asserting that the election is rigged. It's Trumpian.
Trump failed to recognize how women think.
Anyway thug is cultural appropriation.
The most thuggish thing here is Beto's own asserting that the election is rigged. It's Trumpian.
Hillary cackles is agreement.
Howard said...
Beto O'Rourke sounds as batshit crazy as our own beloved Achilles. He should have called it the Abbott Regime.
When stupid people look up at people smarter than them they can only see so far.
Everyone past that just looks crazy.
Apparently he’s a thug because it’s so hard to vote in Texas. Like you need an ID and have to register 30 days in advance.
Oh, the humanity.
@R C Belaire
Thanks!
Sorry. Fixed.
Readering said...
No wonder someone sits out elections if they take random things they read about each candidate and pronounces them disqualified from office.
Ann wants to be above everyone else.
The best way to do this is to pronounce everyone as unfit...
And pretend everyone thinks you are as awesome as you think you are.
The most thuggish thing here is Beto's own asserting that the election is rigged. It's Trumpian.
Trump has a case. Beto does not. Making it difficult for Democrats to stuff the ballot box is not rigging an election.
"Tough to vote"? In what way?
Five years ago, I spent part of a day in a DPS office getting a driver's license, which the law requires in order for me to, you know, drive. I also registered to vote by answering some basic questions about myself.
Since then, I've been able to go to any of several polling places within a couple of miles of where I live; I could have strolled to at least two of them within about 40 minutes if necessary. Once there, I had to produce that driver's license, the name on which was matched against the voter rolls, and confirmed the info about me there, and I was handed a ballot and given any necessary instructions for how to operate the machine in use at that polling place. I followed those instructions. No part of voting in Texas has been difficult.
These are the acceptable forms of photo ID for voting in Texas:
* Texas Driver License issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
* Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
* Texas Personal Identification Card issued by DPS
* Texas Handgun License issued by DPS
* United States Military Identification Card containing the person’s photograph
* United States Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photograph
* United States Passport (book or card)
If you don't have one of these and can't reasonably obtain one, you can fill out a form declaring your inability to get any of them and instead produce:
* copy or original of a government document that shows the voter’s name and an address, including the voter’s voter registration certificate;
* copy of or original current utility bill;
* copy of or original bank statement;
* copy of or original government check;
* copy of or original paycheck; or
* copy of or original of (a) a certified domestic (from a U.S. state or territory) birth certificate or (b) a document confirming birth admissible in a court of law which establishes the voter’s identity (which may include a foreign birth document).
The corrupt left tell you all you need to know with their projection.
"That may be a basis for criticizing Abbott, but it does make him a thug and an authoritarian."
Him being Beto? Or is there a not missing?
I am a deplorable Texas.
I get emails daily or more from Beto's campaign- no, Beto, I don't want to chip in $3 or more...
I also get the Texas Tribune newsletter, which ridiculously asserts that it is a source of unbiased neutral news. I wonder how many of their journalism majors ever voted for a Republican?
I am confident that Gov Abbott thanks God every day for the choices his opponents make.
John said...
This seems to be a pattern of the left, make accusations, without support, which at the end of the day actually reflect how they would govern
Agreed. It’s a strategy- accuse your opponent of that of which you are guilty. It’s become a marker for what Democrats are up to…
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/03/mayorkas-releases-new-rules-extremism-dhs-will-target-anyone-believes-election-stolen-challenged-faucis-everchanging-covid-rules/
Another liar- mayorkas…
The difference is that while O’Routke is wrong, Trump has enough evidence surfacing that warrants investigation. Real investigation.
It seems the only way Democrats will come close to admitting they widespread voter fraud in 2020 is for Republicans to employ the same strategies in future elections. At the least it does seem to say the strategies being uncovered are fair game for the GOP in the future.
There is a red wave coming in Texas, and Beto is not the guy to stop it. He is the guy to rake in bucks from citizens of California, though. Maybe money will work wonders this time in Texas, parting the red wave to allow the Demmies to march into the governor's office.
I wish Ann would watch news like Neil Oliver instead of US Media Drivel.
This cast is above the average democrat voter's milieu.
But now even Neil Oliver is a Putin Puppet Authoritarian supporter as Beto says.
In this video Neil Oliver nails douchey shitheads like Howard.
"No organized cult of killers has ever murdered as many people as the Thuggee. In the 1830s this Indian secret society strangled upward of 30,000 native people and travelers as a sacrifice to their goddess Kali, the 'Dark Mother.'" Encyclopedia.com.
Beto better watch out.
The Texas gubernatorial election will be a useful measure of the extent to which that state is composed of mental defectives.
Are we sure he is not a fraternal twin of Ms Harris?
This is a prime example of why Trump is perfectly acceptable as a politician. This is not new. This is the nature of those with political aspirations. They are all beyond the pale.
Beto wants to make sure that Democrats show up to vote for him, so he is tailoring his positions to the moderates. You will see this many times this Fall as Democrats try to avoid a complete shellacking at the polls (or in the Wisconsin nursing homes).
Loyal Democrats who are not radical leftists will never vote for Republicans, but they can refuse to vote. That is what the Democrat Party is concerned about this Fall.
He's not trying to give any evidence that he deserves power, because that's not something he's after.
O'Rourke knows he's going to lose this fall. I mean, Texas hasn't elected a Democrat statewide since 1994, in a year where Biden and the economy is dragging down the Democrats nationwide, the guy who couldn't beat the unpopular Ted Cruz in what was a great year for the Democrats nationwide is somehow going to get elected governor?
Even politicians don't have that much self-delusion.
The only reason he's running is because it means he can take millions of dollars in campaign donations from idiots and spend them on people he wants to have owe him favors (people he hires as staff, consultants, specific TV stations, et cetera).
Accordingly, everything he says is going to be aimed at convincing donors to give him money. Those donors know that the CRT-in-school thing hurt Democrats in the 2021 elections, so he's announced against that. At the same time, those donors love the "Republicans are restricting voting" story, and they hate Putin, so he's appealing to that.
And that's it. He's not trying to make a case against Abbott, nor even pandering to voters. This is a pure con man's grift, nothing more.
Texas Democrats are very desperate. They will say anything and if it works, it works.
Beta wants to take people’s guns away, tell them what kind of car to drive, require them to use made-up pronouns to describe other people, and use the state to disempower parents and chemically castrate children. So obviously his opponent is the “authoritarian”
I'm confused.....I thought we weren't allowed to question election results in USA? "The Big Lie" and all that.
Beto is a little boy flinging poo.
Why pick on fake Hispanic Beto O'rourke (real name Robert Francis O'Rourke)? Every Democrat Poltician for the last 5 years has been accusing the Republicans of "Supressing the vote" or "Stealing the 2016 election with help from Putin" etc.
Here's what Nice, Good Ol' Joe said on Jan 11, 2022:
Today, we come to Atlanta — the cradle of civil rights — to make clear what must come after that dreadful day when a dagger was literally held at the throat of American democracy.
But then the violent mob of January 6th, 2021, empowered and encouraged by a defeated former president, sought to win through violence what he had lost at the ballot box, to impose the will of the mob, to overturn a free and fair election, and, for the first time — the first time in American history, they — to stop the peaceful transfer of power.
They failed. They failed. (Applause.) But democracy’s — but democracy’s visi- — victory was not certain, nor is democracy’s future.
Jim Crow 2.0 is about two insidious things: voter suppression and election subversion. It’s no longer about who gets to vote; it’s about making it harder to vote. It’s about who gets to count the vote and whether your vote counts at all.
It’s not hyperbole; this is a fact.
Please oh please let Beto last through the entire election season. He is a gift to Republicans that keeps on giving.
O'rourke is a private citizen. Why is he meeting with a European diplomat?
Isn't that a violation of the loan act?
If it was good enough to persecute (not a typo) General Flynn, why is it not good enough to prosecute O'rourke?
John LGBTQBNY Henry
I thought arguing an election was rigged made you an insurrectionist. Lucky he is not running for federal office or the Democrats would invoke the 14th Amendment against him.
I used to think other people took this goofball as seriously as he takes himself. Now I know he’s got no chance if this is the best he’s got. Should be a trouncing in Nov when he discovers it’s not so hard to vote after all and lots of people voted for the other guy.
Beto seems to be good at failing up. Congress, Senate and now Governor. When do his funders get tired of it ? They had Abortion Barbie for a while. I guess you have to be crazy to be a Texas Democrat. I still remember the drunken Austin DA who tried to arrest the Governor.
I've never understood the attraction of that guy. He's one of those media darlings that pops up every now and then that makes me scratch my head.
assert that Abbott is part of the "rise of authoritarians and thugs across the world" without needing to back up his statement with any fact or argument.
"Facts" and "arguments" are fascist.
maybe the dems had an actual candidate
thanks, beto for drowning out any possible sanity in the election
Readering said...
No wonder someone sits out elections if they take random things they read about each candidate and pronounces them disqualified from office.
Random? He's right in line with a ton of other Democrats.
Krugman wrote on Jan. 16, 2017 that the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., planned to skip Trump's inauguration because he regarded him as an "illegitimate president."
Trump's 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton called him "illegitimate" in 2019 and claimed he had stolen the race from her, as did former President Jimmy Carter.
Right up to the top about the upcoming midterms
"The increase in the prospect of being illegitimate is in direct proportion to us not being able to get these reforms passed," the Democratic president continued.
This is a good summary of the Texas outage. The blame game can be difficult on such a complicated problem. Simple just doesn't happen...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=08mwXICY4JM&ab_channel=PracticalEngineering
I listened to (part of) my first Joe Rogan podcast yesterday, #1425 - Garrett Reisman. He is a good interviewer. When I thought of a question, he immediately asked it. When the interviewee wandered off to a different topic, he asked the question again.
My point is that I hardly ever see an interview of a politician like that, where the interviewer calls them on stuff and makes them back things up or else back down.
In the eyes of pajama-boy betas like Beto, every alpha male is a thug.
Beto O'Rourke's dog is still sad. He knows the truth about his master.
NEVER any discussion of serious issues.
Ask both Abbot and O'Rouke about HB 7 (87-2) -- does Texas lead the way on new green energy sources, recycling, and safe waste disposal, or not? Does the "NIMBY" attitude of California afflict Texans, too? If not the legislature, does the Governor have the power to make the decision? The Railroad commissioner?
Of course very few people recognize the issue because the news media, even local Texas journalists, pay more attention to how much money a candidate has raised and what the last poll says and how the poll's demographics break down than they care about climate.
When you make shit up, it’s delusional- not Trumpian.
Trump didn’t make shit up.
Don't you know? "Thug" is a code word. It means Black male. It's racist to use it. Beto is rayciss!
I'll bet the Ambassador from the EU left thanking the Lord for the opportunity for Beto to call the sitting governor a thug. Helpful as hell in this moment of crisis, no?
Do you think he also convinced him the green energy we might be able to rely on at an unspecified future day is far superior to Texas oil today?
People often compare Beto with JFK. Close enough if that is John F. Kerry.
From the article:
"O’Rourke repeated the charge — "He’s a thug, he’s an authoritarian" — even as he knew he had no argument to make."
It wasn't an argument. It was projection.
Abbott should reply to Beto " lighten up Francis ". By the way, wherever there was an honest review of the 2020 ballots in the disputed precincts there were a lot of irregularities all which favored the Democrats.
The most thuggish thing here is Beto's own asserting that the election is rigged. It's Trumpian.
Nope. Trump correctly noted that things like sending ballots out to every single registered voter, destroying ballot security measures in place to make sure the returned ballots were actually cast by the voter they were sent to, allowing people to vote without requiring them to prove that they are a legal US citizen who is legally registered to vote in that precinct, letting poll workers handle ballots without outside observation are things that make it impossible to have an honest election
Beto is bitching about Texas trying to have an honest election.
There's a difference there
Now, I think O'Rourke is utterly unqualified to hold serious power, because he seems to have had the delusion that he could aggressively assert that Abbott is part of the "rise of authoritarians and thugs across the world" without needing to back up his statement with any fact or argument.
Why would he need that? Democrats haven't been required to provide that at least since they started pushing their hoax claim that Trump was conspiring with Putin.
Every time a Democrat calls photoID laws "vote suppression" they're doing what Beto did. Do you consider them all "utterly unqualified to hold serious power"?
I do. but do you?
O’Rourke repeated the charge — "He’s a thug, he’s an authoritarian" — even as he knew he had no argument to make. He proceeded — as he put it — to "make the case." He went on about Abbott's failure to "keep the lights on in the energy capital of the planet last February." That may be a basis for criticizing Abbott, but it doesn't make him a thug and an authoritarian.
So, Mussolini's defenders claimed "he made the trains run on time" to justify his authoritarianism.
And Beto's now saying that Abbott Is an "authoritarian" because he DIDN"T "make the trains run on time".
Orwell wrote that "fascist" was now so debased that it just meant "something I don't like".
For the Left, the same is now true for "authoritarian".
Of course, it's been true for years. After all, they repeat idly called Trump an "authoritarian", despite the fact that he was one of the greatest Presidential respecters of Federalism and State power in the last 100 years.
Compare Trump and Biden* WRT Covid. Biden has failed to make anything better than Trump did, while issuing a hell of a lot more mandates.
A sane person would call Biden* the authoritarian, not Trump
You know, maybe it's time we start acting like thugs. They're going to call us that anyways. Might as well get some mileage out of it.
Beto is a lightweight caricature of a lying Democrat. Even his name is a lie. If he wins, Texas deserves him and rational Texans are an endangered species.
As for "Trumpian," Madame Law Professor, do you argue against the emerging evidence of election irregularities from which fraud can be reasonably inferred, including that in Wisconsin? If so, what is the basis for your argument, wishful thinking or blind faith?
As a native Texan, I have to say Beto is the worse type of politician that we often see in Texas. He is an empty suit. And I seriously don't know why he thinks his outlandish comments, from, hell yes we are going to take away your guns to calling Abbott a thug is going to do him any good. What a jackass. The only good thing about his candidacy is that this is the best the Democrats have to offer.
Beta is an unattractive gigalo in the same mold as Kerry.
He's not a serious person...he's a political dilettante...
When I search on the terms "beto o' rourke meets with eu ambassador" I get ten pages of returns with every one being about beto calling Abbott a thug. There are no news articles at all regarding this actual meeting.
Pics, or it didn't happen.
Blogger Amadeus 48 said...
There is a red wave coming in Texas, and Beto is not the guy to stop it. He is the guy to rake in bucks from citizens of California, though. Maybe money will work wonders this time in Texas, parting the red wave to allow the Demmies to march into the governor's office."
Beto's funding when he ran against Cruz in '18 was critically important to the successful democrat efforts to elect judges and county officials all across the state. Thankfully, that was the last election in Texas to allow straight ticket voting, but his money is still going to turn out democrats, especially in the urban counties.
That said, let's assume you're right. What do you consider a 'red wave' in Texas?
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