Umm, wow. Seriously? Really?

[Gargamel]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Hey hey--those kind of idiots can be found everywhere.

But they tend to congregate in certain southern states.

[Oberon]

Takes two to tango though, there's some left-wing nutters just as fruitloopy as the right-wingers.

[eddie]

You got that right Oberon!

[Stealhead]

Wasn't Buddy Holly from Lubbock?

I heard a little about this "judge" they asked the Sheriff if what the judge claims him to have was true the Sheriff said that the only thing they discussed was regular plans for things like storms and other natural disasters.He said that he never had a discussion with the judge about a civil war.

Sounds to me like a complete nutcase and the man is a judge.I heard some place that a judge was caught with sexual toys that he hid on himself and then
"handled" out of sight during actual trials.I am not sure which judge is more scary the civil war judge or toy judge.

Every state has its fair share of wingnuts.I try to ignore the negative aspects/people of my state and focus on the positive.

[Aramike]

Anyone here that knows me probably knows that I like to play devil's advocate, so here goes...

While I think this judge is off his rocker a wee bit, I'm curious as to why everyone is so dismissive of the idea?

I'll admit that my initial reaction to this story was the same as everyone else's, but then I recalled thousands of years of the history of human civilization. Like it or not, the odds are probably more against us NOT having another civil war than otherwise. We have always been a divided nation; this is nothing new. However, we are still a young nation, and historically ideological conflicts tend to boil over.

Indeed, I don't believe that President Obama being reelected will cause a civil war. But, I do believe that such a conflict is possible, if not probably. We'd love to believe that our union is everlasting, but history suggests otherwise.

Can we beat the odds? I hope so. Still, I can't ignore history. So maybe this judge is a moonbat. But still, history seems to suggest that SOMETHING will set us off. Why not this?

[Takeda Shingen]

Originally Posted by Aramike

Anyone here that knows me probably knows that I like to play devil's advocate, so here goes...

While I think this judge is off his rocker a wee bit, I'm curious as to why everyone is so dismissive of the idea?

I'll admit that my initial reaction to this story was the same as everyone else's, but then I recalled thousands of years of the history of human civilization. Like it or not, the odds are probably more against us NOT having another civil war than otherwise. We have always been a divided nation; this is nothing new. However, we are still a young nation, and historically ideological conflicts tend to boil over.

Indeed, I don't believe that President Obama being reelected will cause a civil war. But, I do believe that such a conflict is possible, if not probably. We'd love to believe that our union is everlasting, but history suggests otherwise.

Can we beat the odds? I hope so. Still, I can't ignore history. So maybe this judge is a moonbat. But still, history seems to suggest that SOMETHING will set us off. Why not this?

I agree with that. We have this quaint, as the word was thrown around, notion that our modern nation states are somehow things of permanence. People point to the nations like the 1000 year old Britian and the 3000 year old China as examples. The truth is that each of those nations existed in a multitude of different governances and styles of government and were wroght with various civil wars and wars of succession. They blew themselves apart and reformed themselves into something different; much like nature's cycle of death and new life. Sometimes they didn't reform themselves at all, or were absorbed into another state. The likelyhood that something of that sort will occur again in the United States is so high as to almost be a certainty.

[CCIP]

Originally Posted by Takeda Shingen

I agree with that. We have this quaint, as the word was thrown around, notion that our modern nation states are somehow things of permanence. People point to the nations like the 1000 year old Britian and the 3000 year old China as examples. The truth is that each of those nations existed in a multitude of different governances and styles of government and were wroght with various civil wars and wars of succession. They blew themselves apart and reformed themselves into something different; much like nature's cycle of death and new life. Sometimes they didn't reform themselves at all, or were absorbed into another state. The likelyhood that something of that sort will occur again in the United States is so high as to almost be a certainty.

Yep, and in some sense the US is blessed to be as stable as it has been. There is very little living memory of uncertainty and social collapse in the US, and while most people know it can happen, it's not an immediate reality for most people living there. So that does give many a somewhat naive perspective, and I don't mean that as an insult - just as a suggestion that for most, something like a revolution is so surreal that they can't even picture it as anything other than a bad movie plot. Then compare this to, for example, people from Eastern Europe. There's some massive changes in their recent memory. For me, having lived through the collapse of the communist system is really a bit of an eye-opener. Things can and do change violently, for better or/and worse. The good news is that even massive changes aren't all people cut them out to be. In these cycles of social and political change, people who have little personal experience of them tend to see something apocalyptic. In reality, stuff happens, life goes on. Instead of panicking and stocking guns, I think people need to be more open-minded and proactive about changes they see happening around them, especially if they live in a society where it's their right (and even obligation) to do something about their own civic circumstances.

[August]

Originally Posted by Aramike

Anyone here that knows me probably knows that I like to play devil's advocate, so here goes...

While I think this judge is off his rocker a wee bit, I'm curious as to why everyone is so dismissive of the idea?

I think the main reason is because the good judge isn't preparing for some potential long term danger but rather his plans are against a specific person in the very near future. To say that if he's reelected the President, is going to use UN troops against the residents of North Central Texas just begs for dismissal as the wishful thinking of a disturbed individual.

[Blacklight]

The funny thing is that you never hear this kind of crazy from the Left side. It's 99.99% of the time from the Right. The Republican's have gone so far to the Right that crazy seems to be the new norm. And I'm not even going to get started on the Tea Party.

[Aramike]

Originally Posted by August

I think the main reason is because the good judge isn't preparing for some potential long term danger but rather his plans are against a specific person in the very near future. To say that if he's reelected the President, is going to use UN troops against the residents of North Central Texas just begs for dismissal as the wishful thinking of a disturbed individual.

While I'm inclined to agree, I have to repeat - odds are that SOMETHING will set SOMETHING off at SOME point. So why not this?

Now I'm not saying, or even implying, that this judge is speaking of anything that is even remotely likely. What I AM saying is that, after we all high-five, dance, and pronounce the judge a moonbat we consider the possibilities of what could set such disastrous events in motion.

It's more fun that way.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Gargamel

But they tend to congregate in certain southern states.

Show me some factual evidence.

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

True, but I read these headlines and my first instinct is "Please be Mississippi or Florida, please be Mississippi or Florida..." and 2/3s of the time, I'm relieved. But it's that 1/3 of the time...

You try and try and convince people that this state's a pretty good place to live, all in all, but then you get some balloonhead like this guy and then all the stereotypes come back.

Well, no one put a gun to your head and said you had to live here.
At least, now we know that stereotypes are always true.
I don't try to convince that Texas is a good place to live for anyone, except myself.

[flatsixes]

I'm what Virginians call a "come here:" which is a polite way of saying I'm a Yankee transplant. Been here 30 years, but as soon as I ask for "a cuppa cawfee" that big red "NY" appears on my forehead again. Being a product of these two cultures, I can't but help notice how the South is portrayed in the predominantly northern-centric media as being populated by quaint eccentrics, frequently charming, occasionally disturbing, and (seemingly) wholly baffling. The material for any national story seems ready-made to appeal to a northern audience: Just listen to the difference in their accents! See what they cook for dinner! Get a load of their attitudes towards guns and religion! They'll even say 'Yes M'am!' right on TV! How quaint!"

Well... they have a point. There ain't nothing "quaint" about New York City. But so much the worse for them. But when some bozo pops up in the South (and I will include Texas in that fold) and starts shooting his mouth off about the end of times, it's "newsworthy" to the North, not so much because of what's being said, but because who's saying it. How many stories have you read about Charles Barron, a former Black Panther and Brooklyn City Councilman? The guy is shot from guns - spouts off the most ridiculous nonsense - but his is just a local story. He isn't "quaint" enough to ridicule.

Eh, what do I know. I'm sure I carry my own biases around, and I dearly love my old home town. But I grow weary of the ignorance so gleefully displayed by the folks wielding the national megaphone. All my children are Virginians. And God bless them.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Well, no one put a gun to your head and said you had to live here.
At least, now we know that stereotypes are always true.
I don't try to convince that Texas is a good place to live for anyone, except myself.

I'm sorry, Mookie. I was thinking about my remarks today while at work, I didn't mean to come off so rude. Please stay in Texas, we need people to counterbalance guys like this nutty judge.

Originally Posted by CCIP

Yep, and in some sense the US is blessed to be as stable as it has been. There is very little living memory of uncertainty and social collapse in the US, and while most people know it can happen, it's not an immediate reality for most people living there. So that does give many a somewhat naive perspective, and I don't mean that as an insult - just as a suggestion that for most, something like a revolution is so surreal that they can't even picture it as anything other than a bad movie plot. Then compare this to, for example, people from Eastern Europe. There's some massive changes in their recent memory. For me, having lived through the collapse of the communist system is really a bit of an eye-opener. Things can and do change violently, for better or/and worse. The good news is that even massive changes aren't all people cut them out to be. In these cycles of social and political change, people who have little personal experience of them tend to see something apocalyptic. In reality, stuff happens, life goes on. Instead of panicking and stocking guns, I think people need to be more open-minded and proactive about changes they see happening around them, especially if they live in a society where it's their right (and even obligation) to do something about their own civic circumstances.

I think that's true in large parts. Social stabilty is hard to gauge. I'm sure the States weren't really expect the Civil War to be what it ended up being, when they were pulling the country apart over slavery in the decades before 1861. Same with WWI: until armies began mobilizing, I bet most people just did not think a war on that scale was possible. Just look at 9/11: how many of us really paid any attention to Al Quiada? It only takes a spark to set off dynamite.

I'm sorry, Mookie. I was thinking about my remarks today while at work, I didn't mean to come off so rude. Please stay in Texas, we need people to counterbalance guys like this nutty judge

That is one harsh rebuke

[Onkel Neal]

I'm gonna change your avatar to a bronie.