comment: >
  
  If only there had been some prior event to give warning that this could happen. 
  So... Any flights to Cancun?
context: Any Federal Aid to Texas should require the "Texas Grid" to be brought up to the same weather proofing and redundancy requirements as the rest of the country. US should not keep propping up self-serving private utilities trying to cut corners to maximize their profits! >
  
  The grid needs nationalized like everywhere else. This is the only state that has this problem. >
  
  BuT mUh SuCcEsSiOn >
  
  secession* >
  
  Thanks, I thought I spelled it wrong but wasn't sure lol. >
  
  If only there was an incident that was a pre-cursor to this one that made them evaluate problems and prevent future incidents. >
  
  
  If only there was an incident that was a pre-cursor to the previous incident that was a pre-cursor to this one that made them evaluate problems and prevent future incidents.
  
  Ftfy.
  There have been at least 2 winter failures. Both resulted in a report detailing what should be done. Both were ignored in favor of profits. >
  
  
  "Look, I make enough that it doesn't impact me personally, I can just go on vacation to, say, Cancun, worst-case scenario. Join my buddy Ted. So why should I care about doing my job and helping the poors?"
  
  —republicans in control of the state, probably >
  
  I grew up going to church with republicans and republican politicians, including the governor of Texas at the time. This is exactly what they think. They think it is a moral failure, religious failure, and a lack of work ethic that makes someone poor. It’s gods will. It’s also why the don’t give a fuck about the environment. The earth belongs to them because god said so and if the earth becomes inhabitable then it’s gods will. It’s fucking insane >
  
  My brother told me a (related, stick with me) story once about his experience as EOD in Afghanistan. He and his crew were tasked with teaching a group of Afghani men how to clear land mines from an area. They had advanced equipment, hundreds of hours of training, and got to work. They wanted to  show them how you could clear the field in low tech ways all the way up to using robots! They got to work and pulled out their equipment and got started doing a demo. No more than 5 minutes into the class the Afghani men were visibly annoyed and agitated and no longer paying attention.  They stopped and asked them what was up.
  Well, they knew better! The lead dude told them they had been doing this for years and wanted to show the EOD guys how it's done. They obliged them and said go ahead, show us. Keep in mind they are standing in front of an active mine field with live ordinance. The Afghani soldiers left and came back minutes later with HUGE poles, several meters long each. They lined up in a row, raised the poles above their heads, and began walking forward in unison smacking the ground with their sticks ahead of them. Naturally there was a lot of "allahu akbar! SMACK allahu akbar! SMACK" going on. 
  The EOD guys were mortified, but the veterans among them weren't too surprised. My brother started yelling, demanding logical answers, and demanded to know if they just gave no shits about their life or the life of their friends. The answer was no, if they die they die and it's God's will that they do so.  They had absolute faith that smacking the ground with sticks, even though there were trained professionals waiting to educate them literally feet away, was 💯 the correct course of action. In fact the soldiers were stupid to even doubt it, which is why they got so agitated. 
  It seems to me like a lot of Texas politicians and the people who support them have a lot in common with those Afghani villagers and their clerics/politicians. I'll let you use your imagination but there are a lot of parallels you can draw. 
  BTW, one of those guys died the following week clearing a bomb from the side of the road with a stick. He was a local hero. >
  
  Yeah same kinda people, except worse. They have more in common with the attitudes of the taliban. The people in the church I grew up in were proud to call themselves religious radicals and warriors of god. They are very unselfaware people to say the least. They would harp on and on about Islamic extremists, how much of a threat they are and shariah law is, and how Christianity is under attack all while wanting the US to become a strictly Christian nation, and believing it had been founded as a Christian nation. I mean shit i was raised to be a soldier in a holy war. And it’s not like these people weren’t rich either or weren’t college educated. They were. They had property, companies, held political positions. I’m sure some were there Jan 6 or at least cheering it on >
  
  I'd start calling them "clerics" and ask them questions about "holy war" and their idea of "Judeo-law" until they caught on and kicked me out. Which I'm guessing for many might take a while they can be very oblivious. I was in a similar church like that myself for a while and I know exactly what you are talking about. The most disconnected to me was how you could question them if they believed in freedom you would get absolutely no hesitation. But freedom for everyone to make their own choices? ... Crickets. You aren't supposed to ask that one out loud. The unspoken answer is no, of course not, freedom for the right people only. >
  
  And not women, they are not the right people. >
  
  Ted Cruz must be packing his bags as we speak >
  
  The asshole left the state last week lol. >
  
  Seriously? 😠 >
  
  What’s you expect him to do? Work to help his constituents? Why would he bother lol they’re going to donate and vote for him back in anyway >
  
  To those who reelected Abbott, you get what you asked for with this. >
  
  Getting really tired of people saying this when we KNOW that Republicans gerrymander election districts and that they rarely win elections via the populate vote. >
  
  The governorship election is literally decided by the popular vote. >
  
  Cool. I shouldn’t have specified gerrymandering here as it detracts from what I meant. 
  Republicans have systemically made it difficult for minority and marginalized communities to vote via voter ID laws, banning felons from
  voting in most states, over-policing and falsely convicting black and brown men of felonies, and by removing polling places in certain neighborhoods and communities. 
  Pretending as if most of the people Republicans reside over actually elected them is bullshit. >
  
  You are 100% spot on, with this. Republicans want to make it harder and harder for anyone but republicans to vote. The biggest problem we have is people need to actually vote. The low turnout shit is annoying. >
  
  Guess it’s going to be a lot easier to “take” those guns from all of those “cold, dead hands” now? >
  
  Trying not to laugh but that’s fucking funny. >
  
  Can’t shoot your way out of cold >
  
  Maybe you can… shoot enough the heat from the barrel will keep you warm. Dunno… don’t have to worry about it, I have a reliable electric grid. >
  
  Yikes.... Abbott's bold claims of "not one Texan has lost power on ERCOT's grid!" is aging faster than the kids from Old lol. >
  
  That claim isn't just aging, it was dead long before now. >
  
  Froze to death >
  
  Privatize profits, socialize losses. Texass is a leach state. >
  
  Gee, privatizing the grid is maybe not the answer >
  
  But... but TRICKLE DOWN >
  
  It's golden. It must be antifreeze. It means they care! >
  
  Why bother winterizing your power system when you can you get get those sweet government bailouts. This is the Republican Party. >
  
  Are their any tickets available to Cancun?
  Asking for a friend, that is in no way a US senator. >
  
  Gross that he is your friend. >
  
  I blame the people who voted for Abbott in November. >
  
  I blame all the people I talked to while canvassing voters who said they don't vote since things only get worse but can't pull their heads out of their posteriors enough to see that not voting is what caused this problem and more of the same isn't going to do shit to fix it. >
  
  This POV gets overlooked a lot. People who think it's bad everywhere it doesn't matter if or who they vote for, Texas has the same problems as everywhere else and the problems are not that bad (went slackjawed at that one).
  And then unironically turn to me weeks later and ask "aren't Dems supposed to get stuff done, why hasn't Biden passed XYZ yet". >
  
  TBF This is Texas's grid. Ran by Texas, independent of the rest of the country, ignored by Texas as problems have been recurring for decades. Like the border Texas appears to be unable to take care of their own shit. Republicans are the loudest mouths in the room when blaming all their problems on Democrats yet come crying for federal help due to their own negligence. Fuck Texas, let them freeze until they elect responsible government. >
  
  Do not forget to mention that the reason their grid is independent due to not wanting to adhere to federal minimum requirements in order to be connected to the national grid. >
  
  Doing the same thing over again and expecting different results…
  I feel bad for the poor people who did not vote for conservatives that have dealt with this every time. They’re probably hit the hardest. >
  
  Fuck Texas, their energy corps keep their grid separate for profits and their state keeps it separate for its on again off again plans of secession >
  
  On again off again, just like their electricity? >
  
  the one star on their state flag is a rating. >
  
  This is a good one. >
  
  spotted it on reddit, have been using it whenever appropriate. please do so also. 
  ps - people from TX hate it, i know a few and can confirm. i lived in dallas for a couple months, and even though i was a dallas cowboys fan, hated living there. >
  
  If I was financially stable, I'd move, but that's not even a distant option for me. >
  
  As a Texan who voted AGAINST Abbott, I knew this was going to happen. Everybody has been saying it will only get worse. The grid was not weatherized. The grid was not updated. The grid was ignored. And yet, Abbott is still rolling around Texas as Governor because this sad state cares more about forcing women to have rape & incest babies and buy assault rifles that are used in school shootings. The county that Uvalde is in voted for Abbott. That’s sad and disgusting.
  Hope we all enjoy the higher property taxes because those will not be going down either. You get what you voted for. >
  
  Except for you and the rest of the 44% of Texans that voted to get rid of him.
  Voter turn out was also a shit show. Too many idiots refusing to have a voice because they fear things won't go their way. >
  
  Texas is some of the lowest voter registration in the country and some of the lowest voter turnout in the country. Nobody in Texas wants to run their government except the grifters. >
  
  the consequences of voting for republicans. >
  
  “Guns keep you warm and that’s a scientific fact. The winter blast is due to the illegals”- many republicans…probably >
  
  Texans would be shocked, if they have power.