Introduction thread the second...also a newbie

[BComplex]

Hello All,

I live in a very red area of the southern USA...lots of confederate flags and fried pork skins around here.

Which is one reason it's good to be able to come to Democratic Underground and read posts by some real democrats, and some real liberal democrats.

I'm a senior citizen, proudly marched at the University of Texas back in the 70's, along side Jesse Jackson. Unfortunately, there's still a lot of marching we have yet to do, but posting on Democratic Underground is easier on the knees.

[jls4561]

1. Welcome!

[BComplex]

3. Thank you, jls4561

That's nice!

[rzemanfl]

2. Welcome. n/t

[BComplex]

4. Thank you, rzemanfl.

I like your upside-down flag. I feel the same.

[Siwsan]

5. Hello!!!

Welcome to DU!!

[BComplex]

6. And hello to you, Siwsan.

Thanks for the welcome!

[CatMor]

7. Hello and welcome ..

good to have you onboard.

[BComplex]

8. Glad to be here, CatMor.

Thanks!

[ploppy]

9. Hi!

Welcome to DU.

[BComplex]

11. Thanks, ploppy!!

I appreciate that!

[brer cat]

10. Welcome to DU.

[BComplex]

12. Thanks brer cat!

I love that picture of the Obamas that you have as your avatar. I think it's my favorite.

[Fla Dem]

13. Welcome to DU!

I can sympathize with you. I may not be in quite as red area as you, but plenty of Maga and Trump/Pence bumper stickers. See an occasional Dem sticker, in fact saw one for Amy K. the other day. So I've been coming here for almost 20 years to keep my sanity.

There are also a lot of non-political forums here that you may find interesting.

[BComplex]

14. Thanks Fla Dem.

If you're in Florida, you're in a seriously red state that seems to be STARTING to come to its senses.
Thanks so much for the warm welcome.

[lillypaddle]

15. Welcome

Nothing wrong with being on your knees - I've spent a good portion of my 72 years in that position - for one reason or another!

[BComplex]

17. LOL! Thanks for the welcome, lillypaddle.

I know the feeling!

[Just_Vote_Dem]

16. Welcome! n/t

[BComplex]

18. Thanks Just_Vote_Dem

And I totally agree with your name!

[TomSlick]

19. Welcome

DU is good for the sanity of red state democrats.

[BComplex]

20. Hi TomSlick!

Thanks for the welcome. You have to be a Texan with that lone star you're sporting on your avatar. So, yes, you know about red states! I'm originally from El Paso.

Or is that a star from a law enforcement badge?

[TomSlick]

21. Sorry to disappoint.

That's the Army avatar. I'm retired Army.

I'm in SW Arkansas.

[BComplex]

22. Hmm. I spent a year in Searcy, Arkansas

on a work project. There are some serious democrats sprinkled all throughout Arkansas, but there are a bunch of white supremists, too (that I had to work with...eeeewwww!! ).

[TomSlick]

29. My area of Arkansas is blood red.

The Democrats are stronger in the central part of the state and the delta. NW Arkansas is a lighter red.

We have a lot of people who vote against their self interests thinking only about guns and abortion. There are way-on too many racists, homophobes, etc.

[BComplex]

42. Same here where I live.

Mostly guns and race here, but they'll jump on any bandwagon that someone is selling that day, as long as they hear it at some point on Fox news.

[rurallib]

23. As one whose been marching a bit longer than you, maybe

I say a big Welcome!

[BComplex]

24. Thanks, rurallib!

You've been marching longer than ME?? Wow! Good on ya!!! Keep it up!

[rurallib]

25. Well, to be honest these days I can hardly walk

so I give moral support with a note of gray hair.

My first marches were the late '60s - so maybe just a bit more.

[BComplex]

34. That was a different world back then.

I'm glad we're here now!

[dewsgirl]

26. Welcome to DU.

[BComplex]

35. Thanks, dewsgirl!

I appreciate the welcome!

[spicysista]

27. Welcome to DU!

[BComplex]

36. Thanks for the welcome, spicysista.

It's good to be here!

[lapucelle]

28. Welcome to DU!

I marched in the 70's too...once with John Lennon!

[BComplex]

37. No! Really???

That is amazing!

Thanks for the welcome, lapucelle!

[drray23]

30. Welcome to DU.

People like you make me proud to be part of the democratic party as well. You were engaged in the fight when it mattered and was tough.

[BComplex]

38. Thanks so much drray23!

The fight continues to this day, which is such a tragedy in many ways. You keep hoping people will evolve, and somehow many of them don't!

But thank you for your kind words and the warm welcome! It's good to be here.

[TruckFump]

31. Hi, BC! 👋

Welcome to the DU!!

[BComplex]

39. Thanks TruckFump!

LOL! Great name!!!

[lunatica]

32. Well hi there!

I’m 71 and an old diehard progressive Democrat from as far back as I can remember. I’ve been retired since 2018 and loving every minute of it. You will find no lack of friends and like minded souls here and we’re open 24 hours a day. There is always interesting opinions to read and DU is a great place to get news, find links to articles, view YouTube videos and jump into some serious Primary fights. But here in the lounge we all get along just great! Lots of humor, cat and dog videos, music and just plain conversations.

Welcome to DU.

[BComplex]

40. Thanks, lunatica!

I've been watching the videos, loving the art & photos, the cats & dogs stories/pics, and have dodged some of the flying missiles on the primary threads. Those are pretty scary!

Thanks for the welcome!

[Karadeniz]

33. So good to hear from you...don't be a stranger. ❤

[BComplex]

41. And good to hear from you, Karadeniz.

How did you put that heart at the end of your post title? I have a lot to learn here, I can see that now.

[DFW]

43. It's not easy being a Democrat in Texas, but it has been getting easier.

In 2018, we finally booted Pete Sessions out as our rep from TX-32, and Wendy Davis is back, running for Congress this time. Getting rid of Cornyn is an uphill battle, but I am contributing to MJ all the same. Maybe next cycle, we can stop the slide in the governor's mansion that has gone from bad to comical to obscene with Bush-Perry-Abbott, and get an Ann Richards clone back in there.

[BComplex]

45. Hi DFW!

Texas is starting to come around thanks to people like you! Please keep up the great work!

[DFW]

47. Hi BComplex

Seeing as how I now live about 5000 miles from Dallas, my "work" has mainly consisted of phone conferences, contributions, and making satirical videos--our latest, as an example:

But I keep in touch with people like Matt Angle, Aimee Cunningham Boone, Wendy Davis, etc. Like you said, we are starting to come around!

[BComplex]

48. That was great!! I'd recommend that if it was a thread.

Or has it already been on a thread and I didn't see it?

Thanks for sharing that!

[DFW]

49. We finished it a few weeks ago. I put it on a few threads, and a few people saw it

But feel free to spread it around to your friends. Sometimes, we actually make one that catches on, such as this one:

&t=47s

[BComplex]

54. Those shifty eyes .... how can I get them out of my head!

You've got real talent for this!

[DFW]

57. I can't take credit for that part

My project (The Freedom Toast) teamed up last year with another political satire effort called The Parody Project. Their main guy has won all sorts of awards for his video work. For our joint efforts I wrote most of the lyrics (my brother has contributed two), and TFT has done much of the music, although the Parody Project is very competent in that department as well. They did Mar-a-Lagoville, for example. I just wrote it. They do all the video work since we started doing joint efforts last April. I think we have close to a dozen, all told.

We (TFT) definitely have the broader music talent, though, and we also have access to a very fancy recording studio in Atlanta. I wrote Ghost Riders here in Germany, the recording was done in Atlanta, and it was set to video by the Parody Project in the Pacific Northwest. So these efforts span nine time zones. We also have some amazing "sound-alike" singing talent. "Dumb Down (Downtown) " sounds so much like Petula Clark that the Parody Project was able to perfectly synchronize it to an old video of Petula Clark. The same singer did "Can't Stand That Man (Stand By Your Man) " and "Strangers On The Right (Strangers in the Night) " sounds so much like Sinatra that some people thought we had somehow revived him (well, almost!).

[BComplex]

64. That's amazing stuff!

And what are you doing in Germany? When you said you were that far away from Texas, I thought you meant Alaska or Canada or Hawaii. I need to start thinking out of the box!

I want to see all of those videos! How do I look them up?

[DFW]

65. First, go to Youtube

Then look for anything done by The Freedom Toast. Also look for things done by The Parody Project with The Freedom Toast. The Parody Project has some very cool stuff they have done on their own, too. It's all there.

A tall, beautiful blonde woman told me long ago, "come live with me on the banks of the Rhein River." Of all the responses I was thinking of, "no" was not one of them.

[PuffedMica]

44. Welcome to DU BComplex

[BComplex]

46. Thanks so much PuffedMica!

It's good to be here!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

50. Welcome to DU, BComplex!

I'm glad you found us! It's a great place, full of smart and funny people.

I joined back in 2005! This place is home.

[BComplex]

53. Thanks, CaliforniaPeggy!

It does have some really smart and funny people! You're one of them, from what I've seen!

Thanks for the warm welcome!

[guillaumeb]

51. Welcome to DU.

I live in a suburb of Chicago, a very blue area, in a blue state.

But even here, we have an actual Nazi running for Congress in the IL 3rd District. Appeals to racism and hate work here as well.

[BComplex]

55. Hi guillaumeb!

I love Chicago! I hope you guys can stop that Nazi running for Congress. That's something that has gotten so much traction under Trump's presidency. My father was a WWII POW in Germany, and just the fact that Trump sides with these devils would have made my father go ballistic.

[guillaumeb]

59. Both my father and my father in law fought Nazis in WWII

My father came down from Canada to volunteer.

The Nazi has no chance to win in a very blue District, but in 2018 over 56,000 presumably GOP voters chose him.

[BComplex]

60. That really makes me sick.

There must be a huge movement underneath that figure, nationwide, that needs to be dealt with.

[guillaumeb]

62. Agreed.

We know that many GOP voters support Trump because he is a racist. It is one small step from racist to Nazi.

[Niagara]

52. Welcome to DU, BComplex.

[BComplex]

56. Thanks, Niagara!

I'm glad to be here.

[bluestarone]

58. Hello and WELCOME!!

Great place to hang out here!!

[BComplex]

61. Hi bluestarone!

Thanks for the warm welcome!

[BayAreaAtLast]

63. Welcome! I'm a newbie here myself!

Thanks for your activism. It can be hard to get out there and actually walk the walk (have I always been this lazy?) It is great to know there are so many other like-minded people!

[BComplex]

66. Welcome to you, too, BayAreaAtLast!

What an adventure, ey?