For a Conservative, Life is Sweet in Sugar Land, Tex. (Free Republic mentioned)

The Washington Post ^ | Monday, April 26, 2004 | David Finkel

[kristinn]

SUGAR LAND, Tex. -- This is the home of Britton Stein, who describes George W. Bush as "a man, a man's man, a manly man," and Al Gore as "a ranting and raving little whiny baby."

Forty-nine years old, Stein is a husband, a father, a landscaper and a Republican. He lives in a house that has six guns in the closets and 21 crosses in the main hallway. His wife cuts his hair with electric clippers. His three daughters aren't embarrassed when he kisses them on their cheeks. He loves his family, hamburgers and his dog. He believes in God, prays daily and goes to church weekly. He has a jumbo smoker in his back yard and a 40-foot tree he has climbed to hang Christmas lights. He has a pickup truck that he has filled with water for the Fourth of July parade, driving splashing kids around a community where Boy Scouts plant American flags in the yards. His truck is a Chevy. His beer is Bud Light. His savior is Jesus Christ. His neighbors include Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), the House majority leader, who says of Sugar Land, "I think it is America."

SNIP

And now his version of the real world is a two-story house in a neighborhood of like-minded people, where he begins every day by turning on his computer.

Time for the news.

Some people get their information from the TV networks or the paper. Stein starts with the Drudge Report Web site, where he scans the headlines and clicks on one that says, "Rallying Cry For Dems: Vote Bush Out of Rove's Office." "This is the kind of stuff that pisses me off," he says. "They don't give Bush the respect he deserves. Not only because he's president, but because he's a helluva good man."

Next he goes to a Web site called WorldNetDaily.com. He clicks on an article that says, "Poll: Bush's Approval Sinking," but dismisses it as untrustworthy when he sees the poll was done by CBS. "Of course I have a suspicion of CBS," he says. "Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw -- they don't have any credibility with me."

Next he goes through a site called FreeRepublic.com, which calls itself "the premier conservative news forum," and then moves on to a site called sftt.org. "Soldiers for the Truth," he says, scrolling through another list of articles and watching a video of what the site says is a U.S. Apache helicopter targeting and obliterating three Iraqis. "Another guy moving right there," one voice on the video says, all business. "Good. Fire. Hit him," another voice says.

SNIP

[Agnes Heep]

I hear you...Nothing against Mr. Stein but why does the media always focus on the truck driving, beer drinking, country living conservatives?

I'm not sure, but I think the liberal media like using what they perceive as a negative stereotype to depict those of us on the right.

My experience has been that the average "redneck," espouses many core conservative values without really understanding why he espouses them. Many others mingle those values with perspectives that are decidedly liberal.

Conservatives who truly understand what they believe in and why they believe it are, I think, more inclined to display good taste and sophistication in all areas of life.

[RedWhiteBlue]

Sugar Land is not "country living." (Wish it were, though. You can get that, however, within about a 10 minute drive from there). It is a suburb of Houston, and only a 13 mile commute to uptown Houston (Galleria area). Most of it is "upscale" and much of it is new, but you get a lot for your money. When First Colony Mall was built several years ago, the demographics showed that households within a 5 mile radius of the mall had a disposable income that was 3 times higher than the national average. The whole are has been growing like gangbusters for years.

[stands2reason]

Classic.

[FeliciaCat]

Thanks for the info, it sounds like a nice place. I hope I didnt offend anyone with my post, it was just a general observation that the press only wants to portray a certain "type" of conservative. Its annoying.

[stands2reason]

Another Freeper (whose name shall remain unrecalled by me) noted that nobody seemed much to worry about getting one's news from only one side pre-Limbaugh, Fox, FR, et al...

[stands2reason]

I would almost expect each paragraph to start with these letters:

S



N



E



E



R

[an amused spectator]

Another Freeper (whose name shall remain unrecalled by me) noted that nobody seemed much to worry about getting one's news from only one side pre-Limbaugh, Fox, FR, et al...

It's odd that the dog wasn't barking then...

Maybe President Kerry will sign a law forcing people like us to read liberal trash daily, and view liberal video spew daily...

[Rebelbase]

Damn right we're conservative!

[LisaFab]

Strange. SFTT.org is Hackworth's site.

[RonDog]

OK what's his Freeper screen name? Fess up whoever you are...

See also, from a previous thread:

To: DollyCali

Thanks for your concerns. Son is 13 and home schooled. We live in Sugar Land and love the area. Houses are very expensive here and when one comes on the market that is ready to move into, it is gone in one or two days.

My son takes tae kwon do from Elite Taekwondo. It's here in Sugar Land. It is owned by the Steven Lopez family. He took Gold in the last summer Olympics. So it is important to stay close to this tkd school. He loves this school, it's instructors and students. Steven is a great role model for all these teen age boys.

This whole area is overwhelmingly big. It amazed my mom who lives in a small town in KS.

15 posted on 03/31/2004 5:08:58 AM PST by kassie

Sugar Land PING!

Thanks for your concerns. Son is 13 and home schooled. We live in Sugar Land and love the area. Houses are very expensive here and when one comes on the market that is ready to move into, it is gone in one or two days.

My son takes tae kwon do from Elite Taekwondo. It's here in Sugar Land. It is owned by the Steven Lopez family. He took Gold in the last summer Olympics. So it is important to stay close to this tkd school. He loves this school, it's instructors and students. Steven is a great role model for all these teen age boys.

This whole area is overwhelmingly big. It amazed my mom who lives in a small town in KS.

[RonDog]

See also the profile page of THIS FReeper: AndyMeyers:

Elected Official - County Commissioner Work hard to communicate FACTS to citizens to counter extreme bias of media by publishing a newsletter and website - andymeyers.com - that needs constant updating and I'm HTML challenged.

...and from www.andymeyers.com:

Commissioner Andy Meyers
1809 Eldridge Rd.
Sugar Land, TX  77478
(281) 494-1199
(281) 242-9060 (fax)
andy@andymeyers.com

[Re-electNobody]

Anyone remember who the "Sugar Land Express" was? Years ago Sports Illustrated did a story on Ken Hall, aka "The Sugar Land Express", who set numerous high school football records, many still standing. He went to Texas A&M to play for the Bear. Later Bryant said the way he handled Hall was the biggest coaching mistake of his career.

[Little Bill]

Good, you have posted several of these things and I am still laughing. here is one a little closer to the truth.

Little Bill, Shift Engineer, walks in to the Control Room of a large Massachusetts Power plant and utters his usual greeting, "Good Afternoon You Communist Basta$ds", the Chief Steward, reading the "Drudge Report", while giving Little Bill the Finger.

Shift turn over follows, and then an important discussion of Conservative vs Libertarian politics, with the Control Room Operator complaining that because of repressive company policies on overtime he was only able to contribute $1,000 dollars to the "Bush 2004" Campaign.

Usual routine follows a discussion of Dickens and his contribution to the cult of the victim, Life in the Hub of the Universe.

[treeclimber]

Sugar Land Express was a movie about the prison here in Sugar Land-I think Goldie Hawn starred in it

[treeclimber]

I am Britton. I was interviewed by David Finkel over a 5-7 day period in January. I categorically state that he represented what I said and stand for accurately and without bias. I was pleased with the eventual article and how he represented my family & me. It was an interesting experience.

[Fifth Business]

Congrats on your feature!

[DeFault User]

it would take "a frontal lobotomy" for him to vote for Sen. John F. Kerry, that "I would need to have my brain cleansed of all reason and thought."

I applaud your candid observation and astute reasoning.

I actually registered with the Compost to read the whole article. The author gave the impression that he wasn't too sure that your community was real, that people can have happy productive lives, raise loving children and have a genuine faith in God. But I bet the suspicion that it's real has started to gnaw at him.

[hocndoc]

The article shows me that you have a good life and are a good man. Thanks for representing all the good men in Texas.

(Okay, Except for the Hooters patronage - I hate the very idea of that place and think that all good Christian fathers and husbands should picket them. But, everyone's allowed a few mistakes.)

[capitan_refugio]

Sugarland was first famous for its penitentiary.

Midnight Special

WELL, OH WELL, OH WELL, OH WELL, OH WELL.

WAKE UP EARLY IN THE MORNIN',
IN THE DING DONG RING,
COME WALKING TO THE TABLE,
I SEE THE SAME DAMN THING.
KNIFE AND FORK UPON THE TABLE,
PIECE OF PAPER IN MY HAND,
NOTHIN' I CAN DO ABOUT IT,
I GET IN TROUBLE WITH THE MAN.

LET THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
SHINE A LIGHT ON ME,
LET THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
SHINE ITS EVERLOVIN' LIGHT ON ME.

IF YOU EVER GO TO HOUSTON,
YOU BETTER ACT RIGHT,
YOU BETTER NOT GAMBLE
AND YOU BETTER NOT FIGHT.
'CAUSE THE SHERIFF WILL ARREST YOU
AND HE'LL CARRY YOU DOWN.
IF THEY'RE GONNA FIND YOU GUILTY,
YOU'RE PENITENTIARY BOUND.

LET THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
SHINE A LIGHT ON ME,
LET THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
SHINE ITS EVERLOVIN' LIGHT ON ME.

WAKE UP EARLY IN THE MORNIN',
IN THE DING DONG RING,
COME WALKING TO THE TABLE,
I SEE THE SAME DAMN THING.
KNIFE AND FORK UPON THE TABLE,
PIECE OF PAPER IN MY HAND,
NOTHIN' I CAN DO ABOUT IT,
I GET IN TROUBLE WITH THE MAN.

LET THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
SHINE A LIGHT ON ME,
LET THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
SHINE AN EVERLOVIN' LIGHT ON ME.

WELL, IF YOU EVER GET TO HOUSTON,
YOU BETTER ACT RIGHT,
YOU BETTER NOT GAMBLE
AND YOU BETTER NOT FIGHT.
'CAUSE THE SHERIFF WILL ARREST YOU
AND HE'LL CARRY YOU DOWN.
AND IF HE FIND YOU GUILTY,
WELL, YOU'LL BE SUGARLAND BOUND.

LET THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
SHINE A LIGHT ON ME,
LET THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
SHINE ITS EVERLOVIN' LIGHT ON ME.

I SAID, THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL,
SHINE A LIGHT ON ME,
LET THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
SHINE ITS EVERLOVIN' LIGHT ON ME.

H. Ledbetter
arr. P McCartney

[Arrowhead1952]

Whyisa, check out this story!