Not a week goes by when I'm not assaulted by some bourgie white "liberal" pelting me with rhapsodies about how fabulous Texas (notably Austin) is compared to "awful ol' Portland." The kept-clean streets, the miles of happy strip malls, the brew pubs and public arts scene! Oooh la la! What I take away from this common paean to the Texas Republic is that the diaspora of neolibs out of Portland to other "cleaner, safer" American cities (Boise, Austin, Asheville, etc.) is fed by a morbid love of urban theme parks, with zero regard for the lives and well-being of women or Black or brown folks, blended with a shrugging acceptance of fetishized gun-love and "replacement" theorists. So when white "progressives" flee nasty old Portland to skitter under the raised hoop skirts of Texas, Idaho, or Dixie, I bid them a hearty toodle-oo and reflect on how little they'll be missed. And if Texas or Idaho or Dakota or the Carolinas are too far away to relocate to enjoy wholesome, clean livin', why heck! they'll always have Clark County!