Good morning,

As the week concludes, I offer a reflection on the governing necessity of looking beyond ourselves when considering the future of our republic.

But first, here is the Texas Minute for Friday, December 1, 2023.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Paxton Takes on Pfizer Over COVID Vaccine

• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday that the state is suing Pfizer for “misrepresenting COVID-19 vaccine efficacy and conspiring to censor public discourse.” Sydnie Henry has the story.
    
• “We are pursuing justice for the people of Texas, many of whom were coerced by tyrannical vaccine mandates to take a defective product sold by lies,” said Paxton. 
       

• Paxton argues that Pfizer’s claim that the COVID-19 vaccine was 95 percent effective against infection was “highly misleading.” That's because clinical trials failed to measure the product's effectiveness in that manner.
      

• The lawsuit also charges that Pfizer engaged in a conspiracy to silence dissent by coordinating with social media companies to remove "truth-tellers" from their platforms.
       

• One of those was Dr. Mary Bowden, who faced intense scrutiny from the medical community for her public statements against forced vaccination. 

Supreme Court of Texas Hears Challenge to State's Abortion Ban

• The Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week challenging the state’s abortion ban—which prohibits abortion unless the mother’s life is directly at risk from the pregnancy. Will Biagini breaks down the arguments.
    
• The lawsuit was filed by the pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Rights in March. It does not aim to entirely abolish the abortion ban but rather argues that the current exception is too vague and does not include defined medical regulations by which doctors can decide whether to perform an abortion or not.
       
• The state argued in court that doctors should be allowed to use their own medical judgment to decide when it is medically necessary to perform abortions.

Abbott Targets Another Phelan Ally

• Gov. Greg Abbott is continuing his streak of endorsing against incumbent Republicans who helped kill school choice. Yesterday, he endorsed Mike Olcott for the Texas House over incumbent Glenn Rogers (R-Graford). Brandon Waltens has the details.

        

• Rogers narrowly defeated Olcott in 2022. During that election, Abbott endorsed Rogers.
       

• “Mike Olcott is a proven fighter who has spent decades giving his time and talent to advance our shared conservative values,” said Abbott. “Mike is a man of integrity who will help me deliver results in the Texas House.
       

• Rogers has been a close ally of House Speaker Dade Phelan.

Substitute Teacher Charged With Sexual Assault of a Student

• A substitute teacher in Tyler Independent School District has been arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a student. Emily Medeiros has the details.
    
• According to an arrest affidavit, a student attending Hubbard Middle School has accused 29-year-old substitute teacher Davian Isaiah Hunter of sexually assaulting him in a school bathroom on Friday, October 27. 
       
• Camera footage reportedly shows Hunter following the student into the bathroom that day, where the incident allegedly took place. Hunter told police he was in the same stall as the boy but did not admit to the charges.
       
• Tyler ISD released a statement explaining that Hunter has not been a part-time employee since the investigation began.

Comer Blasts Biden Administration in Houston

• Speaking at a GOP fundraiser in Houston, U.S. Rep. James Comer blasted Joe Biden as "the most corrupt politician... in the history of our country." Larry Kaifesh has the report.
       
• Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, chairs the U.S. House Oversight Committee.
       
• “What we learned over the last 8 months is that there are about 30 companies, I would argue shell companies,” explained Comer. “[And] the only income going through some of these shell companies were wire transfers between other shell companies. I have a bank background, and we call that money laundering.”
       

• Comer said there are two main points to come out of this investigation: the Biden family’s corruption and the cover-up by the federal government through numerous agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, Department of Justice, and the National Archives.

Friday Reflection:
Right In Whose Eyes?

There is a sense of personal fulfillment that comes from knowing you are trusted to make the right decisions. But being trusted to do the right thing and actually doing a thing right are not the same.

Which makes the final words of the Book of Judges so jarring. The book spans approximately 450 years of Israel’s history and focuses on a repeating pattern. That is, the people are doing well, they turn from God, they get into trouble, God raises up someone to save them, they repent for a period, things are going well… Rinse and repeat.

Here, then, is how the Book of Judges concludes: "In those days, there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes."

To be clear, this was not a call for a monarchy, nor was it a cheery description of some anarcho-libertarian paradise. Instead, it should be read with a resigned sigh.

God had given His people the opportunity to govern themselves under His Kingship. He gave them clear guidelines on how to organize a peaceful and prosperous civil society unique in the world. They rejected all of it.

And in that rejection, they had no fixed standard for what was actually right, what was good, and what was just. Each man simply did what he decided was right. If nothing else, the 15,000 words in the Book of Judges covering a half-millennium of history demonstrate that, without the fixed standard of God, men cannot be trusted to know—let alone do—what is right.

Having refused to do what was right in God’s eyes and having failed to govern themselves, that 18-word epitaph ending the Book of Judges explains what would come next. The people chose to live under a human king, and it went badly for them.

They did what was right in their eyes, and they suffered mightily for it.

When work was finished on the U.S. Constitution, Benjamin Franklin was allegedly asked what sort of governing system was adopted. His response: "A republic, if you can keep it."

This was the same Benjamin Franklin who declared that "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

The modern history of our nation has consisted of a series of surrenders: giving up little bits of liberty to gain some perception of safety. And in so doing, we have begun to allow our republic to slip away.

In each case, it is because we have tried to do what was right (or safe) in our own eyes. 

We must recognize that our standard of right ends up being very wrong when it is unhinged from the truth of God. To reclaim our republic—to restore that essential liberty—we must take our eyes off ourselves and fix them on the Word of God. 

Quote-Unquote

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty."

– John Adams

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