Good morning,

Of late, I have been thinking about the great blessings of liberty we have witnessed in this republic. Below, you'll find some thoughts on our moral responsibility not to squander that experience.

But first... This is the Texas Minute for Friday, January 19, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Texas Rejects Biden Administration’s Demands for Access to Eagle Pass Park

• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is pushing back against the Biden administration’s demand that the state stop hindering U.S. Border Patrol agents from accessing Shelby Park in Eagle Pass. In doing so, Paxton has given the green light to the Texas National Guard to continue overseeing the area. Luca Cacciatore has the details. 

     
• In a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Paxton stressed that Texas is still allowing Border Patrol agents to use Shelby Park’s boat ramp for emergency medical care when needed.
      
• The park has been at the center of the border crisis, with illegal aliens often crossing into the park—and then released into the country by federal agents. After Texas' seizure of the park, state law enforcement officials are now able to arrest any illegal aliens entering for criminal trespass.
       
• The union representing border patrol agents is siding with Texas in the matter. “Anything put out by the Biden Admin about our border should immediately be considered propagandistic crap until such time as they actually say something that’s true.”

Border Buoys Remain in Place

• Buoys placed in the Rio Grande to deter illegal border crossings will remain in place now that Attorney General Ken Paxton has convinced the full U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a judgment issued in December by a three-judge panel. Will Biagini has the story.
    
• This is the latest development in the Biden administration’s attacks on Texas’ efforts to secure its border.

Paxton Moves to End Lawsuit Brought By ‘Rogue Employees’

• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is moving to end a lawsuit filed by so-called “whistleblowers” who accuse him of firing them unfairly. As Brandon Waltens reports, these former employees' allegations were at the center of the failed impeachment attempt against Paxton.

    
• In October 2020, eight of Paxton’s top aides accused him of bribery and abuse of office. After being terminated from employment, four of the employees filed a whistleblower lawsuit against Paxton. When the Office of the Attorney General agreed to a settlement in the case, House Speaker Dade Phelan and his lieutenants refused to fund it—despite the chamber having done so when lawsuits have been brought against other state agencies.
       
• Despite Paxton’s acquittal by the Senate and the discrediting testimony provided by some of the whistleblowers in the trial, the plaintiffs re-upped their lawsuit. Paxton's move yesterday simply allows a judge to enter a finding in what the attorney general calls a "political stunt."
      

• Paxton characterized the continued legal fight as “an unjustifiable waste of taxpayer resources and an intolerable distraction that risks compromising critical state business.”

      
• Functionally, Paxton's filing means the judge assigned to the case is likely to enter a judgment against the state that lawmakers in 2025 will either choose to pay or ignore.

Federal Court Blocks Texas Law Requiring School Library Vendors to Rate Books’ Sexual Content

• A federal court has blocked Texas from enforcing part of a state law designed to protect children from sexually explicit material in schools while a challenge to the measure is litigated. Erin Anderson reports that, for now, book vendors cannot be required to rate the sexual content of the books they sell to Texas school districts.
    
• Democrats hailed the ruling as a win.
       
• The rest of the new law remains active, including a requirement for Texas schools to adopt standards prohibiting sexually explicit materials in campus and classroom libraries.

Greg Abbott Endorses Challenger to Ernest Bailes

• Gov. Greg Abbott is back on his streak of endorsing against Republican members of the Texas House, this time supporting Janis Holt's primary challenge to Ernest Bailes.

    
• While Abbott's endorsement is mostly centered around Bailes' opposition to school choice, it is worth noting that the incumbent lawmaker played a prominent role in the Colony Ridge illegal alien housing development, which is located in his district.
      
• The governor lightly alluded to that situation in his endorsement, suggesting that Holt will "advocate for strong border security measures."

State Board of Education Incumbent Rewrites History

• While it often receives less attention than higher profile races, Adam Cahn explains that the Texas State Board of Education exercises tremendous influence over how students across the Lone Star state are taught.
    
• In the race for SBOE District 10, incumbent Tom Maynard has made claims unsubstantiated by facts about his own record and the actions of the board.
       
• For example, Maynard claims Gov. Greg Abbott never sent the SBOE a letter instructing them to remove pornographic books from school libraries. In fact, the governor did so in 2021 (which was reported on by Texas Scorecard at the time).
      
• Maynard is being challenged in the Republican primary by conservative reformer Mary Bone.

Dallas Police Saved Nearly 100 Trafficked Children in 2023

• A new report shows that the Dallas Police Department rescued nearly 100 children from human traffickers in 2023. Emily Medeiros has the story.
    
• In partnership with the North Texas Trafficking Task Force, the DPD revealed it made 190 arrests related to trafficking.
       
• The Dallas Express has found that compared to 2022, the DPD logged an increase of 15.4 percent in reports of human trafficking in 2023.

Friday Reflection
The Responsibility of Knowledge

It’s not Shakespearean poetry, but the advice given to Peter Parker by his Uncle Ben in the comic book backstory of Spiderman ranks pretty high: “With great power comes great responsibility.”

In our fallen state, we tend to abhor the notion of responsibility. (Just look at the comically tragic conversation Adam and Eve had with God in Genesis 3 for the earliest human example of that!)

History abounds with people who were given great opportunities, great power, and great knowledge, and yet they refused to recognize it. Just consider the village of Chorazin.

What’s left of the village are the remains of several basalt-rock structures, including the synagogue. Chorazin is a short hike from Capernaum, Jesus’ base of ministry. The view of the Sea of Galilee is beautiful.

Yet what the residents did not appreciate was the even more spectacular view they had of history.

The gospels of Matthew and Luke record Jesus’ admonition to the people in the villages of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and even Capernaum. These are places in which the residents had witnessed what Jesus Himself described as “mighty works” but nonetheless rejected Him.

They were given a front-row seat to the performance of miracles and divine teaching, yet shrugged them off.

“Woe to you,” Jesus said to them, adding that it will be “more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom” than for those places.

As heirs in America to a biblically based system of self-governance, we have the highest standard of living in all of human history. We take for granted conveniences unimaginable just decades ago. Yet, never in American history has the call for socialism and the tyranny to which it inevitably leads been louder.

We are witnesses to the bountiful blessings that can flow from liberty, but in our sloth, we risk—like the people of Chorazin—shrugging it off... and falling woefully away.

When people in countries that have never known liberty make bad choices, it shouldn’t surprise us. They don’t know better, but we do. We have no excuses.

We have been witnesses to mighty works. We have a responsibility to respond accordingly.

Quote-Unquote

"Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility."

– Dietrich Bonhoeffer