Good morning,

What passes for "news" coverage of issues impacting culture and governance is indistinguishable from sports. We're conditioned to observe from the comfort of our couch rather than be active participants. I end the week reflecting on what the purpose of journalism should be in our republic.

This is the Texas Minute for Friday, February 16, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Patrick Makes House Endorsements for 'New Leadership'

• Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has announced endorsements of four Republican candidates for seats in the Texas House, three of whom are opposing incumbents seen to be loyal to House Speaker Dade Phelan. Sydnie Henry has the details.

    
• All four of the GOP primary candidates were previously endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott.
      
• "I believe the Texas House needs new leadership and a fresh crop of new members," said Patrick, adding that they are needed to "repair the Texas House."
      
• The candidates include: Janis Holt (challenging Ernest Bailes in House District 18), Helen Kerwin (challenging DeWayne Burns in House District 58), and Alan Schoolcraft (challenging State Rep. John Kuempel in House District 44). The fourth candidate to receive Patrick's endorsement was Caroline Fairly, running in the open House District 87 seat.

Four Candidates Compete for Open House Seat in Victoria

• Amelia McKenzie profiles the four candidates competing for the seat being vacated by Republican State Rep. Geanie Morrison of Victoria. 
    
• The candidates are A.J. Louderback, Jeff Bauknight, Vanessa Hicks-Callaway, and Bret Baldwin.

Drag Teacher in Lewisville ISD Exposed on Social Media

• A Texas school has been exposed for employing a teacher who dresses in drag at school. Brandon Waltens has the story.
    
• A video shared on X by the watchdog group Libs of TikTok shows the male teacher, identified as Rachmad Tjachyadi, roaming the halls of Hebron High School in Lewisville ISD wearing a pink dress and a pink cowboy hat.
        

• In a different post, Tjachyadi is dressed as Ursula from the Disney animated movie The Little Mermaid.
       

• Lewisville ISD is no stranger to teacher scandals. A former “teacher of the year” at a district elementary school faces up to 99 years in prison for allegedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old student.
       

• “It is embarrassing but sadly not surprising to see this happening in a Texas public school,” said Brady Gray, president of Texas Family Project.

Houston Gets a ‘D’ on the State of the City Finances

• Earning a "D" on the state of its finances, the City of Houston ranked 61st out of 75 cities in a recent report from the watchdog group Truth in Accounting. As Charles Blain explains, the report looks at the financial health of cities from regular taxing and spending to long term liabilities.
    
• The report signals even more of a tough financial road ahead. Highlighted are the city's reliance on federal government COVID-19 relief dollars that are ending, economic fluctuations, and changing investment values. All that means Houston could see a slowing of tax collections and an overall worsening of the debt burden unless spending is addressed.
       
• Houston is not the only city with financial problems looming. Overall, 53 of the cities evaluated didn’t have enough money to pay their bills. The 75 cities covered by the report are $288 billion in debt.

Friday Reflection
Don’t Get Angry, Get Active

Most of what passes for “news” in the 21st Century is little more than context-free filler taking up space between click-bait ads, multi-level marketing schemes, and woke corporate trash. It is designed to make the consumer feel a quick flood of emotions so they stick through the commercial breaks to get even more.

That is many things, but it is not journalism.

I chatted after an event recently with a fellow who spoke authoritatively (if factually light) on every national story of the day. He told me how he religiously flipped between several cable networks to “hear everything.” I watched his blood pressure rise as he recounted one soundbite story after another, and seemed desperate – like a junkie needing a fix – for more quick national news stories to make him angry.

He stared blankly when I asked his thoughts on state and local issues. He knew the detailed voting records of senators from other states… but did not know that standing next to us in this conversation was his county’s (long-serving) sheriff. He told me he didn’t vote in “governor elections,” only “for presidents.”

Honestly, it made me sad. Instinctively, this fellow knew he needed to connect with people to engage effectively; the media and the political culture had not yet completely educated that out of him.

Just as pornography creates the perverted sense of sexual intimacy, much of what passes as “news” exists to create a false sense of civic activism.

On the crony establishment’s right, you have Fox News, to the left is MSNBC, and scattered in between is the formerly respectable Wall Street Journal and other print publications of dubious heritage.

They breathlessly demand an emotional response to the stories of the day. They want us glued to our chairs, waiting for the next solution-free outrage. What they absolutely do not want is for any of us to get up and exercise our obligations as citizens.

News coverage of culture and governance is indistinguishable from sports. We pick teams and are conditioned to observe from the sidelines.

It becomes all too easy to confuse simmering on the couch with walking precincts. Yelling at the TV or furiously clicking links might raise someone’s blood pressure, but it does not meaningfully impact the world like a conversation with a friend or family member.

The point of journalism should be unambiguous: to provide citizens the knowledge they need to effectively dominate government and culture. Everything else is entertainment.

Now, do not get me wrong. It is completely rational for the events of the day to make your blood boil; I would be worried if it did not! The question is not our emotional reaction to new information but rather what we do with it.

As citizens, it is our duty to save the republic. We must be eternally vigilant. Our obligation cannot be outsourced to councilmen or representatives, mayors or presidents. To effectively manage civic affairs, we must be informed and engaged.

In our self-governing republic, it is up to each of us to make the affirmative decision to move from passive recipients of information to active participants in the fight for liberty.

Quote-Unquote

"When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear."

– Thomas Sowell​