Good morning, 

Not long ago, Barack Obama said conservatives were "bitter" people who "cling to guns or religion." Let us know which of the Democrats' putdowns you have taken as a badge of honor.

This is the Texas Minute for Monday, Nov. 4, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

DPS Braces For Potential Border Surge

• The Texas Department of Public Safety is preparing for a possible surge at the Texas-Mexico border following tomorrow's election. Will Biagini reports DPS officials believe state troopers are ready.
       
• While Texas prepares for a post-election surge, illegal border crossers who have already come across continue to engage in crime across the country. Among those are “special interest” aliens—individuals that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security considers to be potential risks to national security.
       
• Late last month, a special-interest alien from Mauritania reportedly opened fire on an Orthodox Jewish man in Chicago, Illinois, after shouting “Allahu Akbar.”

Texas Tells Biden-Harris Admin ‘No’ to Federal Election Monitors

• Late last week, the Biden-Harris Department of Justice announced plans to send election monitors to “monitor compliance with federal voting rights laws” in 27 states, including eight Texas counties. Texas' top election official has rejected the move, telling the Biden-Harris administration that federal monitors won’t be allowed inside polling places. Brandon Waltens has the details.
      
• In a letter sent to the DOJ, Secretary of State Jane Nelson emphasized that state law prohibits outside federal monitors from entering Texas' election sites. "Texas law is clear: Justice Department monitors are not permitted inside a polling place where ballots are being cast or a central counting station where ballots are being counted."
      
• On social media, Gov. Greg Abbott backed Nelson's position: "Federal monitors are not allowed to enter polling places in Texas."
       
• Texas isn’t alone in pushing back. Election officials in Florida and Arkansas have also said that federal monitors are prohibited.

In Texas Court, Trump Sues CBS for Its ‘Deceptive Broadcasting Conduct’

• Former President Donald Trump has filed a federal lawsuit in Texas against CBS Broadcasting Inc., after Vice President Kamala Harris’ 60 Minutes interview with the news outlet. Emily Medeiros reports that CBS is disputing the claims made by the Trump campaign.
       
• The lawsuit alleges that “to paper over Kamala’s ‘word salad’ weakness, CBS used its national platform on 60 Minutes to cross the line from the exercise of judgment in reporting to deceitful, deceptive manipulation of news.”
     
• Trump's campaign had asked CBS to release a full transcript of the interview, but the network declined to do so.
      
• A CBS News spokesperson told Texas Scorecard that the Trump campaign's allegations in the lawsuit are false. 

Texas Workforce Commission Drops Language on ‘Gender Identity’

• The Texas Workforce Commission has removed language from its website falsely claiming that sexual orientation and gender identity are protected classes in Texas.
       
• State Rep. Brian Harrison (R–Midlothian) raised the issue, saying his office would “be demanding answers.” But less than 24 hours later, the agency backtracked. References to “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” have been removed from the website's list of protected employment classes.
        
• Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) was a proponent of adding sexual orientation as a protected class in 2019.

Two Criminals Caught and Deported by ICE in Houston

• Agents with U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement in Houston recently arrested two illegal aliens, including one from Honduras wanted for murder. Addie Hovland has the report.
       
• The Honduran man entered the United States legally in September 2018 and was authorized to stay until March 2019, but was ordered to leave in January when his situation was made known to immigration officials. He evaded arrest until May 2024.
     
• Meanwhile, a man from Guatemala—wanted for robbery by the Guatemalan government—entered the United States illegally but was allowed to stay until being arrested and jailed for evading arrest and intoxicated driving.

Record Number of School Safety-Related Incidents Reported in September

• The Texas Department of Public Safety’s community reporting phone app saw a record number of school safety-related incidents in September. Luca Cacciatore has the details.
      
• There were 204 reported incidents in September—more than double the same month in previous years.
     
• DPS attributed most of the spike to more people using the iWatchTexas app and calling their hotline, 1-844-643-2251, to confidentially report criminal terroristic threats and school safety threats around the state.
       
• Brady Gray of the Texas Family Project said he was grateful for DPS’ iWatchTexas program and believes the reporting spike in September “speaks directly to the mental health epidemic we have in this country.”

Today In History

On Nov. 4, 1979, radical Islamists stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took 90 people hostage. Over the next several weeks, 38 individuals were released. The remaining 52 Americans were held hostage until Jan. 20, 1981.

Quote-Unquote

"All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honour, duty, mercy, hope."

– Winston Churchill​

One Click Survey

In recent years, the Democrats' leaders have employed a variety of pejoratives to put down conservative voters—often resulting in those voters taking on slurs as badges of honor. For example, President Joe Biden recently said Trump voters were "garbage," leading to my dad flying a garbage bag on his flag pole and Sara Gonzales wearing a garbage bag as a fashion statement.

So, with which of the putdowns do you most closely identify?
 

Once you’ve clicked an answer, reply to this email with any thoughts you’d like to share!