Good morning,

Even as establishment politicians try to keep us paralyzed under the weight of rules and regulations, we must move boldly in the “pursuit of happiness” for which God designed us.

More on that after today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan

Friday, May 15, 2020

Update your email preferences [[link removed]].

Between 2.1 and 2.4 million Texans have filed for unemployment related to the government’s shutdown of the economy.

“When the federal, state and local governments asked Americans to socially distance and take other measures to ‘flatten the curve’ in order to not overwhelm our medical supply chain and infrastructure, Americans largely rose to the challenge,” wrote U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) on Twitter [[link removed]]. “But governments at all levels have taken it too far with prolonged, widespread shutdowns that are putting the very fabric of our nation at risk.”

The Federalists’ Christopher Bedford has a fascinating look [[link removed]] at the coming food supply crisis in America that is being brought on by the government’s shutdown of the economy and stay-at-home orders.

Collin County has announced plans to distribute millions in taxpayer money from a federal relief program to directly help local families harmed by the Chinese coronavirus and related government-ordered business closures. Erin Anderson reports [[link removed]] Collin County Commissioners Court has adopted the Collin CARES plan, which provides direct financial assistance to individuals for housing, utilities, and groceries, as well as funding for coronavirus testing, personal protective equipment, and the cities’ virus-related costs and recovery efforts.

A total of $11 billion in CARES Act money came to Texas [[link removed]] to help with recovery efforts as part of the federal government’s $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund. Cities and counties with 500,000 or more residents received cash directly from the U.S. Treasury. In the metroplex, Collin County received $171 million, Dallas County $240 million, Denton County $148 million, and Tarrant County $210 million. The cities of Dallas and Fort Worth also got direct cash payments of $234 million and $159 million, respectively.

As always, taxpayers must take responsibility for ensuring all this “free money” gets wisely spent. If you haven’t yet, be sure to listen to this week’s edition of Texas Scorecard Radio [[link removed]]. Tony McDonald visits with political commentator and Washington Times columnist Tim Young about a drive through the middle of America during the height of the coronavirus. The Watauga City Council this week appointed a new councilmember with a criminal record to finish an unexpired term. As one might imagine, the action immediately drew an outcry from the Tarrant County city’s residents on social media. Robert Montoya has the details [[link removed]]. Ironically, the unexpired term being filled was to replace Councilman Scott Prescher who was apparently bullied into resigning after being the only vote against a city ordinance banning citizens from recording city officials without notification.

Records indicate the new councilmember, Danielle Tucker, was found guilty of drug possession in 2018 and pled guilty to credit card abuse in 2004. She was set to oppose Prescher on the November ballot. The council’s decision to appoint her removes the opportunity for voters to assess her fitness for office.

I’m not saying Watauga’s city council is full of crooks, but I am saying they certainly seem to prefer crooked behavior...

Please join me in wishing a very happy Saturday birthday to my dad and loyal Texas Minute reader, Stephen Sullivan! Friday Reflection [[link removed]]

by Michael Quinn Sullivan

There is something particularly vicious about telling a man who had been paralyzed to stop what he’s doing. Every fiber of his being wants to move!

Let me back up. The Bethesda Pool in Jerusalem is a remarkable place both for what happened there two thousand years ago, but also what has happened there in more modern times. For years, the Bethesda Pool was misidentified as a different location. This wrongly identified place looked nothing the way the Bible described it, and so – of course – the intellectual elite decided that was proof positive the Bible could not be believed.

Except, of course, the real Bethesda Pool was identified and, yes, it matched perfectly with the biblical description. With each turn of the archeologist’s spade, the narrative of the anti-God establishment is covered up with truth.

Jesus had the same effect in real time. His message was subversive to the self-serving establishment.

The Gospel of John tells of a paralytic man who lived in a particularly nasty personal torment. Myth had it that when the waters of Bethesda were disturbed, the first person in would be healed. So he sat near the pool, but had no one to help him get in. Each time he sought to be placed in the pool after its waters were stirred up, someone else would beat him to it. The establishment political and religious leaders certainly weren’t going to waste their time helping him.

So Jesus did. He healed the man without making him so much as get his fingertips wet. But when the man picked up his things to leave – he was healed! – the establishment’s shrill response was predictable: Sit down and be quiet. They had their regulations, after all.

For the establishment elite, neither the Sabbath nor the Law was about honoring God and loving their neighbor. Instead, the law became a tool for inflating themselves and their self-decreed importance as regulators.

The former paralytic was having none of it. We’re told he “went away” and told people what Jesus had done for him.

When confronting the self-important establishmentarians and their shrill regulators today, we should follow the paralytic’s lead. It’s not worth arguing with them. Let’s keep moving, loudly proclaiming what we know to be true.

Today in History

The federal government of the United States was moved to Washington, D.C., on May 15, 1800. President John Adams issued the formal order immediately after Congress concluded its business that day from the temporary Capitol in Philadelphia.

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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PO Box 12862, Odessa TX 79768 Produced by Michael Quinn Sullivan and Brandon Waltens, the Texas Minute is a quick look at the news and info of the day that we find interesting, and hope you do as well. It is delivered weekday morning (though we'll probably take the occasional break for holidays and whatnot).

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