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Good morning,

Politicians and their media sycophants want the people stuffed with intellectual junk food, but effective citizenship demands a steady diet of real news. I end the week reflecting on the importance of real news.

This is the Texas Minute for Friday, Dec. 6, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

HEADLINE

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Phelan Loses Another Key Ally Ahead of GOP Speaker Vote

• The path for Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan to retain his leadership position has taken another significant hit. In a statement issued yesterday morning, Republican Trent Ashby of Lufkin announced his support for David Cook of Mansfield. Brandon Waltens has the story.
       
• Members of the House Republican Caucus will meet Saturday at the Texas Capitol to nominate their candidate for speaker. The official vote will take place on January 14, the first day of the new legislative session.
       
• Ashby's endorsement brings Cook’s total public commitments to 48, giving him a majority within the 88-member Republican caucus. With three-fifths support required to secure the Republican nomination, Cook now appears significantly closer to victory than Phelan.
       
• “I believe David will unite the Caucus by empowering members to work collaboratively with our House colleagues, Lt. Governor Patrick, the Texas Senate, and Governor Abbott to deliver the conservative results that the overwhelming majority of Texans expect and demand.” – Trent Ashby

RELATED NEWS

• In addition to a far-left voting record, Houston State Rep. Gene Wu has faced scrutiny for his ties to the Chinese Communist Party. He has also been a vocal opponent of legislation banning hostile foreign entities, including China, from purchasing land in Texas.
      
• The change in Democrat House leadership comes as Democrats have failed to secure a statewide victory in 30 years.
      
• Competence is not expected to be a core value of Wu's Democrat caucus. In announcing the caucus' new officers yesterday, a press release was sent using the wrong headline—in which the caucus announced its endorsement of Kamala Harris for president. 

Dan Patrick Leading Senate Initiative to Ban All THC Products

• Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has announced his support for a measure to ban consumable THC—a psychoactive chemical compound found in cannabis—from being sold in Texas. Luca Cacciatore reports the legislation is designed to fix what Patrick describes as a loophole in a 2019 law legalizing the sale of hemp.
    
• According to Patrick, “thousands of stores selling hazardous THC products have popped up in communities across the state” since 2023. Many sell products with “three to four times the THC content” found in marijuana purchased from a drug dealer.
       
• The measure will be carried by State Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), who notably authored the original 2019 law legalizing hemp sales.
      
• Not everyone is on board. Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller took to social media to decry Patrick's push, writing, “We know what the polls say. It's time to support the will of Texans.”

Counties Would Be Mandated to Follow Federal Immigration Law

• A proposal put forward in the Texas House would require counties to help the Trump administration deport criminal illegal aliens. Emily Medeiros has the details.
    
• State Rep. Nate Schatzline (R-Fort Worth) wants to require each county to enter into a written agreement with the federal government to enforce federal immigration law. Any county that fails to do so could be sued by the Texas attorney general and have state grant funds withheld.
        
• “It’s time to take a stand against human and drug trafficking,” said Schatzline. “The time to secure the border is now!”

Texas A&M Class Explores ‘Systemic Racism’ in American Politics

• Under the guise of education, the Fall 2024 coursework at Texas A&M reveals an aggressive push for divisive and far-left messages. Get the details from Robert Montoya's continuing investigation.
       

• One such course, “Race and Politics in the United States,” is taught in Texas A&M's political science department. The class' stated goal is to “explain how systemic racism affects political representation, behavior, and outcomes.”
       

• Students spent the first four weeks discussing race and racism, with the syllabi assigning readings from the widely criticized, anti-American 1619 Project.
      

• Scott Yenor, a senior director at the Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life, described the course materials as “based on the premise that America is systemically racist."
      

• Texas A&M did not respond when asked to comment on how the class represents Aggie values.

Houston Mayor Diverts $2.6 Million From Bridge Lighting to Homelessness Initiative

• Houston Mayor John Whitmire has decided to divert funding previously designated to cover the cost of lighting on Montrose bridges towards the homelessness initiative he recently announced. Michael Wilson reports the move has drawn concern from members of the city council.
        
• One council member questioned the legality of the change, while another expressed concern over the safety implications.
      
• Whitmire described the lighting as "decorative," telling critics that "the bottom line is, we’re broke."

Conservative Leader Award 2024

Previously announced 2024 Award recipients...

• Dr. Brooks McKenzie of Clarksville
• Tammy Warren of McKinney

Friday Reflection
Getting Real News

Most of what passes for “news” today is little more than warmed-over propaganda designed to serve the ruling elite. The foolishly described “mainstream” media (there is nothing “mainstream” about them) are shills for the far left. At the same time, many of the seemingly “conservative” outlets pander to whichever moderate Republican officeholder tickles their ears.

Citizens deserve better.

Here is how I define news: the facts of the day told in their truthful context, allowing citizens to make informed decisions. Every single citizen is, or can be, a journalist. Journalism is the purposeful activity of gathering relevant information and presenting it in a straightforward manner without deceit, manipulation, or unnecessary jargon.

Our Founding Fathers enshrined the God-given right of the people to speak and publish freely on political matters because they had experienced firsthand a government that did not. They understood citizens must be able to expose government malfeasance, criticize public policy, and publicly identify corruption.

This was of such preeminent importance that the adoption of the U.S. Constitution was predicated on it being enumerated in the Bill of Rights.

Journalism should be agnostic to how the “narrative” will benefit the politically powerful and connected. Stories should not be withheld because they are inconvenient to the powerbrokers. In fact, news that is inconvenient to the powerbrokers and comes to the detriment of those in public office must—definitionally—be reported.

Analogies between business and government are over-rated and often wrongheaded. But, with your indulgence, let me compare the citizens of the United States—and of this state—to corporate board trustees. The only way to be a good corporate trustee is to be fully informed and have unfettered access to the business of the business.

As citizens, our first loyalty must be to each other—not the political personalities of the day. We owe each other our honest views of public policy and political actors.

Politicians and their media sycophants want the people stuffed with intellectual junk food, but effective citizenship demands a steady diet of real news.

At Texas Scorecard, our pledge is to deliver real news to real Texans. We want citizens to have the knowledge they need to effectively dominate culture and government. And, quite frankly, we don’t care how inconvenient that is to anyone.

Quote-Unquote

"News is something somebody doesn’t want printed; all else is advertising."

– William Randolph Hearst