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Tuesday, August 5, 2025

Gov. Abbott Orders Arrest of Democrat Legislators Who Fled

The Hill: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Monday ordered the arrest of the Democrats who fled the Lone Star State in an effort to halt the advancement of new congressional maps that could benefit Republicans in next year’s midterms. “Texas House Democrats abandoned their duty to Texans,” Abbott said in a statement. “By fleeing the state, Texas House Democrats are holding hostage critical legislation to aid flood victims and advance property tax relief. There are consequences for dereliction of duty (The Hill). Dallas Morning News: “This truancy ends now. The derelict Democrat House members must return to Texas and be in attendance when the House reconvenes at 3:00 PM on Monday, August 4, 2025,” Abbott wrote. “For any member who fails to do so, I will invoke Texas Attorney General Opinion No. KP-0382 to remove the missing Democrats from membership in the Texas House.” The governor also accused House Democrats of committing felony crimes. “In addition to abandoning their offices, these legislators may also have committed felonies,” he wrote. “Many absentee Democrats are soliciting funds to evade the fines they will incur under House rules. (Dallas Morning News). Ed Morrissey: There may well be enough legal exposure here to support felony prosecutions, if Abbott wants to go to the mattresses. But what about declaring vacancies? The purpose of exercising that option is to reduce the quorum requirements that will allow the session to continue. Four years ago, after Democrat fleebaggers scuttled a special session only to have Abbott to declare another special session immediately afterward, AG Ken Paxton created a formal opinion warning that fleebagging constitutes a legal abandonment of office, a status which can be enforced by the executive branch via application to the judiciary (Hot Air). State Attorney General Ken Paxton: “Instead of showing up to work and doing the jobs they were elected to do, House Democrat members have fled the state in a cowardly desertion of their responsibilities as elected officials. These jet-setting runaways abandoned Texas, abdicated their duties in the House, and sacrificed their constituents for a publicity stunt,” said Attorney General Paxton…. In 2021, Attorney General Paxton’s office successfully secured a Texas Supreme Court ruling that held that the House could arrest absent members to secure their presence and establish a quorum. That ruling helped create the current legal framework, which allows for rogue lawmakers to be found, arrested, and brought back to the Capitol. Attorney General Paxton will continue to use every legal tool at his disposal to enforce the law and stop the radical lawmakers from ignoring their duty to the people of Texas and breaking quorum (AG).

Forthcoming Supreme Court Decision to Address Redistricting, Gerrymandering

Axios: Republicans’ plan to redraw Texas’s congressional district map years early launched a nationwide battle, with Democrats promising to retaliate with new partisan maps of their own. The war to win the congressional maps is a result of a 2019 Supreme Court decision eliminating federal guardrails against partisan gerrymandering. President Trump has urged Texas Republicans to draw a new map more favorable to the GOP before the 2026 midterms. Democrats in New York and California have vowed to retaliate in kind. Context: The Supreme Court ignited the new wave of gerrymandering with a 2019 opinion authored by Chief Justice John Roberts that held that partisan gerrymandering claims “present political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts.” “Federal judges have no license to reallocate political power between the two major political parties,” Roberts wrote (Axios). Roll Call: The Supreme Court set the stage for a potential earthquake in redistricting across the country in its next term after setting new rules for a court fight over Louisiana’s congressional map. The order Friday, which set the legal question for the state and map challengers to answer, comes after years of litigation around the Voting Rights Act, which requires states to provide minority communities with an opportunity to elect the candidates of their choice, and the Constitution’s ban on racial discrimination. The court fight could result in yet another map for Louisiana and change the rules for redistricting nationwide …. Experts have said that court fights over redistricting can shape the House majority, as so few seats are in play. Some of the states with hard-fought redistricting battles, such as Texas and Florida, face frequent fights over alleged racial discrimination under the VRA (Roll Call).

A Win for Election Integrity: 5th Circuit Allows for Compulsory Voter Identity in Voter Registration

Reversing a 2023 district court ruling. Bloomberg: Texas can make people applying to vote by mail provide identification numbers that must match the state’s data, the Fifth Circuit said Monday. A three-judge panel ruled against a challenge from the Biden administration and voting rights groups in holding that Texas’ system for rooting out potential fraud is “obviously designed to confirm that every mail-in voter is indeed who he claims he is.” The decision from Judge James Ho reverses a November 2023 district court ruling that struck down the number match provision, saying the system isn’t material in determining voter eligibility. The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit already disagreed with the lower court before Monday, pausing the injunction in December 2023 (Bloomberg). From the decision: The ID number requirement is obviously designed to confirm that each mail-in ballot voter is precisely who he claims he is. And that is plainly “material” to “determining whether such individual is qualified under State law to vote.” Id. The district court reached the opposite conclusion. So we reverse and render judgment for Defendants. I. To vote in Texas, one must satisfy various eligibility requirements, including age, citizenship, residency, and mental fitness….One must also be registered to vote. See id. The voter registration application asks each applicant to affirm, under penalty of perjury, that they are eligible to vote (USCourts).

Netanyahu Presses for Full Occupation of Gaza

The move would further polarize an already polarized nation. It also might well be the only move that could deliver a definitive death blow to Hamas. Jerusalem Post: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached a decision for the full occupation of the Gaza Strip, including operations in areas where hostages are held, a source in the Prime Minister’s Office told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. The Prime Minister’s Office conveyed the message to IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir: If this does not suit you, then you should resign…. The announcement comes after months of talks in Doha between Hamas, Israel, and mediators to reach a ceasefire-hostage deal. Hamas demanded that hundreds of trucks of aid would need to enter the Gaza Strip for the terror group to return to negotiations, despite increased international efforts to deliver resources to the Palestinian enclave in a way that would bypass the Islamist rulers of the strip (Jerusalem Post). Israel Hayom: a senior political source said ahead of tomorrow’s cabinet meeting that Netanyahu has not yet made a final decision to order the IDF to launch a new offensive and enter the remaining parts of the Gaza Strip. However, the source noted that the momentum is shifting in that direction. According to the source, people in Netanyahu’s circle, along with ministers who support military action, have been spreading this sentiment to prepare the Israeli public. Briefings indicated that ministers who spoke with the prime minister reported he had decided to pursue an offensive in Gaza, going against the IDF’s recommendation to maintain a siege on Hamas-controlled areas while applying sustained offensive pressure. In this context, Netanyahu reportedly used the phrase “conquest of the Strip.” The prime minister said earlier today that the maneuvering would continue in a manner that ensures the war’s objectives are achieved. Two days ago, a senior political official said, “We are in talks with the Americans. There is a growing understanding that Hamas is not interested in a deal, and therefore the prime minister is pushing for the hostages to be freed through military victory, while allowing humanitarian aid into areas outside the combat zones and, as much as possible, outside Hamas control.” At the cabinet meeting, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir is expected to argue that such an operation would not yield the desired results in the foreseeable future and would endanger the hostages’ lives, as one of the war’s primary goals is their return (Israel Hayom).

Is the Ayatollah’s Power Waning? “Change is coming”

The Economist sees the Iranian leader diminishing: Political power in Iran used to be simple. Call him dictator, supreme leader, imam or shadow of God on earth, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was the absolute ruler. Military commanders, presidents and clerics were his underlings. He made all the top appointments and rigged the choice of presidential candidates. But since Iran’s 12-day war with Israel, things have become more complicated. The 86-year-old leader appears in public only rarely. His sermons, once lengthy, are brief. The question of succession looms larger than ever, with actors inside and outside the regime jostling for position, many openly advocating alternatives to 46 years of theocracy…. As the supreme leader tries to keep up the appearance of business as usual, rivals are circling. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the regime’s praetorian guard, is using the continued threat from Israel to justify its hold on power (Economist). Just the News reports on the recent meeting of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI): “The regime is weak,” NCRI leader Maryam Rajavi said in Rome, speaking before a towering LED screen that showed scenes from Ashraf-3 and “Free Iran” banners. “It survives through terror, executions, and foreign aggression. But change is coming, and we are ready for it.” In addition to Rajavi, the summit featured remarks from several high-profile political figures, including Charles Michel, a former President of the European Council; former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi; Michele Alliot-Marie, a former French minister who held the defense, interior, foreign affairs, and justice portfolios; James Cleverly, a former Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary in the U.K.; and former New York Mayor and Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani. “Iran’s dictatorship is afraid, and it’s facing a credible alternative,” said Michel, who left his European Council role in December. “Change is coming” (Just the News).

Sen. Ron Johnson Pushing for Reinstatement of Military Personnel Fired in Pandemic

Federalist reports: Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., is pressing the Pentagon on its efforts to reinstate military troops fired by the Biden administration for forgoing the Covid shot, the senator revealed Thursday. In his Tuesday letter, the Wisconsin Republican asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to provide an update on what the Defense Department is doing to return service members booted for not getting the experimental jab under President Biden…. Citing Hegseth’s prior commitments to follow through on such a task, Johnson said he has “no doubt that [Hegseth is] committed to assisting our service members.” In concluding his letter, the senator requested the defense secretary to “carefully review [the Caller] article and provide a briefing to [his] office by August 19, 2025, regarding DoD’s efforts to apologize, reinstate, and provide back pay to the service members who were terminated after refusing to take the COVID-19 injection” (Federalist).

US to Build Nuclear Reactor on the Moon

That news—coming via Politico—comes from interim NASA Administrator Sean Duffy: Duffy will announce expedited plans this week to build a nuclear reactor on the moon, the first major action by the former Fox News host as the interim NASA administrator. NASA has discussed building a reactor on the lunar surface, but this would set a more definitive timeline — according to documents obtained by POLITICO — and come just as the agency faces a massive budget cut…. The reactor directive orders the agency to solicit industry proposals for a 100 kilowatt nuclear reactor to launch by 2030, a key consideration for astronauts’ return to the lunar surface. NASA previously funded research into a 40 kilowatt reactor for use on the moon, with plans to have a reactor ready for launch by the early 2030s. The first country to have a reactor could “declare a keep-out zone which would significantly inhibit the United States,” the directive states, a sign of the agency’s concern about a joint project China and Russia have launched (Politico). Katie Jerkovich of Red State: “56 years ago today, AMERICANS were first to set foot on the Moon, proving again that we’re the greatest nation on Earth. It’s time to top that mission. Thanks to President Trump, @NASA is BACK!” Duffy wrote. “@NASAArtemis will finish what we started: we’re going back to the Moon &, this time, we’re STAYING! Then, we’re going to MARS! Stay tuned…” (Red State).

Governing Body of Women’s Track and Field to Verify Sex of Athletes; “gender cannot trump biology”

It’s another victory for truth and for women’s sports. From World Athletics: All athletes wishing to compete in the female category at the World Championships are required to undergo a once-in-a-lifetime test for the SRY gene – a reliable proxy for determining biological sex. This is to be conducted via a cheek swab or blood test, whichever is more convenient. The testing protocol will be overseen by Member Federations as they prepare their athletes and teams for the Championships in Tokyo (World Athletics). Washington Stand: World Athletics President Sebastian Coe spoke on the development, stating, “We are saying, at the elite level, for you to compete in the female category, you have to be biologically female.” Coe added, “The philosophy that we hold dear in World Athletics is the protection and the promotion of the integrity of women’s sport. It is really important in a sport that is permanently trying to attract more women that they enter a sport believing there is no biological glass ceiling. The test to confirm biological sex is a very important step in ensuring this is the case.” Coe left no room for ambiguity, stating, “It was always very clear to me and the World Athletics Council that gender cannot trump biology.” The organization further clarified the logistics, asserting that “the SRY test is extremely accurate and the risk of false negative or positive is extremely unlikely.” They also noted, “The transitional provisions do not apply to transgender women as there are none competing at the elite international level under the current regulations.” The policy has garnered praise from advocates who argue that it prioritizes fairness and respects the biological realities of female athletes. Macy Petty, NCAA athlete and ambassador for Concerned Women for America, shared her perspective with The Washington Stand. “World Athletics is showing the world that it really isn’t that complicated. In fact, it’s as easy as a one-time cheek swab.” Petty underscored the simplicity and necessity of the approach, stating, “Separating sports based on sex is simple because it is founded on truth” (Washington Stand).

Progressivism Killed Protestantism

Or, more precisely speaking, it killed mainline Protestantism—whose leaders embraced a liberal political vision that did not reflect their religion’s authoritative text or the convictions of the people in the pew. The result: a set of religious denominations led into oblivion. Chris Mondics, writing for Spectator World: Mainline Protestantism, once a primary cultural and political pillar of American life, is in freefall. Traditional Protestant denominations – Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans and others – now account for less than 11 percent of the population, down 40 percent since 2007, according to the Pew Religious Landscape Study. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the main Lutheran body in the United States, had more than five million members when it was formed in 1988. That number now stands at fewer than three million. By 2050, the ELCA projects that membership will have dropped to a mere 67,000. At that point, American Lutheranism will virtually cease to exist as a denomination – soon to be joined, no doubt, by other stalwarts of the Reformation (Spectator). Carl Trueman: If Ernest Hemingway were to interview American mainline Protestantism in 2025, the conversation would go something like this: “How did you go spiritually bankrupt?” “Two ways. Gradually and then suddenly.”… This sudden bankruptcy has been years in the making. Mainline Protestantism lost interest in the transcendent truths of Christianity and married the spirit of the age generations ago. Its bankruptcy, once slow, is now about to be very sudden. But in such times as these, when the political stakes seem to be so high and the rhetoric of public discourse is so extreme, there is a real temptation to lose sight of that mission. There is a lesson here for all churches, no matter how orthodox on paper (First Things).

10.

Trump: Most Influential President This Century

And that’s an admission from CNN. Ed Morrissey: And it’s not just on tariffs, although that’s where Harry Enten starts with his data analytics. After just six months of his second non-consecutive term, Donald Trump has changed the direction of the US in several ways, and tariffs may actually be the least important. One could say that Trump has fundamentally transformed America … or more accurately, fundamentally transformed it back…. More to the point on influence, Trump has broken through the bleeding-heart media and connected with the vast majority of Americans who are tired of having their charitable impulses exploited by traffickers and grifters. One can argue that Trump sensed the shift and embraced it for political reasons, but Trump has refused to back down under tremendous pressure on immigration, and this kind of a shift would not have been possible under any other president. Not only has Trump followed through on his promises, he’s doing so at full bore, and Americans are still responding positively to it. That’s influence (Hot Air). Victor Davis Hanson: Donald Trump’s far-ranging counter-revolution, to quote the old Star Trek mission statement, seeks “To boldly go where no one has gone before.” Because no conservative president has dared to question the last 70 years of progressive cultural, social, economic, and political dominance, all traditional wisdom, all our renowned “experts,” and all the self-described “authorities” have no real credibility in their mostly flawed analyses and wrong prognoses. Read what our legacy media predicted in March for this summer’s economy, or in January for the future of the border, or what would happen should the U.S. Air Force enter Iranian airspace…. We are in the middle of a counter-revolution, whose fate will likely be decided in 15 months by the midterm elections and the status of the late 2026 economy (American Greatness).

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