Good morning –

The forces of darkness and despair will always seek to extinguish the light of liberty. When the inevitable assaults come, we can choose the ease of surrender ... or we can fight back faithfully.

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Friday, September 11, 2020
Update your email preferences.

• After the Austin City Council voted last month to defund their police department by one-third, removing $150 million from the 2021’s police budget, Gov. Greg Abbott has seized the opportunity to “back the blue” and threaten retribution during the 2021 legislative session for cities that consider following the capital city’s lead. Brandon Waltens has the details.
     
• “Cities that defund their police departments will forever lose their annexation powers. And any areas and any residents that have ever been annexed by that city in the past will have the power to vote to disannex them from the city.” – Gov. Greg Abbott
   
• His latest move on the issue is similar to his first. As you will recall, Gov. Abbott announced a legislative proposal several weeks ago that would freeze property tax revenue for cities that defund the police. His threat was intended to be retributory, even though citizens across the state have demanded meaningful relief from skyrocketing property taxes for years. 
   
• Why does the governor insist on using important pro-citizen protections – long sought by grassroots activists – as “punishments” against cities?

• The 2020 election is being targeted by leftwing financier George Soros. In a new commentary, Direct Action Texas’ Daniel Greer explains how Soros has been quietly – and successfully – targeting local District Attorney races around the state and nation.
   
• As Mr. Greer writes: “Could these investments, dating back to at least 2016, be paying off in 2020? Possibly. Soros-backed DAs across the country have been causing chaos by subverting law and order, allowing rioters to walk free after destroying property or injuring American citizens.”

Friday Reflection

We were waiting for the movers to come on September 11, 2001. My wife and I were sitting on the front porch, sipping coffee, excited to be heading back to Texas. Our townhouse was a couple of miles from the Pentagon.

In retrospect, we heard the crash. We remember saying, “Did you hear that?” At the time, we couldn’t process what it possibly could be. Our toddler played near us, while her infant sister gurgled in a car seat. We couldn’t imagine the death, the destruction, the horror happening so close.

There were 2,977 people murdered that day. There were millions whose lives were upended. There are billions who have been affected.

Today, 19 years later, the magnitude of the attack is still staggering. 

The Islamic terrorists wanted America destroyed. Perhaps they thought toppling buildings could achieve that end... or maybe they thought shedding the blood of civilians would make the rest of us kneel before their god.

That evening, as the nation grappled to understand what happened, there was a palpable fear that America had been dealt a crippling blow. Fortunately, the horror of 9/11 gave way to the steady resolve of 9/12. America would not be cowed by terrorists.

And yet, on this 19th anniversary of that horrible day, there are those in our country carrying out the terrorists’ ends. They want to topple our constitutional rights. They want us to kneel before secular gods.

Our cities are being terrorized by people who despise liberty and would see the American experiment in self-governance ended. Just as those Islamic terrorists dreamt of a globe-spanning caliphate, the BLM and antifa terrorists want to impose a radical socialist agenda on the rest of us.

In a fallen world, attacks on life should be expected. The forces of darkness and despair seek to extinguish the light of liberty. When the inevitable assaults come, we can choose the ease of surrender ... or we can fight back faithfully. In fighting, we have the opportunity to love God, love our neighbors, and take our place in history amongst the men and women who boldly stood against tyranny.

What will we do tomorrow? Will we resign ourselves to the inevitability of a leftist tyranny? Will we shrug our shoulders and head down the well-trodden road to serfdom?

Or, will patriots rise up? Will we rededicate ourselves to those founding ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Will we fight for what America can be? Will we fight for that more perfect union of self-governing sovereigns? Will we, in the words of the Old Testament exhortation, be “strong and courageous”?

At the end of his life, the Israelite leader Joshua gathered the people of Israel together and told them they must “choose this day whom you will serve... as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

The choice we make today about what we will do tomorrow will shape the future of our Republic. As for me and my house, we resolve to fight.