Good morning,

In a battle that lasted just 18 minutes, 185 years ago today, independence from Mexico was secured by our Texas forefathers on the fields of San Jacinto. More on that in a minute.

First, here is the Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Wednesday, April 21, 2021
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• Key election reforms continue to move through the Texas Legislature as the clock ticks down for lawmakers to get GOP-priority election integrity bills to the governor’s desk before the regular session ends on May 31. Erin Anderson has the update.

• More than $71 million has been spent since 2015 lobbying Texas lawmakers by “green” energy companies, according to a new report by Transparency USA. Yet, as Iris Poole reports, the real number spent on lobbying by so-called “renewable energy” advocates is likely much higher than what the data implies.
   
• “There are, without a doubt, many other businesses and groups lobbying in favor of benefits for green energy. We did not include energy companies whose primary source of income was traditional energy such as oil and gas, but many of those organizations also produce green energy and spend many millions lobbying in Austin. For example, Shell Oil is generally considered a fossil fuel company and is not included on this list. They have, however, already invested billions in green energy and recently announced their intention to increase green energy investments to $6 billion per year. Shell has spent as much as $1.3 million lobbying Texas lawmakers since 2015.” – Transparency USA

• As Texas’ public schools increase the use of “critical race theory” in their programs, Tera Collum takes a look at the roots of this controversial, leftwing curriculum.
     
• At its core, Critical Race Theory calls for highlighting race – rather than urging everyone to be color-blind. Long gone are the days of Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of judging people solely by the content of their character. 
     
• Do you think this should be undergirding Texas’ classroom education?

• A rural Republican lawmaker, Travis Clardy (R–Nacogdoches), is proposing a partial revival of mobile early voting. As Erin Anderson reminds us, mobile voting is an easily manipulated practice that was banned by Texas lawmakers two years ago. It is worth noting that Democrats are currently suing Texas to restore mobile voting, which makes Clardy’s efforts even more head-scratching.

• Members of the House Committee on Culture, Recreation, and Tourism clashed over conflicting measures dealing with Texas’ statues and monuments. Joshua Pierce reports that while Republicans want to protect them, Democrats are working to wash away history.

• Heading into the May 1 local election, four Dallas City Council candidates have been endorsed by the controversial Black Lives Matter activist Dominique Alexander. Robert Montoya has all the details.

Today in History 

18 Minutes For Liberty​

On April 21, 1836, the independence that had been hastily declared some eight weeks earlier was decisively achieved. 

It might not have been. There were those who wanted to continue fleeing the massive Mexican army in search of a better battlefield. Others hoped to flee ignobly into Louisiana and leave Texas behind. Some even wanted to sue for peace and hope the butcher of the Alamo would show mercy.

They feared what they saw: a sorely out-numbered, rag-tag band of Texians going head-to-head against the better-gunned and professionally trained Mexican Army under the command of the self-styled “Napoleon of the West,” Antonio López de Santa Anna, Mexico’s president.

Yet on the fields of San Jacinto, the Texas militia demonstrated a bold, courageous commitment to their cause by exhibiting a shrewd willingness to exploit Santa Anna’s arrogance.

It was a high-stakes gambit, with only two possible outcomes. Independence would be secured through victory, or Texas would be lost in a disastrous defeat. There would be no draw.

So in broad daylight, with Sam Houston himself leading the infantry, the Texians charged on the napping Mexican army. Before firing their first shots and charging on the Mexican position, the afternoon silence was broken by men shouting “Remember the Alamo!” and “Remember Goliad!”

To simply note that the battle lasted less than 20 minutes doesn’t do justice to the scale of the victory. Nearly 700 Mexican soldiers were killed, another 200 were wounded and some 700 were taken prisoner – including the president of Mexico, Santa Anna. By contrast, the Texians lost just nine men and saw only 30 wounded.

What was true in 1836 is true today: freedom doesn’t come in timid nibbles, but through bold actions. Never in history has liberty been expanded in a gradual series of small steps over time; that’s how tyrannies take hold. 

Instead, liberty is born from boldness. When people decide they are willing to lose everything rather than live as serfs, that is when tyrants quiver and fall.

Sam Houston and the militia at San Jacinto knew their odds and took bold action. For the Lone Star State to shine even brighter in the years ahead, we must continually re-commit to doing likewise.