Good morning!

Here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Friday, October 18, 2019
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• The American Airlines Center in Dallas as packed last night with voters rallying for President Trump. As Brandon Waltens reports, the mood in the arena was electrifying.
   
• “The radical Democrats want to destroy America as we know it. They want to indoctrinate our children and teach them that America is a sinful and wicked nation.” – President Trump
      
• In a textbook case of doubling down on stupid, former U.S. Rep. Robert Francis O’Rourke maintained during this week’s Democratic Party debate that he was committed to taking guns from Americans. Destin Sensky has the details.
      
• Anyone who contributes to “Beto” is literally contributing to an anti-American gun confiscation scheme.
       
• In a new commentary, legal expert and former Republican State Rep. Matt Rinaldi explores the biggest problem House Speaker Dennis Bonnen faces in the fallout from the unethical deal he tried to strike with me. It’s found, Rinaldi writes, in Article 16, Section 41 of the Texas Constitution. “Because House members can remove the speaker for any reason, the analysis shouldn’t be focused solely on legal issues.”
      
• In a series of radio interviews in the Metroplex on Thursday morning, popular political commentator Lt. Col. Allen West – a candidate for the chairmanship of the Republican Party of Texas, reiterated his position that Bonnen should resign for the good of the GOP.
       
• “When you talk about this belligerence, this arrogance, that we see from the ruling class political elites, Speaker Dennis Bonnen is the embodiment of that... If we are going to be honest and true in this whole thing about not wanting corruption and quid pro quo in our government, he needs to resign and therefore we can move ahead and make sure we keep Texas focused on growth, opportunity, and prosperity.” – Lt. Col. Allen West on WBAP
   
• Meanwhile, the incumbent GOP Chairman, James Dickey, sidestepped a question from a Lubbock radio station about the calls for Bonnen’s resignation. He said members of the Texas House “are the voters who get to vote for the speaker or not, and I am glad [the House Republican Caucus] will be taking a look at that and talking about that this week.” 
   
• Even if the party chairman is refusing to provide principled leadership on the issue, 20 members of the State Republican Executive Committee have signed onto a letter calling for the resignation of Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen. Destin Sensky has the details.
   
• So has the state’s largest and oldest pro-life organization, Texas Right to Life. In a letter to supporters, the organization’s Elizabeth Graham wrote: “Dennis Bonnen is a liability for Texas. He turned his back on House members. He turned his back on us, the people. He turned his back on Life and on liberty. He thinks he is above the law.”

Friday Reflection

A self-governing people must be eternally vigilant. The first three words of our Constitution make it clear who is supposed to be in charge: “We the people.” Without the citizens taking an active and engaged role in civic life, the notion of self-governance collapses.

After begging for king, the people of Israel saw their once prosperous (and self-governing) nation eventually collapse. When they recognized God as King and lived under His law, they prospered, but – just as they had been warned – the rule of man under a king didn’t work out so well. 

After a period of exile, God called the Jews back to Israel and Nehemiah was tasked with rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. (As a quick aside: yes, the building of walls to define and secure a nation-state from invaders and evil-doers was blessed and encouraged by God.)

There were any number of enemies who wanted to thwart the return of the Jews, and so in Nehemiah 4:9, we’re told that the people “prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.” Everyone prayed, everyone worked, everyone guarded the work. Everyone was responsible.

Too many of us today have forgotten that simple lesson. If this nation conceived in liberty will long endure, it will only be because we – the people – are wholly committed to being self-governing leaders actively engaged in the hard, exhausting work of practical governance, of praying for each other and countrymen, and of being actively prepared to defend our land. It is our duty, not someone else’s. 

We must with joy accept the awesome responsibility of self-governance, so that we and our children can enjoy the fruits of Liberty. So let’s pray, stay at guard, and get to work!

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