Good morning,

A rancher on the border details the costs and perils created for her family by those who illegally enter the country.

You’ll find that in today's Texas Minute, followed by my reflection on the responsibility that comes with knowledge.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Friday, January 7, 2022
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Looks like Brandon Waltens couldn’t find anyone else to be on The Headline with him at 11 a.m. this morning, so he asked me. We’ll chat about the gubernatorial race and other things happening in the news. The video archive and podcast will be ready early afternoon.

Harris County Free To Impose Mask Mandate

• The Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals is allowing Harris County officials to decree a mask mandate in places such as schools and county buildings, bucking Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order on the issue. Jacob Asmussen has the story.
   
• The governor had previously enacted executive orders over the last two years that imposed mask mandates and closed businesses across Texas, but the situation flipped last July when he proclaimed a new executive order prohibiting mask mandates.
     
• While local governments were quick to seize the power Abbott gave them to impose restrictions on citizens, they have fought against the restrictions on their power.
   
• “The Governor does not possess absolute authority under the Texas Disaster Act to preempt orders issued by local governmental entities or officials that contradict his executive orders,” wrote Justice Chari Kelly for the court’s opinion.
   
• The ruling will be appealed to the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court. Of course, the Republican-controlled Legislature could have resolved the issue at any point in 2021 by passing a state law to ban mask mandates. They declined to act, and the governor has refused to push them.

Texas SoS Wants More Transparency In Elections

• Texas Secretary of State John Scott addressed members of the Texas Association of Elections Administrators at their 2022 conference in Fort Worth this week, urging more transparency to deal with the “crisis of confidence” among voters over whether their ballots will count. Erin Anderson has the details.
   
• “Ultimately, the only thing we can hope for is that people have such security that they feel comfortable going and casting a ballot. To me, the worst thing that can happen is someone decides not to vote because they believe their vote won’t count—because the election is rigged, because someone else has gamed the system and illegally voted.” – John Scott

Rancher: Illegal Border Crossings Affect All Texans

• Sydnie Henry tells the story of Donna Schuster who has  managed her family’s cattle ranching operation for more than 20 years in Kinney County. The picturesque piece of land only 25 miles from the Rio Grande has turned into a highway for illegal border crossings. 
        
• “I find some kind of sign every single day that someone has been on my ranch,” says Schuster. “Every time I leave my house, there’s some kind of indication that someone has been on my ranch.”
     
• Law enforcement has been called to the Schuster property five times in the past year to respond to incidents where illegal border crossers have knocked on their door or approached their house. 
        
• An incident over the summer left Schuster shocked when some of the illegal border crossers intentionally broke a water line. Security and safety have taken major precedence in the Schuster family’s life. Game cameras on the doors, rarely going out in the pre-dawn hours, working out of an enclosed truck instead of an open UTV on the ranch, and never leaving the house without a pistol have all become standard practice for the whole family. 
        
• “People have said, ‘Well, if you’re scared on your own land, you just move.’ It doesn’t work that way,” said Schuster. “This is our land. And they worked hard, and they bought it, and you can’t give up on that land. It’s your legacy. It’s your legacy for your children. And so, it’s not like you just have a house in town, and you could just sell it and move to another community. When you have a ranch, you can’t do that.” 

Friday Reflection: With Great Knowledge…

Uncle Ben, the erstwhile mentor to comic book hero Peter Parker, is credited with the oft-quoted line: “With great power, comes great responsibility.”

In the comics, that inspiring sentiment helped Peter Parker become Spiderman. But, as the village of Chorazin in rural Israel came to understand, it can also be understood as a curse.

What’s left of Chorazin are the remains of several basalt-rock structures, including the synagogue. Chorazin is a short walk from Capernaum, Jesus’ base of ministry. The view of the Sea of Galilee is beautiful.

Yet what the people of Chorazin did not appreciate was the even more spectacular view they had of history.  

The Gospels of Matthew and Luke record Jesus’ admonition to the people in the villages of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. These are places in which the residents had witnessed what Jesus Himself described as “mighty works” but they nonetheless rejected Him. They were given a front-row seat to the performance of miracles, yet they shrugged Him off.

With powerful knowledge, comes great responsibility.  

“Woe to you” Jesus said to those cities, adding it will be “more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom” than for the people in those places. 

As heirs in America to a biblically based system of self-governance, we have the highest standard of living in all of human history. We take for granted conveniences unimaginable just decades ago. Yet never in American history has the call for socialism (and the tyranny to which it inevitably leads) been louder.

We are witnesses to the bounty the blessing of liberty can bring, but in our sloth we risk – like the people of Chorazin – shrugging it off... and falling woefully away.

When people in countries that have never known liberty make bad choices, it shouldn’t surprise us. They don’t know better; but we do. We have no excuses. We have been witnesses to mighty works. We have a responsibility to respond accordingly.