Good morning!

“Play it safe,” we’re often told. “Take small steps,” people say. I’m thankful Texas’ patriots in 1836 were willing to risk everything rather than live as serfs. Liberty has never been achieved through timidity, but rather is born from boldness. More on that in my closing reflection for the week.

Here is the Texas Minute for Friday, April 22, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Abbott Chief Now Lobbies For Soros Group

• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s former chief of staff, Daniel Hodge, is now a lobbyist for the left-wing Tides Center, one of the biggest liberal organizations in the country. Brandon Waltens reports the entity is closely affiliated with financier George Soros.
     
• Hodge worked for Abbott’s campaigns and official offices for more than 15 years, most recently as the governor’s chief of staff. Since leaving Abbott’s office in 2017, Hodge has quickly become one of the highest-paid lobbyists in the state, with state records revealing he could be making up to $8.2 million on his contracts.
     
• First established in 1976 in San Francisco, the Tides Foundation says it is dedicated to “working to advance progressive causes and policy initiatives in areas such as the environment, health care, labor issues, immigrant rights, LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights and human rights.” The Tides Center is funded by major leftist foundations, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and George Soros’ Open Society Foundation. Hodge is reportedly making up to $300,000 annually by lobbying for the entity and its causes.
     
• In his waning days as Abbott’s chief of staff, Hodge reportedly sent a message to lawmakers, threatening them to either add $100 million to the state’s corporate welfare programs or see Abbott veto the entire budget.

Texas Mum Even As Florida Fights Against Biden Trans Agenda

• As the fight to protect children in Texas continues, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission – whose mission is to “improve the health, safety and well-being of Texans” – has been mum on a dire threat to the health, safety, and well-being of the state’s youth. Jacob Asmussen has the details.
     
• At issue is a directive from the Biden administration’s U.S. Department of Health and Human Services supporting “gender-affirming care” for minors, which includes cutting off adolescents’ healthy body parts as well as administering sterilizing puberty blocker drugs and cross-sex hormones to children.
      
• Texas Scorecard sent inquiries to Texas Health and Human Services about “gender dysphoria procedures,” asking if they had a statement on the issue or any plans to announce health guidance for Texans related to the federal push. They have thus far not responded.
      
• On the other hand, Florida officials have issued a stern rebuke of the federal push and offered a warning that such operations can inflict severe and irreversible damages on youth.
      
• “Why are other red states not doing this?” wrote Matt Rinaldi, chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, on social media. “I don’t know of any state other than Florida where health agencies are presenting an alternative to [Biden administration’s] woke garbage.”

No Protection For Texas’ Monuments

• Though it has been a top priority for Texas Republicans for almost two years, nothing has been done to protect the Lone Star State’s historic monuments. Katy Drollinger reviews the political history and legislative inaction.

Wendy Davis Sues For More Abortions

• Pro-abortion activists are again trying to dismantle Texas’ Heartbeat Act and legalize the killing of more babies across the state. Wendy Davis, the former Democrat state senator and failed gubernatorial and congressional candidate, has filed a federal lawsuit against the law.
     

• Davis is targeting State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park) and three private citizens who have tried to sue organizations that funnel money to cover the logistical costs of aborting a baby. Cain recently sent cease-and-desist letters to every abortion-funding group in the state, warning them their actions are illegal and could result in criminal punishment.
      

• “[The Heartbeat Act] has devastated access to abortion care in Texas,” said Stigma Relief abortion fund board chair Marva Sadler, who is joining Davis in the lawsuit.
   
• Psst: Ending abortions and protecting babies was the point.
   
• “Texas abortion funds and their donors are committing criminal acts by paying for abortions in Texas. We will enact legislation next session to ensure that these lawbreakers are prosecuted, and we will authorize district attorneys from throughout the state to prosecute abortion crimes when the local DA is unwilling to do so.” – State Rep. Briscoe Cain

Friday Reflection: But For Boldness…

On April 21, 1836, the independence Texans declared some eight weeks earlier was decisively achieved. 

It might not have been, but for boldness.

You see, 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 the promise of 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 victoriously secured in a flash, or Texas would be drowned in the blood of patriots. 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 their victory. Nearly 700 Mexican soldiers were killed, another 200 wounded and some 700 were taken prisoner – including Santa Anna himself. 

In contrast, the Texians lost just nine men and only 30 were wounded.

What was true in 1836 is true today: Liberty 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; indeed, that’s how tyrannies take hold. 
 
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 recommit to doing likewise.