Good morning,

The Constitution has been a troubling document for those wanting to centralize power and run roughshod over our God-given rights. Even more frustrating to some is that it was written by imperfect men seeking a “more perfect” way to do civil government.

More on that at the end of today’s Texas Minute on this Friday, May 6, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

God, Man, State

• Set aside some time this weekend to watch the discussion Luke Macias had with three Christian thought-leaders: Bryan Wolfmueller, Joel Webbon, and Bill Peacock. They respectfully discuss the varying views of the relationship between Christianity and secular government.

Runoff Preview: Paxton And Bush In The A.G. Race

• Incumbent Attorney General Ken Paxton was pushed into a runoff with George P. Bush for the Republican nomination. Texas Scorecard invited both men to sit down and answer questions about the issues facing the Lone Star State.

• As Katy Drollinger reports, Paxton implored Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas lawmakers to take decisive action at the border specifically so his office can challenge the Supreme Court’s (flawed) prohibition on states deporting illegal aliens.

Texas Democrats Push Unrestricted Abortion

• Democrat gubernatorial candidate Robert “Beto” O’Rourke said yesterday he opposes any restrictions on abortion. Brandon Waltens has the details.
     
• O’Rourke was joined by former state senator and pro-abortion activist Wendy Davis, who enjoyed a brief spotlight by national Democrats in 2013 after she held a filibuster in an attempt to stop a pro-life law from passing the Legislature. 
      
• Guess the Democrats forgot the last time Wendy “Abortion Barbie” Davis was on the Texas political stage pushing infanticide, she lost by more than 20 points to Greg Abbott.

Runoff Preview: Berry vs. Troxclair In House District 19

• Sydnie Henry reviews the campaigns of Justin Berry and Ellen Troxclair as they compete for the Republican nomination for Texas House District 19, a Central Texas seat covering Gillespie, Kendall, Blanco, and Burnet counties.
      
• An Austin policeman and small-business owner, Berry ran unsuccessfully for a Travis County-based House seat in 2020. He has raised just over $130,000. Berry has been endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott and multiple law enforcement associations, as well as the American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest teachers union in America.
      
• A former Austin city councilwoman and small-business owner, Troxclair originally intended to run for Senate District 24. However, following redistricting, Troxclair no longer resided in the district and announced for HD 19. She has raised just under half a million dollars. Troxclair’s endorsements include U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Right to Life, Texans for Lawsuit Reform, Texas Values Action, Young Conservatives of Texas, Texas Home School Coalition, and Gun Owners of America.
     
• Check out the article to learn where they stand on various issues – though, be warned, Berry has generally refused to answer questions about his policy views.
     
• Candidates are usually silent when they know voters won’t like the answers…

The Headline: New & Improved!

• The 1836 Studios team has been hard at work this week, and you’ll get to see the opening results later today! Brandon Waltens will host The Headline at 5:30 p.m. from the new and improved studio. (The on-demand video archive and a podcast will be available shortly after the broadcast.)
   
• This episode will feature an interview with attorney Tony McDonald, a wrap-up of the week’s news, and I’ll be dropping in for a guest appearance.

Handing Out $1,000…

• Yesterday, the Democrat-run Austin City Council instituted a controversial new pilot program: hand out $1,000 straight-cash, no-restrictions checks to families each month for the next year. But, as Jacob Asmussen reports, there is a catch: the checks will only go to 85 families handpicked by city hall.
     
• And the program will cost taxpayers $1 million.
     
• The city council enacted the program to “help the poor” and those at risk of losing their homes, but ironically, the council constantly raising taxes over the past decade is part of what put many Austinites in this situation.
     
• The city will be paying a California nonprofit organization $152,000 to manage the program.

Reece: Parents Take Action

• In a new commentary, Nichole Reece explains how parents have decided to take action in San Antonio’s North East ISD – as evidenced by three incumbents facing five challengers in this weekend’s school trustee election.
     
• “Parents and teachers are frustrated, and school officials are downplaying or ignoring their concerns. Parents and teachers have choices, and unless we fix public schools, they will go elsewhere. It’s time to try something new to turn things around,” said Jason DeSouza, who has been supporting the parent-driven effort to reform the school district.

Friday Reflection: Now, But Not Yet

Few political documents are as troubling as the Constitution of the United States. Unlike every other founding document in history, the Constitution rejects the notion of centralized power. It exists to limit the government it describes. It defines not a powerful leader, but a system of checks against powerful leaders.

Most frustrating is its embrace of that uniquely Judeo-Christian philosophy of "now, but not yet." We find it in the preamble, the idea of creating a "more perfect Union" – an idea that has continued forward in our government for more than 230 years.

"More perfect"? It is the kind of language only a rabbi or pastor can love.

"Now, but not yet" runs like a river through the pages of Scripture. That thought was driven home recently while reading the Book of Judges. This is the period after Joshua when the people of Israel have entered the Promised Land. All of the Book of Joshua, and the first few chapters of Judges, are about conquering the land given to them by God.

The land was theirs "now," except they still had to conquer it. But it was theirs. But not yet.

Jesus proclaimed the arrival of the Kingdom of God. He gives eternal life, though we must for now still pass death’s gloomy portal. We are given new life, even in this life.

All right now, but not yet.

Our Founding Fathers understood this. My own ancestor, Benjamin Rush, was a strident opponent of slavery yet he approved of a Constitution which allowed the institution to continue. He believed the Constitution’s "more perfect Union" would lead to America being free of slavery.

The godless left sees inadequacies and wants to toss out the Constitution. They impugn the creation of imperfect men who, wildly familiar with their own imperfections, wanted nonetheless to create something that would lead where they were unable to go.

Moses himself was unable to enter the Promised Land, yet he strove to prepare his people to do so. Similarly, our Founding Fathers envisioned a better system of government than had ever existed, and they gave us the tools to build it.

As a self-governing people, our job is not to curse the surrounding darkness but to build a better and brighter light for the future. And we must be about the business of doing that now.