Good morning!

Readers had some very strong opinions about Twitter in specific, and social media in general. Find out what was said at the conclusion of today’s Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan
Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022 

McLennan County GOP Files Complaint Against O’Rourke

• After he held a campaign rally less than 1,000 feet away from a polling location, the Republican Party of McLennan County hopes Democrat gubernatorial candidate Robert “Beto” O’Rourke will be charged for breaking the law. Emily Wilkerson has the story.

        

• Texas Election Code 61.004 states that a person commits an offense if, during voting hours and within 1,000 feet of a building in which a polling place is located, the person operates a sound amplification device for the purpose of making a political speech or electioneering for or against any candidate. Violations are a Class C misdemeanor.

      
• “Election laws are made to protect us all and make the process fair, and it is appalling how the Democrats seem to have an utter disregard for the rules, time and time again,” said Bradford Holland, chairman of the McLennan County Republican Party. “We Republicans believe in the rule of law; and therefore, we filed a complaint with our county election administrator that day.”
      

• In a video posted on the county GOP’s Facebook page, O’Rourke can be seen speaking into a microphone in front of a crowd.

Calls Grow for Texas DPS Director to Resign

• A growing number of people are calling for the resignation of Steve McCraw, the long-serving director of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Soli Rice has details.
   
• People are demanding accountability for the agency’s officers during the shooting earlier this year at a Uvalde elementary school, which left 19 children and two teachers dead.
     

• Meanwhile, more than 370 law enforcement officers from various agencies waited outside the school for more than an hour to take action. Of the responders, 149 were U.S. Border Patrol, 91 were state troopers, 25 were Uvalde police officers, 16 were sheriff’s deputies, and five were from the school’s own police force. The rest were from neighboring law enforcement, U.S. marshals, and federal Drug Enforcement Administration officers.

🔊Transvestite Movement Targets Children

• In the latest edition of his podcast, Chris Salcedo takes aim at the “transvestite drag queen movement” and their assault on childhood.
   
• Salcedo’s guests include Brittany Mayer and Sara Gonzales. Mayer is the founder of Rooted Wings, while Gonzales has launched Defend Our Kids Texas. You can listen to the Salcedo Storm on Texas Scorecard and anywhere you download podcasts.

U of H Sponsors Child Gender Mutilation Conference

• While universities across the state come under fire for replacing academics with radical gender ideologies, the University of Houston is sponsoring a conference promoting gender mutilation procedures for minors. Katy Drollinger reports the two-day conference starting later this week features talks on puberty blockers, sterilizing cross-sex hormones, and “feminizing surgeries.”
     
• The event also features presentations on “feminizing” and “masculinizing” procedures, which surgically mutilate individuals to look like the opposite sex.
      
• The University of Houston is a public university overseen by the University of Houston System’s Board of Regents. Led by Chairman Tilman Fertitta, all members were appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott and confirmed by the Texas Senate.

Small District Wants $12 Million For A Golf Course

• Located an hour south of Midland in the West Texas desert, Rankin ISD has two schools—an elementary school for pre-kindergarten through fifth grade and a high school for grades 6-12—serving less than 300 students. Now, the school district wants voters to let them buy a golf course.
     
• Sydnie Henry reports Rankin ISD has four bonds totaling $123 million on the November ballot. Of that, $12 million would be used for buying, renovating, and equipping the county golf course.
      

• Rankin ISD wants to use the course to host tournaments and practices for their golf teams. Across Texas, there is $15 billion in school bonds on the November ballot; the full list can be found here.

Y’All Answered

With the purchase of the social media website Twitter by new Texas resident Elon Musk, we asked readers about their interest in using the platform.

A majority of readers (58.8 percent) said they had no interest, while 34.7 percent said they were more likely to use the platform and 6.5 percent said they were less likely to do so.

Here’s a sampling of the emails y’all sent me…

• “All social media is a tool to reach the masses. I'm on Facebook not to support Zuckerberg but because that's one way to reach the unreached. I take what he means for evil, and I use it for good. Same with Twitter. Maybe it will improve; maybe it won't. People need to stop looking for villains and heroes and just buckle down and get to work.” – Julie McCarty
      

• “The thing to remember is that, in the end, Musk is a business owner. He'll do what he must to make Twitter a profitable business. If that means more ‘moderation,’ he'll do that. If it means more free expression, he'll do that. But that's the great thing about capitalism....as customers, we can influence him with our presence and our wallets.” – Jason Kerr
      

• “Social media operated by unknown, unseen actors is at best a data-mining program, and at worst a deep-state surveillance operation designed to compile enemy target lists. Neither is beneficial to the unsuspecting user.” – David Clark  
     

• “I’ve never had a Twitter account, but now I’m considering it due to the purchase by Musk.” – Lauri Helms
      

• “I rarely use Twitter and really only had an account there to aid me with online contest entries (whenever I can get additional contest entries by doing something on Twitter). But with Musk taking ownership, I am slightly more likely to use it a little more often. At least I hope I would be far less likely to get banned on Twitter for expressing my views there once Elon changes Twitter's community guidelines.” – David Demaree
      

• “I have little to no interest in social media. I got off Facebook 2 years ago. The censoring of truth is just one issue. People get offended way too easily and I have no patience nor time for all the drama. Might I consider Twitter in the future because Elon Musk owns it now? Probably not.” – Cathy Blake
      

• “I clicked more likely on the survey, but it depends upon Elon Musk's changing the platform to more of a free-speech venue. If they continue to lock out conservative voices, I will never get on Twitter.” – David Leese
      

• “Twitter has always been a sewer, and I never understood the interest in the company (real or contrived).” – Lisa Buck
      

• “Never used it.  You can find more intelligent conversations during a teenage girl’s pajama party...and it's much less harmful!” – John R. Makow
      

• “I have no interest in social media. It is not, and never should be, a substitute for one-on-one personal interaction.” – Cynthia Wills
      

• “I've never understood the point of Twitter - to me it just seems like an echo chamber that makes people feel more important than they actually are.” – Brian Schatz
      

• “I cancelled my accounts with both Facebook and Twitter because both had become such a cesspool of hatred and vitriol. … I suspect it will take a long time (if ever) before Musk can turn the Twitter ship around.” – Barbara Jean Spence
       

• “I only used Twitter to follow President Trump, and when he was banned, I discontinued using Twitter and have no interest in returning.” – Stephen Keister

Your Federal & State Lawmakers

The districts displayed here should reflect those recently redrawn by the Legislature. Though the new lines do not take representational effect until 2023, they will appear on the 2022 ballot. Please note that your incumbent legislator and/or district numbers may have changed.