Happy Friday!

Could it be that conservatives lose fights in culture and government because we debate on the issues chosen by the left and use their language to do so? I end the week with a reflection on the importance of language.

But first, here is the Texas Minute for Friday, Dec. 2, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Recount In South Texas’ SD 27

• After coming 659 votes short in the State Senate District 27 race, Republican candidate Adam Hinojosa has filed for a recount. Soli Rice reports this was one of the closest elections in Texas, with Hinojosa just 0.19 percent from victory.

       
• “In any election with such a small margin of victory, even very small mistakes in the counting of the vote could have enough impact to change the final result,” explained Hinojosa in a statement.
       
• A date for the recount has not been set, which Democrat Morgan LaMantia has acknowledged as Hinojosa’s “right.”
       
• This election was noteworthy for being an open-seat race in a highly contested area between Republicans and Democrats. Establishment Republicans, like those behind Texans for Lawsuit Reform, aided trial lawyer LaMantia and thereby blocked a pickup for the GOP in South Texas.

📺 Watch The Headline Right now!

• On the latest edition of The Headline with Brandon Waltens, Robert Montoya explains his recent investigative series exposing the deep state actors, activist lawyers, and politicized professionals in Texas that support abusive child gender mutilation procedures.
      

• Plus… Tim Hardin of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility breaks down what the latest news on the state budget could mean for Texans' wallets.
     

• You can watch The Headline on Texas Scorecard’s website, or our YouTube or Rumble channels.

Sheriff Details Border Invasion

• Goliad County Sheriff Roy Boyd presents a firsthand perspective on the effects of the ongoing border crisis: fear, destruction, and outrageous criminal activity. He explained their situation in a discussion with State Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood).

     
• “The dynamic has drastically changed in our rural communities,” said Boyd. “We’ve gone from minor crimes and disturbances, and DWIs, to fighting organized crime. That’s transnational criminal activity, and it is extremely complex and the investigations take a lot of effort.”
    
• Read about their conversation, or watch it online.

‘All-ages’ Drag Show and Toy Drive

• Later today, the House of Eternas in San Antonio will host a toy drive and drag show targeting children. If you can stomach it, Sydnie Henry has the details.
    
• The Island of Misfit Toys Drive & Drag Show will be hosted by Miss Taint, with performances by Siren LaCoast, Taryn Tino, Sélah V, Ez Brezzy, Mx Smokey Bear, and BloodyBlush.

• The program is taking place at The Starlighter, a music and event venue that boasts “the best experiences for you and your family.” 
     
• Parents used to warn kids about taking toys or candy from strangers. Maybe we need to re-up that bit of parenting wisdom…
     
• “This is child abuse,” said Chris Hopper, president of the Texas Family Project.

Highland Park Voters Reject ‘Woke’ Superintendent Search Firm

• A classical education advocate in North Texas is calling for his local school district to fire the “woke” search firm hired to select a new superintendent and instead form a search committee composed of community members with a history of advocating for traditional academic learning. Erin Anderson has the story.
     
• “In hiring [Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates], you have made clear your intention to select an ultra-Progressive Superintendent to continue HPISD down the path of technology led, highly politicized schools,” explained Highland Park parent Spencer Siino in a letter to the district’s board of trustees.
      
• Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates specializes in candidates focused on social justice rather than academics, which Siino said made them “the worst possible search firm” for the conservative community.
      
• Siino’s letter was co-signed by businessmen Tyler Beeson and Robert T. Rowling. The three agreed to pay any fees incurred for terminating HYA’s contract.
     
• Leo Whelan, another Highland Park resident who has conducted significant research on the hiring firm, raised issues with HYA’s past recommendations in other districts. Whelan highlighted a 2018 investigation by The Daily Herald that found the firm had “mishandled several high-profile searches in recent years.”

Friday Reflection: Watch Your Language!

The great military philosopher Sun Tzu warned his students not to let their enemies pick the time and location of battles. Sun Tzu wrote, “The clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.”

When you fight on your enemies’ terms, it rarely works out well.

You’d think this would be self-evident, but time and again conservatives let liberals define the fights. It is no wonder the war for our culture and republic is in shambles!

Words matter; they shape how we view the world. For example, the Himba tribe from Namibia has no word for the color blue. When researchers showed them diagrams of 12 squares – 11 green and one blue – the tribesmen didn’t recognize the difference. As a jungle people, though, they saw huge differences in various shades of green that weren’t completely obvious to the researchers. 

Language, and how we use it, not only defines our world but shapes our actions.

Conservatives have allowed themselves to be backed into a corner, often revealing themselves to be intellectually and morally insecure. That is what we proclaim when using the language of — in the battles determined by — the left.

Conservative politicians will say they adopt the other side’s language as a reasonable concession to civic dialogue. In fact, they do it often because they are insecure or lazy… Or maybe they are revealing their true beliefs.

On issue after issue, time after time, conservatives cede the selection of the rhetorical battleground to the left.

We don’t insist on using the language of life; instead, we capitulate by calling the infanticide brigade “pro-choice.” When you define your opponents’ position as “pro-choice,” you set yourself up a heartbeat away from losing.

I cringe when I hear Republicans talk about government budgets “paying for” tax cuts. When one starts, as leftists do, with the presumption that government owns everything, then – perhaps – government decides how much you keep of what they say is their money in your bank account.

But as free-market conservatives, allegedly, we believe wealth is created by individuals. Governments have only what has been taken from citizens in the form of taxation.

People who enter a country without permission have long been known legally as illegal aliens; they do not belong where they are and have broken laws to enter. But the term “illegal aliens” became “illegal immigrants,” and now that’s morphed into “undocumented migrants.” This was a purposeful transition of language. 

Listen to speeches on the border crisis from your favorite conservative politicians, and notice how often they talk about the issue using words of the left. Then, think about why those politicians are having so little success in solving the issue.

They have allowed the opposition to define the issue, which determines the scope of actions available and even how to establish success. How you approach the problem of “undocumented migrants” is vastly different than how you deal with “illegal aliens” or “invaders.”

Language defines our world and shapes our actions. 

If conservatives want to be competitive in the war for culture and government, they must stop letting liberals pick the battlefields and define the terms. Conservatives cannot afford any longer to be bullied into using the left’s manipulated language. 

If conservatives are to be dominant in the war for our culture and government, they must be more disciplined in their language. More importantly, conservatives must impose on the national conversation the issues that matter most to them and define success as nothing less than saving our republic.