Good morning,

As we reach the end of the week and the season of Advent, and start Christmas, I offer a reflection on my favorite carol.

But first, here is the Texas Minute for Friday, Dec. 23, 2022.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

UPFRONT: With apologies, yesterday I misidentified the author of an article about UNT Law helping students change their gender on state documents. Katy Drollinger did that work.

Cornyn Helps D.C. Democrats

• U.S. Sen. John Cornyn joined Senate Democrats and a handful of other Republican senators to advance a 4,155-page, $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill that funds the federal government through September of next year. Darrell Frost has the details.
       
• Cornyn defended his vote, saying it was necessary to avoid a government shutdown “at a time when we can least afford it.”
       
• Oh, but we can afford $1.7 trillion in unaccountable spending on the Democrats’ pet projects? Gimme a break.
         
• A majority of Republicans opposed the spending measure, including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. He accused the Senate’s Republican leadership of giving up the leverage they would have gained in a few days when a Republican majority takes control in the U.S. House. This omnibus spending bill, Cruz argues, will enable the Biden administration to continue its reckless policies on energy, illegal immigration, crime, and inflation.

South Texas Ranchers Worried As Thousands Prepare To Illegally Cross Border

• As the U.S. Supreme Court debates the future of Title 42, South Texas ranchers are concerned about the potential effects of an onslaught of illegal border crossings on local lands and resources. Sydnie Henry has the story.
     
• “This is already a dumpster fire of a mess, and it’s gonna get worse when Title 42 goes away,” said Kinney County Attorney and rancher Brent Smith during an appearance on Fox Business. As a county between two legal ports of entry but without one itself, Kinney County has been bombarded with smuggling operations since President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
     
• Title 42 is the 2020 pandemic health order issued by the Trump administration to expel illegal border-crossers quickly. It was set to end Wednesday, but has been kept in force by the U.S. Supreme Court, pending a lawsuit led by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich.
       
• “Getting rid of Title 42 will recklessly and needlessly endanger more Americans and migrants by exacerbating the catastrophe that is occurring at our southern border,” said Brnovich. 

Gov. Abbott Blasted by Tucker Carlson Over Border Response

• During an interview with him on Fox News, Tucker Carlson blasted Gov. Greg Abbott for failing to secure the Texas-Mexico border and defend Texas.
   
• Carlson invited Abbott onto “Tucker Carlson Tonight” to discuss why Texas has yet to secure the border, previewing the segment by saying he has been trying to get Abbott to come on his show for a while. He began by asking Abbott, “Why – two years ago – not say, ‘I’m the governor of Texas. They’re messing with Texas. I have a military force I command; it’s called the National Guard. We’re gonna block the border and save the country’? Why didn’t you do that? Why are you not doing that now?”
     

• Abbott worked around Carlson’s questions, blaming the federal government for not securing the border, for not providing resources to secure the border, and for deploying some of Texas’ National Guard troops to other areas of the world—meaning they cannot secure the Texas-Mexico border.
      

• Carlson was not buying it. He pointed out that Abbott has yet to fully deploy the Texas National Guard to block illegal aliens from entering Texas. “You could probably be president of the United States if you did this. I’m serious. If you took control and closed the border, which you can do, you would be a folk hero sung about by future generations around the campfire.”

📺 WATCH: The Headline Right Now!

• In this week’s edition of The Headline with Brandon Waltens, Chris Russo of Texans for Strong Borders stops in for an update on Title 42 and a discussion on border policy. Brandon will also be chatting with Erin Anderson about the results of a forensic audit of Texas’ 2020 election.
       
• Watch the show on our website, YouTube channel, or Rumble page.

Dallas Taxpayers Subsidize ‘Queer Sex Ed’ For Children

• The City of Dallas is sponsoring a leftwing activist group that organizes LGBT programming for kids and teenagers. Katy Drollinger exposes the activities of the taxpayer-subsidized Resource Center.
     
• One activity the group offers is a weekly “Gender Identity Night,” where children ages 12 to 18 meet with “transgender adult mentors” and discuss coming out, relationships, and self-love.
      
• Sounds like a safe place… for pedophiles. 
      
• The Resource Center also links to a chat-based live discussion group for individuals between the ages 13 to 19. Teens can join chat groups on topics ranging from “Choosing My Name,” “Queer Interracial Dating,” and a sex education group encouraging individuals to “ask questions and learn how to care for your trans and non-binary body.” Every page of the website includes a “quick escape” link, which when clicked switches the screen to the Google homepage so teens can hide chats from their parents.
     
• Because nothing bad ever happens when kids are encouraged by strangers to hide things from their parents, right…?

‘Welcome To Washington County!’

• One of our readers, Mark Manshack, passed on this story from Washington County, as reported by KWHI radio.
     
• Two armed men, fleeing a traffic stop, led police on a high-speed chase. They ditched their car near Independence and the search was on. The men didn’t get far; a local rancher spotted the suspects, tied them up, and held them at gunpoint until law enforcement arrived.
       
• As the rancher handed the men over to police, he reportedly said to the suspects: “Welcome to Washington County.”

Happy Trails, Buddy!

• Please join the Texas Scorecard family in wishing a fond farewell to Buddy Kipp, who is leaving us after more than eight years of dedicated service.
   
• Buddy originally ran our social media accounts. He established our 1836 Studios, and in recent years has managed our internal operations. He made sure videos were produced, the Sunday News Digest was delivered, subscriber records got updated, and that swords were engraved. He shot trouble wherever it emerged. Buddy has been a utility player like no other!
   
• Speaking of… His passion has always been baseball, and he’s leaving us to establish a middle school baseball team at his sons’ school.

NOTE: In observance of Christmas, there will not be a Sunday News Digest. The Texas Minute will return on Monday because we don’t observe Boxing Day.

Friday Reflection: The Carol of the Drum

Those who follow me on social media know I prefer the old church hymns to modern “praise” music. You know the kind of hymns: those you’d find in the dusty hymnals in your grandmother’s church as a kid. And that holds especially true for the advent and Christmas seasons… with maybe one exception.

That exception is a tune written in 1941 by Katherine Kennicott Davis that she called the “Carol of the Drum.” It is more popularly known as “The Little Drummer Boy.”

It might not be as musically inspiring as the orchestral versions of “Joy to the World” or “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” both of which I love. It might not compete emotionally with “Silent Night.” I have heard people dismiss “The Little Drummer Boy” because of its sentimentality, its fictional narrative, and general lack of sophistication. 

Frankly, it is that lack of sophistication that draws me in. It is a simple reminder of what we are celebrating in Christmas, and why.

Let’s face it: Christmas has been made into a pretty safe secular holiday. It demands nothing but good cheer, eggnog, and the dying remains of a tree in your living room.

Look too closely at it, though, and it makes less secular sense. We all play amateur electrician and haphazardly string lights around the exterior of our homes. We rack up heavy credit card debt to buy things our loved ones probably don’t need. And we top it off with fictional imagery tied up, nonsensically, with the northernmost reaches of the earth. Snowmen? Sleigh rides? Jolly elves? Seriously? 

Of course, Christmas is not even really about a baby in a manger, but rather the Man that baby grew up to be. “The Little Drummer Boy” reminds us of the moment when the Godhead put on Manhood to begin walking His way to Calvary as the only possible propitiation for our sins. 

The Little Drummer Boy reminds us precisely what we bring to the table. We have “no gift to bring” that is “fit to give a King.” There is no amount of gold, frankincense, or myrrh that could impress the Creator of the universe. There is no music in this world that can compare to the chorus of angels in heaven.  

What we can do is come helplessly and hopefully to Him, acknowledging even – at our best – we are like a child banging on a drum. 

On Christmas, we look forward to the day when we stand before Him in glory and He smiles at us. 

“Rum pum pum pum!”

Quote-Unquote

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

– Isaiah 9:6