National Conservative Media Figures (FINALLY!!!) start WISING UP to Abbott

"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap."
Galatians 6:7

Obviously, Abbott did his mask order yesterday.   It doesn't take a genius to figure out how we feel about that subject.  It's not any different from anything else we've been saying about the man.

It's not a secret that this website has been basically neutral on Abbott since 2015 (Abbott's first session).  It's also not a secret that we basically turned against Abbott in 2017 (Abbott's second session).   Finally, it's not a secret which issue clued us in all those many years ago.

[Note: It's water under the bridge at this point, but imagine the pain that could have been avoided had people listened to us back then.]

That being said, what's noteworthy about yesterday is how so many NATIONAL conservative media types reacted.

Jesse Kelly:

The past few months have been hard on Gavin Newsom. pic.twitter.com/M6zR1v5z4t

— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) July 2, 2020

Daniel Horowitz:

No American should be restricted by arbitrary coronavirus edicts so long as rioters are able to violate them while destroying public and private property. Just say no. Fight back @GregAbbott_TX https://t.co/62sGNgtVoQ

— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) July 3, 2020

Sara Gonzales:

Governor Abbott is a sellout. https://t.co/yFYohyxlz0

— Sara Gonzales (@SaraGonzalesTX) July 2, 2020

[Note to Sara Gonzales: Your use of the word "sellout" is accurate on a deeper level than you realize, see here and here.]

Chad Prather:

I’m running for Governor of Texas.

— Chad Prather Parler @watchchad (@WatchChad) July 3, 2020

[Note to Chad Prather: You better be willing to call five or six special sessions per biennium...otherwise, it's pointless.]

Matt Kibbe:

Once upon a time I took solace in the belief that I could grab my go bag and escape to the free Republic of Texas. Vote @WatchChad https://t.co/n6F1XgFA8S

— Matt Kibbe (@mkibbe) July 3, 2020

[Note to Matt Kibbe: There's nothing going on today that is anything other than the logical extension of all of the trends we first explained to you at Voice and Exit in 2015.]

Of course, this is noteworthy because national conservative media has always been Greg Abbott's real "base."  Since time immemorial, Abbott's primary political strategy has always been to give them good copy on issues where his office has no actual jurisdiction.  They get clicks/ratings, Abbott gets powder puff coverage.  This creates the space for Abbott to, in his actual day to day job performance, govern Texas like your typical good ol' boy politician.

It was a great strategy...for awhile. National outlets don't really have the bandwidth to follow the day-to-day minuate of Texas state government. Rinse, lather, repeat.

The fundamental problem for Abbott, at this point, is that (due to his bumbling) the day to day minuate of Texas State government has become a major national story.

That's a genie that will, at best, be very difficult to put back into the bottle.

If Tucker Carlson ever puts two and two together on the subject of Greg Abbott, it'll be game over.

Bottom Line: Better late than never, etc.

Governor FoxNews successfully PROPAGANDIZES multiple GULLIBLE, LAZY Conservative Media Outlets

"The simple believes every word,
But the prudent considers well his steps."
Proverbs 14:15

[Note: Leon Wolf at The Blaze published this godawful hot-mess on the exact same subject while we were writing a longer response to the Daily Wire.  For simplicity's sake, we're going to stick with responding to the Daily Wire.  But, if anything, this blog post applies even more to the Blaze (who really SHOULD know better) than the Daily Wire.]

There was a Daily Wire piece going around yesterday that's almost impossible to read if you were paying attention to this past legislative session.  Written by Asche Schow, the article strings together a few Abbott tweets into an undeserved narrative about Abbott's alleged conservatism.  If you want to understand how Abbott ROUTINELY spins national conservative media, yesterday's Daily Wire item is a great place to start.

To begin, Schow writes:

Gov. Greg Abbot (R-TX) had a stellar opening week of June. With few exceptions, the governor lived up to his state’s reputation for defending freedom.

[Note: Emphasis added.]

Yak.

Schow continues:

In a series of tweets last week that ended up going viral, Abbott announced that he had signed legislation that would protect free speech rights on college campuses, ban red light cameras, and allow people to have beer delivered to their homes.

In fairness to Schow, all of Abbott's actions look good in isolation.  That's why Abbott spins them that way.  But all lack context.

-------

Campus Speech:

About SB 18, Schow writes:

On June 9, Abbott posted another video of himself signing a law — this time in an effort to protect the First Amendment on college campuses.

“Some colleges are banning free speech on college campuses,” Abbott said in the video. “Well, no more because I’m about to sign a law that protects free speech on college campuses in Texas.”

“Shouldn’t have to do it,” he added after signing the bill. “The First Amendment guarantees it. Now, it’s law in Texas.”

Sounds great...until you realize:

1. The Governor of Texas appoints University Boards of Regents.
   
2. Boards of Regents routinely turn a blind eye to speech related abuses.
   
3. Similarly, Boards of Regents routinely ignore laws passed by the legislature.
   
4. The Texas Senate just rubber stamped all of Abbott's Regent nominees.

Thus, while SB 18 is a (modestly) welcome development, nobody should be under any illusions about the future of higher ed. in Texas.

Which is a shame, because if Abbott were serious about it (and, thus, the Boards of Regents were were serious about it), we could have addressed this issue four years ago.

But how would that help Abbott get puff pieces written about him in the Daily Wire?!?

-------

Beer to Go:

Schow also writes:

Two days later, Abbott posted another tweet, this time of him signing a law that would allow Texas citizens to “order beer and wine from retailers to be delivered to your home.” “Enjoy responsibly,” he added.

Except that Texas is, literally, the last state in the country to allow this.

Maybe not the best example of our Governor "defending freedom?!?"

-------

"Defending Freedom" in general:

In fairness to Schow, she does knock Abbott over the smoking age fiasco:

On Friday, Abbott signed a bill that increases the purchase age of tobacco products — including cigarettes, cigars, and e-cigarettes — from 18 to 21. Those in the military are exempted from the law. As CBS Austin reported, supporters of the bill said it would “save lives because 95 percent of smokers start before age 21, and three fourths of adult smokers try their first cigarette before their 18th birthday.”

So now those statistics will just shift until 21. Supporters also failed to note that one does not have to personally purchase cigarettes in order to get their hands on one before they are legally able to purchase.

So that's good.  It certainly illustrates how all is not as it seems in the Texas Legislature.  But still....

Schow's biggest problem is less what she says (ie. sins of commission) and more what she ignores (ie. sins of omission).  Perhaps that's not surprising coming from an author who, according to her own bio, lives in Virginia.  Still, it's unhelpful.

By Schow's own standard, do any of the following sound like they're "defending freedom?!?"

• A spending spree state budget.

• Creating a "mental health consortium" (through lawless means) in the name of "school safety."  At best, this boondoggle will subsidize shoving more Addreall type drugs down children's throats.  At worst, God only knows the unintended consequences....

• Raising taxes on ordinary Texans to finance abatements for those who can afford lobbyists.
• Note for #TXLEGE nerds: Chapter 312 and 313 renewal.

• Failure to prevent local governments from imposing SEATTLE-style wage and benefit mandates.
• Note: If you're out of state, this is the one that should TERRIFY you.

• Failure to secure election integrity.

• Failure to curtail taxpayer subsidies for public sector labor unions.

• Not a DAMN THING on Guns.

In that context, does it sound like our Governor is "defending freedom?!?"

-------

Why this matters:

Like it or not, outlets like Fox News, the Daily Wire, and the Blaze have far more influence over Texas voters than all state level outlets combined.

When they unquestioningly regurgitate Greg Abbott's propaganda, it enables all sorts of other bad behavior from Abbott (examples listed above).

-------

 Why this matters for Texas going blue:

Every time government expands, it creates new political constituencies for big government.  If Republicans expand government enough, eventually, those new constituencies start electing Democrats.  It's what happened in Ms. Schow's home state of Virginia.

As long as Greg Abbott is getting these sorts of headlines from national conservative outlets, he will NEVER do the hard work of taking on those afore mentioned constituencies.

If those constituencies keep growing, then...eventually...you know.

-------

Bottom Line: Texas is less free as a result of the 86th legislative session.  Greg Abbott is a big part of the reason why.  Unfortunately, nothing will change as long as national conservative outlets keep swallowing his propaganda....

Beth van Duyne gets the last laugh!!! :D

"Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world."
1 Peter 5:9

This is just all sorts of awesome:

Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne is being dismissed from a crumbling defamation lawsuit brought by the father of Ahmed Mohamed, the MacArthur High student who was detained by police in 2015 when a homemade clock he brought to school was mistaken for a bomb.

Attorneys for the teen's father, Mohamed Mohamed, agreed to dismiss Van Duyne from the suit, according to a news release issued Friday from the city of Irving.

The development comes days after District Judge Maricela Moore dismissed Glenn Beck and his network TheBlaze, as well as the Center for Security Policy, a conservative think tank, and executive vice president Jim Hanson.

That being said, anyone who reads this website on a regular basis knows the issues we really care about, and we think it's pretty cool that Irving was able to accomplish this in spite of all the stupid 'clock boy' related nonsense:

If your goal for 2017 is to find a high-paying job in an affordable city, you may want to start your search in Texas or North Carolina. Each state boasts two of the best U.S. cities for job seekers, according to a new study.

NerdWallet found the top 10 cities for job seekers by identifying the places where Americans will find work opportunities and also stretch their paychecks. The study of the 100 largest cities in America factored in federal data on unemployment rates and workforce growth, as well as median earnings and rent costs.

....

9. Irving, Texas.

 Read the whole thing here and here.

CTRA: Kevin Freeman discusses Global Economic Warfare

"A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself,
But the simple pass on and are punished.
Proverbs 22:3

Texas Land and Cattle -- Kevin Freeman, author of Game Plan, spoke to the Central Texas Republican Assembly last night.  He discussed foreign activity behind the 2008 stock market crash.  He also outlined the current ominous geo-economic situation:



Highlights:

• The past two days have been the biggest stock market drop in a year and a half.

• "I'm really worried about Radical Islam crashing the stock market."

• Brand new kind of war: Cyber-Economic

• 2008: Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia went after Lehman
• Putin went after Fannie and Freddie

• Saudi Arabia is going broke.

• Kanjorski's "electronic run on the bank" quote.

• Russian media predicting U.S. market collapse this fall.

• Financial Crisis Inquiry Report was a cover-up.

• July, 23 2015 -- China accuses U.S. of crashing their stock mkt.
• Commies always accuse their opponents of doing what they're about to do.

• Chinese role model is Soros' attack against the British Pound in 1992.

• Russians hacked NASDAQ in 2014.

• "You can do a lot of damage with fake tweets."

• China called for an end of the dollar in 2013.

• Kerry dollar comment -- What if they know it's coming and are trying to blame Congress?!?

• Texas needs to get Gold Depository operational.
• Texas could issue "Gold-Backed BITCOIN"

Discussing Paxton case on "Dana"

Screen Shot from the TV appearance.

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."
Galatains 6:9

We appeared on Dana last night on theBlaze to discuss the Paxton case:



Highlights:

• Dana: "Texas Democrats have a great history of abusing the justice system, as do Texas Republicans on other Republicans they dislike as a way to settle political scores."

• Dana: "Do you think he's guilty?!?"  Me: "No."

• Paxton may have made mistakes filing paperwork 5 or 6 years ago.
• "You're turning a paperwork violation into a first degree felony where the alleged victim is a liberal Republican and the alleged perpetrator is a conservative Republican."

• Texans for Public "Justice" ginned a lot of this stuff up, "but what's interesting is that this time the person actually making the accusation against Paxton is a legacy Republican member of the state legislature Byron Cook out of Corsicana."
• Dana: "Obviously they have a political score to settle with Paxton."

• "Over time, basically, Cook went more towards the Bush (legacy) wing, Paxton stayed true to his conservative roots."

• "Subsequent to that, Byron Cook has gone over completely to the dark side."

• "The fact that [Byron Cook] is the alleged victim in this case raises major red flags."

• Explained the "strange" nature of the accusation.

• Plugged Thomas McNutt.

Lawrence Billy Jones III discusses censorship at North Texas Islamic Conference

"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
Ephesians 6:11

Texas State Capitol -- Lawrence Jones of the Blaze discussed being shut down when attempting to cover the recent "Stand with the Prophet" conference in Garland, TX:



Highlights:

• Texans don't give up.

• "Texas will not go out without a fight."

• At recent event: "At first, they didn't even want to let us in the building."

• "If this is the religion of peace, let us in."

• "The information we are discussing is way too sensitive."

• After they kicked us out, we don't know what they did.

• "ISIS is real, the Muslim Brotherhood is real."

Rabbi Lapin excoriates American Jewry

"Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.'
Numbers 11:1

Rabbi Lapin was on with GB this morning and BOY did he let his own people have it:



Highlights:

• "You have a very large proportion of American Jews, a majority of American Jews, that has...forsaken the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and they've adopted...the sacred sacrament of secular fundamentalism."

• Question for non-observant Jews: "If an invisible private detective followed you around 24/7, how long would it take him to discover that you are Jewish as opposed to a loyal member of the Democratic [sic] party?!?"

• "If a Billion Muslims became Evangelical Christians tomorrow, would the world be a better place?!?"

Once again, Texas beats California!!!

"Honor the Lord with your possessions,
And with the firstfruits of all your increase;
So your barns will be filled with plenty,
And your vats will overflow with new wine."
Proverbs 3:9-10

Hey maw, I know both of them:



Highlights:

• Liberal policies create a lot more poverty.

• Texas v. California is a good example.

• California has a 47% higher poverty rate than Texas cost of living (incl. taxes) is factored in.

• Income growth is more important than income "inequality."

• Texas up 1.4 million jobs in the past 7 years.

How one woman found Jesus and left the Sex Industry!!!

She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
John 8:11

Anny Donewald, author of "Dancing for the Devil: One Woman's Dramatic and Divine Rescue from the Sex Industry" and founder of Eve's Angels ministry, stopped by The Blaze the other day:



Highlights:

• Sexually assaulted at 13 by basketball player on the team her Dad coached.

• "The sex industry is a culture."

• When she left: "It was divine intervention."
• God showed up "in a very personal way."

• "Go back to the place you were" and helps others get out.

• A lot of times, Churches don't make girls in the sex industry feel welcome.

• Pay as a customer, use the time to share the Gospel and build relationships.

• She was kicked out of Church for starting her ministry.

Glenn Beck meets Scott Turner

 
"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
But when a wicked man rules, the people groan."
Proverbs 29:2

Scott Turner was on Glenn Beck's radio show this morning:



Highlights:

• Glenn and Pat both voted against an anti-School Choice Republican in their local school board.

• A lot of TX GOPers are "just as bad as Democrats."

• The national GOP blew a similar opportunity at the Federal level a decade ago.

• Establishment doesn't want to rock the vote.

• "School choice legislation dies in committee...under current leadership."

• Straus tried to kill anti-Common Core legislation last session.

• GB thinks Scott is "the leader of the future."

Update: Agendawise has more here, the Trib has more here.

Battlground Texas, Dana Loesch, and Voter Fraud

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
Ephesians 6:12-13

Bless their heart:



Highlights:

• Dana asked a genuine question about the office of County Judge in Texas government.
• Author's Note: For out of state readers, the position of County Judge is the chief executive of the county level of government; it's not a judicial position.

• BGTX got caught committing voter fraud, failed to report it.

• Dana will tutor Battleground in Texas election law.

Phil Robertson Describes Finding Jesus

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
2 Corinthians 5:17

Phil Robertson spoke with Glenn Beck this morning about how Jesus turned his life around:



Highlights:

• His wife: "is a wonderful, wonderful woman."

• Literally ran off his wife and two of his sons.

• Pastor came into the bar one night with a Bible in his hand.
• "That was the first time in my 28 years that I'd actually even heard...the gospel of Jesus Christ."
• "I wasn't even aware...."

• "I didn't even realize what a trap that I had been in until I was released from the trap." 

• We argue about politics ad infinitum but no one ever changes their mind because before you can change a mind you have to change a heart, and the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing that can change a heart.

How Decentralization will undermine Cartels

"Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord,
But a just weight is His delight."
Proverbs 11:1

Patrick Byrne follows up on his visit last week with Glenn Beck:



Highlights:

• "Government shouldn't be involved in marriage anymore than it should be involved in first communion."

• I get my value in marriage from God, not some stupid piece of paper from the government.

• The point is to take decision making from the centralized institutions to households.

Mark Batterson on with Glenn Beck

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."
Matthew 7:7-8

Mark Batterson, whose book we reviewed in March, appeared twice with Glenn Beck in the past couple days.

Yesterday on TV:



Highlights:

• You don't need to literally circle something.

• It's a metaphor for persistent prayer.

• A.L.I.T -- "As long as it takes."
• Stay in that prayer circle until God moves.

• Your prayer has to be in the will of God and for the Glory of God.

• The greatest tragedy are prayers that go unanswered because they go unasked.

This morning on radio:



Highlights:

• Several members of Congress are circling the Capitol.

• It's not your fight, it's HIS fight.

• Imagine how stupid the Israelites felt at Jericho.

• "Prayers turns ordinary parents into prophets who really shape the destiny of their children."

-----

That being said, you really need to see the full Batterson interview, but you can only do that by subscribing to theBlaze here.

Kevin Sorbo: God's Not Dead

He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.”
Mark 12:27

During his recent California trip, Glenn Beck sat down with Kevin Sorbo:



Highlights:

• Freedom of speech seems to be going away in this country.

• I give scripts 20 pages, I read this one straight through.

• The movie is based on a number of court cases.

• I thought this was a great movie to start discussion.

• People don't normally sit through the closing credits.

• Hollywood is the only business that isn't a business.

• Noah proves Hollywood doesn't understand faith.

Read our God's Not Dead review here.

Attorney General Abbott talks BLM

“If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed, and lets loose his animal, and it feeds in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard."
Exodus 22:5

Greg Abbott appeared on GB's TV show to discuss the BLM's assault on Texas; we apologize for Stu:



Highlights:

• BLM is now claiming they've owned the land the whole time.

• New York Times: "Quintessential Irresponsible Journalism."

• Getting ready "to add my 31st lawsuit against the [Obama] administration."

• They picked on the wrong state when they came to the state of Texas.

Greg Abbott Does Glenn Beck

Greg Abbott stopped by GB's studio today. Unlike Abbott's interview with Dana Loesch, this time the Blaze made the video public. Enjoy:



Highlights:

• New campaign slogan: "Texas needs to Roll with Greg!"

• Abbott has sued Obama 33 times; he sued Dubya three times before that.
• 10-5 record with many cases pending.

• "Part of our campaign is about securing the border; the Red River, not the Rio Grande."

• He's campaigning on Open Carry.

• Wendy, like Obama, is getting thousands of shady donations that are too small to trace.

Abbott will be on with GB tonight at 4; we will update this post as needed.

Update: Here's the TV footage



Highlights:

• Texas is different from the rest of the country.

• 1400 people move to Texas every day in search of freedom.

• Elizabeth Warren is helping Wendy.

• Glenn Beck has no idea what he's talking about re: Austin.

• People move from pro-Abortion to pro-Life when they see sonagrams.

• Bringing Gold Back: "I don't know."

• One way you can be self-sufficient is not letting government control life.

'Re-Evangelizing' Inner Cities and Young Men

Pastor Mark Driscoll visited Glenn Beck yesterday:



Highlights:

• If we lose the men and the inner cities, Christendom is done.

• Culture made in the inner cities, where Churches have fled.

• Re-Evangelizing major cities and men.
• Author's note: That's exactly what Paul did in Acts.

• The culture is trying to get them addicted to porn to suck them dry financially.
• Author's note: Proverbs 29:3

• You've gotta tell young men they're 100% wrong: "It's just a joke, nobody looks at these guys and says 'You don't have a dad, you're addicted to porn, you don't have a clue, you don't have a plan, you're part of the problem, stop smiling because you're the joke!"

Amen!

-----

Author's note: According to this New York Times profile, Mark Driscoll is a hardcore Calvinist.  Cahnman's Musings does not share that theological position.  That being said, anyone who get the following published in the New York Times is ok in our book:

As hip as he looks, his message brooks no compromise with Seattle’s permissive culture. New members can keep their taste in music, their retro T-shirts and their intimidating facial hair, but they had better abandon their feminism, premarital sex and any “modern” interpretations of the Bible.

Surprisingly good discussion of Texas' Governor race

In case you were wondering why the Blaze TV rocks, this is the best discussion of the Texas Gov race we've seen in the national media:



Highlights:

• That guy who said Abortion Barbie has charm has obviously didn't watch her filibuster.

• Abbott can define her out of the gate.

• Wilkow is spot on about how Abortion Barbie's message will play in the Latino community; Texas right to life is already running ads in South Texas en espanol....

• LOVE this: "Income inequality means taxes."

• Anyone who says it would be good politics for Abortion Barbie to go on a statewide barnstorming tour with the Castros is insane; if she's going to do that, why not go all the way and bring Obama in?!?

STC on GB -- 5/6/2013

Senator Ted Cruz was on the radio with Glenn yesterday:



Highlights:

• Asking if Ted was as good as his father "is setting an impossible bar."

• Grassroots conservatives have rallied and moved the United States Senate.

• "We are all fighting for the same mistress -- Lady Liberty."

• "Too much power in Washington is a threat to our liberty."

• "The best solution in Washington....is to padlock the whole place [IRS] and move to a simple flat tax."

• Abolishing the IRS would also have enormous positive effects on the economy."

• "It's amazing how, when people speak up, spinal fortitude can be increased."