Gillespie Republican Party’s 2nd Lincoln Reagan Dinner a Huge Success
by Amy Heimann
The 2nd annual Gillespie County Lincoln Reagan dinner was held on Friday the 24th of February at the Edge in Fredericksburg. Kicking off the event was Mo Saiidi, Chairman of Gillespie County Republican Party, with a special announcement that the first ever Gillespie Co. Republican Headquarters will be opening for use soon at the former location of Porky’s next to the Post Office. The stage was then turned over to the slate of guests and speakers.
Michael Salvo, Political Director of the Texas Young Republicans, began with a shout out to the many YRs who were elected to public office in the most recent election, lauding the YR members across the state for their “dedication to the spirit of America.” He then went on to remind all listeners that we are more effective in the political and private spheres when “we talk to each other instead of about each other,” encouraging everyone to begin conversations with their neighbors, even if there is an initial difference in voting habits or upbringing. As a new father, Salvo emphasized a key area of Republican concern by declaring that it is “our duty to remember that prolife equals prochild” and that we will not rest until all children, not matter how young, “have the documented right to life.” He concluded by petitioning the audience to consider becoming mentors for the Young Republicans in Gillespie County.
Ellen Troxclair, House District 19 Representative, received the mic next. After giving a quick recap of where she came from and how she got to be elected Representative, Troxclair stated that the “times I am most proud of are when I lost… {because] I got to be a voice of reason for those with no voice.” Urging everyone to stand up for their morals and values, even when other people in the room are against you, Troxclair became emotional thinking about the safety of our children: “Who would have thought I’d have to file a bill keeping pornography out of elementary schools?” Yet she showed her fighting spirit by continuing, “Our country and state were not founded by the actions of one person. Join me.” Before leaving the stage, Troxclair asked for her constituents’ help in saving “our children, our state, our country.”
After a standing ovation, the room focused its attention on Matt Rinaldi, Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas. Continuing the theme begun by Troxclair, Rinaldi began by saying “We need people who fight, because we are in a fight right now” and declared the war against the Plague of Leftism, which he believes is being instituted like a State Religion. Rinaldi called out Texas Tech and Texas A&M Universities for their “diversity, equity, inclusion” policies and blasted the Speaker of the House for his recently announced top legislative priorities of expanding Medicaid and making tampons cheaper. He remarked that Leftism is largely driven by fear- the fear of louder voices screaming that they are offended. “There were people at the Alamo willing to give their lives for what they valued. And there are people who are scared of a lifetime of criticism from purple-haired people on Twitter,” he remarked, slightly disgusted at the latter. Republicans in the Senate and House should not feel this fear, he said, if we are to continue fighting. Rinaldi finished his speech with a call to action: “Let [your] representatives know if they fight for us…we will have their backs.”
A brief video played next, with Rick Green excitedly promoting the incoming Patriot Academy in Gillespie County. He announced that construction has begun of the 170 acre campus and the official groundbreaking ceremony will be celebrated April 22nd. Additionally, the first self-defense/Constitution Defense class will be held April 23rd. The mission of this project and curriculum is “Restoring Liberty.” On stage in person, Green gave a rousing introduction to the highly anticipated speaker of the night- David Barton, founder of Wallbuilders.
Barton began his key-note speech by declaring “America, we take more for granted than any other nation in the world.” Although the United States makes up only 4% of the world’s population, we have produced 96% of modern inventions and 25% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product. “Those in poverty in America are higher than middle class in Europe.” Barton continues that we need to be evangelists of American Exceptionalism. Using the famous quote that asserts “What we teach about the past affects what we do in the future; who controls the present controls how the past is presented,” Barton extrapolated that if the schools control the present curriculum then they control how American history is presented, therefore they control how Americans view themselves as a people and culture. In light of this theory, Barton dove into his recent examination of the AP U.S. History test content that has been adopted by thousands of schools across the country. He revealed that major events in American history have been removed from test content including: the Founding Fathers, all battles of the Revolutionary War, all references to Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, World War I, Hitler, and the Holocaust. So for the next 12 years, children in Texas public schools will not be learning those events. (The AP content does, however, include the United State’s dropping of two atomic bombs, noting that the use of the atomic bomb “raises questions about U.S. values.”) Furthermore, Barton pointed out that the main reason he believes CRT is being effectively taught and accepted is because the history courses have not been teaching the lives or even the names of black patriots for the past several generations. Ending his compelling and captivating history lesson, Barton emphasized the need for historically literate individuals running and getting elected to school boards everywhere. Barton was grandly thanked for his time by a standing ovation and cheers.
Donna Jackson, who had earlier in the evening performed the national anthem, returned to the stage accompanied by Duncan Holmes. She introduced the closing piece of the night saying, “We are at a critical time in our country… this [final song] is a prayer. We need God’s grace and protection.” With her heartfelt request to focus on the humble petition presented in the lyrics, Jackson began the stirring presentation of ‘God Bless America.’ By the final chorus, all voices in the room were raised in unison, invoking the benediction of the Lord.
Candidate Forums for May Elections Set
by Heath Bell
The Gillespie County Republican Club is planning candidate forums for our upcoming City Council and FISD School Board races. Now that the filing deadline has passed, we have a complete list of candidates for both races, all of whom will be invited to these events.
For the Fredericksburg City Council race, we’re electing the Top 2 candidates, our options are:
- Bobby Watson (Incumbent)
- Sharon Joseph (Incumbent)
- Charlie Kiehne
- Randy Briley
- and Timothy Ellis Riley
The City Council forum is planned for March 23rd at 6pm, at St. Joseph’s Hall.
For the FISD School Board race, we’re electing the Top 3 candidates, our options being:
- Brian Lehne (Incumbent)
- Taylor Ward
- Keri Hensley
- Jake Whittington
- and Dennis McCanless
The School Board forum is planned for April 20th, same time and place. For more info, you can go here to gillespiecountygop.org. Hope to see you there!
The Battle on Chemical Abortion
by Amy Heimann
On the eighteenth of November 2022, a lawsuit was filed against the Food & Drug Administration by the Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of multiple anti-abortion medical organizations and doctors. The 113-page lawsuit accuses the FDA of having expedited the approval process of the abortion drug mifepristone back in 2000, ignoring harmful side effects associated with the drug. Mifepristone is a prescription drug that causes shedding of the endometrial layer by blocking progesterone and is currently being used in more than 50% of U.S. abortions within the first ten weeks of pregnancy. This lawsuit was filed in the federal court of Amarillo, Texas, where the outspoken conservative and President Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk presides. Kacsmaryk gave the FDA and the drug maker Danco Laboratories time to submit a filing in opposition to the proposed injunction, and then set a deadline of February 24, 2023 for the plaintiffs to respond. His ruling in still anxiously awaited by prolife and prochoice advocates nationwide.
Why is this causing a stir across the whole country? Because if Judge Kacsmaryk rules in favor of the lawsuit, mifepristone would be removed from the market in all 50 states. This challenge to the FDA is an unprecedented move against their long-established authority, and it may spark a slew of future drug-related lawsuits that could seriously shake the public’s trust in the agency if Kacsmaryk upholds the plaintiffs’ litigation.
Many legal experts argue that the lawsuit is baseless and do not expect the judge to rule in favor of pulling the drug off shelves. The first obstacle is obtaining enough evidence against the safety of mifepristone to get around the six-year statute of limitations. The FDA claims it has periodically reevaluated the drug in its Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy protocol and does not consider the drug to be dangerous. There is also the argument that the U.S. Congress has given the authority to approve or disapprove drugs to the FDA, not the States.
Nevertheless, the prochoice crowd are not underestimating a conservative Texan. The Biden administration has already declared that if Judge Kacsmaryk supports the lawsuit they will appeal the decision. This course of action has already been accounted for by the plaintiffs, however. Not only did they purposefully file in Amarillo because of the favorable judge, but if the case gets appealed, it will go to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court, which is widely known for its majority Republican bench. If appealed again, the case goes to the Supreme Court, also with a conservative majority.
As exciting as this prospect sounds, organizations like Planned Parenthood are already promoting a backup protocol in the event that mifepristone is no longer available to abortion providers. They suggest the off-label use of a similar drug called misoprostol, which was developed in 1973 as an ulcer treatment, to chemically trigger a ‘miscarriage.’ Other pro-abortion clinics are considering means to crank out more surgical abortions in anticipation of higher demand. Everyone has eyes on Amarillo.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/how-recent-lawsuits-could-affect-access-abortion-pills-2023-02-10/
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/02/05/mifepristone-lawsuit-texas/
https://time.com/6255625/abortion-pills-mifepristone-texas-lawsuit/
Also, This:
UK Government Leak Shows Absurd List of ‘Right-Extremist Texts.’ The UK’s Prevent Anti-Terrorism Programme’s Research Information and Communications Unit has been working on a list of films, TV shows, and books that are ‘warning signs’ that the viewer/reader is a radical rightwing extremist or at risk of becoming radicalized. The leaked list includes Beowulf, Nineteen Eighty-Four by Orwell, Brave New World by Huxley, Paradise Lost by Milton, the complete works of William Shakespeare, The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer, and works by John Locke, Edmund Burke, C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkien, Tennyson, and Kipling. Also included is Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent, which is considered a strong critique of terrorism. Red-flagged movies and shows include The Bridge Over the River Kwai, The Great Escape, House of Cards (which according to its screenwriter is meant to be a satirical view of right-wing politics), the sit-com The Thick of It, and BBC’s Great British Railway Journeys. Critics have declared the list of supposed white supremacists’ key texts as “more or less the entire classical canon of literature” and “the reading list of anyone who wants a civilized, liberal, cultured education.”
CDC Ignoring Mask Research. Despite a new worldwide study of 78 randomized trials with over 300,000 participants that declares mask wearing makes “little to no difference in how many people caught a flu-like illness”, CDC director Walensky is not backing off from mask recommendations in schools and other public places. After major backlash from conservatives criticizing the CDC for ignoring science, the CDC pointed blame at national and state governments, saying they (the CDC) never mandated masks in the first place.
Texas Parks & Wildlife is Turning 100. TPW is encouraging everyone to support, experience, and learn about the state parks to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the creation of the State Parks Board by Gov. Pat Neff in 1923. Whenever a state park hosts special activities for the celebration, day-pass visitors get in free. There are also photo contests going on throughout the year. To find events at Enchanted Rock (also celebrating 45 years as a State Natural Area), Guadalupe River, South Llano River, Pedernales Falls, Inks Lake and more, visit 100-Year Celebration — Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.
Texas House to Revisit Daylight Saving Time, Again. House Joint Resolution 80, filed by Representative Vikki Goodwin proposes to put the issue of jumping clocks forward and backward onto the November 2023 ballot and into the hands of the voters. This comes as the Texas legislature failed in 2015 and 2019 to make headway on eliminating a largely opposed biannual procedure of changing the time. Even if passed, the decision to stay on a single time for all 12 months could still dissolve, if voters cannot decide whether to keep standard or daylight saving as the permanent time. Another possible wrench in the plan is this: since time zones are regulated by the U.S. DOT, states cannot switch to permanent daylight saving time without the approval of the U.S. Congress (but they can opt for permanent standard time without permission). Seven states (besides Arizona and Hawaii, which are on permanent standard time) have already passed local legislation to stop changing the clocks, but none of them have been implemented yet. In 2022, the “Sunshine Protection Act” was filed in Congress by Senator Marco Rubio, requesting year-round daylight saving for all 50 states. Although the Act was passed by the U.S. Senate, the House never addressed the bill. Twelve-month daylight saving time has been used nationally three times (under Pres. Wilson during WWI, under Pres. Roosevelt during WWII, and under Pres. Nixon during the “energy crisis” in 1973), each time being discontinued after high disapproval rates.
Book Review
The Mason County “Hoo Doo” War, 1874-1902 by David Johnson. TX 976.4 Joh
For 28 years, Mason and surrounding counties saw a brutal feud that not only caused strife locally, but caught the attentions of distant newspapers in San Antonio, Austin, Galveston, Houston, and Dallas. The problem started with thefts of unbranded cattle that roamed at large in Mason County by nonresident stockmen. Soon, German landowners, led by Sheriff John E. Clark, turned mob in attempt to stop or deter the thieves. The mob turned murderous, but the thefts did not cease, and a generation-long war broke out. Even the Texas Rangers did little to make peace in the first two decades.
Author David Johnson notes in “Hoo Doo” War: “The feud had begun largely due to the frustration of ranchers with cattle theft and the law’s failure to curb the problem. Before the dawdling authorities reacted, the anger had escalated into a vicious was that had taken months to suppress…If the mob had been effective, cattle theft should have ceased, or at least declined, in the region” (p. 199). Instead, the war drifted into Llano and Burnet Counties and began to be more about held grudges than about cattle theft. Even after most of the hoopla died down, pride and conscience led someone to burn down the Mason County Courthouse (the first time) in attempt to destroy records concerning the names of people involved in the mob.
This non-fiction book, located in the Texas Room of the Pioneer Memorial Library, details numerous battle scenes and describes various personalities of settlers in the late-1800s, but also gives some background into the arrival of Germans to Texas at Indianola. Though readers may struggle a little with remembering which side all of the characters fell on during the war, the little-known events will engage most history buffs looking for new trivia. And the book will be all the more interesting to readers who find an ancestor listed in the appendix!
Die Deutsche Ecke
When German settlers arrived in Texas, they did not only begin changing their language guided by the natives and Spaniards and English-speakers around them, they also had to invent more German. Central Texas is home to several plant and animal species that are not found in, or are not common to, Deutschland. When the German settlers needed to converse amongst one another concerning these new finds, helpful vocabulary was lacking. But, as always, necessity is the mother of invention.
Luckily, the German language has a gift for compound words. The literal naming of objects (sometimes humorously literal) may have heavily influenced the practical, no nonsense, no beating-around-the-bush culture of Germans which lasts to today. This evidently carried over into the Hill Country, as evidenced by the following words that were made-up in the 1800s and became standard lexicon.
Die Stinkkatze. Everyone’s favorite German word, coming from stink (smelly) and Katze (cat). What is it? None other than the beloved skunk. Imagine coming across this creature in a foreign country, having initially no idea what it was!
Die Eichkatze. Here’s another cat for you: this one strongly associated with die Eiche, or the oak tree. What is it? A squirrel.
Der Eierschlange. Coming from Ei (egg) and Schlange (snake). Eggsnakes today are also called ratsnakes.
Der Spottvogel. Vogel means bird and spott means derision, or mocking.
Der Kupferschlange. Another snake here, this one copper (kupfer) in color.
Die Beutelratte. Beutel means bag, or pouch, and Ratte means rat, easily enough. What is a pouchrat? Points if you guessed the opossum.
Das Teufelspferd. Teufel is a name for the devil and Pferd = horse. But this creature is not a horse at all, it’s an insect. Requiring a little bit of imagination, das Teufelspferd is a praying mantis.
Der Mulehas’. Mule (mule) + Has’ (short for Hase, or hare) is the jackrabbit, so named because of its ears.
Der Nußbaum. This one strikes me as a little lazy. Simply nut (Nuß) and tree (Baum), referring to the pecan tree.
There were also new words made up by the German settlers that are delightfully formed by compounding one German and one English word. Examples are: der Postoakbaum, der Flintstein, and die Wassermoccasin.
The Good News
MEN OFTEN HIGHLY ESTEEM WHAT GOD ABHORS. Sermon by Charles G. Finney 29 March, 1854
“Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men, is abomination in the sight of God.” —Luke 16:15
Christ had just spoken the parable of the unjust steward, in which He presented the case of one who unjustly used the property of others entrusted to him, for the purpose of laying them under obligation to provide for himself after expulsion from His trust. Our Lord represents this conduct of the steward as being wise in the sense of forethoughtful, and provident for self—a wisdom of the world, void of all morality. He uses the case to illustrate and recommend the using of wealth in such a way as to make friends for ourselves who at our death shall welcome us into “everlasting habitations.” Then going deeper, even to the bottom principle that should control us in all our use of wealth, He lays it down that no man can serve both God and Mammon. Rich and covetous men who were serving Mammon need not suppose they could serve God too at the same time. The service of the one is not to be reconciled with the service of the other.
The covetous Pharisees heard all these things, and they derided Him. As if they would say, “Indeed, you seem to be very sanctimonious, to tell us that we do not serve God acceptably! When has there ever been a tithe of mint that we did not pay?” Those Pharisees did not admit His orthodoxy, by any means. They thought they could serve God and Mammon both. Let whoever would say they served Mammon, they knew they served God also, and they had nothing but scorn for those teachings that showed the inconsistency and absurdity of their worshiping two opposing gods and serving two opposing masters.
Our Lord replied to them in the words of our text, “Ye are they who justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.”
In pursuing the subject thus presented, I shall show how and why it is that men highly esteem that which God abhors: They have a different rule of judgment. God judges by one rule; they by another. God’s rule requires universal benevolence; their rule is satisfied with any amount of selfishness, so be it sufficiently refined to meet the times. God requires men to devote themselves not to their own interests, but to His interests and those of His great family. He sets up but one great end—the highest glory of His name and kingdom. He asks them to become divinely patriotic, devoting themselves to their Creator and to the good of His creatures.
The world adopts an entirely different rule, allowing men to set up their own happiness as their end. It is curious that some pretended philosophers have laid down the same rule, viz.: that men should pursue their own happiness supremely, and only take care not to infringe on others’ happiness too much. Their doctrine allows men to pursue a selfish course, only not in a way to infringe too palpably on others’ rights and interests. But God’s rule is, “Seek not thine own.” His law is explicit, “Thou shalt love (not thyself, but) the Lord thy God with all thy heart.” “Love is the fulfilling of the law.” “Charity (this same love) seeketh not her own.” This is characteristic of the love which the law of God requires—it does not seek its own. “Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s.” 1 Cor. x. 24. “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” “For all seek their own, and not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.” Phil. ii. 4, 21. To seek their own interests and not Jesus Christ’s, Paul regards as an entire departure from the rule of true Christianity.
God regards nothing as virtue except devotion to this end. The right end is not one’s own, but the general good. Hence God’s rule requires virtue, while man’s rule at best only restrains vice. All human governments are founded on this principle, as all who study the subject know. They do not require benevolence, they only restrain selfishness. In the foundation principles of our government it is affirmed that men have certain inalienable rights, one of which is the right to pursue each his own happiness. This is affirmed to be an inalienable right, and is always assumed to be right in itself, provided it does not infringe on others’ rights or happiness. But God’s rule requires positive benevolence and regards nothing else as virtue except devotion to the highest good. Man’s rule condemns nothing, provided man so restrains himself as not to infringe on others’ rights.…
…There are still other facts which show that men loosely set up a false standard, which they highly esteem, but which God abhors. For example, they will require true religion only of ministers; but no real religion of anybody else. All men agree in requiring that ministers should be really pious. They judge them by the right rule. For example, they require ministers to be benevolent. They must enter upon their profession for the high object of doing good, and not for the mere sake of a living—not for filthy lucre’s sake, but for the sake of souls and from disinterested love. Else they will have no confidence in a minister. But turn this over and apply it to business men. Do they judge themselves by this rule? Do they judge each other by this rule? Before they will have Christian confidence in a merchant or a mechanic, do they insist that these shall be as much above the greed for gain as a minister should be, should be as willing to give up their time to the sick as a minister—be as ready to forego a better salary for the sake of doing more good, as they insist a minister should be? Who does not know that they demand of business men no such conditions of Christian character as those which they impose on Gospel ministers?…
…Again, the business aims and practices of business men are almost universally an abomination in the sight of God. Almost all of these are based on the same principle as human governments are, namely, that the only restraints imposed shall be to prevent men from being too selfish, allowing them to be just as selfish as they can be and yet leave others an equal chance to be selfish too.…
…Many have what they call humanity, without any piety; and this is often highly esteemed among men. They pretend to love men, but yet after all do not honor God, nor even aim at it. And in their love of men they fall below some animals. I doubt whether many men, not pious, would do what I knew a dog to do. His master wanted to kill him, and for this purpose took him out into the river in a boat and tied a stone about his neck. In the struggle to throw dog and stone overboard together, the boat upset; the man was in the river; the dog, by extra effort, released himself of his weight, and seizing his master by the collar, swam with him to land. Few men would have had humanity enough—without piety—to have done this. Indeed, men without piety are not often half so kind to each other as animals are. Men are more degraded and more depraved. Animals will make greater sacrifices for each other than the human race do. Go and ask a whaleman what he sees among the whales when they suffer themselves to be murdered to protect a school of their young. Yet many mothers think they do most meritorious things because they take care of their children. But men, as compared with animals, ought to act from higher motives than they. If they do not, they act wickedly. Knowing more—having the knowledge of God and of the dying Saviour as their example and rule—they have higher responsibilities than animals can have.…
…An unsanctified education comes into the same category. A good education is indeed a great good; but if not sanctified, it is all the more odious to God. Yes, let me tell you, if not improved for God, it is only the more odious to Him in proportion as you get light on the subject of duty, and sin against that light the more. Those very acquisitions which will give you higher esteem among men will, if unsanctified, make your character more utterly odious before God. You are a polished writer and a beautiful speaker. You stand at the head of the college in these important respects. Your friends look forward with hopeful interest to the time when you will be heard of on the floor of Senates, moving them to admiration by your eloquence. But alas, you have no piety! When we ask, How does God look upon such talents, unsanctified, we are compelled to answer—Only as an abomination. This eloquent young student is only the more odious to God by reason of all his unsanctified powers. The very things which give you the more honor among men will make you only the scoff of hell. The spirits of the nether pit will meet you as they did the fallen monarch of Babylon, tauntingly saying, “What, are you here? You who could shake kingdoms by your eloquence, are you brought down to the sides of the pit? You who might have been an angel of light—you who lived in Oberlin; you, a selfish, doomed sinner—away and be out of our company! We have nobody here so guilty and so deeply damned as you!”
So of all unsanctified talents—beauty, education, accomplishments; all, if unsanctified, are an abomination in the sight of God. All of those things which might make you more useful in the sight of God are, if misused, only the greater abomination in His sight. So a legal religion, with which you serve God only because you must. You go to church, yet not in love to God or to His worship, but from regard to your reputation, to your hope, or your conscience. Must not such a religion be, of all things, most abominable to God?…
…It is a light thing to be judged of man’s judgment, and all the lighter since they are so prone to judge by a false standard. What is it to me that men condemn me if God only approve? The longer I live, the less I think of human opinions on the great questions of right and wrong as God sees them. They will judge both themselves and others falsely… We have only one mind to please, and that the Great Mind of the universe.