Well this is awkward. Now that Allen West is the Chair of the Republican Party of Texas, he is going around the state endorsing candidates at all levels of government in the November election. It’s a good thing. Republicans have long ceded too many government positions to liberals, especially school boards. But it does strike me as odd that West would endorse someone that goes against the party platform and West’s stated views on the homosexual community.

First, remember what West said about denying the Log Cabin Republicans a paid booth at the recent state party convention.

If you are taking a position that undermines any of the planks of the platform of the Republican Party of Texas, I don’t believe you should be there at the convention with a booth saying you’re part of the Republican Party of Texas. This is not a purity test, and I believe that when it’s time for Republicans and conservatives to say that this is who we are.

We welcome people, but we are not going to acquiesce, appease, and water down our beliefs in order to accommodate and make others feel happy. We’re not shunning anyone that is a part of these organizations or believes in the LGBT lifestyle, but one of our major planks is that we support a traditional nuclear family, and I will not support an organization that believes the nuclear family is not important for the sustainment of Texas, and the sustainment of the United States of America. As a matter of fact, what has decimated our communities is the undermining of the traditional nuclear family.

(read the article on TexasTribune.com)

Whether or not you agree with West, that is the position that he has taken.

While I couldn’t find any specific plank in the Texas RPT platform opposing Diversity and Inclusiveness Training in public schools, I did find these two planks:

116. Sexual Education: We demand the State Legislature pass a law prohibiting the teaching of sex education, sexual health, or sexual choice, or identity in any public school in any grade whatsoever, or disseminating or permitting the dissemination by any party of any material regarding the same. All school districts, individual schools, or charter schools are prohibited from contracting with or making any payment to any third party for material concerning any of the above topics. Until this prohibition goes into effect, sexual education shall only utilize sexual risk avoidance programs and promote abstinence outside of marriage. [State, Local]
117. Extracurricular Opportunities: We encourage nonpublic school parents to create extracurricular opportunities for their children where they are not readily available and in a manner that they can be free from discriminatory testing, intrusive government oversight, or harmful school policies regarding mixed-gender students in bathrooms and locker rooms. We encourage the Legislature to find ways to allow nonpublic school students’ participation.ⁱ Any homeschool student that does not participate will be unaffected.  [State, Local]

Clearly, the party is against LGBTQ indoctrination in public schools at any grade. But along comes Allen West and endorses a guy for a school board that is for Diversity and Inclusiveness Training at ALL grades of public school. Here is what Muni Janagarajan, candidate for Frisco ISD, wrote when he ran for the same position a year ago:

Here is Allen West’s endorsement of Muni Janagarajan:

https://www.facebook.com/BrandonBurdenBuildFriscoforGenerations/videos/987772215026709/?v=987772215026709

It’s interesting that in West’s endorsement speech, he states that “we have got to get back to a system of education and not a system of indoctrination”. Apparently, Muni Janagarajan prefers a system of indoctrination. At ALL levels of education.

So which is it Mr. West? Follow the platform or not follow the platform?

From the InBox:

PROTEST RALLY IN PASADENA TO DEMAND THE REOPENING OF TEXAS BARS

Sunday, July 12, 2020 at 4:00 pm
Chuters Dance Hall and Saloon
7337 Spencer Highway
Pasadena, TX 77505

Tee Allen Parker, the Kilgore bar owner leading the legal fight to reopen Texas bars will be on hand to support Chuters owner James Kopeck and his employees.

Bar owners and employees from all over the Houston area will gather Sunday afternoon to demand the freedom to reopen before any more lives are destroyed.

The Facebook page Texas Bars Fight Back already has 15,000 members.

For additional information contact Wayne Dolcefino. 713-389-0810

Here is a link to that Facebook page Wayne mentions: Texas Bars Fight Back!

Harris County Republicans, THIS is your chance to FIGHT BACK against Gov. Abbott’s treasonous order! If you aren’t there, you are obviously NOT a PATRIOT!

Masks not required or wanted! Get out to Pasa-git-down-dena and show your patriotism! That means YOU mister State Rep. Briscoe Cain!

BTW, it would be most appropriate if you rode your horse to Chuters. If you don’t have a horse, drive a pick-em-up truck. If you don’t have a pick-em-up truck, borrow one. DO NOT DRIVE AN IMPORT!

 

by Dale Huls

Let me say that this is a hard article to write.  I supported James Dickey for Republican Party of Texas (RPT) Chair when Tom Mechler saw the light and abruptly resigned from the RPT.  I encouraged and campaigned for Mr. Dickey to the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) members who elected James to finish out Mechler’s term by an SREC vote of 32 to 31.  For the next year, Chairman Dickey was the reformer we in the grassroots had been hoping for.  Finally, rid of the old school Republican establishment, conservatives were ready for a fresh start in Texas politics.  For that year, as James worked to reform the financial disaster that the RPT was in, he stayed engaged with the conservative grassroots.  He understood that with a year to go before the next State Convention that the Republican elites that he had defeated would be gunning to reclaim the RPT Chair in 2018. For a time, he was indeed the conservative champion the grassroots had worked so hard to put in place.

Indeed, when the State Convention finally arrived, James did indeed have a chosen opponent representing the elite wing of the party.  Cindy Ashe was tailor-made to take on the likes of this upstart from Travis County.  However, the grassroots rallied around James Dickey and held off one of the most vicious campaign challenges for the RPT Chair this State has ever seen.  Even though Cindy Ashe had a campaign war chest of $200,000 dollars, the grassroots held firm and James was elected by a margin of 22 to 9 Senate Districts.  In a last gasp effort, Ms. Asche demanded a floor vote whereby the delegates sealed the election with a 65% to 35% margin.

Now that James had been popularly elected for his post by the Republican Party, it was assumed that he would continue to stay engaged with the Grassroots and conservative activists who supported him.  However, the establishment is an insidious creature!  As James worked to right the RPT financial ship, he started to fall under the sway of powerful donors, politicians, and consultants.  The Austin Swamp runs deep and very motivated to regain its grip on power within the Republican Party.  Faster than we could have imagined, a separation opened between the conservative grassroots movement and the RPT machine that Chairman Dickey was now driving.

This shifting of loyalties was not immediately noticed by activists in the grassroots and James himself probably wasn’t aware that he was moving away from the people who stood by him and elevated him to the top Republican Party position in the State of Texas.  Even today, many in the grassroots are unaware of how far James has moved to support the establishment wing of the party.  Many of the casual activists and supporters look at his record in rebuilding the financial strength of the party and infrastructure and are pleased with the results.  However, we didn’t seek to oust the Republican elites simply to put an accountant in charge to balance the books.  We sought to put a leader in place to give voice to our values and principles.  To listen to the Texas Republican Party and convey the wisdom of the people to our elected leaders.  The conservative grassroots are more concerned with protecting our values and liberty than protecting Republican incumbents.   We understand that to the establishment wing of the party, the only thing that matters is whether an elected official has an R or a D after their name.  Now, with the 2020 RPT State Convention looming, it is again time for the Republican Party of Texas to make a choice.  Will the RPT be a party beholden to incumbent politicians, donors and consultants or will it be a force for constitutional law and order, religious-based morality, and personal liberty in Texas?

Allen West will be challenging James Dickey for the Chairmanship of the RPT this summer.  Personally, I am ambivalent regarding Mr. West and his ability to lead the Party.  He seems to say the right things but until he is put to the test, only time will tell if he was up to the challenge should he win.  Many are happy with the job James Dickey has done with the party infrastructure and finances.  Yet, what about those issues that cause activists to be activists?  To motivate regular men and women to engage in the fight for the future of Texas, indeed, the very United States of America?  Who can inspire the heart and soul of the conservative liberty movement in Texas to donate what they can, give up their nights and weekends, and challenge the forces of evil that are arrayed against our nation?  I submit to you; James Dickey is not that man.  He has had his chance and has fallen short of the great expectations that conservatives across the state had for him.   Consequently, this is not an endorsement for Mr. West.  Should he win, he gets the same opportunity Mr. Dickey has had.  If he does not measure up, he will be next on the list.  No this is not about Mr. West – this is about James Dickey and his actions.

At a recent meeting of conservatives in Bowie County, I was asked why I was opposing Chairman Dickey in favor of Allen West, I started to explain how he had turned his back on the conservative grassroots and how he was more in line with the establishment elites today than with those who put him in office.  Unfortunately, as I made my arguments, it became apparent to me that these conservative men and women were not buying a superficial condemnation of somebody they didn’t think they had a problem with.  That caused me to go back and re-examine why I was opposed to Dickey in the first place!  Afterall, if I had problems explaining why somebody new should be given an opportunity to serve as the RPT Chair, shouldn’t I go back and make sure I was on the right side of the issue.

Therefore, I went back and checked the record.  Not the record you will find on a spreadsheet or a financial report; but the human record of what was said and what actions were taken with respect to Texas conservative grassroots issues.  The following is an indictment regarding James Dickey and why he is unfit to lead our Texas Republican Party in these dark times of turmoil:

Conservative activists first noticed a change in how Dickey interacted with the grassroots and the conservative SREC members during the legislative session.  On March 31, 2019, the Coalition for the Protection of Parental Rights held a press conference to challenge Republican efforts to enact red flag laws and mental health bills (e.g., SB10).  This coalition was composed of conservative SREC members, Texas Eagle Forum, Grassroots America – We the People, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, North Texas Citizens Lobby, Women of the Wall, and Gun Owners of America.  Subsequently, at a lunch meeting after this press conference, James Dickey in his capacity as the RPT Chair berated and castigated the activists and SREC members for daring to call out Republican legislators.  JoAnn Fleming, one of Texas leading conservative voices, who was present when James Dickey harangued the SREC members who stood during the press conference, said he treated them “like they were dogs” and that they had no business challenging Republican elected officials.  Consequently, Mr. Dickey began a campaign whereby he or his representative Chris Howe [RPT Parliamentarian] would scold the SREC members during the weekly legislative priority conference calls for daring to oppose Republican supported bills not in line with the 2018 RPT Platform.  He repeatedly covered for the Big 3 (Governor Abbott, Lt. Governor Patrick, and Speaker Bonnen).  Indeed, after the legislative session ended, James Dickey closed ranks with the elected Republican leadership and parroted the line that the 86^th legislative session was the most conservative session ever.  After the grassroots showed the true outcome of the session, Dickey and the Republican leaders switched from proclaiming the session to defending that it wasn’t as “purple” session as it seemed.

Speaking of Republican leaders and elected officials, the second point against Mr. Dickey was his refusal to speak out about Speaker Bonnen’s proven and documented lying and corruption.  He never once called on the Speaker to step down nor did he call for the Republican caucus to remove the Speaker.  To this day, Speaker Bonnen controls the interim charges in the House, makes committee assignments and maintains a grip on power prior to the next legislative session.  In fact, Dickey was one of Bonnen’s most fervent defenders before Michael Sullivan released the tape documenting the corruption and bribery forcing the Speaker to not seek re-election.  Even in the face of truth, Chairman Dickey could not bring himself to call for Bonnen’s ouster.  But it seems that Chairman Dickey was an equal opportunity defender of corruption.  When Democrat Poncho Nevarez dropped his cocaine out of a legislative pouch at the Austin airport, James Dickey never said a single word about the incident.  Rather than demanding that Speaker Bonnen remove Rep. Nevarez from the House Homeland Security & Public Safety committee, he remained silent.  Why would the leader of the Texas Republican Party refuse to carry the fight to an enemy of liberty when given such a golden opportunity?  Unfortunately, we will probably never know or understand why Dickey remained silent on this egregious violation of the public trust.

On the other hand, due to an uproar over some social media posts by the Harris County Republican Chair-elect and the Bexar County Republican Chair, Dickey took it upon himself to decide what was or was not acceptable speech by Republican County Chairs.  He initiated a “witch hunt” through the public social media Facebook accounts of sitting county chairs and accused 12 chairs of having “questionable” posts in which he determined they were racists or Covid-19 deniers.  He subsequently asked these 12 county chairs to resign.  When asked why he would go after his own Republican grassroots, he used the excuse that they were not following party principles and that Democrats were using social media to attack Republicans and he needed to purge the party to protect it.  Where was this outrage and moral fortitude when Bonnen was discovered to be corrupt and a member of the opposition dropped his drugs in front of police?  With all the issues that arise in some county Republican Executive Committees, we find it odd that our Party Chairman is doing the work of the Democrats at the county level.

Unfortunately, Chairman Dickey did not stop at seeking to purge Republican county chairs.  When James Dickey became the RPT Chair, he brought in Rachel Malone, one of the Lone Star state’s foremost gun rights advocate, was brought in to be the RPT Director of Operations.  For a year, in her RPT capacity, Rachel toured the state speaking to grassroots groups and instructed them how to press the grassroots agenda from the ground up.  However, when the Republican Party stated principles began to diverge with the vested interests of Republican elected officials, Ms. Malone’s days were numbered.  At the behest of the State’s top Republican leaders some say included Governor Abbott, Dickey fired Rachel Malone for working with the grassroots who wanted the agenda set by citizens which angered those in power who pursued their own personal priorities and self-interest.  Yes, after a year in office the honeymoon with the Conservative grassroots liberty movement was over.

So, where will the Republican Party of Texas be headed under the continued leadership of James Dickey?

Many in the Party remember the unparalleled ability of past RPT Chairman Steve Munisteri to shutdown the grassroots as they fought for conservative planks in the RPT Platform.  Unfortunately, Mr. Munisteri has returned to Texas politics with a vengeance.  He is now a consultant for the RPT reported making a $156K salary (higher than Mr. Dickey’s $150K salary).  In collaboration with Karl Rove, consultant and confidant of the Bush never-Trump clan, Munisteri has built a shadow State party, under the guise of the RPT Volunteer Engagement Project.  This project is supported and managed by the Republican establishment elite with the goal of electing Republicans supported by Governor Abbott and Rove.    Although increased Republican registration is a good thing, why are such high-profile political operatives spending their efforts on a Republican registration project?  With other groups like the super PAC Engage Texas whose massive $11.8 million-dollar war chest dwarfs the RPT effort which has raised approximately $1.8 million, one has to wonder what is the pay-off from this effort?  What better way to cut the grassroots out and back establishment candidates?  Don’t believe me? Why else is Munisteri splitting his time between the RPT, Senator Cornyn’s campaign and the Texas Republican Senate Caucus.  All this is happening with Dickey’s full voiced support.  In fact, Chairman Dicky stated “With over 47 years in politics, Chairman Munisteri brings a political aptitude that will help us turnout more Republicans and defend Texas in 2020.  We look forward to working with him to achieve our monumental goals and deliver Republican victories in Texas.”  While the question is whose “goals” and what kind of Republican victories is he talking about?  Will all these “new” volunteers be beholden to a future 2024 Abbott Presidential Campaign?

Ultimately, Chairman James Dickey has become a creature of the Republican establishment.  He has demonstrated that he will not hold wayward Republican office holders to account,  When asked during an event promoting his re-election campaign at the Keller Republican Club, he was asked “how could he hold elected Republicans accountable, his answer was “That depends on what you guys put in the platform and our rules.”  He was also asked whether he supported a “special session” to enact the Lone Star Agenda (a set of priorities from the 2018 RPT Platform) he refused to stand with nearly 300 Texas organizations, SREC members and other conservative leaders in refusing to call for a special session.

This is my case concerning the re-election of James Dickey as the Republican Party of Texas Chair.  I see the machinery of the Party being wrested back from the grassroots into the waiting hands of the establishment.  We fought so hard to make our voices heard, to stand for principle and to hold those who proved to be unworthy accountable.  Unfortunately, we are on the verge of giving it all away.  Back to the very same people who almost bankrupted our party and squandered their majorities in the State Legislature.  We must not let that happen!  As State Rep. Matt Schaeffer (R-Tyler) once said: “The behavior we tolerate, becomes the standard we set.”  Until we can change our leaders as easily as we change our shirts, we will never be the force for change that we all feel is necessary to beat back those seeking to destroy our country.  I urge you to take these thoughts into consideration as you or your Senate District Delegates for the future of the Republican Party of Texas vote for the 2020 RPT Chairman.

Dale Huls is a long time conservative and tea party activist. In 2017 Dale won the Empower Texans’ Conservative Leader award.

Although after following many of the Republican Party of Texas State Executive Committee members over the past couple of weeks on social media and knowing what the outcome of last night’s vote regarding the upcoming convention would be, I still watched much of the “emergency meeting” to listen to the debate. It was as predictable as it was sad to watch a once great political body descend into the dark abyss of conspiracy, chest thumping about patriotism, and making a mockery of public health and freedom.

As reported by SREC member Mark Ramsey:

This comes at a time when Harris County is the epicenter of the second wave of Covid-19 infections and on the same day that Republican Governor of Texas Greg Abbott issued an executive order requiring face masks to be worn in public. Notice that Mark says masks are not going to be required by the party.

Want to know why Republicans will soon be extinct in Texas? This is example 1,503 with many more to come I’m certain. My favorite comment from the viewers was this one:

Heh. Diluted acid showers to kill the virus. Now that was funny.

What isn’t funny is the destruction of the Republican Party of Texas as it continues to be taken over by libertarians and populists. Gone are the Ed Emmett’s and Joe Straus’ of the world, replaced by AR15 wearing “patriots”. Gone are the days of small government or fiscal responsibility. Gone are the days of “the best government is the smallest government closest to the people”. Three decades of solid gains wiped out.

Jonathan Tilove has more over at the Statesman, pointing out this statement by SREC member Leslie Thomas:

It’s interesting how people use the Bible to justify whatever it is they want to do. I would submit that “putting on the armor of God” wasn’t written so that people could ignore science, common sense or a virus. But that might just be me.

It even happens here on BJP. As you know, I don’t censor writers, I let them write what they wish. And I’m not going to change that. Their words, their responsibility. I’m hopeful that sanity prevails among the readers when one of our writers says that the governor and county judge need to grow up and act like adults while said writer goes around in public wearing a cow head mask to mock health care professionals and elected officials that are doing their best to protect both the health of the public and the economy. But who knows?

The more disconcerting thing to me about Greg’s post with the cow head was his use of rhetorical terms to inflame racism, in my opinion. He continually used the phrase “Floyd riots” to claim causation for the increase in COVID-19 cases in Harris County. Fact is there were no “riots”. There were a few very isolated issues with property destruction but to say those were “riots” does’t pass the “smell test”. But it certainly inflames the passions of those that are afraid of black folk having an equal opportunity to take to the streets and protest. Also, correlation does not equal causation. There are any number of correlations for the increased hospitalizations  – Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Father’s Day, full moon, high tide, pollen count, etc. So please use common sense when reading anything, including this post.

FWIW, I think that County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia have done a very good job in this very difficult situation. Judge Hidalgo issued mask orders only to have them shot down by the governor. Now that the virus is out of control in Texas, Republican Gov. Abbott has finally issued his own order, although in typical Abbott fashion, it is more of a riddle than an executive order.

Every person in Texas shall wear a face covering over the nose and mouth when inside a commercial entity or other building or space open to the public, or when in an outdoor public space, wherever it is not feasible to maintain six feet of social distancing from another person not in the same household;

Care to explain what that means, exactly?

I’ll leave you with this. Many of the commenters on last night’s meeting encouraged having the in-person convention in Houston so that attendees could gather at the largest Planned Parenthood crematorium in the world and protest or pray in front of the building.

Think about the irony of that. The “pro-life” Republican Party of Texas is literally supporting bringing death to the residents of Harris County so that they can protest the death of unborn children.

Yet another heated contest for the Chairmanship of the Republican Party of Texas is upon us, with former Florida Congressman Allen West challenging incumbent State Chairman James Dickey. The contest will be decided at the Republican Party of Texas state convention in Houston next month.

One of the biggest issues in the race is the ability and willingness of the candidates to serve as a full-time State Chairman. Seven months After the 2018 State Convention, (nearly a year and a half after Dickey first took office) the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) approved a $150,000 annual salary for this State Chairman, with the expectation that the Chairman serve in a full-time capacity.

This strategy of expecting and paying for a full-time commitment from the State Chairman has paid tremendous dividends for the Party. Under Chairman Dickey’s full-time leadership, the Republican Party of Texas has posted record fundraising numbers, which is allowing the party to hire an unprecedented number of field staff across the state for the upcoming general election. Chairman Dickey has committed to continuing to serve as a full-time Chairman if he is re-elected to the post.

Dickey’s opponent, former one-term Florida Congressman Allen West, is well-known to many due to his frequent celebrity television appearances over the years. Since moving to Texas in 2014 to assume the leadership of the now-defunct National Center for Policy Analysis (which West led into bankruptcy), West showed little interest in Texas grassroots politics until announcing his candidacy for State Chairman last year.

West currently has a number of political and professional commitments that will make it impossible for him to make anything even close to the full-time commitment needed from the Republican Party of Texas State Chairman.

In addition to his work as an author and public speaker, for which he charges between $15,000 and $25,000 per speech, West also serves as “Senior Advisor” to the Committee to Defend the President. According to campaign finance records on file with the Federal Election Commission, West has been paid $75,000 by the Committee to Defend the President since September, 2019.

Despite standing for election as State Chairman next month, West has recently added additional commitments to his plate.

My Faith Votes, a nationwide voter mobilization effort, announced earlier this month that West had joined their team as spokesperson. In a release announcing West’s new position, My Faith Votes CEO Jason Yates stated “We are honored that [West] would choose to give his valuable time to My Faith Votes to see a historic turnout of Christians in every election in every community.”

In addition to these other obligations, West became President and CEO of the Hope Center Foundation on June 15, 2020. The Hope Center Foundation is a Christian, faith-based non-profit organization with annual revenue of over $16 million. According to the Hope Center Foundation’s most recent publicly available financial records, West’s predecessor as President and CEO earned an annual salary of $193,905 in 2018. These records also state that West’s predecessor devoted 40 hours per week to the position. It is likely that West’s compensation as President and CEO of the Hope Center Foundation is comparable to, if not in excess of, that earned by his predecessor. West is actively engaged in raising funds for the Hope Center Foundation, sending out fundraising e-mails and cutting YouTube videos soliciting contributions.

The organizations that West is doing work for are all good organizations that do very important work in their respective fields. However, one person can only do so much and there are only so many hours in a day. With all that is at stake in November, the Republican Party of Texas cannot afford to have a State Chairman that is distracted with other paid obligations.

Perhaps more troubling is that West does not himself view the Chair of the Republican Party of Texas—literally the largest GOP organization in the world—as a full-time obligation. Two of the three new jobs he’s accepted have been in the past three weeks while we are just weeks away from the State Convention.

The Republican Party of Texas must have a State Chairman that is singularly focused on building the party and leading it to victory in November. This will require, at a minimum, a full-time commitment to the party. Television appearances and speeches are just a very small part of what the job of Chairman entails.

James Dickey is committed to spending every waking hour to advancing the Republican Party of Texas, recruiting volunteers, organizing the party, and getting our candidates elected in November. Dickey’s commitment isn’t just lip service or empty campaign rhetoric— it is a demonstrated record proven throughout his tenure as Chairman.

Allen West is not doing the Republican Party of Texas or his current employers any favors if he overextends himself to the point where he cannot effectively serve in any of his roles going into this critical election season. I wish him all the best in his work with the Committee to Defend the President, My Faith Votes, the Hope Center Foundation, his book selling, and his other professional endeavors. I believe he, as well as the Republican Party of Texas, would be best served if he focused on his current commitments while allowing James Dickey to continue to thrive as the full-time Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas.

Think of it this way. If you had multiple jobs already netting you hundreds of thousands per year, would you work full time at a volunteer or lower paying gig for an organization you’ve never had any meaningful input into or helped in the past?  Neither will Mr. West.

Mark McCaig is an attorney and Republican Precinct Chairman in Harris County.