Author: carol@stormzero.com

I’m a conservative Republican. My political views are about as far away from those of Ellen as they can be. So, I’ve surprised myself to be writing about her. Even more, I’ve surprised myself to be agreeing with her 100%.

On Sunday, Ellen was seated next to President George W. Bush and Laura Bush at the Dallas Cowboys football game. And, shock of shocks, she was pictured laughing with him. Predictably, she’s taken a boatload of hate and grief on social media for having done so.

“In fact, I’m friends with a lot of people who don’t share the same beliefs that I have. We’re all different, and I think we’ve forgotten that that’s OK that we’re all different,” she responded to the critics. Read the full story.

Amen.

For years, in response to constituent comments that start with “You know, I agree with almost everything you say, but…”, I say “Thank goodness for the ‘but’!” What a boring life it would be if we all agreed on everything.

And, liberals? I have very close friends and beloved family members who are liberal. I love them and they love me. We’re humans, not programmed robots. Whether our differences are narrowly focused or wide chasms, we don’t hate because of our differences. While not changing our core values, we celebrate our common ground, enjoy each other, and love because of the beauty in each of us.

While the congratulations posts and emails roll in, Tuesday’s election results should be very troubling for Republicans.

James Dickey, Texas GOP Chair, wrote “Last night we saw the culmination of several years of concentrated effort by the left – and the impact of over $100 million spent – in their dream to turn Texas blue again.  Thankfully they failed to win a single statewide elected office.”

One blogger wrote “For the unprecedented millions of out-of-state dollars spent on O’Rourke’s senate race, it was a bad investment for Democrats. […] So for the gazillions of dollars spent, it achieved four positions on a mid-level appellate court (on our ballot anyway).  Not exactly what they were intending for the investment, but there you have it.”

And, locally, the Bastrop County Republican Party had only this comment, posted on Facebook.

In Bastrop County, only one race on the ballot was contested. One.  And, that was JP Precinct 1, not even a county wide race.

While I’m pleased a Republican won that seat, that’s hardly a result worth cheering.  A broader view finds troubling election results.

The Courts

Republicans lost every single race for a seat on every Court of Appeals, with the exception of the Second Court of Appeals, Place 2.  That is 32 judicial seats (13 were unopposed) that were in Republican hands that are now filled with Democrats.  While each is not a “statewide elected office”, the impact of so many seats being lost across TX is not much different than losing one or more statewide seats.

Many of these courts have now gone from being Republican majorities to Republican minorities.  And, we all know that the Courts are viewed by the Democrats as the final arbitor when they don’t get what they want through the legislative process.

The critical court is the Third Court of Appeals because they hear all governmental appeals.  My county is part of the geography covered by that court. It comes as no surprise that not one voter I spoke with between 9am and 7pm on election day at my precinct had any idea what the Third Court does.  And, I submit that is the case for those voters I did not have the opportunity to ask.  Yet, thousands and thousands voters cast votes for these positions.

Republicans need to step up.  This type of sweep of our judicial system does not bode well for Texas. I submit this type of uneducated voting is as much a danger to the future of our Republic as voter fraud.