The Swamp – Page 2 – Carol A. Spencer

Arrogance is Divisive and Damaging

What’s with political organizations that refuse to work with other political organizations? I’ve been involved in the political world since 1987, 37 years. I’ve been president of multiple organizations. I’ve been an elected official. I’ve been an elected Party official in 2 states.

I’ve never seen so many ego driven, divisive, arrogant, political leaders in all those years as I see today. I’ve never seen so-called “leaders” who flat out refuse to talk to or work with other Party organizations, who publicly denigrate elected officials. Even for defeated candidates, it’s important not to “burn bridges”, but “burning bridges” seems to be the norm now.

We must work together. We must talk with each other. We must respect each other’s organizations and how they operate. We must acknowledge our differences and strive to find common goals. We are stronger together.

One would think that as conservatives, we would do that. But what happens when the arrogance of certain leaders just flat out refuses to do so? Apparently, they don’t realize they are hurting themselves, their organizations, and our GOP candidates.

Put your egos aside people. If you can’t, you don’t belong in leadership of any kind, especially in the political world.

Remember “United We Stand. Divided We Fall.”

Power and Control

Let’s be clear. I don’t live in the City of Bastrop. I can’t vote on City matters. City elections are non-partisan so there aren’t primaries where my positions in Republican politics would come into play.

But, I did spend ten years in elected office: six on a Town Council and four as the Mayor of a town of 16,000 people under a strong mayor, weak council form of government. So, I know how the game is played.

People who live in the City of Bastrop should rise up in anger at what’s happening in their City. A voting majority of the City Council can meet in private according to their current charter.

That voting majority is trying its hardest to keep that power, to be able to decide issues away from the public view, to run government in private. This is completely opposite of government “of the people, for the people and by the people”.

Frankly, who do they think they are? Do they think that they are smarter or more privileged than any other resident of the City of Bastrop? Who said they had all the ideas? How did they learn what they could and couldn’t do as Council members? Were they born with this knowledge and others weren’t?

First, they came after Mayor Nelson. He had an affair. Not good, but not illegal, and not a rationale for overturning the will of the voters. John Kirkland said citizens asked him if there was a way to recall the mayor, yet the petition submitted has 96% of the signatures collected by 3 Council members, a former Council member, and their families. No one has any idea what people were told at the door when asked to sign this petition, but my guess is it wasn’t that an audit and investigation found no wrongdoing on the part of the Mayor. I’ll bet they didn’t tell people that the mayor had the legal right to keep his private cell phone data private. Did they tell people that there was no subpoena for that cell phone data? One would think if there was a criminal investigation into the Mayor that his private cell phone would have been subpoenaed.

From this former mayor’s perspective, this is an attempt to get rid of Mayor Nelson and install a mayor of their choice and one they can control.

Now, they’re going after the City attorney. Monday night’s Special meeting now includes an Executive Session “to discuss the duties of the City Attorney.” My guess is he won’t play ball with them, won’t support their shenanigans, won’t muddy the legal waters to give them the power they so desperately desire.

I’ve seen this movie before. If the citizens of the City of Bastrop don’t pay attention, get involved and stop this, they’ll end up living in a city they don’t like and they don’t recognize.

Stolen Valor

I’m frankly surprised that this video hasn’t been scrubbed by YouTube. Until then, it’s well worth watching. Command Sergeant Major Thomas Behrends, the Command Sergeant Major who took Tim Walz’ place when he abruptly retired, tells the story how that happened.

And, he shows the actual military record showing Walz did not retire as a Command Sergeant Major, but rather an E8 Master Sergeant. Claiming otherwise is “Stolen Valor”.

Heck, why not just claim he retired as head of the Joint Chiefs? He quit when it came time to serve in Iraq. No matter how many years he put in prior to that, when the chips were down, he ran and hid.

Government Behind Closed Doors

In 1989, I ran for Township Council on a platform that included Open Government. We elect representatives, and other than those items allowed to be discussed in executive session by law, majorities of governing bodies should ALWAYS discuss government business in public.

I was shocked to learn that the City of Bastrop Charter allows a voting majority to meet in private because of its definition of a quorum. Currently set at 4, that means 3 City Council members can meet in private. The voting majority is 3. So any and all public business could be discussed in private.

Mayor Nelson supports changing this to a quorum of 3 so no more than 2 (less than a voting majority) can meet in private. Those trying to recall him want it to stay the way it is. No wonder they want Nelson recalled.

Please read this article on indytexans.org. If you signed the recall petition and now realize why its happening and no longer want to support it, you can have your signature removed. This article explains how to do it.

Remember: WE THE PEOPLE are the government. WE THE PEOPLE have the right to know what our representatives are doing and discussing. WE THE PEOPLE will be kept in the dark if a voting majority can meet in private, contrary to the principles on which this country was founded.

Are you a voter or a lemming?

Is a list of endorsements from an organization an end point for you or a starting point? Do you vote in a primary from a list provided by one organization or do you research endorsements from several organizations and see where they overlap? Do you do your own research?

Bunni Pounds from Christians Engaged has great advice. Read below or watch this clip.

“In 20 minutes you can research your ballot and go in much more prepared than anybody else. Look at the races. Look at their Facebook pages. Look at their website. Read out of their own mouth what they say about their qualifications. Check out their resumes. Google their names. See who else is supporting them in your community. See if they answer some of the questions that are important to you about these non-partisan races. And, then check around people in your communities to see who they are supporting and why. […] Check out public forums and anything they are hosting to get to know the candidates in your city.”

Did the organization print a transcript, or at least a summary, of the interviews with the candidates on which they based their recommendations?
Did they ask the candidates for written answers to a common set of questions and publish those answers?
If they didn’t interview a candidate, did they tell you that?
If they have an affiliation or prior business relationship with a candidate, were they transparent enough to tell you that?
If one candidate is a member of their organization and the other is not, do they reveal that?
Did they provide any rationale at all for why they chose one candidate over the others?

Never be a lemming. Just because this group or that says “vote for our list of candidates” or worse yet, “take our list to the polls with you”, that’s not what you should do in a primary, runoff, or uniform (May non-partisan) election.

Expect information. Better yet, demand information or refuse to be a lemming. Your vote is yours, not theirs.

Paxton Impeachment Trial

Ken Paxton was acquitted of all charges. I watched or listened to almost every minute of this trial in the TX Senate.

Here’s what I wrote to my State Senator, Charles Schwertner, the last day of the trial.

Probably unlike most of your constituents, I have either listened to or watched almost every minute of every day of the Paxton hearings. I’ve been waiting for proof of the allegations against him, and even now that the House managers rested, I’ve not heard it.

It is very clear to me that there were lots and lots of assumptions made, and then actions taken in support of those assumptions. Example: the “apoplectic” reaction to subpoenas being issued, and the witness had no knowledge of the second referral at the time he went “apoplectic”. Reaction without knowing the facts. Actions, including the meeting with the FBI, taken as a result without knowing the facts.

One of these employees acknowledges that he sent documents to Johnny Sutton. Thus, documents could have been taken to the FBI. Claiming they couldn’t take internal documents externally is BS since they DID send internal documents to Johnny Sutton.

I’m not going to take the time to go through each and every Article of Impeachment. Suffice it to say that the case has not been made. A bunch of innuendos have been thrown against the wall to see what y’all will vote for to get rid of the most effective AG Texas has had.

The House Managers claim they brought these charges because Ken Paxton asked for the funds to settle all this. OF COURSE those have to be public funds. It was the OFFICE that was sued. Under the statute ONLY the office can be sued, not him personally. Isn’t it in everyone’s best interest to settle this and get back to work? As a mayor in the past, we settled many suits that were without merit because it was cheaper to do so than to go to trial.

I urge you to vote to exonerate Ken Paxton on each and every allegation.

Here’s how the Texas Senators voted:

2023-09-16PaxtonImpeachmentVotes

My thoughts on this whole thing:

Thank you to the senators, including mine, who saw through this sham of an impeachment. Thank you for listening to your constituents, representing them. Thank you for upholding our votes.
Dade Phelan should resign. He should resign because he was drunk on the floor of the House. He should resign because, when called on it by Ken Paxton, he did exactly what they accused General Paxton of doing: he retaliated by rushing through a bogus impeachment.
Dade Phelan, if he doesn’t resign, should never again be considered for TX Speaker of the House. He doesn’t deserve a leadership position. He didn’t serve the people of Texas. He served himself and his cadre of compatriots, exactly what he accused AG Paxton of doing.
House legislators who voted for this sham should be very circumspect about future votes. And, if they took money from Phelan, they should return it or face defeat at the ballot box.
The cost of this fiasco should be made public.
If there is any settlement for those alleged “whistleblowers”, the cost of this debacle, both houses of the legislature, should be deducted from it. If there isn’t enough, Dade Phelan should pay the rest out of his campaign funds.
AG Ken Paxton has hopefully repaired his relationship with his wife. He, and any other cheating elected official, should remember this is a job they’ve been elected to do, not a party or a social gathering. If you fit that category, clean up your act.
Ken Paxton should clean house in that Attorney General’s office as best he can subject to HR laws. As an elected official, you can’t work with people who refuse to support you or your agenda.
Ken Paxton needs to remember to pick his friends and associates carefully. As an elected official, it’s hard to know who to trust and who is blowing smoke… well, you know. Learn to cut ties quickly and completely.
Ken Paxton needs to find trusted, truly trusted, advisors outside his realm of business. As Ronald Reagan used his beautiful ranch to ground himself, Ken Paxton needs to do the same… find a grounding place and a couple of people who have no ties with government to give him perspective.

Core Values vs “Go along. Get along.”

The Friday Reflection in today’s Texas Minute from TexasScorecard.com is a must read for every voter. I’m reprinting with permission. Don’t vote for your friend because that person is your friend. Don’t pick your candidate based on campaign literature. When analyzing your choices, remember that pressures will come from all sides: lobbyists, businesses, utilities, other legislators who can hand out plum committee positions, office locations, introductions. Can your candidate withstand those pressures? If you don’t think so, that candidate should not get your vote.

2022-02-11Friday-Reflection