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Volume XX Number 19 - December 9, 2021     RSS Feed   

A Periodic Newsletter for Committed Texas Conservatives

In This Issue

Weakness Encourages Bullies

Texas Large County Judicial Selection, "Texas We Have A Problem"

Bob Dole RIP

Just Say No To The Kendall Baker School Board Candidate Smear

Jeremi Suri, The Chair For Leadership In Global Affairs At UT, Why?

Why in the World Are Democrats Preferred on the Issue of Education? By Bruce Bialosky, Contributing Editor

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Gary Polland
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Thoughts This Fortnight

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah And
Wishing Our Dear Readers A Great New Year

Weakness Encourages Bullies

No surprise here, we learn from an early age that if you are weak in the face of bullying, you get more of it, not less.

So as it is in normal life, it is in world affairs. President Biden from day one has evoked weakness. To review the foreign policy disasters to date:

  1. The bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan.

  2. The authorization of the Northstream 2 gas purchase from Russia to Germany without any conditions.

  3. The return to the bargaining table with Iran over its nuclear weapon program, beginning with unilateral concessions significantly reducing the Trump sanctions.

  4. China is saber rattling over Taiwan and the U.S. response is "diplomatic" sanctions for the 2022 Winter Olympics. This means no diplomats or politicians will come. Combine this with Biden/Harris plunging U.S. popularity spells trouble for the U.S.

  5. Russia appears to be on the precipice of an invasion of Ukraine with around 175,000 troops positioned nearby and the U.S. gives feckless warnings.

Weakness promotes danger from bullies like Russia, China and Iran. Let's hope we get our act together before we blunder into a nuclear war.

Texas Large County Judicial Selection,
"Texas We Have A Problem"

As a working conservative lawyer in the courthouse for over forty years, your Editor has made a few observations:

  1. Experienced lawyers generally make better judges.

  2. Good to great judges are something to treasure and nurture.

  3. "Our political selection system" results regularly replace good judges with inexperienced lawyers who are just not ready to be judges.

  4. Voters are not sufficiently educated to cast an intelligent vote with so many judicial election choices in Harris County.

  5. A retention election is a preferable way to elect judges.

  6. Asking the judges to judge impartially during the day and to be a partisan politician at night, is just not good for justice.

  7. The Republican Party back in 1998 established high standards for judicial candidates, but unfortunately it was dropped in 2002 and the Democrats never bothered. They eliminated those not qualified. These standards need to be readopted by both parties.

Bob Dole RIP

Senator Bob Dole, GOP Presidential nominee in 1996 and a true hero of World War II, has passed on.

In an era where the major politicians often put party first and country second, he is an example of what we need more of.

Your Editor had the privilege of meeting with Senator Dole a number of times. He was a classy leader who could reach across the aisle to better the country. He was also tough when he needed to be. He hasn't been replaced in today's bitter and ugly political climate.

Just Say No To The Kendall Baker
School Board Candidate Smear

The secret PAC-GPS Action project is trashing Kendall Baker. Baker is not satisfied with the failing woke HISD. He says we can do better and has ideas how to do it.

His opponents do not want a debate, instead they throw mud and hope you get distracted. The attacks are not being truthful and are not relevant.

Your Editor can personally attest to the falsity of the sexual harassment charge. Your Editor handled the case before the Civil Service Commission for the City of Houston. The case against Baker was a joke and he was run off because of his political beliefs.

Kendall will help reform HISD and G-d knows it is desperately needed.

Jeremi Suri, The Chair For Leadership
In Global Affairs At UT, Why?

I came across this tweet by this University of Texas Professor. Is this who my alma mater is hiring to teach students?

"Tonight the racists were routed again in Austin. More than 2 of 3 voters chose inclusion and fairness over fear and lies. We can find the better angels of our nature, and we can reform the police at last."

His comment was about the recently defeated Police Restore Funding Initiative in Austin. He believes, if you support law enforcement, you are racist. Enough said.

Why in the World Are Democrats
Preferred on the Issue of Education?

By Bruce Bialosky, Contributing Editor

While watching the election returns in Virginia, the analysts - you know those people with those slick boards which move pictures with the flick of a finger - were talking about what a shock it was that a Republican was favored on the issue of education. At this time in America, why would anyone favor the Democrats on this issue?

Did anyone happen to notice that once public employee unions were legalized back in the 1960's, the cost of public education soared in this country while the quality of said education plummeted? Scientific theory, of which subject teachers are completely inept, would tell you that the two are not necessarily cause and effect. An honest person would state there are other factors involved. Is it a coincidence that these things happened simultaneously? I think not.

The country's largest city which operates the country's most populated school system has an (outgoing) mayor who has been an ardent enemy of charter schools. These are the same charter schools that have thousands vying for limited spots via lottery to get their children into schools not controlled by the mayor and his teacher union supporters. The same charter schools that enable minority students to perform at levels that far exceed the performance of their public schools' counterparts. Yet for some reason the perception is that Democrats are better on the issue of education. What is wrong with this picture?

In California, the teachers' unions make a tremendous effort to get the legislature to crush charter schools. They lie about the performance of the charter schools to enhance the performance of the public schools to no avail. While the leaders wail about white supremacy, the performance of the black and brown students under their guidance is atrocious.

The Democrats like to say you should never let a crisis go to waste. In Virginia's case, it backfired on them. I and many other critics of teachers' unions and the current public-school systems seemed to get nowhere with middle class and upper-middle class parents. Parents were too busy working and just getting through their days trying to provide a safe and healthy home for their children. We could write and speak and scream at the top of our lungs about the gross injustices being done to minority children. But if their school district was hiding the damage and their kids were getting a “good” education, they ignored the plight of others or were just too overwhelmed with their lives to take on the task of fighting the system.

Then we came upon a pandemic. Their kids were stuck at home and their teachers refused to show up to teach even after being vaccinated. Parents began to see not only the poor education being foisted upon their children, but the poor education foisted upon all children –particularly in urban districts. They saw advanced education programs being canceled as racist because too many white or Asian kids were in the programs and not enough black or brown kids. They did not see the sense of that. They came to realize if the black or brown kid received a vapid education it was harmful to all of us down the line. They saw the schools were focused on issues other than math and English and science and history. If history was being taught, the values with which they were raised that made this country great were being trashed. Immigrant parents saw their kids being told that those things they cherished about America and caused them to fight so hard to become an American were bad or dangerous. The parents saw that their world was not being turned upside down. It already was.

Democrat elected officials who were funded by public employee unions that owned the politicians were the catalyst. The parents realized the people they trusted were cheating on them behind their backs. The funds from bond issues they were told to vote for and did so religiously were being wasted. Bright new schools were not the cure. The sickness was inside the schools. That means the curriculum, the school boards, the administration and, yes, the teachers who went along with all of it.

The other political party had been telling them that they cared. They argued for charter schools and parental choice and vouchers so parents could make the choice of a better way. The other party stood up and waved their hand and said we are still here. We still want to help. We still believe a public education monopoly has failed us. They reminded parents there is a reason the public-school establishment argues against competition. When competition happens, the establishment loses, and the kids win. They reminded parents that they not only have a say in their child's education, but they should also actively participate in the process.

Many black and brown parents have already realized the establishment and their political allies have left them in the dust. Now white parents have woken up to that reality. They have realized the Democrats are owned by the teachers' unions serving them instead of their kids.

We have a breakthrough. Republicans should grasp that opportunity and press it to the wall. Not because it is a political opportunity. It is the right thing to do. It is not throwing money at a dysfunctional system. It is improving the outcomes for all our children. Republicans are the party of education. It just took a pandemic for many parents to wake up on the issue.


Bruce Bialosky is the founder of the Republican Jewish Coalition of California and a former Presidential appointee. You can follow Bruce on Twitter @brucebialosky.


TCR on the Air

Gary Polland is now a regular on "What's Your Point?" hosted by Greg Groogan on Fox 26 Houston, appearing every other week. Tune in or set your recorder for 7:00 am Sundays.

Red, White, and Blue featuring TCR Editor Gary Polland on Fridays at 7:30 pm on Houston Public Media TV 8, replaying Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on Channel 8, Monday at 11:30 pm on Channel 8.2 and on the web at www.houstonpublicmedia.org.

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About Your Editor

Gary Polland is a long-time conservative and Republican spokesman, fund-raiser, and leader who completed three terms as the Harris County Republican Chairman. During his three terms, Gary was described as the most successful county Chairman in America by Human Events - The National Conservative Weekly. He is in his twenty-sixth year of editing a newsletter dealing with key conservative and Republican issues. The last twenty years he has edited Texas Conservative Review. As a public service for the last 18 years, Gary has published election guides for the GOP primary, general elections and city elections, all with the purpose of assisting conservative candidates. Gary is also in his 21st year of co-hosting Red, White and Blue on Houston Public Media TV 8 PBS Houston, longest running political talk show in Texas history. Gary serves on the Board of Directors of American Values, a national pro-family, pro-faith, conservative organization supporting the unity of the American people around the vision of our founding fathers and dedicated to reminding the public of the conservative principles fundamental to the survival of our nation. Gary is a practicing attorney and strategic consultant. He can be reached at (713) 621-6335.

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