OPINION: Reports of our death are greatly exaggerated

And we still are.

By Andy Hogue, Editor

"The report of my death was an exaggeration." --Mark Twain.

Two things amazed me during the Robert Morrow saga, pro and con:

Pro: How quickly and formidably the grassroots came together to solve a problem. By setting up additional checks and balances in a way that was fair to the winner of the county chairman's race and everyone involved, we built a better party in less than half a year. From an objective standpoint, the Travis GOP was running better than ever despite the controversy -- even during Morrow's two months in office.

Con: How much stock a group of voters who supposedly hate "the liberal media" believed media hype about the situation our party was in. You would think we were in shambles waiting for someone to come rescue us, or hunkering down for two years of diminished expectations. This was obviously not the case.

GOP challenger urges Dukes to go ahead and resign for good of HD 46

Rep. Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin, HD 46) has announced her intention to retire in January, according to an article on Quorum Report.

Since the deadline to alter the general election ballot has passed, her name will likely remain printed there. Texas election law and common sense dictates that Dukes would only have to resign if she -- after all the beating she has taken lately -- still manages to defeat Republican challenger Gabriel Nila in November.

A resignation from Dukes after the election would, based on similar situations in other legislative districts in years past, trigger a special election to be called by the governor. Dukes cited health reasons for her pending resignation as well as concern for her daughter's well being. Unmentioned was legal challenges she faces based on allegations of staff being forced to perform unpaid, mandatory "charity work" while on the clock. Naturally, she hasn't mentioned the flack she caught for cancelling a scholarship fundraising festival in East Austin despite overwhelming public interest in keeping it going.

Below is a statement from Nila, via a press release:

"Maria and I both wish Representative Dukes a full recovery from her health challenges. 

"But the reality is that Dawnna Dukes has been under criminal investigation for many months. We do not yet know the conclusion of that investigation, but the allegations are very serious.  

"If Rep. Dukes intends to resign in January due to health reasons, there is no good reason for her to resign 100 days from now, after a general election and needlessly disadvantage her successor and cause an expensive Special Election. 

"The constituents of this district deserve to have new representation immediately, not months after the new biennial session begins. If Rep. Dukes wins election to a new two-year term that she plainly does not plan serve, then this district's new representative will be 150th in seniority and will be starting late to build a staff, seek committee slots, file legislation, and get up to speed for the session. For once, Dawnna Dukes should put the district and the taxpayers first and immediately resign."

So what of the pending indictment against Dukes for her criminal charges? We'll be tracking that, too.

Gabriel Nila ... just like the sign says!

That time Heidi Cruz schooled William Weld -- two dissenting views on economic freedom

Weld and Johnson: Libertarians in name only?

With Ted Cruz and Gary Johnson garnering significant media attention for stops in Austin over the weekend we thought this would make for both some interesting Sunday reading and a much-needed reality check.

Keep this one in the top drawer of your file cabinet the next time one of our Libertarian friends attempts to sell you on a Johnson-Weld ticket over the Republican nominees.

It's no secret that not only is former New England Republican Gov. Bill Weld a gun-grabbing moderate, but once upon a time he signed off on a study which had little problems with proposing the erosion of national sovereignty in the name of global trade. Worse: he was the co-chairman of the task force that wrote the study. Facts like these have not been lost on many Johnson supporters.

Heidi Cruz

Heidi Cruz, wife of former presidential contender, Sen. Ted Cruz, also signed off on the report. However, a look at Heidi's objections -- and the total lack of Gov. Weld's -- shows a sharp distinction of political philosophy. It's one that deserves some attention.

Please take a read at a few snippets of that report below, or you may download the report: http://www.cfr.org/canada/building-north-american-community/p8102

Weld, a two-term governor of Massachusetts (1991-97), and Assistant U.S. Attorney General, wrote (emphasis ours) ...

SNEAK PREVIEW: campaign ad pits Don Zimmerman against ... Don Zimmerman?

Remember that episode of "Star Trek" in which Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, Lt. Uhura, and Engineer Scott beam up to the U.S.S. Enterprise during a freak electromagnetic storm -- only to end up on a very similar Enterprise featuring darker, sinister versions of their fellow crew mates?

In that grand television tradition of meeting "alternate universe" takes on our favorite characters, we meet a tax-happy version of our beloved Councilman Don Zimmerman in this much-needed injection of laughter into the 2016 campaign season.

Rumor has it this TV ad will air during Sunday Night Football and the presidential debate. Football fans may remember a similar concept -- "Arts and Crafts Tony Romo" vs. the real quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys -- airing during a previous season.

Stay tuned Sunday night to see if it airs ... But we included a 30-second version of the ad above just in case it gets preempted.

(And, yes, we just managed to weave Star Trek, NFL football, and politics into a single blog post. We keep raising the bar for our faithful readers!)

Mirror Universe Spock gives the Democratic Party salute.

Mom fights for school choice as means to give students 'the right tools to thrive'

Melissa Bodenger, a full-time mom who spends what spare time she has coordinating Republican candidates for the Travis County GOP, recently gave testimony to the Texas Senate Education Committee regarding school choice.

For her and her special-needs son, school choice is not simply a matter of being more easily able to send her child to a successful public school -- it's a matter of her son being able to succeed in a public school, period.

A snippet of Bodenger's testimony is below. You can read the whole thing here.

... My name is Melissa Bodenger and my 10-year-old son, Josh, is the one in every 42 boys diagnosed with Autism.

In a public school Josh would not be immersed in the [Applied Behavioral Analysis] therapy environment that helps him learn to conquer the challenges of being Autistic.

He would have standardized tests, higher student teacher ratios, and the social stigma of being a special needs child looming over him on the playground. [...]

Austin conservatives show solidarity against taxpayer-funded union activism

Last week, former Texas House staffer and candidate Jay Wiley and National Review legal contributor Mark Pulliam -- both active members of the Travis County Republican Party -- came out swinging against taxpayer-funded union activism.

It's no secret to conservatives that labor unions provide manpower and fundraising efforts for Democrat candidates and causes. But besides the obvious conflict of interest of using public servants to perform union tasks, there is also a prohibition on this kind of activity in the Texas Constitution.

See below from the desk of Jay Wiley:

Hey, Kaepernick: KISS this!

We've known KISS front man Gene Simmons to be quite conservative for many years, despite the band's former reputation as being anything but favorable toward God, country, apple pie, and all that. But that we've lived long enough now to witness the above spectacle of KISS with uniformed veterans auxiliary members is worthy of a post, even on a local political blog. Take a watch -- even if you're not much of a rocker.

This display of high-voltage patriotism on Sept. 9 in Richmond, Virginia, follows public outcries after National Football League player Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the National Anthem at a pre-season San Francisco 49ers game against the Green Bay Packers.

Martinez: a vote for Hernandez is a vote to make Austin a 'sanctuary city'

Deported FIVE TIMES. Still not enough.

While there is a lot of debate over what, exactly, a "sanctuary city" consists of, one thing is clear: Electing a liberal Democrat as Travis County's top cop would do nothing but increase the amount of sanctuaries available for illegal immigrants.

Open trade advocates have their points to make, and there are plenty of merits to the "Texas Solution" touted by the Republican Platform in 2012. Ask three immigration reform activists what the solution is and you'll get four answers. But no matter how you slice it, illegal immigration is illegal and attracts other illegal behavior.

Read Travis County Sheriff candidate Joe Martinez' latest press release below, as well as the link to a recent Fox 7 story, if you're not entirely convinced.