Quote of the week
“Those who seek nothing but their own just liberty, have always the right to win it.” – John Milton
Buddy’s Soap Box
A patriotic Texas howdy from Buddy
Despite kicking and screaming by the Democrat party, the Arizona Maricopa County vote audit is going forward. Soap Box eagerly awaits the outcome and when the facts are known, we will report them whatever they may be. Thus, we’ll soon know who has egg on their face.
In the meantime, you can go to https://voicesandvotes.org/ and help fund the cost of the Arizona audit. We have already done so. If you have any questions, please contact Voices and Votes at contact@voicesandvotes.org
The little people of these United States, except for a marginal minority, don’t see themselves colored one way or another. We see ourselves as Martin Luther King urged us to see ourselves, as citizens equal under the law, judged as individuals regardless of color. And we like it that way. In our day to day encounters we, the ordinary man and woman, treat everyone the same. We are friendly, respectful, helpful, considerate, doing unto others as we would have them do unto us. A good example are the people of Lone Star Comics and MyComicShop. We employee 120 men and women. We haven’t always had that many folks—we’ve grown over the years—but in our forty-plus years of doing business neither we nor any of our employees have been accused of any form of discrimination. When we hire, no prior experience is required. Show up on time and do your job as per the job description and you enjoy job security. Employees tend to stick with the Lone Star Comics family. One gentleman has been with us for 40+ years, many others for 10, 15, 20 or more. We promote from within. We have department heads and programmers who began as warehouse or shipping employees. There are no color or other quotas at LSC. Men and women advance based on their ability to do the job—merit.
We are also free to express our political views employee to employee, so long as it is done respectfully and not pressed upon an unwilling listener. In this way we learn from each other.
In times past, when divergent political views were tolerated, it was both OK and safe to have a political bumper sticker on your car. Any car in the Lone Star Comics parking lot would still be safe.
But according to the vastly powerful politically elites—MSNBC, CNN, Facebook, NPR, virtually any university, the socialist/communist Democrat Party, and now even woke corporations, all Americans who fail to worship at the woke Critical Race Theory altar are racist and sexist.
National harmony IS a big problem for the elites who seek wealth and power for themselves at the expense of you and me. By sowing discord, the elites—who just happen to be OVERWHELMINGLY WHITE—try to set you against me and me against you. Divide and conquer is one of the oldest tricks in the book.
The white elites look in the mirror and are very impressed. They are smarter than we are. They know how the country should be run far better than we ever could, burdened as we are with a republic, a free and honest vote and, Ugh! God and religion. The elites see a need for change. That change is well underway, a change that blatantly revealed itself in the recent stolen presidential election. The elites know the election was stolen because they played key roles in the theft.
The elites are giddy with power, so giddy they no longer try to hide their agenda. They see unimaginable prosperity and power in their future, but it will come at your expense and mine. IF THEY SUCCEED!
We will NOT let them succeed!
Next week, new information on how the presidential election was stolen and by whom!
Other Items in the News
In a new commentary, Rachel Bovard explains how Big Tech is working to shield progressive activists and politicians from criticism and accountability by blocking circulation of certain content. Just months after Facebook retaliated against the government of Australia by effectively canceling the flow of that country’s information, Facebook is at it again – this time, wielding its outsized power to shield progressive political figures from public criticism.
As Texas’ public schools and others across the nation increase the use of “critical race theory” in their programs, Tera Collum takes a look at the roots of this controversial, leftwing curriculum. At its core, Critical Race Theory calls for highlighting race – rather than urging everyone to be color-blind. Long gone are the days of Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of judging people solely by the content of their character.
Members of the Texas House Committee on Culture, Recreation, and Tourism clashed over conflicting measures dealing with Texas’ statues and monuments. Joshua Pierce reports that while Republicans want to protect them, Democrats are working to wash away history.
All Americans can agree: it should be easy to vote but hard to cheat. Free and fair elections are the bedrock of democracy, and establishing trust in those elections is essential for a healthy society. Every fraudulent vote negates a legally cast vote, robbing a citizen of their voice and further eroding trust in the system.
The truth about the Georgia election law is that it will help SAVE OUR ELECTIONS by:
- Verifying the accuracy of voter registration lists.
- Requiring photo ID verification for absentee voting.
- Protecting absentee ballots by banning the automatic mailing of absentee ballots or absentee ballot request forms to all voters.
- Preventing interference with absentee ballots by limiting those who can return an absentee ballot on behalf of others.
- Ensuring drop boxes are located at the supervisor of election offices to protect against tampering with ballots that are dropped off.
- Printing ballots on security paper to authenticate the validity of a ballot.
- Prohibiting private funding of election officials and government agencies which can lead to partisan election offices and corruption.
- Increasing transparency by allowing election observers complete access to the election process.
Celebrate U.S. Environmental Leadership! What to Know: It’s Earth Day, and Americans are celebrating. The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s take: We should celebrate U.S. leadership on the environment!
“Contrary to the entrenched narrative that we’re killing the planet, our nation is leading the world in environmental protection — and the future is looking brighter than ever,” says TPPF’s Jason Isaac. “America has cut air pollution by a healthy 77% in the last 50 years, and there’s no sign of this progress slowing. In fact, our air is so clean that it’s almost impossible to distinguish from natural levels.” For more in depth details, click here. Now the sorry to break this news to you follow up from Soap Box. The “Green New Deal” is being played from a marked deck. The plan, if it can be dignified by such a term, has as much chance of success as making the sun rise in the west. Though doomed to fail, the “Green New Deal” has the potential to utterly destroy our economy and way of life.
When contemplating any state budget XXXX, you will hear a lot about BILLIONS of dollars, articles, strategies, percentages of increases, and the like. None of which is very meaningful to the average family. I thought I’d compare what the billions in state spending means in practical terms.
Here’s a different way to think about the state budget. Remember every single dollar spent by state government comes from your pocket, directly or indirectly.
Under the $250.7 billion “all-funds” budget approved by senators, Texans would pay $360.20 per person per month – that’s $360.20 for every man, woman, and child.
For a family of four, that’s $1,440.80 per month. Every month.
That’s more than the monthly payment on a new 2021 Ford F-150 Platinum Edition (approx. $1,200 monthly for five years). Amazing truck; rides great, rich leather seats, all the bells and whistles. And when those payments are over, you own the truck. That $1,440.80 a family pays the state… well, you just keep paying.
Highly Recommended
The following are excellent resources for those of us (way more than 75 million strong) who want full and honest news reporting. We’ll be adding to this list as we go along. Those who prefer filtered news—only the news deemed safe for them to know—can stay with the legacy media, such as it is.
Here’s a great way to join thousands—and eventually millions—of others who are letting their government representatives know their thoughts on pending legislation. Heritage Action for America from the Heritage Foundation makes doing so super EASY! They do the research. They inform you. Then in almost the blink of an eye, you contact your federal or state representatives regarding pending legislation expressing your support or opposition.
Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) AARP is a shill for big government, AMAC isn’t.
Fox News and One America News (OAN) Cable channel
The Epoch Times print newspaper and web site/email updates
Dennis Prager This man will help you find the mainstream conservative hiding inside you.
President Donald Trump’s Great America PAC is now up and running. Give to this PAC or to individual candidates you know to be truly conservative. Money given to the Republican Party is money down a RINO hole. https://texasscorecard.com/state/legislative-priorities-tracker/
Project Veritas, Fun and informative hidden camera videos exposing the secret agendas of the left in their own words.
Columns worth reading
Each week under this heading, I’ll include columns or intros to columns you can read in full elsewhere on the internet. Each of these columns pretty much express our Soap Box views, else we’d not be sharing them with you.
True Texans never forget that our beloved state was once an independent republic like the United States, a distinction we share with no other state. On a visit to England a few years back, Judy and I ate dinner in London with friends at a restaurant named the Texas Embassy, located a couple of blocks down the street from where a century earlier our original Texas Embassy had been housed.
First Column: In 18 Minutes of Liberty, heroes of the past inspire us to face today’s battle as men and not sheep. Growing up in the 1950s as I did, I like every other child in the nation worshiped Davy Crockett (Fess Parker). In the last Walt Disney Sunday night episode of the Legend of Davy Crockett, Davy “lit out a grinning to follow the sun,” and so made his way to Texas, accompanied by his sidekick, Georgie Russel (Buddy Ebsen), riverboat gambler Thimblerig (Hans Conried), and a down on his luck Indian aptly named Busted Luck (Nick Cravat). All were there at the Alamo when Colonel William Travis drew that fateful line in the sand and all the defenders crossed over into an immortality shared by few men. May we today be such men (and women) as they were then. – Soap Box
Second Column: The REAL Election Interference: How Zuckerberg Tried to Buy 2020 Elections Here is a perfect example of how elites, in this case Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, spent nearly $400 million to ensure that their candidate won despite an overwhelming popular vote. They spent, they won. You voted, you lost. – Soap Box
18 Minutes for Liberty
by Michael Quinn Sullivan, Texas Scorecard April 21, 2021
On April 21, 1836, the independence that had been hastily declared some eight weeks earlier was decisively achieved.
It might not have been. There were those who wanted to continue fleeing the massive Mexican army in search of a better battlefield. Others hoped to flee ignobly into Louisiana and leave Texas behind. Some even wanted to sue for peace and hope the butcher of the Alamo would show mercy.
They feared what they saw: a sorely out-numbered, rag-tag band of Texians going head-to-head against the better-gunned and professionally trained Mexican Army under the command of the self-styled “Napoleon of the West,” Antonio López de Santa Anna, Mexico’s president.
Yet on the fields of San Jacinto, the Texas militia demonstrated a bold, courageous commitment to their cause by exhibiting a shrewd willingness to exploit Santa Anna’s arrogance.
It was a high-stakes gambit, with only two possible outcomes. Independence would be secured through victory, or Texas would be lost in a disastrous defeat. There would be no draw.
So, in broad daylight, with Sam Houston himself leading the infantry, the Texians charged on the napping Mexican army. Before firing their first shots and charging on the Mexican position, the afternoon silence was broken by men shouting “Remember the Alamo!” and “Remember Goliad!”
To simply note that the battle lasted less than 20 minutes doesn’t do justice to the scale of the victory. Nearly 700 Mexican soldiers were killed, another 200 were wounded and some 700 were taken prisoner – including the president of Mexico, Santa Anna. By contrast, the Texians lost just nine men and saw only 30 wounded.
What was true in 1836 is true today: freedom doesn’t come in timid nibbles, but through bold actions. Never in history has liberty been expanded in a gradual series of small steps over time; that’s how tyrannies take hold.
Instead, liberty is born from boldness. When people decide they are willing to lose everything rather than live as serfs, that is when tyrants quiver and fall.
Sam Houston and the militia at San Jacinto knew their odds and took bold action. For the Lone Star State to shine even brighter in the years ahead, we must continually re-commit to doing likewise.
The REAL Election Interference: How Zuckerberg Tried to Buy 2020 Elections
Posted Thursday, April 22, 2021 | By AMAC Newsline
Facebook’s meddling in the last year’s election is widely known–from censoring the Hunter Biden scandal to restricting “political content” on its system to ultimately banning President Trump from the platform. Since nearly 80 percent of Facebook employee and PAC donations went to Democrats, conservatives have ample reason to question the motives behind these controversial decisions.
But even more significant election interference may have come not from the platform itself but from the bank account of its billionaire founder. New data and reports show that Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg poured hundreds of millions of dollars directly into the coffers of local election offices around the country.
The California tech billionaire has been known to fund left-leaning political priorities in the past–having founded a political advocacy group to promote more permissive immigration policies, for example.
But what happened in 2020 may be the most overt and influential politicking the tech mogul has ever conducted, despite his efforts to obscure the nature of the donations. Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, spent nearly $400 million on election activities by funneling it through a non-profit run by a former Obama Foundation Fellow.
The funds were purportedly to help local election officials purchase Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other materials that election offices might need to carry out the vote safely during the COVID pandemic.
Instead, what really happened was less about protective equipment and more about political activism.
The funds, doled out with virtually no oversight by state legislatures, governors, or election boards, were used extensively for get-out-the-vote type activities that are typically done by political parties, not election officials.
While privately donated money given to campaigns and candidates has been and continues to be heavily regulated across the country, this new method of spending on elections was unregulated, unchecked, and completely unprecedented.
These “Zuckerbucks,” as some have called the donations, were not distributed evenly across states or even cities within those states. Instead, they went heavily to counties and cities where getting out the vote would benefit then-candidate Joe Biden.
The money poured into big blue metro areas in battleground states like Philadelphia ($10 million), Atlanta ($20-25 million), Phoenix ($3 million), Milwaukee ($2 million), and Detroit ($3.5 million).
One report shows that 92 percent of the funds in Pennsylvania went to counties that Joe Biden ultimately won.
Shockingly, an election official in Milwaukee resigned, citing concerns about the pressure that came with the money to change election processes.
What was the nature of that pressure? What changes was Zuckerberg pushing? Exactly how much money was given out? How much was spent? How much still remains unspent? And what exactly was it spent on?
These questions remain unanswered and must be investigated by state legislatures and Congressional Republicans.
Unlike the transparency and reporting required by law with other campaign contributions, there were no such rules for Zuckerbucks.
In one notable exception, the Louisiana legislature passed a bill in the fall of 2020 banning this type of gift from being given to election officials. Although it was vetoed, no Zuckerberg funds were given to Louisiana thanks to the concerted efforts of other statewide elected officials.
Now, many other states around the country have taken notice of this loophole, and Republicans in their state legislatures are taking action to make sure such massive private expenditures on public elections never happen again.
As reported earlier this week, Arizona recently passed a bill, just signed into law by Republican Governor Doug Ducey, that would prevent private money from going directly to election officials. Georgia passed a similar law, and related legislation is being considered in Florida, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin, and several other states. While many Democrats decry millionaires and billionaires throwing around their money to influence elections, few objected when the fourth richest man in the U.S. spent an unprecedented sum on last year’s election. This should tell us everything we need to know about the true purpose of Democrat calls for “campaign finance reform.” Their purpose is not to “get money out of politics”–it’s to defund their political opponents while raking in as much money as possible for their own agenda.