The High Court is not so Divisive
In 2023, the US Supreme Court heard 47 cases using the full Court (62 in total, but we are sticking with en banc for the purposes of this discussion).
The rulings had these counts:
9-0 : 15 decisions
8-1 : 1 decision
7-2 : 2 decisions
6-3 : 21 decisions
5-4 : 8 decisions
Of the 6-3 decisions only 11 were along partisan lines (and by reading the text, not along strict ideological lines). Whoever is telling people the Court is broken and everyone on it is a partisan hack is gaslighting the public. The data do not support any such claim. The High Court ruling along partisan lines is in the strong minority. Can we stop with the divisive nonsense?
Party Endorsements
Here in Texas we have (at least) two major problems at the polls.
There are “non-partisan” local elections.
Primaries are open.
Party endorsements, while a valuable tool, can also be misused. They offer a clear way to identify the most solid Constitutional Conservative candidate in a race, allowing us to unite our voting power in case of Democrats participating in the “wrong” primary. However, it's important to be aware of the potential for misuse.
The chief issue with Party Endorsements arises when there are only great choices in a race. It is my firm and unapologetic position that the Party abstains from making an endorsement where a race presents just this kind of dilemma. The party, as a whole, is far too disconnected from local politics in any area to make reasonable judgment calls about which conservative would be better for a particular local election; let the local Republicans tend to their own.
The party must refrain from interfering in local politics unless party members, precinct chairs, and delegates raise concerns about an elected official diverging from the Party's practices, policies, and principles. The Party's role is to bolster and amplify the people's voice, not to influence their selection. This selection, I believe strongly and wholeheartedly, that the people are better equipped to make than the Party.
A Party United
The Republican Party is a mess. Before I decided to pick a side - as it were - it appeared to be a mess from the perspective of an Independent looking in. However, now that I have come in to inspect the party for my own edification, I have come to find the situation is much worse than I had once believed it to be.
The fact that my representative, Brian Harrison, is compelled by spirit to travel throughout the great State of Texas questing against establishment-backed, uni-party-owned, vapid, placid, fake Republicans is astonishing. The grassroots have been checking boxes next to the same names for far too long, and we must do something about it.
This nation was founded on the belief that people governed themselves locally through their representatives. Our forerunners revolted over a 2% tax on a drink. On December 17, 1773, John Adams wrote in his diary,
Last Night 3 Cargoes of Bohea Tea were emptied into the Sea. This Morning a Man of War sails… The People should never rise, without doing something to be remembered—something notable And striking… Cushing gave us an Account of[] the Quantity of Tea the East India Company had on Hand[], that is Seven Years Consumption…
Leading up to that point was a 10-year-long struggle against Taxation by Parliamentary Authority - that is a tax upon the people by authoritarian decree rather than by the people’s consent. They destroyed 7-years’ worth of tea and subsequently fought a war over taxes. Now, we have taxes in the double digits, and Republicans, those of us who are supposed to uphold the ideals enshrined within the original text of the US Constitution, go right along with it. This is one of the chief fractures within the party.
Another fracture is Trump. Look. The party is going with Trump, so get on board! This never Trump nonsense is a real drag on our goals. Of course, healthy debate is important, but debate becomes unhealthy when the race is under way. We picked the guy, so everyone needs to stop talking about it and move on to POLICY discussions. I was a Ramaswamy supporter; I 100% planned to vote for Ramaswamy in the primary. Ramaswamy announced his withdrawal from the race and put his support behind Trump, I voted Trump in the primary. This is simple; it has an easy fix; let’s fix it.
One could go on about these issues, but that would be unhelpful. The point is we need to work together, vet candidates appropriately, offer good candidates to run against the poor performers, show up, get policy done, and all this together.
How do we move forward? We do what we are supposed to do and stick by the Constitution and its supporting texts. That’s how. We hit the streets, we go to the parks, we get on social media, we get on podcasts, we go anywhere and everywhere to send a clear message that we are for the Constitution, and we shall not bend knee to the uni-party, to the Feds, to big business. Our manual is the Constitution: Follow it.