FFS! It gets worse for CCISD Trustee

October 26, 2023

“It’s like a nightmare, isn’t it? It just keeps getting worse and worse.” –The Color of Money

FFS! Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does. Yesterday I posted about the relationship between CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen, Defend Texas Liberty, Chris Russo and Cary Cheshire. I said:

Russo, Cheshire, and Bowen graduated from Texas A&M. All three were on the Student Senate together. Russo was the President of the Senate the year right after Bowen. Cheshire co-authored a bill concerning the Gay Community at Texas A&M on religious freedom grounds. Russo and Cheshire are directors for Texans for Strong Borders, an anti-immigrant PAC primarily funded by Defend Texas Liberty. Russo is listed as the Treasurer with an address in El Lago.

And it gets worse.
The Texas Tribune has dug deeper into Chris Russo and the known white supremacist, Nick Fuentes. It’s not pretty. From The Texas Tribune:
Since at least 2019, Texans For Strong Borders founder and president Chris Russo has operated in Fuentes’ racist movement on various social media platforms under the username “Optics Respecter.” Without sharing his real identity, Russo used the accounts to rail against immigration, feminists, the LGBTQ+ community and Black people, as well as share posts by other Fuentes followers that contain racial and homophobic slurs.

Bowen needs to publicly distance himself from these individuals and Defend Texas Liberty. He needs to return their donations. He needs to come clean with the community.

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Yet more troubling details about Defend Texas Liberty PAC and CCISD

October 25, 2023

This is truly troubling. Seriously screwed up and it implicates one of our own CCISD Trustees. Bear with me.

Quick Background.
I’ve written about the extreme right wing PAC, Defend Texas Liberty (DTL) meddling in CCISD’s local election before. (they failed) DTL is funded by 2 billionaires featured by CNN. They financed the campaign for a CCISD candidate for Trustee. They donated $2000 to Scott Bowen in his re-election bid. They donated $5000 to a CCISD candidate who refused the donation. They made donations to only 1 out of over 1000 school districts for Trustee races, that being CCISD and Scott is responsible for that.

It gets worse.
The Texas Tribune had a breakthrough investigation concerning the leader of DTL, former State Representative Jonathan Stickland, meeting with a known white supremacist, Nick Fuentes……for 7 hours. Fuentes is documented by the ADL including “On a livestream episode, Fuentes “jokingly” denied the Holocaust and compared Jews burnt in concentration camps to cookies in an oven.” Texas Speaker of the House Dade Phelan has since called on republicans to return their donations from DTL and Johnathon Stickland has been removed as the leader of DTL.

But…it gets even worser. 🙂
The Tribune has documented a long, troubling list of white supremacists affiliations with DTL including some local individuals. According to The Texas Tribune the following individuals has interfaced with DTL:

  • Chris Russo. (More on Chris below) Director of Texans for Strong Borders. Was seen chauffeuring Fuentes to and from the meeting at Pale Horse Strategies this month. Multiple people, who asked not to be named to avoid drawing the attention of white nationalists, told the Tribune that Russo has ties to Fuentes’ so-called “groyper” movement. 
  • Cary Cheshire. (More on Cary below) The executive director of Texans For Strong Borders and a longtime employee of Defend Texas Liberty-linked groups, was also at the Pale Horse offices while Fuentes was on-site.
  • Kyle Rittenhouse. The kid that crossed state lines and shot and killed two protestors. Was on site during the meeting with Fuentes.
  • Julie McCarty. Founder of True Texas Project an organization identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-government “extremist” group. The local chapter was banned from holding meetings at the Webster Presbyterian Church after the elders learned of their background.
  • There are many more individuals with ties to Fuentes as documented by the Tribune. Visit the story and view the graphic identifying these individuals and their associations with Qanon, white supremacists, white genocide, antisemitism, European American Community, and more.

Back to Chris Russo, Cary Cheshire, and CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen
This is truly strange coincidence. Russo, Cheshire, and Bowen graduated from Texas A&M. All three were on the Student Senate together. Russo was the President of the Senate the year right after Bowen. Cheshire co-authored a bill concerning the Gay Community at Texas A&M on religious freedom grounds. Russo and Cheshire are directors for Texans for Strong Borders, an anti-immigrant PAC primarily funded by Defend Texas Liberty. Russo is listed as the Treasurer with an address in El Lago.

This is the company Scott Bowen is keeping. It’s clear Defend Texas Liberty was invited by Bowen to meddle in our local elections. And now it is clear exactly who they are. If you have read this far, take a few minutes to read The Texas Tribune article.

From The Texas Tribune

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Posted by johncoby

Leader of Defend Texas Liberty is out after meeting with a white supremacist

October 18, 2023

The Texas Tribune scored a huge story with some great gumshoeing.

The Tribune received a tip that a known white supremacist, Nick Fuentes, was meeting at the offices of Pale Horse Strategies, operated by former Texas Representative Jonathan Stickland. Stickland is/was the leader of Defend Texas Liberty, the PAC funded by 2 Texas billionaires and who have spent millions in campaigns including a race in CCISD.

Stickland didn’t meet with Fuentes for a quick cup of coffee. According to the Tribune he met with Fuentes for 7 hours and it has cost him. From the Tribune:
Luke Macias, a longtime conservative political consultant, is listed as the new president of the conservative PAC on its website. Jonathan Stickland, the former president, met with Fuentes for nearly seven hours.

Looks like Stickland is out of Defend Texas Liberty and replaced by a Mexican MAGAt. Being associated with a known white supremacist isn’t good for your resume. Campaigns tend to shy away from working with your company or taking campaign donations, except for Texas Lt Governor Dan Patrick who stated he will keep the $3 Million he received.

It will be interesting to watch who will want to be associated with Stickland, Pale Strategies, or Defend Texas Liberty in the coming elections.

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White supremacists, Defend Texas Liberty, and CCISD

October 10, 2023
Texas Monthly

Thanks to the voters of CCISD we dodged a white supremacist group.

Former State Representative Jonathon Stickland is the lead of the Defend Texas Liberty PAC, an extreme right wing organization funded by two Texas billionaires. (background here) DTL donated $5000 to fund Peter Lauzon’s campaign for CCISD Trustee. (he lost) They also attempted to donate $5000 to fund Glencora Rogers campaign. (She returned it) CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen had something to do with these donations. He has ties to DTL. He should be speaking up about the following issue.

The Texas Tribune received a tip and seemed to have staked out the DTL headquarters. Guess who they saw. From the Tribune:
FORT WORTH — Jonathan Stickland, the ultraconservative leader of a group that has donated millions of dollars to high-profile Texas leaders, hosted prominent white supremacist Nick Fuentes and other right-wing activists for several hours on Friday.

Other white wing activists included Kyle Rittenhouse, the kid who killed two Black Lives Matter protestors. Also in attendance was Matt Rinaldi, the chair of the Republican Party of Texas although he claims he had no idea Fuentes was there. The building is the headquarters of Pale Horse Strategies a consulting firm owned by Stickland.

This is who was trying to infiltrate our school board. Thanks to the voters of CCISD we beat back the billionaires and defeated their candidate. I doubt Lauzon would have accepted money from Stickland if he had known that he was meeting with a known white supremacist, but others have accepted money from him including Lt Gov Dan Patrick for $3,000,000 just days before the Paxton trial. Elected officials have called upon him to donate the money to charity.

CCISD Trustee Scott Bowen should be denouncing his buddies at Defend Texas Liberty.

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Trump to headline a white supremacist fundraiser in Dallas

September 29, 2023

No Place But Texas. Literally.

Twice impeached, four time indicted, former president Donald Trump will travel to Dallas to headline a fundraiser for a group of white supremacists. 16 white supremacist sympathizers are organizing a fundraiser including Congressman Troy Nehls of Richmond who, as County Sheriff, was known for targeting Mexican Americans on the highways and former Congressman Louie Gohmert who coined the phrase “Terror babies” claiming terrorist were coming to the United States to raise children who would later become terrorists.

Other sponsors include white supremacist sympathizers Congressman Brian Babin, Congressman Randy Weber, Congressman Ronny Jackson, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Lt Governor Dan Patrick.

According to the organizer: “We are very excited that our white supremacist in chief, Donald Trump, has agreed to attend to raise much needed funds for us white racist folk. No one is more supportive of the white racists of the Republican Party than Donald Trump!”

Doors open at 6:00 PM. Oath Keepers and Proud Boys receive free admission. No Nazis please. We have our limits.

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Bringing the hate to the state. Republican National Cult comes to Houston

August 28, 2023

Houston won the Republican National Cult Convention in 2028 and we all will be losers for it.

Every white supremacist, every racist, every white wing extremist, gun toting, truck driving, MAGAt and those who tolerate or support them will be in Houston for the 2028 Republican Convention. Elected officials of the Texas Republican Party must be giddy to have their hate for Black, Mexicans, Jews, Muslims, teachers, police, Gays, Asian Americans, and others on full display in one of the most diverse cities in the country.

Hate will be on display in Houston for a full week bringing millions of dollars to vendors working hard to stuff the racists with food, drinks, and pleasure. Hate will be on display with the appearance of the leaders of their hatred, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Greg Abbott, Ted Cruz, Jim Jordon, Matt Gaetz, and others. The RNC will not be hiding their hate, they will be promoting their hate. It sells. It motivates. It is who they are.

According to the Houston Chronicle:

“As the nation’s most diverse and inclusive city, we believe Houston represents the future of the United States, and our aspirations for the country,” said Michael Heckman, the president and CEO of Houston First Corp., the city’s convention arm. “We’re excited to show off these attributes and our hospitality. We do it every day, and we look forward to doing it again in 2028.”

Yes, we are diverse and inclusive. I guess that means we have to include the racist cult of the RNC.

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If you come after us…..

August 9, 2023

You might get the chair.

The brawl on the deck in Atlanta (see it here) was an unnecessary, ill advised, fight that ended in a bunch of white guys getting their asses kicked, much like the battle of the Alamo. It was a mini race war and it didn’t end well.

In a nutshell a group of white males assaulted a security guard who moved their pontoon boat (that in itself should warrant a beat down) a few feet so a much larger commercial boat could dock. At one time there were 5 guys beating on the guard. But….once the boat docked the 5 white guys confronted a large group exiting the boat who proceeded to open a can of whoop ass including one individual whacking the shit out of a couple of people with a folding chair. (He was rightfully arrested)

It was clearly racially motivated and the pontooners will have to address charges in court. The folding chair has since become a symbol of fighting back against racism. It can’t be tolerated any more. It has to be addressed quickly, but without violence. The Democrats in this country might want to step up their game. The “big tent” party might want to start picking up a folding chair instead of just shooting their mouth off.

We, as a society, cannot tolerate racism, bigotry, intolerance, any longer. The Alabama beatdown should send a clear message to racists and MAGAts. If you come after African Americans, Latinos, Gays, Asian Americans, Women, Muslims, Jews, teachers, police, government employees, Irish, Italians, Germans, or any American, you might get a folding chair upside your head.

Figuratively speaking.

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The Texas GOP: Liars. Hypocrites. Cowards. Drunk on the House floor.

May 26, 2023

Just when you think the republicans can’t go any lower….they do.

Lone Star Left broke the story about republican elected officials on the House floor “legislating while inebriated”…..and they have video…..official House video. The inebriated included the Speaker of the House, Dade Phelan which resulted in a call for him to resign….by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, possibly the most crooked AG in Texas history since AG Dan Morales. Morales served 3.5 years in prison for conspiracy and using political money for private purposes.

In a tit for tat, the House Republicans responded by filing articles of impeachment which includes bribery, fraud, stealing funds, misuse of office, and unethical conduct. Ken Paxton did everything the Republican Party stands for including adultery.

So here we have the “Party of Lincoln” that relies on telling lies, over and over, again. They are a united group of cowards who won’t get off their knees to the NRA. They are so hypocritical the Society of Hypocrites of Texas (SHIT) has filed suit for defamation of character. They have expelled one of their own for having sex with an intern yet turn a blind eye to those who send dick pics, or those who commit adultery, or those driving while intoxicated. They tolerate racist comments. They mock law and order. They love being mean, hateful christians. They cheat. They lie. They steal. They drink.

This isn’t the party of Lincoln. It’s just a drunk party.

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Caught on video. Why Peter Lauzon is running for CCISD School Board

March 27, 2023

If you want to know why Peter Lauzon is running for CCISD Trustee, just listen to his own words. It’s on video.

After dishonestly claiming to want to take politics out of school boards, Peter Lauzon, candidate for CCISD District 3, is caught on video with what he really wants to do, which is to bring partisan politics into the school board. In the first clip he states the Republican Party needs to take over school boards. In the second clip he goes on to talk about the Republican Party funding school board races specifically CCISD.

And in the third clip he talks about CRT (ugh) and how the district handled the pandemic. He goes on to praise Jeff Larson who beat an incumbent and Scott Bowen who beat another incumbent. Lauzon claimed the incumbents were “rubber stamps” and were running as Democrats, which they did not.

As stated many times School Board elections are non partisan and both candidates, Larson and Bowen replaced, ran non partisan campaigns and have served the community honorably leaving their politics at the door while Bowen and Larson have brought nothing but chaos and partisan bickering.

Maybe Lauzon might want to read a book on CRT which has never been taught in K-12, will never be taught, and was never been considered to be taught. As I have said in the past CRT is an elective for those seeking a PHD. Teaching CRT to kids is like teaching Differential Equations to kindergarten kids. CRT is nothing but a racist dog whistle.

He might also talk to teachers who courageously stepped up to the task of teaching remotely and who were concerned about the health of their own families as well as kids in school during a devastating pandemic that took the lives of over 800 Texas teachers and 1 million Americans. COVID also took the life of Lauzon’s predecessor on the Republican State Executive Committee, Scott Apley.

From these videos it is clear why Lauzon wants to run for the board. We do not need partisan politics to continue to infect our school board. CCISD is one of the best districts in the state. Our Trustees have challenges just to keep up with the constant pressure put on them concerning school funding and ridiculous mandates on our teachers, administrators, and students. They do not have time for Lauzon’s and Bowen’s political bullshit.

The entire video taken by the Bay Area Republican Women can be found on Facebook. His comments about CCISD begin at 11:30.

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LOL. Texas is one of the worst states to retire to.

March 24, 2023

No place but Texas. Literally.

According to a study referenced by the Houston Chronicle:

A report from Seniorly, which provides an online directory of over 60,000 senior living communities, ranked the Lone Star State as the seventh-most expensive state for seniors. The ranking accounted for average retirement income, cost of living, average electricity bill cost and more.

It’s almost funny, if it wasn’t so damn expensive to live in Texas for anyone. Electricity, home insurance, and college tuition was reformed in 2003 by the republican legislature. All have skyrocketed since. Seniors probably don’t care about the cost of education unless they are paying for it for their grand kids because their kids can’t afford it but the cost of electricity and home insurance could crush them. Texas ranks #5 in highest home insurance rates. https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/insurance/home-insurance-texas and #21 in electricity affordability  (#1 is good. #50 is bad) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deregulation_of_the_Texas_electricity_ma and it is getting worse.

Besides the cost of electricity and other essentials, Texas ranks #1 in domestic terrorist threats, #1 in mass shootings, #45 in property taxes, and #49 in living standards. All of these rankings are listed here. The Chronicle continues:

“The first is affordability,” Healy said. “The second is personal engagement, like where can people thrive when they age. And the third is access to health care. So this study, in and of itself, is an effort to take a deep dive into that first factor, which is affordability.”

Besides all of the rankings, Texas, once known as the friendly state, hates the gay community, Muslims, Jews, and other non-Christians. Texas craps all over our educators, and have flooded our streets with weapons even law enforcement are afraid of. We are slowly moving to a privatized education system like Louisiana did with horrible results. Every year it gets worse but people continue to flock here because it aligns with their values.

We really do suck.

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