State Republican Platform Accentuates
Far Right Dominance at Houston Event

Capitol Inside
June 19, 2022

HOUSTON - The state Republican Party platform for 2022 gives a glimpse of the world through the eyes of a paranoid far right - from its endorsement of Donald Trump's lies on election fraud to unprecedented attacks on big business to an obsession with the alleged sexualization of children in the public schools.

The 40-page document that emerged from the Texas GOP Convention in Houston on Saturday raises the bar on conservative extremism to a level that would have been unfathomable at the state party's last biennial gathering in the flesh four years ago.

The new platform's language helps explain why Governor Greg Abbott refused to speak at the convention when he gave a pep talk to a relatively small group of supporters at a beer garden outside the George R. Brown Convention Center where activists had been inside working on the platform all week. It ends with a shot at U.S. Senator John Cornyn as an encore for a stunning eruption of booing that effectively drowned him out on Friday when he had the nerve to try to defend a compromise on gun restrictions in a speech to the party faithful in downtown Houston.

The platform calls for criminal and civil penalties for public officials who fail to discharge any one of their duties. The state party's new statement of guiding positions and principles backs a statewide vote in 2023 on the secession of Texas from the United States.

The new platform declares pornography to be a crisis in Texas in two separate and almost identical planks. It contains a line that claims gender identity to be a mental health disorder that's "genuine and extremely rare." It defines drag queen shows as predatory sexual behavior and supports penalties for school districts that participation in the sexualization of students before puberty.

In a tribute to Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, the platform that delegates ratified as their last act of business calls for an end to tenure in higher education in favor of a more subjective system for professor retainment. The platform proposes a constitutional amendment that would give Attorney General Ken Paxton the power to prosecute election violations - a task reserved now for elected district attorneys.

Delegates voiced their opposition in the platform to the legalization of marijuana for recreational use - a position that's costing state government and the economy billions of dollars every year. The platform calls for a ban on gun free zones in the Lone Star State.

The new platform expands a section on protecting the Texas power grid to include weather events. The party's 2020 platform had proposed to beef up security to guard the independent electric system in Texas from cyberattacks and geomagnetic storms

As reported here on Friday, the platform contains a resolution that declares Democratic President Joe Biden to be an illegitimate product of a stolen election in 2020. The activists who shaped the state party platform offered no evidence to support a claim that election officials in five battleground states stole the White House for the Democrats by counting ballots received after deadlines.

The 2022 platform ends with a resolution condemning Cornyn and eight other U.S. Senate Republicans who attempted to negotiate a bipartisan plan to combat gun violence in the wake of a mass shooting that claimed the lives of 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde last month.

 

Texas GOP Platform Excerpts

2020 Election: We believe that the 2020 election violated Article 1 and 2 of the US Constitution, that various secretaries of state illegally circumvented their state legislatures in conducting their elections in multiple ways, including by allowing ballots to be received after November 3, 2020.We believe that substantial election fraud in key metropolitan areas significantly affected the results in five key states in favor of Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. We reject the certified results of the 2020 Presidential election, and we hold that acting President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States. We strongly urge all Republicans to work to ensure election integrity and to show up to vote in November of 2022, bring your friends and family, volunteer for your local Republicans, and overwhelm any possible fraud.

Texas Resistance to the Great Reset: Texas should continue to pass legislation needed to protect the citizens of Texas from corporate violation of their rights in the Great Reset/Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) scheme as follows: a. Ban corporations who attempt to suppress funding for Texas industries from doing business with the State of Texas and its subdivisions. b. Make it illegal for banks and financial institutions operating in Texas to make lending decisions based on anything other than financial concerns. The model for such legislation should be the Fair Access to Financial Services rule promulgated by President Trump’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which was immediately suspended by the current occupant of the White House. c. Add penalties in Texas law for corporations operating in Texas who lead boycotts against Texas due to legislative action to protect the rights of Texans to decline vaccination, protect the unborn, stop the teaching of Critical Race Theory in schools, compete in sports with those of their own biological gender, or to protect children and juveniles against sexual organ mutilation and hormones and puberty blockers designed to fake transition from one gender to another. d. Add explicit protections for the natural right of Texans to keep and exchange and store their wealth in the mediums of exchange (including digital currency, gold and silver coin, bullion, cash, and scrip) of choice to the Texas Bill of Rights. This will help stop global institutions and the federal government from forcing Texans to use the financial services and currency 10 Table of Contents dictated by them. e. Consider the expansion or use of existing Texas anti-trust law to prohibit collusion between woke corporations to cancel/drive others out of business."

Dereliction of Duty: The failure by a public official to discharge any duty shall be a violation of the terms of his or her oath of office, which shall constitute a crime, and upon conviction, this crime shall be punishable by a fine or imprisonment, depending on the nature of the offense. Any entity or person who acts under the color of federal or state law to deprive a Texan of the rights or privileges insured by the federal and state constitutions shall be liable to the injured parties for redress, including monetary damages and injunctive relief, notwithstanding any preexisting immunities.

Tenure: We support abolishing the system of tenure in academia and advocate replacing it with a merit-based system for teacher retention.

Gender Identity: We recognize that gender identity disorder is a genuine and extremely rare mental health condition and that denial of an immutable gender binary not only denies those with the condition proper mental healthcare but also leads to physically and psychologically abusive “social transitioning” as well as irreversible physical mutilation. We urge the State Legislature to pass legislation that requires adherence to sex identifications on all official documents that will be based upon biological gender, as well as legislation enacting civil penalties and fiscal compensation awarded to de-transitioners who have received “gender affirming surgery” as compensation for malpractice.

Protect Minors Until Age of Consent: A law should be enacted to protect the rights of the individual until the age of consent is reached. a. Prohibit sexual transition surgeries, hormonal blockers, social transitioning, or other treatments b. Protect against predatory sexual behaviors, including but not limited to “Drag Queen Story Hour” c. Remove immunities or protections from school districts and personnel which participate in the sexualization of our children d. Require disclosure of the above offenses to parents or guardian

Pornography Crisis: The State of Texas shall recognize that pornography is a public health hazard.

Pornography Crisis: The State of Texas shall recognize that pornography and pedophilia are public health hazards.

Homosexuality: Homosexuality is an abnormal lifestyle choice. We believe there should be no granting of special legal entitlements or creation of special status for homosexual behavior, regardless of state of origin, and we oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values. No one should be granted special legal status based on their LGBTQ+ identification.

Texas Independence: We urge the Texas Legislature to pass bill in its next session requiring a referendum in the 2023 general election for the people of Texas to determine whether or not the State of Texas should reassert its status as an independent nation.

Prosecution of Election Fraud: We urge the passage of a constitutional amendment that gives the Texas Attorney General concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute election fraud along with the county District Attorneys.

Marijuana Remains Illegal: Oppose the legalization of recreational marijuana and offer opportunities for drug treatment before penalties for its illegal possession, use, or distribution.

Gun Free Zone in Texas: There shall be no gun free zones in Texas.

Prayer, Bible, and Ten Commandments in Schools: We support prayer, the Bible, and the Ten Commandments being returned to our schools, courthouses, and other government buildings.

Power Grid: We urge that the Texas Legislature pass legislation to harden the Texas Electric Grid increasing capacity and being prepared for all hazards, including: a. Cyberattacks on the grid’s computerized command and control system. b. Physical attacks on substations and major high-voltage transformers. c. Geomagnetic storms created by solar flares from the sun. d. Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP). e. Extreme weather events, both cold and hot

Midland Not Moscow: We fully support and encourages greater energy production in the Permian Basin and throughout Texas, as well as the necessary policies and infrastructure investment in roads, pipelines, and ports; to support Texas workers and help America’s energy security instead of increasing our reliance on foreign governments that do not benefit America or our allies.

Resolution against the Gang of 20 Gun Control bill: Whereas those under 21 are most likely to be victims of violent crime and thus most likely to need to defend themselves. Whereas “red flag laws” violate one’s right to due process and are a pre-crime punishment of people not adjudicated guilty. Whereas waiting periods on gun purchases harm those who need to acquire the means of self defense in emergencies such as riots. Whereas all gun control is a violation of the Second Amendment and our God given rights. We reject the so called “bipartisan gun agreement”, and we rebuke Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

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