SAN ANTONIO - Texas Republicans waged wars against invasions from the south and the sky on Saturday when they approved a new state party platform that implores Governor Greg Abbott to call a special session in June to keep migrants from stealing the 2024 election for the Democrats.
The lion's share of nearly 10,000 delegates at the Texas GOP Convention this weekend appeared to be indifferent or ambivalent about Abbott's decision to avoid them again altogether when he mailed in a speech that he packaged in a promotional video that most missed and even hadn't heard about in many cases.
The activists who worked long hours for three days on the state party's business without Abbott's help have yet to hear from him on the 2024 platform's final plank that calls for a special session next month on election integrity. The new of guiding principles for the state GOP proposes a two-pronged approach that's designed to prevent people in the state illegally from voting in the fall and to give Attorney General Ken Paxton sweeping investigative and prosecution powers for cases involving election violations, human smuggling, sedition and riots.
The new state platform is a conspiracy theory manifesto for the far right on an array of fronts including outer space with a push to crack an ostensible veil of government secrecy on "unidentified aerial phenomena" - which have been more commonly known as UFOs among the public.
"We call on the United States Congress and the Executive Branch to uphold the principles of transparency and accountability by disclosing to the American people all pertinent information and knowledge held by United States government agencies and departments regarding the nature and origins of non-American Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). In line with the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and existing protocols within the Department of Defense, it is imperative that any classified information relevant to UAPs be reviewed for declassification and public release, ensuring full transparency on these matters. This is essential for public trust, national security, and the integrity of our government institutions," according to platform
plank 249.
Abbott demonstrated a growing disconnect with the state party in a post on X on Saturday.
The third-term governor angered party's activists two years ago when he refused to speak at the 2022 state convention in Houston so he could party with selective supporters at a private event outside the meeting hall. The delegates in SA were largely apathetic about the second consecutive no show by their party's supreme leader in Texas for almost an entire decade. Some said they were willing to give Abbott a pass for the latest convention cold shoulder because they support the actions that he's taken on border security and taxpayer-funded subsidies for religious and other private schools.
Abbott justified the snub in SA on the grounds that he was campaigning on Friday in Rockwall for Katrina Pierson - a Texas House runoff challenger who attacked him relentlessly in 2022 while backing Don Huffines in the GOP primary election for the state's top job. But the governor sought to make it appear like he couldn't face party activists in the Alamo City because he was doing the heavy lifting for them in the trenches instead.
"Honored to address the
@TexasGOP Convention from the campaign trail," Abbott said in the convention sound byte promo. "Texans are known for our fighting spirit. We continue that tradition to fight radical leftist policies destroying our country. We MUST elect conservative fighters—from the White House to the Texas State House."
Abbott sought to drum up interest in the convention video on Sunday when he took credit on social media for the gains that Texas has made with him at the helm. The governor applauded the delegates' election of Abraham George as the new state GOP chairman on Friday night in a post that neglected to mention that he'd spent almost $100,000 to defeat him in a primary battle with State Rep. Candy Noble of Lucas for the Texas House this year.
Abbott was the most prominent name on the list of Republicans who skipped the state convention along with most of 60 House Republicans who voted for Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment last spring. U.S. Senator John Cornyn had the guts to show up in SA last week after being showered with boos in a speech two years ago when Abbott could not muster the nerve to do the same.
The new state Republican platform contains 16 references to "illegal aliens" while God is mentioned 14 times in the document.
more to come ...
