Good morning,

This weekend marks the 76th anniversary of the Allied landing at Normandy. I hope each of us will spare a moment to reflect on the sacrifices made by the 9,380 men buried at the American cemetery above Omaha Beach – and those who fought alongside them.

But first, here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Friday, June 5, 2020
Update your email preferences.

• Democrats lost another fight in their attempt to use the courts and fear of the Chinese coronavirus to undermine Texas’ voting laws. On Thursday, a federal appellate court blocked a lower court’s order siding with the Texas Democrat Party that would have forced the state to allow anyone to vote by mail, a process more vulnerable to fraud and abuse than in-person voting. Erin Anderson has the complete story.
   
• “Allowing universal mail-in ballots, which are particularly vulnerable to fraud, would only lead to greater election fraud and disenfranchise lawful voters.” – Attorney General Ken Paxton
      
• Over at Direct Action Texas, Daniel Greer examines the “outsized role” the mainstream media has been playing “in creating and maintaining disorder.” He writes this is “the second election cycle in a row the media has overtly worked to manipulate outcomes with false narratives.”
     
• The most vocal lawmaker against the Alamo Cenotaph relocation says Gov. Greg Abbott’s leadership has been “nonexistent” on the issue. State Rep. Kyle Biedermann (R-Fredricksburg) blasted the governor in an open letter released yesterday. Brandon Waltens has the details.
       
• A policy statement on the Republican primary ballot read: “Texans should protect and preserve all historical monuments, artifacts, and buildings, such as the Alamo Cenotaph and our beloved Alamo, and should oppose any reimagining of the Alamo site.” It was overwhelmingly approved by more than 97 percent of Republican voters in March.
      
• “In the past few months, you have acted with excessive executive powers under the guise of COVID-19. With that said, on the Alamo, your leadership has been nonexistent. Why do you refuse to stand for what is right and what many Texans including 97% of Republican primary voters agree on?” – State Rep. Biedermann to Gov. Abbott
      
• Texas has been a battleground for an ongoing fight between Republicans and government unions over the issue of public sector union dues, which are collected by the State of Texas and remitted to the unions. Unions often use membership dues to fund the political activities of Texas Democrats. Cary Cheshire reports on an opinion issued by Attorney General Ken Paxton that state and local government agencies are obligated to provide notice to employees of their First Amendment right to opt out of dues that fund political speech.
   
• The Austin Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America wants the city council to “dramatically reduce” funding for the police department. Never mind the fact, as Jacob Asmussen reports, the union representing Austin police officers, the city’s police chief, and the department itself had all previously issued statements expressing its horror and disgust at the murder of a Minnesota man at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department.
      
• The latest edition of Texas Scorecard Radio features a conversation between Tony McDonald and Austin conservative activist TJ Scott. They discuss Mr. Scott’s recent trip to the Capitol to help protect the 10 Commandments monument from rioters. And don’t miss Jacob Asmussen’s radio commentary about the importance of monitoring your local school district’s board of trustees.
     
• A sixth conspirator is likely headed to federal prison for his role in the bribery and public corruption scandal that rocked Dallas County and cost local taxpayers over $100 million. This is the latest action arising from the corrupt final years of the Dallas County Schools. Between 2011 and 2016, DCS Superintendent Rick Sorrells and DCS board president Larry Duncan took money from Robert Leonard, CEO of a Louisiana-based camera company, in exchange for approving more than $70 million in camera purchases and related contracts. Disgraced ex-Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway also went to prison for taking part in the scheme. Erin Anderson has the sordid details. 
       
• Across our email and social media platforms on Wednesday we asked whether or not folks thought – as had been suggested by President Trump – military force should be used to stop violent protestors. More than 80 percent of participating Texas Minute readers, and 84 percent of Facebook users, supported the use of military force against violent protesters. Of those participating on Twitter, 66 percent supported the use of military force while 34 percent were opposed. 

• Later today Empower Texans’ former lawyer, James “Trey” Trainor III, will be officially sworn into office as a member of the Federal Election Commission. After a nearly two year delay by Democrats in the U.S. Senate, Trainor received confirmation to the post last month.
      
• And finally... in just a couple of hours my daughter Ruth will graduate from high school! Please join me in congratulating her and her classmates as they successfully close out this chapter of life and start a new adventure. For Ruth, that means attending the University of North Texas this fall. Go Mean Green!

Friday Reflection

by Michael Quinn Sullivan

Fields of perfectly placed markers in the neatly trimmed grass of the cemetery above Omaha Beach in Normandy is one of the most emotionally sweeping places I have visited on Earth. Your eyes can see, but your mind refuses to entirely process, the enormity of the sacrifices made by so many Americans during World War II’s Operation Overlord. 

Year after year, appropriate ceremonies pay tribute to the sacrifice and heroism of the men buried there. Yet for all the perfect words, none can match the silent statement of the thousands who died on that day of days.

The Normandy American Cemetery is the final resting place of 9,380 Americans – young men who answered the call of their nation in the fight against tyranny. They fought and died on foreign soil in hopes that the war would end there, rather than reach our shores. Each died on June 6, 1944, or in the days immediately following. The names of an additional 1,500 – etched into the Walls of the Missing – are a reminder that war is never a neat and antiseptic affair.

So much has been said and written about these men – the bands of brothers – whose actions and sacrifices liberated Europe, and yet it seems one cannot ever say enough. The valor, the heroism, the bravery, the dignity... it all defies language.

It is also deeply personal for so many. My dad’s dad was a B-17 Flying Fortress tail gunner in the European theater. Like so many others, he had lied about his age to enlist with his brothers in the early days of World War II. From the small west Texas town of Seminole, O.W. Sullivan, Jr., survived being shot down behind enemy lines, and eventually returned home to start life and a family after the war’s conclusion.

Yet many in his generation did not. For many of them, the beaches and fields of Europe were their final resting place. They fought so that we would be free.

They each answered the call of our nation, but they died for their friends on the line and their family at home. They perfectly and nobly embodied the words of Jesus found in John 15:13: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

To them, to their memory, we can only say thank you. And we cannot say it enough.