Tarrant GOP Chair Darl Easton Heeds Calls to Resign

One of Darl Easton's first acts of our new County Chair was to appoint Dr. Shahid Shafi as his Vice Chair.  Dr. Shafi  failed to directly respond to requests that he himself publicly declare that he will support Israel with Jerusalem as its undivided capital and oppose creation of a Palestinian State within the historic borders of Israel, in keeping with our Texas Republican Party Platform:

207. Israel: We are grateful that the US Embassy in Israel has been moved to Jerusalem. We believe that Jerusalem should remain Israel’s undivided capital, accessible to people of all faiths. The United States should continue to support Israel militarily, financially, and technologically. We oppose any pressuring of Israel to make concessions they believe would jeopardize their security. We strongly oppose the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, on all levels, including and especially on college campuses, at the United Nations, and by anti-West non-governmental organizations. We believe there should not be a Palestinian state within the historical borders of Israel. Our policy is inspired by God’s biblical promise to bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel, and we further invite other nations and organizations to enjoy the benefits of that promise.
208. Israel’s Sovereignty: We further insist upon Israel’s right to exist, its right to secure borders, and its right to the land secured by practicing self-defense from aggressive enemies. We strongly encourage other nations of the world to respect Israel’s sovereignty, right of self-determination, and right of self-defense.


The rather defensive reaction from our County Chair was that it was unfair to ask Dr. Shafi if he will make such a declaration (each element of which is in our party platform) simply because he is a Muslim:

 





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Actually one can be a Muslim and still support Israel.  In fact there is a very, very, small group of pro-Israel “Zionist” Muslims.  But they are in extremely small numbers and live in fear of their lives, threatened by the vast majority.  The Wikipedia article on Muslim Supporters of Israel, however, says:

In the Muslim world, support of Israel is a minority orientation, and supporters of Israel have faced opposition and violence

One wonders why such oppression and violence would come from a religion of peace.

However Dr. Shafi had been endorsed by CAIR which is well known for its anti-Israel agenda.

 





Our Texas Party platform says of CAIR:

177. Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR): We hereby call on all law enforcement and governmental agencies in Texas to avoid and suspend all contact and outreach activities with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), named unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation trial, with ties to terrorist groups such as Hamas.

And the ADL says of CAIR:

CAIR’s anti-Israel agenda dates back to its founding by leaders of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), a Hamas affiliated anti-Semitic propaganda organization.

At the September 2018 meeting of the Executive Committee, Dr. Shafi addressed the body, but completely ignored calls for him to make a public statement supporting our pro-Israel platform.


By November of 2018  There was a concerted effort by the Tarrant County Republican Party leadership in cooperation with the liberal media, to establish a narrative that the opposition to Shahid Shafi is driven by bigotry.

 In fact this blogger received a message from a Party official (who shall remain nameless) saying:

"It is a simple narrative that I am trying to establish. The TCGOP does not approve of bigotry within the party. I understand your concerns and its importance, I get it. ... Perception is everything. ... I would ask a favor, please stop working against what my goal is here..." 

The leadership within the Tarrant County Republican Party collaborated with the liberal media to intentionally establish this bigotry narrative.  
 
Darl Easton had created a public relations nightmare.  The party was divided and there was little hope that is could unite under Darl's leadership with this controversial appointment in place.  Yet, since Darl and his cohorts, had established a narrative for the liberal media that this was only about bigotry, the liberal media was attacking the party as "bigots".

This blogger called for Darl Easton's resignation from the floor of the November 10th, 2018 Executive Committee meeting.  And on November 14, 2018, this blog called for Easton's resignation, starting an online petition. 

There was only one way forward that would limit damage to the party at this point.  Darl Easton needed to resign for the good of the party.  With Darl's resignation, his controversial appointments would simply evaporate with no action needed by the Executive Committee.  But Darl Easton was less concerned with what was best for the party, than with his own ambition.
 
At this point, Northeast Tarrant County Tea Party President Julie McCarty stated that she regretted helping Darl Easton become County Chair and was embarrassed by the handling of the Shafi controversy.  

On December 29th, 2018, in the Tarrant County Republican Party Discussion group on Facebook, user Larry Beck posted:

Considering the actions of the TCGOP leadership in using the demoncrat Mainstream Media to attack any and all Republicans they disagree with or think may oppose them or their candidates, it is clear that the TCGOP leadership should be removed and a new leadership that is actually REPUBLICAN can be installed so that we can return to actually fighting for Republican principles instead of copying the most disgusting of demoncrat tactics

Julie McCarty responded:

I completely agree that inviting the media into this battle was a really foolish thing to do. I'm embarrassed by how terribly this has been handled by those who should know better.

When user Philip Wynne responded:
 
Julie White McCarty The County Chairman, various elected officials, several SREC members, and Shafi himself have run to the lazy, lying, leftist media to smear or imply that anybody who doesn't agree with them is racist, bigot, xenophobe, islamophobe, not to mention lie about the Constitution to suit their needs. It's absolutely appalling.

Julie McCarty "liked" his comment. 

A user named Ashley Robinson responded by asking "wasnt Barnes talked out of running for this chair?"

This clearly was a reference to the fact that in the final hours before the deadline for filing, Julie McCarty is said to have talked anticipated Easton opponent Rick Barnes into filing not to run for County Chair, but to run for Tax Assessor Collector instead.  This "deal" opened the way for Darl Easton to step unopposed into the office of Tarrant GOP County Chair.  

McCarty responded "That's a big regret."






 In the days since that Dec, 29th blog, there was a great deal of fallout.

Darl's wife Janna Easton reacted by resigning from the  NETTP board.  Darl Easton replied with a public post accusing McCarty of stabbing him in the back and reminding her of the time and money he had donated to the Northeast Tarrant County Tea Party:

 

Julie McCarty posted a response stating that Darl had been repeatedly advised not to start the [Shafi] mess in the first place, and repeatedly advised on how to handle to controversy, but had ignored the advise, and even done the exact opposite at times.  McCarty went so far to say that Darl had chosen to represent Darl and not the people, and that she was shocked by Darl's insinuation that his donations and service to NETTP had bought him a free pass on accountability.




On January 10th, with much fanfare, the Tarrant County Republican Party Executive Committee voted not to remove Darl Easton's controversial appointment.

Then there was a brief effort to unite the party.  As the Star-Telegram reported:

 One of the champions of the unsuccessful effort to oust a Muslim from Tarrant Republican Party leadership now has a new appointment.
James Scott Trimm now serves on the Tarrant County GOP Precinct Chair Recruitment Committee. He was a vocal supporter of the request to remove Shahid Shafi from the post of vice chairman.
“The point of this is to heal the Party,” Tarrant Republican Joel Downs, who heads the committee, posted on Facebook about the new appointment.

Read more here: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article224749525.html#storylink=cpy

(Star Telegram Jan. 18, 2019)

The Dallas Morning News reported a day earlier:

His appointment, leaders say, is intended to be an olive branch to those who voted to remove Dr. Shahid Shafi from his position. 
Joel Downs, chairman of that committee, announced the appointment Tuesday on Facebook, along with an explanation of why Trimm was chosen.
“Although James is  a capable person and I appointed him for that the reason, I did it mostly to make a gesture of peace,” Downs told The Dallas Morning News. “We need to bury the hatchet and defeat the Democrats.”
(Dallas Morning News Jan. 17, 2019)

The public should know that Joel Downs and I discussed my possible appointment to the committee for the first time on Saturday January 12th, 2019.  However after discussing the matter, we both agreed that I would not accept this appointment without Darl Easton's approval.  

On January 14th, 2019 Joel Downs contacted me to tell me that Darl Easton had approved of my appointment to the committee. 

On January 18th I was contacted by the Fort Worth Star Telegram for a comment about my appointment:

When asked for a comment about his appointment, Trimm responded: “I voted against Shafi because he was unwilling to publicly support Israel with Jerusalem as the undivided capital and oppose creation of a Palestinian state within the historic borders of Israel” which is a plank in the Texas GOP platform.
“The decision on Shafi has been made and we Republicans now need to work together to keep Tarrant County red.”
(Star Telegram Jan. 18, 2019)

Then on Thursday January 24th I learned that the entire committee had been vacated when the Star Telegram reached out to me for a comment.  I had none, because that was the first I heard of it.  Apparently Easton's priority was notifying the press rather than the committee members.

That day the Star-Telegram reported:

Tarrant Republicans trying to unite after an unsuccessful move to remove a Muslim man from party leadership have hit another roadblock.
An effort to “heal the party” has ended.
The idea was to offer a spot on a recruitment committee to James Scott Trimm, who vocally supported removing Shahid Shafi, a Muslim, from party leadership.
But the chairman of the committee has resigned and the entire committee has been disbanded, at least for now.
(Tarrant GOP’s effort to ‘heal’ after Muslim vote claims first victim: a whole committee)

Why did this happen?  Because Darl Easton, who had approved my appointment just ten days earlier, had waffled and suddenly wanted me off the committee.  The committee chair Joel Downs, unwilling to remove me from the committee without any real cause (short of Easton's inability to stand by a decision he had made just days earlier) chose to resign rather than to follow Easton's directive. 

Darl Easton's goal was to "completely reorganize" the committee. The Star Telegram reported Easton as saying:

“The (committee) will be completely reorganized after the assessment,” he said in his statement. “The purpose of this re-assessment is to improve and expand our efforts to grow the Party and its outreach to every corner of Tarrant County as we approach the next election cycle.”
(Tarrant GOP’s effort to ‘heal’ after Muslim vote claims first victim: a whole committee)


The Washington Post would later recall these events reporting that this resulted in the Lincoln Dinner county party fundraiser being a complete disaster:

“As part of the party leadership’s peacemaking effort, Trimm — one of Shafi’s most vocal opponents — was appointed to the recruitment committee, a move that ignited more furor among those who wanted to move on from the headline-grabbing incident. The committee chairman quit, and the group was disbanded.

Major donors avoided the county party’s Lincoln Day dinner, which netted $38,000, far less than the $150,000 or so it made in other years, according to party officials.”

(The Washington Post; "After a battle over a Muslimpolitician divided their party, the GOP fights to keep Texas red"; By Annie Gowen; April 15, 2019 at 1:15 p.m. CDT)

Easton had virtually brought the Tarrant County Republican Party to its knees!

It has taken several months, but with another Lincoln Dinner on the horizon, Darl Easton has finally chosen to do the right thing.  He has now finally resigned, and his controversial appointments have now fallen by the wayside.

Now perhaps the Tarrant County Republican Party can unite, and begin working together to keep Tarrant County Red!

Restoring Traditional Marriage in Texas

Restoring Traditional Marriage in Texas

By

James Scott Trimm

Our nation is built upon the Constitution.  The Constitution limits the power of government and is a chain that binds the governmental leviathan.  But activist judges who believe they have the power to act unconstitutionally are destroying our nation.  They believe they have the power to violate the separations of powers, and to violate the rights of the states and the people.

Major victims of this destruction of the US Constitution have been the Right to Life and the American family.  In the recent judgment from the US Supreme Court inventing a right to a gay marriage out of thin air, the late Justice Anton Scalia famously wrote in his dissenting opinion:

"I write separately to call attention to this Court's threat to American democracy... This practice of constitutional revision... robs the people of the most important liberty... the freedom to govern themselves..."

-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia

When government intrudes on liberty we do not say "in for a penny, in for a pound" and then give the government even more power as its reward for having intruded on liberty in the first place.  So while government should not be creating marriages, we should not say that in the meantime because the government has usurped the power to license and certify marriages, the government should now be allowed to further usurp the power to completely redefine marriage.

According to the Texas State Constitution, marriage is a union between one man and one woman.  I would further add that this union is generally consummated by the reproductive act.  For this reason we call sexual intercourse "the marital act" and a marriage can be annulled in Texas if either spouse is permanently incapable of engaging in the reproductive act.

If two persons desire to enter into a legal partnership contract that has nothing to do with the reproductive act, then they should certainly be free to do so.  And what those persons do or don’t do in their own bedroom is none of my concern.  Freedom means that other people will believe and do things with which I don’t like or agree, and I will like and do things with which they don’t agree.  But that does not mean that we must redefine “marriage”.

Now we get to the key question: does the federal government have the power to redefine marriage?  Does the State of Texas have a path to restoring traditional marriage in Texas? 

No the federal government has no such power and Texas does have a path to restoring traditional marriage in our state.  The solution is to be found in the new 2018 Texas Republican Party Platform which reads:

We believe this decision [Obergefell v. Hodges] , overturning the Texas law prohibiting same-sex marriage in Texas, has no basis in the Constitution and should be reversed, returning jurisdiction over the definition of marriage to the states. The Governor and other elected officials of the State of Texas should assert our Tenth Amendment right and reject the Supreme Court ruling.

But how can the Governor and other elected officials of the state of Texas assert our Tenth Amendment right and reject the Supreme Court ruling?  The answer is found elsewhere in the 2018 Texas Republican Party Platform which reads:

State Sovereignty: Pursuant to Article 1 Section 1 of the Texas Constitution, the federal government has impaired our right of local self-government. Therefore, federally mandated legislation that infringes upon the 10th Amendment rights of Texas, should be ignored, opposed, refused, and nullified. Regulation of Commerce in Article I Section 8 of the Constitution has exceeded the original intent. All attempts by the federal judiciary to rule in areas not expressly enumerated by the United States Constitution should be likewise nullified. Any federal enforcement activities that do occur in Texas should be conducted under the authority of the county sheriff. (SCOTUS Ruling in 1997 Mack-Prinz vs. US)

But how can we actually accomplish this?  How can the State of Texas nullify a federal court ruling from the US Supreme Court?  The answer is the Texas Sovereignty Act!

The Tenth Amendment reads:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people

This means that the federal government (the Supreme Court included) does not have any power that the states have not specifically delegated to the federal government in the Constitution. 

Nowhere in the US Constitution is the federal government delegated the authority to define or redefine marriage.

The Supreme Court claimed to base its ruling on its interpretation of the 14^th amendment.  This argument fails for two important reasons:

First of all the fact that homosexuals are not interested in entering a union between one man and one woman generally consummated by the reproductive act, does not mean that they are victims of discrimination.  Likewise if I am not interested in fighting fires, I cannot demand to be recognized as a fireman and require that the definition of “fireman” be altered to include me.  (By the way this has nothing to do with religion, and everything to do with reproductive biology.)  Homosexuals cannot perform the reproductive act because frankly, their parts don’t fit together for that act.

Secondly the US Supreme Court is not the ultimate and final interpreter of the US Constitution.  The Supreme Court has become the final interpreter of the Constitution for one simple reason: because they say they are.  The Supreme Court usurped this authority, claiming it for itself in 1803 in Marbury v. Madison.  Nowhere does the Constitution assign this role to the Supreme Court, they simply have it because they say they do.

The framers stated that the US Constitution is a compact between the member states, and that as such, each state has equal standing in determining for itself the meaning of the Constitution.  The tenth amendment states that the states and the people retain all powers not delegated to the federal government in the Constitution, and nowhere in the Constitution did the states delegate to any branch of the federal government the power to be the ultimate and final interpreter of the Constitution.  The Supremacy Clause never mentions the Supreme court, but appears to indicate that state judges would make these judgments.

he first bill that can do this answer is HB 1347 the Texas Sovereignty Act!

The Supreme Court has become the final interpreter of the Constitution for one simple reason: because they say they are.  The Supreme Court usurped this authority, claiming it for itself in 1803 in Marbury v. Madison.  Nowhere does the Constitution assign this role to the Supreme Court, they simply have it because they say they do.

The framers stated that the US Constitution is a compact between the member states, and that as such, each state has equal standing in determining for itself the meaning of the Constitution.  The tenth amendment states that the states and the people retain all powers not delegated to the federal government in the Constitution, and nowhere in the Constitution did the states delegate to any branch of the federal government the power to be the ultimate and final interpreter of the Constitution.  The Supremacy Clause never mentions the Supreme court, but appears to indicate that state judges would make these judgments.(You can read more about the basis for the Texas Sovereignty Act by clicking here)

Surely any law our state passes that reclaims its sovereignty will be declared unconstitutional by the federal government, since they have developed their own precedence on the issue.  This has been called the Goliad approach to sovereignty.  You surrender to the authority you were fighting, ask for mercy and are slaughtered in return.

We must simply pass the Texas Sovereignty Act (HB 1347), that, as a matter of enforceable and implemented law, Texas determines for itself whether or not our laws are Constitutional.

This means the federal courts will also have no power to find the Texas Sovereignty Act itself unconstitutional, because the law itself takes that decision out of their hands and places it in those of our state.

This is the only true path to Texas sovereignty.  Any effort that leaves the matter ultimately in the hands of federal courts will fail, because they will simply declare it unconstitutional (though their own usurped power to do so is itself unconstitutional).

Yes we can restore traditional marriage in Texas!

We Can End Abortion in Texas: Here is How!

We Can End Abortion in Texas: Here is How!

By

James Scott Trimm

The new Texas State Republican Platform for 2018 boldly proclaims concerning abortion:

Abolish Abortion: We call upon the Texas Legislature to enact legislation stopping the murder of unborn children and to ignore and refuse to enforce any and all federal statutes, regulations, executive orders, and court rulings that would deprive an unborn child of the right to life.

But how can the Texas Legislature enact legislation abolishing abortion in Texas?  What about Roe v. Wade?  Hasn’t the US Supreme Court ruled that there is a Constitutional right to an abortion?

Well as the platform says, there is a way for Texas to “to ignore and refuse to enforce any and all federal statutes, regulations, executive orders, and court rulings, which would deprive an unborn child of the right to life.”  That way involves reclaiming our Texas Sovereignty, as the 2018 Platform elsewhere states:

State Sovereignty: Pursuant to Article 1 Section 1 of the Texas Constitution, the federal government has impaired our right of local self-government. Therefore, federally mandated legislation that infringes upon the 10th Amendment rights of Texas, should be ignored, opposed, refused, and nullified. Regulation of Commerce in Article I Section 8 of the Constitution has exceeded the original intent. All attempts by the federal judiciary to rule in areas not expressly enumerated by the United States Constitution should be likewise nullified. Any federal enforcement activities that do occur in Texas should be conducted under the authority of the county sheriff. (SCOTUS Ruling in 1997 Mack-Prinz vs. US)

There are two bills in the Texas Legislature this session, each of which could be used to end abortion in Texas thru enforcing the Tenth Amendment: HB 1347 and HB 896.

The State of Texas must nullify this federal court ruling from the US Supreme Court.

The first bill that can do this answer is HB 1347 the Texas Sovereignty Act!

The Supreme Court has become the final interpreter of the Constitution for one simple reason: because they say they are.  The Supreme Court usurped this authority, claiming it for itself in 1803 in Marbury v. Madison.  Nowhere does the Constitution assign this role to the Supreme Court, they simply have it because they say they do.

The framers stated that the US Constitution is a compact between the member states, and that as such, each state has equal standing in determining for itself the meaning of the Constitution.  The tenth amendment states that the states and the people retain all powers not delegated to the federal government in the Constitution, and nowhere in the Constitution did the states delegate to any branch of the federal government the power to be the ultimate and final interpreter of the Constitution.  The Supremacy Clause never mentions the Supreme court, but appears to indicate that state judges would make these judgments.(You can read more about the basis for the Texas Sovereignty Act by clicking here)

Surely any law our state passes that reclaims its sovereignty will be declared unconstitutional by the federal government, since they have developed their own precedence on the issue.  This has been called the Goliad approach to sovereignty.  You surrender to the authority you were fighting, ask for mercy and are slaughtered in return.

We must simply pass the Texas Sovereignty Act, that, as a matter of enforceable and implemented law, Texas determines for itself whether or not our laws are Constitutional.

This means the federal courts will also have no power to find the Texas Sovereignty Act itself unconstitutional, because the law itself takes that decision out of their hands and places it in those of our state.

This is the only true path to Texas sovereignty.  Any effort that leaves the matter ultimately in the hands of federal courts will fail, because they will simply declare it unconstitutional (though their own usurped power to do so is itself unconstitutional).


Yes we can nullify Roe v. Wade in Texas!  We must urge Texas Legislature to pass this binding legislation claiming and enacting the right of our state to judge for itself whether a state law is unconstitutional, or whether a federal law, policy, action or ruling is unauthorized or undelegated by the U.S. Constitution.

Texas State Representative Tony Tinderholt filed a bill (HB 896) in the Texas House that would follow these directives to end abortion in Texas!

The Supreme Court has become the final interpreter of the Constitution for one simple reason: because they say they are.  The Supreme Court usurped this authority, claiming it for itself in 1803 in Marbury v. Madison.  Nowhere does the Constitution assign this role to the Supreme Court, they simply have it because they say they do.

The framers stated that the US Constitution is a compact between the member states, and that as such, each state has equal standing in determining for itself the meaning of the Constitution.  The tenth amendment states that the states and the people retain all powers not delegated to the federal government in the Constitution, and nowhere in the Constitution did the states delegate to any branch of the federal government the power to be the ultimate and final interpreter of the Constitution.  The Supremacy Clause never mentions the Supreme court, but appears to indicate that state judges would make these judgments.(You can read more about this by clicking here)

Surely any law our state passes that reclaims its sovereignty will be declared unconstitutional by the federal government, since they have developed their own precedence on the issue.  This has been called the Goliad approach to sovereignty.  You surrender to the authority you were fighting, ask for mercy and are slaughtered in return.

Another bill, HB 896 clarifies in the Texas Family Code that personhood and the rights that go along with it begin at fertilization, not birth, and removes contrary definitions throughout Texas statutes.  This bill also removes the exemptions from the Penal Code for murder if the person committing the offense is the mother of an unborn child or a physician if the death of the child is the intended result.

Most importantly HB 896 requires that the Texas Attorney General and local governments enforce this law in Texas regardless of any federal action or court rulings, and prohibits the State of Texas from legitimizing any federal court proceedings by making any appearances related to this law in Federal court.

This means the federal courts will also have no power to find HB 896 unconstitutional, because the law itself takes that decision out of their hands.

This is how we can finally end abortion in Texas!  Remember Goliad!

The Texas Sovereignty Act Was Filed!

The Texas Sovereignty Act Was Filed!
By
James Scott Trimm

 Texas State Representative Cecil Bell Jr. filed the Texas Sovereignty Act, Texas House Bill 1347, a bill that will facilitate the enforcement of the Tenth Amendment in Texas!

Unconstitutional Acts of the Federal Government

With the recent unconstitutional Supreme Court Rulings that claim a right of the federal government to require citizens to buy healthcare, to redefine marriage,  and to simply rewrite laws they do not like, people are asking, “Is the Supreme Court really the final authority on these matters?”

Even decades ago the US Supreme Court claimed the right to regulate abortion, claiming that there is a constitutional right to an abortion (though the Constitution never even mentions abortion).

The Executive branch engages in executive overreach, ignoring laws it does not like, and writing executive orders to create laws without congress, and without delegated authority.

The Legislative branch itself makes laws that are unconstitutional and for which it has no delegated authority.

Abortion, Obamacare, gay marriage, activist federal courts and executive overreach.... What if one Texas law could put Texans back in control of Texas?


How Did the Supreme Court Become Final Interpreter

The Supreme Court has become the final interpreter of the Constitution for one simple reason: because they say they are.  The Supreme Court usurped this authority, claiming it for itself in 1803 in Marbury v. Madison.  Nowhere does the Constitution assign this role to the Supreme Court, they simply have it because they say they do,


The Supremacy Clause

The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution says:

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.
(Article 6; Clause 2)

Note that it is the Constitution, not the federal government that is the “supreme law of the land”.  The Constitution is not the same thing as the federal government.  The Constitution is the instrument that creates and restrains the federal government, it is not the federal government itself.

The Constitution is also not the same thing as the Supreme Court.  And in fact the Supreme Court is not even mentioned in the Supremacy Clause.

To the contrary Thomas Jefferson wrote:

“…this [federal] government, created by this compact [the Constitution], was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself, since that would have made its discretion, and not the Constitution, the measure of its powers; but that, as in all other cases of compact among powers having no common judge, each party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of redress."
(Thomas Jefferson; Kentucky Resolution 1798)

And James Madison wrote:

"…the powers of the federal government as resulting from the compact to which the states are parties, as limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument constituting that compact, as no further valid than they are authorized by the grants enumerated in that compact; and that, in case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of other powers, not granted by the said compact, the states, who are parties thereto, have the right, and are in duty bound, to interpose, for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining, within their respective limits, the authorities, rights and liberties, appertaining to them."
(James Madison; Virginia Resolution of 1798)

The Constitution is a compact between a given state and the other states in the Union. Just as when two foreign powers, for example France and Great Britain enter into a compact, each party has a right to determine for itself its own understanding of the terms of the compact. Likewise each state maintains the right to determine for itself its own understanding of meaning of the terms of the Constitution. This does not conflict with the Supremacy Clause because it is the Constitution (but not the Federal Government ) which is the Supreme Law of the land.

Not only does the Constitution not mention the US Supreme Court in the Supremacy Clause, the Constitution indicates that it is State judges who are expected to determine if a state law is constitutional saying “…and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.”


The Tenth Amendment

The Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution reads:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people

This means that the federal government (the Supreme Court included) does not have any power that the states have not specifically delegated to the federal government in the Constitution.  Nowhere in the Constitution do the states delegate to the Federal Government the power to determine for themselves whether or not they deem a state law to be Constitutional, or to determine for itself what it understands the Constitution to mean.

As Thomas Jefferson wrote:

"That the several states composing the United States of America are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their general government; but that, by compact, under the style and title of a Constitution for the United States, and of amendments thereto, they constituted a general government for special purposes, delegated to that government certain definite powers, reserving, each state to itself, the residuary mass of right to their own self-government; and that whensoever the general government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force; that to this compact each state acceded as a state, and is an integral party, its co-States forming, as to itself, the other party;…”
(Thomas Jefferson; Kentucky Resolution 1798)

(The states also never delegated the authority to the federal government the power to regulate abortion, require its citizens to purchase healthcare, or define marriage.)


How do we Reclaim Sovereignty?

So how do we reclaim our state’s sovereignty?  How do we reclaim the right to determine for ourselves whether or not our state laws are constitutional?  How do we reclaim the right to be the final authority for our own state’s understanding of the Constitution?  Surely any law our state passes that reclaims its sovereignty will be declared unconstitutional by the federal government, since the federal government has developed its own precedence on the issue.

The answer is-- in much the same way that the Supreme Court claimed this authority for itself-- we simply say so.  We simply pass an act that, as a matter of enforceable and implemented law, Texas determines for itself whether or not our laws are Constitutional.

This means the federal courts will also have no power to find the Texas Sovereignty Act itself unconstitutional, because the law itself takes that decision out of the hands of the federal government and places it in those of our state.

This is the only true path to Texas sovereignty.  Any effort that leaves the matter ultimately in the hands of federal courts will fail, because they will simply declare it unconstitutional (though their own usurped power to do so is itself unconstitutional).

We can no longer afford to pass meaningless non-binding sovereignty resolutions.  We can no longer afford to pass meaningless sovereignty or nullification laws, and then ask the federal courts if they are constitutional.

We must pass a Texas Sovereignty Act that claims for Texas the power to determine whether or not it, or any other Texas law is Constitutional, as well as determine for our own state whether or not federal laws or actions are constitutional (and especially if they are delegated powers or usurped powers).


HB 1347 is a Texas GOP Platform Item

The new 2018 platform calls for a bill like Texas HB 1347 as follows:

55 State Sovereignty: Pursuant to Article 1 Section 1 of the Texas Constitution, the federal government has impaired our right of local self-government. Therefore, federally mandated legislation that infringes upon the 10th Amendment rights of Texas, should be ignored, opposed, refused, and nullified. Regulation of Commerce in Article I Section 8 of the Constitution has exceeded the original intent. All attempts by the federal judiciary to rule in areas not expressly enumerated by the United States Constitution should be likewise nullified. Any federal enforcement activities that do occur in Texas should be conducted under the authority of the county sheriff. (SCOTUS Ruling in 1997 Mack-Prinz vs. US)

The platform now goes much farther calls not just for the nullification of undelegated federal legislation, but also for nullification of undelegated federal judiciary rulings as well!

In fact Texas sovereignty permeates the 2018 Texas GOP Platform, calling for Texas to apply the Tenth Amendment to all three branches of government in the platform planks on Abortion, Gay Marriage and Gun Rights.



Where Do We Go Next?


Tell your State Representative that you want them to coauthor and support Texas HB 1347.  Tell your State Senator that you want them to file a companion to HB 1347 in the Texas Senate. 

Tell your friends.  Like the Texas Sovereignty Act Facebook page and invite your friends to like it.

Like the Texas Sovereignty Act Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/TexasSovereigntyAct

 Onward!

I Just Got this Letter of Encouragement!

I just got this very encouraging letter in the mail today. It is time for those of Judeo-Christian Faith in Tarrant County, all of Texas, and the USA, to wake up and get plugged in. The Texas Republican Party platform contains Judeo-Christian principles and even cites the Bible twice, ***yet our leadership are selling out the Judeo-Christian GOP base!*** Blessed is the Nation whose God is the LORD (Hebrew: Yahweh) (Psalm 33:12).

The Plain Truth About the Trimm Committee Appointment

Recently the Star Telegram reported:


One of the champions of the unsuccessful effort to oust a Muslim from Tarrant Republican Party leadership now has a new appointment.
James Scott Trimm now serves on the Tarrant County GOP Precinct Chair Recruitment Committee. He was a vocal supporter of the request to remove Shahid Shafi from the post of vice chairman.
“The point of this is to heal the Party,” Tarrant Republican Joel Downs, who heads the committee, posted on Facebook about the new appointment.

Read more here: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article224749525.html#storylink=cpy

(Star Telegram Jan. 18, 2019)

The Dallas Morning News reported a day earlier:

His appointment, leaders say, is intended to be an olive branch to those who voted to remove Dr. Shahid Shafi from his position. 
Joel Downs, chairman of that committee, announced the appointment Tuesday on Facebook, along with an explanation of why Trimm was chosen.
“Although James is  a capable person and I appointed him for that the reason, I did it mostly to make a gesture of peace,” Downs told The Dallas Morning News. “We need to bury the hatchet and defeat the Democrats.”
(Dallas Morning News Jan. 17, 2019)


The public should know that Joel Downs and I discussed my possible appointment to the committee for the first time on Saturday January 12th, 2019.  However after discussing the matter, we both agreed that I would not accept this appointment without Darl Easton's approval.  

On January 14th, 2019 Joel Downs contacted me to tell me that Darl Easton had approved of my appointment to the committee. 

On January 18th I was contacted by the Fort Worth Star Telegram for a comment about my appointment:

When asked for a comment about his appointment, Trimm responded: “I voted against Shafi because he was unwilling to publicly support Israel with Jerusalem as the undivided capital and oppose creation of a Palestinian state within the historic borders of Israel” which is a plank in the Texas GOP platform.
“The decision on Shafi has been made and we Republicans now need to work together to keep Tarrant County red.”
(Star Telegram Jan. 18, 2019)

Then on Thursday January 24th I learned that the entire committee had been vacated when the Star Telegram reached out to me for a comment.  I had none, because that was the first I heard of it.  Apparently Easton's priority was notifying the press rather than the committee members.

That day the Star-Telegram reported:

Tarrant Republicans trying to unite after an unsuccessful move to remove a Muslim man from party leadership have hit another roadblock.
An effort to “heal the party” has ended.
The idea was to offer a spot on a recruitment committee to James Scott Trimm, who vocally supported removing Shahid Shafi, a Muslim, from party leadership.
But the chairman of the committee has resigned and the entire committee has been disbanded, at least for now.
(Tarrant GOP’s effort to ‘heal’ after Muslim vote claims first victim: a whole committee)

Why did this happen?  Because Darl Easton, who had approved my appointment just ten days earlier, had waffled and suddenly wanted me off the committee.  The committee chair Joel Downs, unwilling to remove me from the committee without any real cause (short of Easton's inability to stand by a decision he had made just days earlier) chose to resign rather than to follow Easton's directive. 

Darl Easton's goal was to "completely reorganize" the committee. The Star Telegram reported Easton as saying:

“The (committee) will be completely reorganized after the assessment,” he said in his statement. “The purpose of this re-assessment is to improve and expand our efforts to grow the Party and its outreach to every corner of Tarrant County as we approach the next election cycle.”
(Tarrant GOP’s effort to ‘heal’ after Muslim vote claims first victim: a whole committee)

Now, as a result of Easton's inability to make a critical decision, and stand by that decision for more than ten days, there will be no committee to recruit new Precinct Chairs until at least after the March Executive Committee meeting.  Tarrant County Republicans need to be uniting to keep Tarrant Red, and Darl Easton's instability as a leader, has left us without this important committee.  Moreover, as members of the party are trying to heal and unite to work together, Darl Easton is working to divide rather than unite the party.

The Tarrant County Republican Party is in shambles, and those of us working to heal the party and unite the party to keep Tarrant red, are finding our County Chair working against that goal.

This kind of waffling, of holding out the olive branch to unite the party, only to jerk it back and bring down our recruitment committee in the process was the last thing our County Chair needed to be doing with the Lincoln Dinner less than a month away.

Read more here: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article224749525.html#storylink=cpy