Read King

Just saw the first mud slung in the County Commissioner's race here in Denton County. Somebody just lost my vote.

ANNOUNCEMENT: I will not be running for re-election as Precinct Chair during this year's Primary and will in fact be retiring from politics completely at the end of this term. I will fulfill my duties in this office but will not be participating in this upcoming Convention cycle.

The tl;dr on the “why” is simple: this isn't where my family needs me anymore. It probably hasn't been for a while, but I'm finally understanding that better.

My hope is that many of you will understand what I mean there. When I jumped in feet first and over my head in 2007 it was because of my kids and the future they would have. I remember having conversation during that first State Convention in 2008 about not being here 20 years later hoping that just one more cycle would fix things. That's not to say that much wasn't accomplished during the past decade though:

I remember grassroots activist friends going down to Austin during those first few years to attend the Quarterly SREC meetings and having the door closed and locked in their faces. Now those meetings are live streamed for all to see. I am proud to have stood side by side with those that opened such doors of transparency at every level within my Party.

We now have some small measure of holding those that we send as our standard bearers accountable for their actions while in office thanks to Rule 44. There is more that could be done there, but it was a good start.

I ran for office...twice. During such times, I am thankful for all the people that I met and the opportunity to hear their stories and about their concerns.

We now have licensed Open Carry in the State of Texas. Again, there is more work to do here.

We no longer have Red Light Cameras turning a criminal act into a civil process here in Texas. I'm proud of the work that was done in this area as well.

I leave this world of politics knowing that there are capable people still in those fights. I cannot tell each and every one of you how very proud I am of what each of you has already accomplished and I wait eagerly to see what you will do in the coming years. Texas needs each of you doing the next right thing that is before you as I am now attempting to do the next right thing that is before me.

I made this decision several months ago, but felt today of all days was the best day to make this public. For all of you that were convinced I was in this for my own advancement (and many comments on some of my posts to that effect caused me to chuckle), I guess the jokes on you. For those of you that continue to spread falsehoods or twisted half-truths because the end justifies the means, I will continue to pray for you no matter what side of any issue you may be on or candidate you may support/oppose.

To those that are still fighting for Liberty...to those that had kind words of advice for me or took my advice when I gave it, you are not taken for granted. Please continue to advance Liberty. To those that became friends, you will always know how to get hold of me.

To Ron Paul, Debra Medina, and Jeremy Blosser, thank you for leading with integrity and showing many of us a better way.

For Liberty,
Read King

The First Thanksgiving... Right here in Texas!

The First Thanksgiving? | Texas Almanac A new Thanksgiving tradition has taken root in Texas. El Paso residents now claim the first Thanksgiving in North America. The modern event, first observed in April 1989, commemorates a day of thanksgiving celebrated by Spanish explorer Juan de Oñate and his expedition on April 30, 1598.

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November
It is the season to vote!
I see no reason why in this season
You wouldn't like this quote.

Remember, remember the 5th of November....

Seriously? MASKS are part of a state lege committee hearing topic THE DAY BEFORE HALLOWEEN???

"Study whether the state’s interest in public safety and its ability to deter violence and dangerous conduct is enhanced by prohibiting individuals from wearing masks to intimidate others, incite violence, or engage in criminal activity, while protecting First Amendment rights to free speech and free exercise of religion."

If everyone in that room isn't wearing a Guy Fawkes mask and/or if families don't bring their kids to go trick or treating to the Reps offices them we have failed the internet that day.

from: copanobaypress.com

This week marks the 184th anniversary of the start of the Texas Revolution at the Battle of Gonzales.

What would it have been like to be there? To know all the eyewitness details.

We can thank Providence that Noah Smithwick, blacksmith, Indian trader, Texas Ranger, was actually on the scene and has left us a report.

Here are his words:

"...we laid off our packs and hurried on to Gonzales, the initial point of attack, to help repel the Mexicans, whose only ostensible purpose proved to be the recovery of an old cannon which the citizens had borrowed from the garrison at San Antonio some time before to defend the place against Indians, and which was practically useless, having been spiked and the spike driven out, leaving a touch-hole the size of a man's thumb.

Its principal merit as a weapon of defense, therefore, lay in its presence and the noise it could make, the Indians being very much afraid of cannon. But it was the match that fired the mine, already primed and loaded.

Before we reached Gonzales the Mexican soldiers arrived on the opposite side of the river, which they did not attempt to cross, and made a formal demand for the cannon.

Useless as it was, the Texans not only refused to surrender it, but crossed over and put the Mexicans to flight.

It was our Lexington, though a bloodless one, save that a member of the "awkward squad" took a header from his horse, thereby bringing his nasal appendage into such intimate association with Mother Earth as to draw forth a copious stream of the sanguinary fluid.

I can not remember that there was any distinct understanding as to the position we were to assume toward Mexico. Some were for independence; some for the constitution of 1824; and some for anything, just so it was a row. But we were all ready to fight.

Our plan was to rush on to San Antonio, capture the garrison before it could get reinforcements, and then - on to Mexico and dictate terms of peace in the capital of the Montezumas.

The Sowells had a blacksmith shop at Gonzales, and, being a gunsmith, I set to work to help put the arms in order. There was no coal, so some of the boys were set to burning charcoal.

We brushed the old cannon (an iron six-pounder), scoured it out, and mounted it on old wooden trucks - transverse sections of trees with holes in the centers, into which were inserted wooden axles - and christened it "the flying artillery," making merry over it as if it were some holiday sport we were planning for.

We had no ammunition for our "artillery," so we cut slugs of bar iron and hammered them into balls; ugly looking missiles they were I assure you, but destined to "innocuous desuetude," as I shall relate in due course.

We were going to do things in style, so we formed a company of lancers and converted all the old files about the place into lances, which we mounted on poles cut in the river bottom.

While some were busy with the arms and ammunition, others were devising a flag. I cannot say who designed it nor who executed the design, as that was not in my department, and history is silent on the subject.

Hubert Bancroft devotes some space to the origin of the Lone Star flag. Had he consulted me, I could have given him a pointer, for to my certain knowledge the first Lone Star flag used in the revolution was gotten up at Gonzales for Austin's army and consisted of a breadth of white cotton cloth about six feet long, in the center of which was painted in black a picture of the old cannon, above it a lone star and beneath it the words, "Come and take it," a challenge which was lost on the Mexicans.

It was not called the Lone Star, however, but the Old Cannon flag."

Who was Noah Smithwick?

You already know he marched from Gonzales with the first Texas army.

He also held Jim Bowie's original knife in his hand...and made him a new one.

He was a blacksmith, Texas Ranger, and even negotiated a treaty for the Comanches.

He knew Bowie...and Austin...and Houston. Travis...Burnet...and Borden. He even met Davy Crockett when he passed through Bastrop, headed for the Alamo.

And that's maybe ten percent of what's in his memoir.
Noah Smithwick - Age 91

Smithwick doesn't just tell you about the big events. He also records how people talked, what they ate, wore and how they had fun.

Step Inside Texas History Rare works of Texas history brought back to life: limited edition historic books, maps, and prints. Step inside Texas history!

A clickable map of all the bond elections access Texas. Use it wisely.

2019 Texas Bond Map - Google My Maps A list of ISD, City and County Bonds in Texas

“No state shall convert a liberty into a license, and charge a fee therefore.” (Murdock v. Pennsylvania, 319 U.S. 105)

“If the State converts a right into a privilege, the citizen can ignore the license and fee and engage in the right with impunity.” (Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham, Alabama, 373 U.S. 262)