My TX congressman is gaslighting us on school security and lots more.

A shorter TAT today due to a long list of appointments, meetings and calls but, this one matters a great deal, not just to Texans but everyone experiencing record levels of gun violence and murdered school children.

Monday evening, as my wife and I watched the local news on the best TV news in Texas, at KSAT 12, they interviewed my congressman who has one of the most bizarre and outrageously gerrymandered districts in the nation, including hundreds of miles of the TX/ US/ Mexican border. The interview was about his efforts to increase “school safety” here at the beginning of the new school year.

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Background on TX 23 Congressman, Tony Gonzalez

Tony, on his third term, came to office riding every single dishonest, un-American value espoused by the Trumpists. He was encouraged to move to my district by the Trump crowd in order to have a Trumpist in a border district. He echoed them in social media (now partially scrubbed to make him appear more reasonable) in public appearances and on every interview, he’s done since, most often lying outright about the border.

About an hour from me and inside Tony’s district, he initially fought, like our right-wing extremist governor, Greg Abbott and Ted Cruz to keep the topic of guns out of the inexcusable failures and dishonesty coming from the Texas DPS (State Police) and other law enforcement entities. He eventually caved to local pressure to vote for a minor improvement in reasonable gun regulations at the national level. I won’t speak to his motives, but I have my doubts as to them being wholly genuine, considering his previous stances on guns. I always give credit where credit is due, no matter what. It’s the only honest way to sleep well.

Tony Gonzalez before overwhelming community pressure:

Rep. Gonzales dismisses gun-control measures, supports school safety, Secret Service bills - YouTube

As mentioned above, he eventually caved to public pressure for minor common-sense legislation, but still fully rejects what it takes to keep Texans safe. For this, see the link to his KSAT 12 interview.

Well Monday night, as noted earlier, he did a long interview about school safety with our brilliant local news team. He sounded reasonable and like he actually may have a bit of a conscience somewhere inside his pure loyalty to a MAGA controlled GOP. The one topic he did NOT discuss, was guns. Here in Texas, Governor Abbott, now defined by his and our legislature’s actions as “leaning fascist,” have decided that the only way to protect our kids are via measures like armed guards, armed teachers, a prison-like environment for school children and the absolute gutless recommendations for things like “bullet-proof backpacks.”

Two industries count in Texas politics, big oil and guns. The treasonous NRA, sued for of lying about their efforts to bring Russian money into the 2016 campaign of Trump and downstream Republicans, should tell you all that you need to know. They were also the supporters of Maria Butina, a Russian operative using the NRA for political access. Big oil, lying for forty years about climate change now requires the Federal government to pay for ever-increasing and overwhelming costs of natural, climate change-caused disasters. Abbott and the Texas GOP, recipients of massive campaign donations from both, are always happy to have the US taxpayers pay for their disgraceful behavior. To rub salt in the wound, they then criticize the Federal government for overreach.

Refusal to discuss the remorseless, cancerous elephant in the room, guns often leave me sick at my stomach in Texas. Tony was most proud of working hard to bring federal dollars to Texas to do what Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick, Dade Phelan and the rest of the anti-patriots of the Texas GOP, won’t. Yes, you read this right, every taxpayer in America must pay for the ideological fascism of the Texas GOP.

My Congressman, Tony Gonzalez of TX 23, is working to bring Federal dollars into his district to do what Greg Abbott won’t, protect kids from the very guns that the TX GOP insist makes them a patriot. In my words, fake patriots. One dishonest GOP congressman using national tax dollars to clean up after a MAGA Governor and Legislature.
- Cobaugh
- 2023

To be clear, I own guns, have been trained by the very best our military has to offer and not one of them is what is commonly known as an “assault rifle.” I can’t even shoot at a local range any longer because the card-carrying MAGA hordes are out there doing things on a range that would never be acceptable on a responsible range. Trump and MAGA flags, racist and un-American quotes on bumper stickers, etc. are more the norm than not. Stupid gunowners who don’t know a thing about gun safety are also common. It’s almost as if that the men especially, are over-compensating for their lack of manhood and commitment to real values, not the fake patriotism of the MAGA crowd. At least women MAGA shooters are typically more careful.

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Back to Tony. While that he’s holding townhall meetings with parents about school safety, he’s still endorsing having the Federal government pay for the refusal of our state to do their job. This isn’t only about guns. Abbott and Tony’s oft repeated lies about the border, are so dishonest that even an uninformed voter reading CBP/ Customs and Border Patrol, publicly available reports would understand the lies. DPS has been caught repeatedly lying about the political stunt called, Operation LoneStar that’s had more success abusing the Texas National Guard than in supporting border security. After the current administration created and executed a post Title 42 strategy and reduced illegal crossings by more than 30%, not one TX Republican could be bothered to say “thanks” but continued making dishonest statements about the border, Tony included.

Border migrant encounters have dropped by half since Title 42 ended, federal official says. Texas Tribune, May 15, 2023

At the moment, Texas is always near the bottom in national rankings regarding failure at most critical needs for any state, not just so-called red states. Things like tax relief, public education, healthcare for those who aren’t white and privileged, rape, women dying in childbirth because in TX, abortion is prosecuted by vigilantism. This is just the short list. Frankly, I don’t care a bit about political parties, but I do judge character. We all know how hard it is to regain trust after losing it. For the record, the MAGA types running Texas exclusively for nearly three decades are responsible for all of this and more, despite always blaming the other side. Only a fool would believe their dishonesty.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to start the conversation we're just having here because this is your home state of Texas where the former president spoke last night. When he walked on stage. He played a recording made by some of those who are being prosecuted for attacking the Capitol on January 6. He also had footage seeming to glorify the attack that day. He's calling for protests. He said things like death and destruction if he's indicted. I know you've supported him in the past. Do you support statements like this?

REP. GONZALES: Look, January 6, was a terrible day, we have to make sure that never happens again. I certainly was here at the Capitol keeping- keeping folks from- from getting on to the House floor, but it was great to have President Trump back in Texas. And it was a reminder that Trump's policies, President Trump's policies worked. And right now we're in a time where Biden- Biden is failing us. And so you know, I welcome any serious presidential candidate to come to Texas, see it firsthand, in particular, come see the border.

- Face the Nation
- Margaret Brennan and Representative Gonzalez transcript
- March 26 2023

As noted, Tony is slightly, but only a tiny bit more moderate than his first two terms but recovering my trust, is not likely to happen, especially since he claims to have experience in the Targeting Task Force I served for a decade or more, in uniform and in combat zones. His claims to teach CT in the University of Maryland system seems to have no publicly available trace or are so limited and buried that they don’t represent his experience as published in his first campaign info. And, if he did work for my Task Force, and knowing Tony’s profession in the military, I have a hard time believing that he is any type of expert in CT. Like Reagan said, “trust but verify.” So far, verification escapes me.

To sum this up, I’m not as nice as legitimate journalists. I tell the truth about subjects that I have deep experience with, regardless of the subject. I don’t dress up criticism with niceties and euphemisms either. What I recount today is one of those issues. Tony should remember his military and congressional oath, with more fervor. To protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC. To date, the jury is still out and not looking good for Tony, despite his attempts to always portray himself as a “nice guy.” As you can see in the quote below and due to the credibility of my embedded sources, Tony is failing on all counts.