Strange Bedfellows- The Promise in Glen Rose.. and Jonathan Stickland

Somervell County has been looking to sell the Texas Amphitheater in Glen Rose, Texas and one of the organizations that would like to buy the building is The Promise Inc. The Commissioners Court had a meeting yesterday, April 15, at which the bid from the Promise was turned down. They had offered $100,000 for property worth over $3 million

I noticed at the meeting on April 8 that one of the people who came about buying the amphitheater looked like Jonathan Stickland, who used to be a Texas Legislator from Bedford and had quite a bit of notoriety. I asked him and indeed it was Stickland. Most recently, publicity about him is because Nick Fuentes, a known white nationalist, was spending a lot of time at Stickland’s consulting firm. Fuentes also promoted Jan 5 and 6th events and was subpoenaed by Congress.

KERA- Defend Texas Liberty PAC names new president after leader met with white supremacist Nick Fuentes,

Former Rep. Jonathan Stickland’s name has been removed from the website of Defend Texas Liberty, a political action committee and major donor to top Texas Republicans, where he served as president.

Defend Texas Liberty’s website now lists Luke Macias, who previously served as the group’s director, as its president. Neither Macias nor Stickland could be reached for comment Tuesday evening.

The change to Defend Texas Liberty’s website follows more than a week of outrage after The Texas Tribune reported that Nick Fuentes, an avowed white supremacist and Adolf Hitler admirer, had spent nearly 7 hours at the offices of a consulting firm, Pale Horse Strategies, that is also owned by Stickland.

Nick Fuentes praises Hitler. Texas Tribune

Fuentes, 25, often praises Adolf Hitler and questions whether the Holocaust happened. He has called for a “holy war” against Jews and compared the 6 million killed by the Nazis to cookies being baked in an oven. He wants the U.S. government under authoritarian, “Catholic Taliban rule,” and has been vocal about his disdain for women, Muslims, the LGBTQ+ community and others.

“All I want is revenge against my enemies and a total Aryan victory,” Fuentes said last year.

And Stickland was associated with him.

Back to this last part again, about Defend Texas Liberty. Stickland was president until all this ugliness about Fuentes came out.

In recent weeks, allies of the deep-pocketed conservative PAC Defend Texas Liberty have sought to downplay a meeting between the group’s former leader, Jonathan Stickland, and prominent white supremacist Nick Fuentes. They’ve cast the visit as a one-off mistake — and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he accepted an explanation that it was a “serious blunder.”

Responding to calls for him to return the $3 million he received from Defend Texas Liberty this summer, Patrick initially said he would not do so because there was “no hint of any links” between the group and any “antisemitic organizations or other hate groups” when he took the funds in June.

There were, however, ample links.

While Fuentes’ unapologetic hate mongering has made him perhaps the nation’s best-known white supremacist, he was merely the latest in a line of people who have been embraced by Defend Texas Liberty and its close allies despite publicly espousing antisemitic views or partnering with extremists. That includes, among others, Ella Maulding, a social media coordinator for Stickland’s consulting firm who has praised Fuentes as the “greatest civil rights leader in history”; and Shelby Griesinger, the treasurer for Defend Texas Liberty who has claimed on social media that Jews worship a false god and shared memes that depict them as the enemy of Republicans.

Hah, this reminds me of Dan Patrick saying he didn’t know about all this hate except that there’s no way he didn’t know

After that Defend Texas Liberty changed the name of its pac to Texans United for a Conservative Majority which put out a scurrilous ad about Dewayne Burns (Burns has been targeted by public education hater Greg Abbott for his vote against school choice)

A campaign finance report posted Wednesday showed that West Texas oil billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks have poured $2 million into a new group, Texans United for a Conservative Majority, that has started spending against Texas House Republicans. The group is a spinoff of Defend Texas Liberty, the political action committee that came under fire in October, after The Texas Tribune reported that its then-president, Jonathan Stickland, hosted notorious white supremacist and Adolf Hitler admirer Nick Fuentes for nearly 7 hours.

Defend Texas Liberty — which has vowed to go after House Republicans who voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton — curtailed its political giving after the scandal, disclosing only one candidate contribution through Dec. 31. But Texans United for a Conservative Majority popped up in December and had to meet a reporting deadline of Tuesday because it is involved in a special election next week. It filed the report a day late.

Most recently, Stickland created a new company named after his alias as an internet troll

Also, remember how the Texas Republican party had a REALLY HARD TIME denouncing this anti-semitism and hate? (One of the many reasons I am not a Republican-it should not be hard to publicly denounce this type of ugliness)

In November, the Texas GOP’s executive committee narrowly rejected a resolution that banned the party from associating with Holocaust deniers, antisemites and neo-Nazis — language that some members argued could create a slippery slope and complicate the party’s relationship with donors or future candidates. After backlash, the party in January passed a resolution that banned it from associating with antisemites — a significantly watered-down version of previous proposals that specifically named Stickland and Defend Texas Liberty.

Here is the part of the original SREC (State Republican Executive Committee) statement that specifically named Jonathan Stickland.

The full text of the SREC members’ letter is included below:

Time: 7:30 p.m., November 15, 2023 – For Immediate Release:

LATEST UPDATED SIGNATURES-A Call for Accountability by Select State Republican Executive Committee Members

In concurrence with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s October 23, 2023 statement calling upon the “State Party” to “root out” anti-Semitism, the following members of the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) are committed to A Call for Accountability by Select State Republican Executive Committee Members made on October 18, 2023, now collectively representing 19 Senate Districts, notwithstanding four vacancies (SD-3, SD-19, SD-20 and SD-22):

Christin Bentley SD-1

Donnie Wisenbaker SD-1

Rhonda Ward SD-3

Susan Lucas SD-5

Bill Fairbrother SD-5

Tom Nobis SD-7

Susan Wright SD-10

Matt Tickus SD-10

Milinda Morris SD-13

Jan Duncan SD-14

Fernando Trevino SD-14

Gail Stanart SD-15

Rolando Garcia SD-15

Becky Green SD-17

Cheryl Thompson-Draper SD-18

Kelly Perry SD-19

Toni Trevino SD-21

Michael Monreal SD-21

Jon Ker SD-22

Mary Jane Avery SD-24

Chris Byrd SD-25

Karen Marshall SD-26

Quico Canseco SD-26

Morgan Graham SD-27

Lynda Hogue SD-28

Steve Evans SD-28

Tisha Crow SD-31

Vice Chair Dr. Dana Myers publicly expressed her support of the statement on October 18, 2023 and stands in solidarity with the undersigned members of the SREC.

A Call for Accountability by Select State Republican Executive Committee Members

On October 8, 2023 it was revealed that Nick Fuentes – a notorious anti-Semitic antagonizer and Nazi sympathizer – had recently spent the day with Defend Texas Liberty (DTL) PAC representatives in a proximity of other affiliated political organizations. Whilst we continue to embrace freedom of association, it does not go unattended with consequences, the nature of which being the purpose of this statement.

Notwithstanding silence regarding any explanation from DTL or its leader – Jonathan Stickland – about why Fuentes was there and who was responsible for the visit or its purpose, it has now been reported that Jonathan Stickland has been replaced as of yesterday and likely to preempt this statement. If true, we see one responsible step taken by DTL.

It is difficult to fathom what legitimate business any reputable political organization would have with Fuentes. Even if intentions were benign, granting a meeting with such a noxious personality undeservedly elevates him and casts an undeserving bad light on patriots working in the same lanes as DTL, namely the Republican Party of Texas (RPT).

Additionally, Fuentes’ shockingly vile statements and views are totally contrary to the conservative principles of Stickland’s benefactors, his clients and the RPT, especially considering the RPT’s recent resolution of condemnation of Hamas and support of Israel.

Given DTL’s prominence in conservative politics and its past support of the RPT, we – the undersigned members of the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) — believe there is a moral obligation to speak boldly, publicly, and clearly on this matter.

We appreciate that RPT Chair Matt Rinaldi has forcefully denounced Nick Fuentes and clarified that he was not aware of DTL’s meeting with Fuentes and had no interaction with him. But due to the consequences that languish from DTL’s silence, more must be done.

Antisemitism and racism do not have refuge in the RPT, including its associations or partners.

Therefore, the RPT should not accept any donations from DTL until Stickland is removed and disassociated from DT and its benefactor organizations and a full accounting of the meeting is provided. Further, we encourage donors to dissociate themselves from DTL and Stickland until these steps are taken and demonstratively verified.

Fuentes’ views and Stickland’s tactics are abhorrent and totally antithetical to the principles of the Republican Party of Texas and to the conservatives who have trusted DTL for the cause of liberty and patriotism. Whether this was caused by a lapse in judgement, conscious disregard, poor leadership, or a faulty moral compass – Stickland and DTL must ultimately accept responsibility.

Jonathan Stickland has forfeited his right to any leadership role in conservative politics and accordingly complete disassociation from DTL, including its benefactors and the RPT is the only reconcilable outcome which is now being formally called upon to accomplish instanter.

You see this? FORFEITED HIS RIGHT TO ANY LEADERSHIP ROLE, FUENTES VIEWS AND STICKLANDS TACTICS ARE ABHORRENT. In the second rendering of this latter, the SREC took out Stickland’s name-is it because a bunch of them were getting money from Stickland’s PAC? But again, note that in the first rendering, Stickland and Fuentes were front and center.

What’s goofy about this is that the Republican committee had such a hard time denouncing Nazis.

One more hilarious post about Stickland (Austin Chronicle)

You won’t find controversial right-wing legislator Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, ranting obnoxiously on the House floor anytime soon, and you’ve apparently got the big guy upstairs to thank.

In a message posted on Facebook this morning, Stickland announced he won’t be running for re-election in 2020, attributing his drop out to the “Lord’s will.”

“Eight years was enough for George Washington, and it certainly is for me,” wrote Stickland. “After much prayerful consideration and reflection, I have determined it is not the Lord’s will for me to seek reelection. Instead, I intend to dedicate more time to my family, my church, and my business.”

Don’t fret, Stickland fans! It was his grand plan all along, as he never wanted to become “part of the establishment” anyway, and definitely, totally not because he’s consistently made enemies across the political spectrum during his rocky Capitol tenure. First elected to the Tarrant County HD-92 in 2012, Stickland’s four terms in the House have been marked by petulant grandstanding and obstructionism – in May he killed a high-profile bipartisan mental health bill (later revived) meant to prevent future school shootings on a technicality, and was the only vote against the Lege’s school finance reform bill.

A former leader of the right-wing Freedom Caucus and ostensible lover of “liberty,” Stickland supported extreme anti-choice and anti-LGBTQ legislation. Prone to instigating harsh Twitter fights (including calling a vaccine expert complicit in “sorcery”) and acting needlessly combative, Stickland understandably twice topped Texas Monthly’s list of worst legislators; this year, the magazine created a new category for him, “Cockroach,” worse than The Worst. He only managed to pass his first (and only) bill, a measure that bans red-light cameras, this year.

And let’s not forget the horrifying 2008 online forum post, unearthed in 2015, in which Stickland claimed, “Rape is non-existent in marriage, take what you want my friend!” Such a nice man.

Republicans and Democrats alike are likely breathing a sigh of relief knowing they won’t have to hide their rolling eyes as the “Former Fetus” sucks up precious time with his back-mic posturing. Good riddance.

In looking at the Promise website, I see that Stickland is a member of the cast.

Certainly there is no reason that someone that is an extreme right-winger who has association with a known Nazi lover can’t volunteer to be in the cast of the Promise but it’s interesting that the Promise organization apparently not only has no baseline standard to maintain for its cast, but even asked Stickland to be on its board. Side note that the Promise warns families about bringing young children to the performance, maybe because of torture scenes like this (all 3 of these images from The Promise website