Texas deserves much better leadership than Bonnen

As a former member of the Texas House of Representatives and a county judge, I read the transcript of the meeting between Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen and Michael Quinn Sullivan of Empower Texans from a special perspective. While many political insiders and reporters have expressed outrage and questioned the ethics and, perhaps, legality of parts of the conversation, the general public likely views it as politics as usual, just another example of a politician talking big in a backroom deal. For me, it was something different. Reading the transcript made me sad. Most of the discussion was tawdry, and there was not even the pretense of serving the people of Texas.

Speaker Bonnen referred to a member of the House as “a piece of s---,” then called another member “vile.” I wonder if he understands the irony of calling someone vile after he himself used such vile language.

Empower Texans CEO Michael Quinn Sullivan, had his usual approach of bold talk from a political bully who represents a shadowy organization that distorts voting records and hides its finances from public scrutiny. He opined that “we have a political system designed for timid people.” Those “timid” people might just be reasonable. Sullivan has never had to face the voters, honor their wishes or set aside his agenda for the greater good.

The saddest part of Speaker Bonnen’s role was his disgusting attack on local officials, mayors and county judges. After saying they were “dumbass” to even meet with him in Austin, he bragged that he told them “my goal is for this to be the worst session in the history of the Legislature for cities and counties.” Attacking counties is particularly odd since counties are arms of the state government. Local officials are both Republicans and Democrats, and they are elected to make their communities safer and better places to live. But, Bonnen didn’t say he wanted the session to be the worst for local officials. He said he wanted it to be the worst for cities and counties. His threat was aimed at all Texans, since all of us live in one of the 254 counties, and most of us live in a city, too.

So, there was the crux of the conversation. The speaker of the Texas House declared that he wanted the worst session in history for every Texan. That is astonishing and shameful and, yes, sad. Then, the third person in the room, state Rep. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock, added, “I hope the next session is even worse.”

Why so much hatred among state leaders for the cities and counties where their own constituents live? For some, it is part of an agenda driven by outside groups like Empower Texans. For others, it is driven by personal animosity toward local officials. In at least one case, it seems to have stemmed from a local government not awarding a contract to a certain company. Whatever the reason, state leaders need to work with, not against, local officials.

A major part of the recorded conversation has not received much attention, though. Bonnen and Sullivan began by discussing Sullivan’s recently completed trip to the D-Day celebration in Normandy. They talk about the heroes from America who did their duty. French President Emmanuel Macron impressed them both with his emotional speech honoring the heroes. At one point, they express admiration for a unit of German veterans who attended the ceremony to pay respects to their former foes. Then, after spending time recognizing true valor and service that crossed national boundaries, regardless of political, religious or racial differences, Speaker Bonnen lead them into a mean, plotting conversation about destroying other state representatives and punishing cities and counties. That should make us angry, but it makes me sad, because the state of Texas deserves better leadership.

Emmett is a former Harris County judge and former state representative from Harris County.