State Rep. John Smithee/Photo by Noah Dawson
The following Letter to the Editor was submitted for publication by Brad Yock.
It is reasonable to think that many voters in District 86 of the Texas House are deeply concerned and perhaps upset by the problems we face as Texans, U.S. Citizens, and consequently as District members. Especially for someone like me who has observed politics for many years, the current world of politics and public policy appears to have taken a truly bizarre turn. The expression “going to hell in a handbasket” does not even begin to capture my frustration. Fellow Texans, I am here to tell you that there is not much left of the handbasket, and we are too close to those infamous gates for my comfort. An ongoing border invasion, centralization of economic control in the Federal government, attempts to normalize surgical alteration of a child’s sex, desperate attempts to continue unlimited killing of unborn babies, men attempting to play in women’s sports, local school districts purchasing and distributing pornography to school children, prosecutors who refuse to prosecute criminals, and many more “nutjob” Democratic Party sourced ideas that place us all in peril.
The best solution to these problems, according to Jamie Haynes and some members of the local Republican party, is to spend or borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars to unseat and essentially fire the Trump-supported, District 86 Republican Representative John Smithee. My face is red but not from fear and frustration. Instead, the red hue reveals my embarrassment for not having thought of this obvious solution on my own. It would no doubt have significantly relieved my sense of dread.
For the benefit of the charter members of “empower the slow,” who populate much of the news media, there is indeed an invasion of the Texas southern border by people from all corners of the earth. It is a public emergency aided, abetted, and instigated by acts of commission and omission by President Biden and his Democratic Party. The obvious solution is for someone other than John Smithee to have her picture taken in front of a border wall, plaster it all over the television, and essentially recommend we fire Representative John Smithee. It also appears there remains a ghoulish but influential segment of the Texas population whose mothers gave them life, but who will fight to the last baby’s breath to enshrine abortion without limits in our culture. What better way to address this abject disregard for life than to make vague references to Panhandle values in a television ad coupled with a proposal that we fire John Smithee as District 86’s representative? Texas cities elect criminal-friendly ultra-liberal prosecutors forcing its citizens and the rest of the state to suffer from this extra-legal practice. What is to be done? To some, firing John Smithee sounds reasonable.
District 86 is a long way from Austin, Houston, and the other Texas centers of power. It needs someone whose family has been in the Panhandle for generations and knows the people and the area to tell its story and articulate its needs. Of course, the best answer is to fire John Smithee who has this precise history and knowledge. District 86 voters would benefit from an honest, intelligent, family man, expert lawyer, successful businessman, and experienced, well-respected legislator to push favorable legislation through the legislature. Of course, this need can only be met by firing John Smithee who has all of the above qualifications.
Even those with only a passing interest in American politics have heard about “term limits” and its panacea-like claim to cure all that ails our country politically. “Term limits” would allegedly prevent incumbent politicians from becoming entangled in the established system and failing to act in the public interest or the interest of their constituents. Despite its merits, the public has never been convinced that instituting “term limits” will fix the problem. Representative Smithee has been in the Texas Legislature for many years and no doubt forged many alliances and professional friendships. According to the “fire John Smithee” movement, he is no doubt a “poster child” for term limits,” or is he?
In the 2023 regular legislative session, the Speaker of the House and a large majority of other House members foolishly sought to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton based on flimsy evidence manufactured in secretive meetings and then foisted upon unsuspecting House members a few short days before the legislative session ended. Representative John Smithee led 22 other House members in a vigorous, principle-based, public opposition to the House Republican establishment and their Democratic party accomplices. For this rebellious act against the entrenched House leadership, he was recognized state-wide for his courage, and his challenge was ultimately vindicated. Given this record, it makes perfect sense to use “term limits” as a rationale to fire John Smithee, or so we are told.
The Republican party’s quota of virtuous, hardworking principled leaders is far from full. I have known John Smithee since Crockett Jr. High in Amarillo and attended school with him at Tascosa High School and Amarillo College. I have never known him to be anything but honest, smart, conservative, and hard-working. Based upon a periodic review of the machinations of the Texas Legislature, Representative Smithee has consistently been a productive, honest, reasonable, solid, and conservative performer. Unlike many other politicians, a person is completely safe from being run over if he or she finds himself or herself being between Representative Smithee and a television camera. John Smithee humbly does the job he was elected to do and lets actual, concrete results do the talking. This is the behavior one would expect from an actual life-long resident of the Texas Panhandle with Panhandle values practically embedded in his DNA.
His legislative efforts have resulted in a fair-sized mountain of legislative action benefitting the Panhandle and District 86. Representative Smithee, borrowing from former Republican Governor Bill Clements’ saying, is a workhorse and not a show horse. Through his amazing and tireless campaigning throughout the 7 counties comprising District 86, he has demonstrated the capacity to continue to do more good things for District 86. Perhaps we should treat the proposal to “eighty-six” John Smithee from District 86 with due skepticism.
With a modest amount of inquiry, one might begin to doubt that the best answer to all the problems Texas and residents of District 86 face is to fire John Smithee. Firing John Smithee will not put someone in the Legislature who has deeper roots and connections with District 86 and the Texas Panhandle, more education or experience in business and public policy, or who is held in higher esteem by many important segments of the District 86 community and Texas. Firing Representative Smithee will not install someone in office who is more pro-life, or in whom the major agricultural, business, law enforcement, pro-second amendment, realtors and respected state-wide Texas office holders and rural members of the district have more confidence. Firing John Smithee will certainly not secure the border, but some believe it will.
Jamie Haynes, who recommends we fire John Smithee, appears to have become involved in politics disputing crazy decisions by some local school boards and administrators to allow truly nasty, pornographic books in public school libraries for children to read. In some instances, these school library books derived their content from Marxism. This was certainly laudable, and she is to be congratulated and recognized for raising public awareness. However, she did not persuade a majority of voters to vote for local school board members who would correct the core problems. One has only to look at the record of the Canyon ISD Board, which denied Canyon ISD voters the right to elect a trustee, to understand what has not been accomplished. It is simply not clear what is being gained by firing and replacing John Smithee.
We see Mrs. Haynes pictured at what appears to be the Texas border or riding a horse, and presumably, this means she now has an interest in the border invasion and agriculture. A picture with an oil rig in the background would be a consistent finishing touch. Her sudden interest in border security is rather convenient. The border issue is more important to the voters, so why not claim that issue despite no previously expressed interest or expertise? What happened to the priority of children’s issues? I guess we can fire John Smithee and hope Mrs. Haynes's on-the-job training will produce the desired results – sounds risky.
Perhaps rather than firing a good man like John Smithee, who has done an exemplary job and served us all well, Haynes and the other Republicans could turn their attention and financial resources to complete the work of reforming local school boards and school administrations. It might be a better use of their substantial resources to convince the community to elect school board members who are committed to upholding the Texas Panhandle’s belief that parents should control the education and upbringing of their children. One might hope that Jamie Haynes and certain local Republican party members would place more effort in attempting to protect the children from local school boards and administrations than spending gobs of money to kick John Smithee to the curb. Alas, however, perhaps, it is just easier and more fun to spend a lot of money, to get on television, and for all practical purposes suggest that John Smithee be fired as District 86’s representative. This approach will no doubt put the brakes on our collective slide into the fiery abyss.