Opinion

For its part, the Texas Association of School Boards is unapologetic—either for its support of the National School Boards Association (which called on the Biden administration to treat parents speaking out as “domestic terrorism and hate crimes” in 2021), or for its advocacy of political goals that the vast majority of Texans don’t share.

With regard to local, state, and national elections, to what degree does money buy influence and give you a leg up over your competitors who either didn’t contribute to the campaign or maybe even worse, backed the wrong candidate?

Last week we all learned that China had sent a balloon our way. China maintained it was an off-course weather balloon that had taken a wrong right turn in Canada and meandered into the western United States. Weather balloons, however generally carry a payload no bigger than an average bucket. This one had a payload the size of three city buses (along with a set of solar panels to keep it powered). It was, therefore, no weather balloon. The craft also appeared to have the ability to maneuver along some foreordained path. It seemed to have an especial liking for our military installations. The question, therefore, was asked early on why we didn’t shoot it down. The Pentagon responded that to do so might endanger locations below. They would, therefore, wait for the spy craft to reach the Atlantic first so it would splash down safely into the water. They would then retrieve whatever was left of the remains.