Houston Business Connections Newspaper©: President Biden Failed Miserably In the Debate; Knox, Simons, and Bain Are Vetted and Approved; Businessman Eric Carr Signs on as Sponsor

Friday, June 28, 2024

President Biden Failed Miserably In the Debate; Knox, Simons, and Bain Are Vetted and Approved; Businessman Eric Carr Signs on as Sponsor

Businessman Eric Carr has signed on as the "TITLE SPONSOR" of the "Voter Education and Empowerment Movement," launched by Aubrey R. Taylor Communications. Last night's CNN Debate was a disaster for President Joe Biden, and many top Democrats are now questioning whether Biden should be their nominee. HARRIS COUNTY... Mike Knox (top left), Dan Simons (top center), and Bruce Bain (bottom center) have all been vetted and approved. As for Judge Ursula Hall (bottom left), she was recently reprimanded by the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct and should not be reelected to the 165th Civil District Court bench she currently holds. You can "CLICK HERE" to view our current Houston Business Connections Newspaper edition and more endorsements.

A well-known commentator, Van Jones, hit the nail on the head last night when he stated, "I love Joe Biden. But tonight's debate hurt." Now, Democrats all across America are doing some soul-searching and trying to figure out what to do after President Joe Biden's epic failure on the debate stage.

AUBREY R. TAYLOR: "Both major political parties have candidates at the top of their ticket who have issues connecting with voters outside their core base of supporters. However, to offset the weakness and flaws at the top of their ticket, Democrats and Republicans must shift their focus to down-ballot races in places like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hamshire, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas."

President Biden Failed Miserably In the Debate; Knox, Simons, and Bain Are Vetted and Approved; Carr Signs on as Title Sponsor

AUBREY R. TAYLOR REPORTS©

After last night’s CNN debate, Democratic lawmakers, commentators, and other leaders appear very concerned about President Biden’s performance on stage. However, national politics aside, Democrats and Republicans must shift their focus to hotly contested down-ballot races and put surrogates out front if they proceed with Biden and Trump as their nominees.

Race relations and what African Americans will do in “SWING STATES” didn’t get discussed as much as it should have last night during the debate. Black voting power will be on full display in a way we’ve never seen before on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Whether Blacks stay at home or vote for former President Trump in record numbers, President Biden isn’t going to motivate Black voters to turn out for him this time around.

Whether you believe fraud occurred in 2020 or not, Democrats could have difficulty duplicating their “SWING STATES” haul, in which President Joe Biden won Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas — if you want to call Texas a “SWING STATE" — were all won by former President Donald Trump and should be won again on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.

Aside from the debate last night, it is unacceptable for President Joe Biden to set a $50 million budget for June 2024 and only allocate $1 million for Black, Hispanic, and Asian-owned media outlets to split. How much of that money do you believe will make its way to local media outlets like KCOH 1230AM or publications like mine – Houston Business Connections Newspaper?

How much of that $50 million will go to the Houston Defender Newspaper, Houston Forward Times, African American News & Issues, and D-Mars Business Journal?

When are we going to stop being played for fools? Democrats are playing with fire and could be making a colossal mistake in 2024 by proceeding forward with President Joe Biden as their nominee.

As the most consequential election of our lifetime creeps closer, Americans from all walks of life are taking an introspective look within themselves as things unfold. President Joe Biden has diminished significantly since the last presidential election. Still, he made it through the debate last night with some help from the CNN moderators.

I’m not advocating for Trump or Biden, but rather, simply saying that we’re facing some serious challenges as a nation as it relates to race relations. Challenged to deal with the stark reality that overt/covert racism and discrimination against African Americans hasn’t gone anywhere, and the prospect that our criminal justice system has always been two-tiered is unnerving countless Americans.

A few days ago, a white West Virginia couple was arrested and accused of adopting Black children and forcing them to work ‘as slaves’ and allegedly forcing these Black children to live inside their barn.

Jeanne Whitefeather, 62, and Donald Lantz, 63, were arrested and accused of adopting five Black children from a shelter, forcing those Black children to allegedly work as enslaved people, like my ancestors had to do back during slavery times.

While the white couple was arrested and charged in West Virginia, like it or not, we’ve got some folks right here in Harris County, Texas, on both sides of the political aisle, who believe that African Americans belong back on a plantation. That’s why it’s essential to ensure that voting for candidates based on political party affiliations is discontinued, especially in judicial races.

Listen, the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

If we allow the wrong people to become judges, we will have more than a rising crime rate, as I see it. We could have a situation where people are using their power to carry out their racist views and ideologies from the bench – like what happened back in the day.

“TOUGH ON CRIME.”

There’s nothing wrong with being tough on crime. However, the judges we elect must be committed to administering justice to the rich and the poor equally, without regard to the ethnicity of the accused.

Remember, judges take an oath of office which states, “I, _________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as _________ under the Constitution and laws of the United States.

To make sure that African Americans and other poor, economically challenged ethnic minorities are not disproportionately “WRONGFULLY CONVICTED” of crimes they didn’t commit, we need a good District Attorney, but we also need fair, impartial judges who honor their oath of office.

In addition to a good District Attorney and unbiased judges, we also need a competent Harris County Sheriff to ensure that people live long enough to make it to trial in America’s third-largest county.

“PAY ATTENTION.”

Regardless of their political party affiliation, Harris County, Texas, citizens must vote to elect Dan Simons in the Harris County District Attorney race on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.

A graduate of the Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Dan Simons has strong ties to the Black community and is committed to protecting the public while making sure citizens accused of crimes don’t get “WRONGFULLY CONVICTED” of crimes they did not commit because they did not have the financial means to prove their innocence at trial.

Partisan politics must be set aside in local judicial races when identifying quality judges. A judicial race is coming up where Attorney Bruce Bain will challenge Judge Ursula Hall, the presiding judge of the 165th Civil District Court, in Harris County, Texas – one of the hottest down-ballot races.

That said, under no circumstances should any registered Harris County voter waltz into the voting booth on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, and vote for Judge Ursula Hall without knowing that she has no business presiding over the 165th Civil District Court.

The upcoming race for Harris County Sheriff between Sheriff Gonzalez and Mike Knox will be something to behold. Our current Sheriff, Ed Gonzalez, is perhaps the worst Harris County Sheriff in history. And if you ask me, Sheriff Gonzalez should be removed from office at the ballot box on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, and replaced with former city councilman and law enforcement officer Mike Knox.

“It is high time public safety was the priority number one in Harris County, and that will be my mission as Harris County Sheriff,” said Mike Knox.

If elected, Mike Knox plans to make public safety his #1 priority,” which all Harris County citizens should be able to appreciate.

“TIES THAT BIND.”

I found it interesting that all of the “BLACK WOMEN” who found themselves being called unqualified and were publicly demeaned a few months ago in Harris County all happened to be graduates from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law.

Did you know many of our local leaders also earned their law degrees from Thurgood Marshall? So why are the “BLACK WOMEN” the only ones being ‘hated on’ in Harris County, Texas?

Attorney Dan Simons, Congressman Al Green, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, State Rep. Senfronia Thompson, Judge Jeralynn Manor, Judge Cheryl Elliott Thornton, Judge Robert Johnson, Judge Erica Hughes, Judge DaSean Jones, Judge Fran Watson, Judge Dawn Rogers, Judge Te’Iva Bell, Attorney Amber Boyd Cora, Attorney Brendetta Scott, Attorney Velda Renita Falkner, Attorney Lilian Henny Alexander, Attorney TaKasha Francis, and Attorney Tami Pierce are just a few Thurgood Marshall School of Law graduates highlighted inside Houston Business Connection Newspaper in July.

What relevance does earning a law degree from Texas Southern University have to do with the upcoming Tuesday, November 5, 2024, Presidential Election, which could be the most consequential election of our lifetimes?

For whatever reason, voting turnout has traditionally been low for students on the campus of Texas Southern University. However, the upcoming 2024 Presidential Election will be a game of margins. As we learned during the election debacle in Harris County during the 2022 Midterm Election, a mere 267 votes can be the difference between winning a countywide race for a judicial bench with more than 1 million votes cast and losing.

“DO YOUR RESEARCH.”

Judge Ursula Hall, the presiding judge of the 165th Civil District Court, has been sanctioned twice by the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct, most recently a couple of months ago. If you ask me, Judge Hall needs to be replaced with Attorney Bruce Bain on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.

While Judge Hall is a “BAD BLACK JUDGE” who should go, there are some outstanding African American members of the judiciary who we need to keep, but that’s a story for another day.

But “BLACK JUDGES” aren’t the only members of the judiciary who have come under fire recently. Earlier this year, Criminal District Court Judge Frank Aguilar, the presiding judge for the 228th Criminal District Court, was arrested in Galveston on New Year’s Eve after he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend.

According to court records, Judge Aguilar allegedly hit his girlfriend multiple times and stepped on her neck, but this wasn’t the first time he found himself on the wrong side of the law.

Back in the day, Judge Aguilar, charged with driving while intoxicated, found himself on the wrong side of the law. And speaking of driving while intoxicated, Judge Kelli Johnson, the presiding judge for the 178th Criminal District Court, likes to drink and drive and maybe even mosey around town during the wee hours of the night under the influence of controlled substances.

Earlier this week, Judge Kelli Johnson was creeping around town driving 15 mph at 1:55 a.m., according to arrest records. The arresting Houston police officer claimed he witnessed Johnson make an improper turn from the center lane at the 11600 block of Hempstead Road onto the 7600 block of Kempwood Drive, according to published reports.

Judge Kelli Johnson was pulled over back on April 12 and only given a warning after she was stopped for reckless driving and suspected of being impaired.

Not that race matters, but neither Judge Frank Aguilar, the presiding judge for the 228th Criminal District Court, nor Judge Kelli Johnson, the presiding judge for the 178th Criminal District Court, are Black. Even still, African American judges are the ones called animals and unqualified.

“WE’RE NOT ANIMALS.”

Remember the LGBTQ+ Attorney by the name of Ben L. Aderholt and that “DEMEANING LETTER” he sent to Judge Erica Hughes calling her an animal a few months ago?

“Who do you think you are? Running against a Democrat, a highest rated judge by the Houston Bar Association, Mike Engelhart,” asked the LGBTQ+ Attorney. “As a Democrat, at some point, you must grow some integrity and say I will not inflict pain on a competent, well-respected Democrat judge,” he continued.

What Aderholt said next was the most troubling. “Political animals who treat our judiciary as political games should be soundly defeated,” he claimed.

“This predatory behavior among Democrats makes our judiciary a ridiculous farce of musical chairs, and it must stop,” said the LGBTQ+ Attorney, who had recently gotten divorced from his African American husband, named Daniel Latrel.

Like other alleged racists, the LGBTQ+ Attorney tried to clean things up by stating that his “DEMEANING LETTER,” sent to the Honorable Judge Erica Hughes addressing her by her first name, was not racist. “This is not about race or color but valuing a human being who is a dedicated public servant and who is doing his job very well,” he said.

So, why do you think Attorney Ben Aderholt was bold and courageous enough to send a sitting federal judge a letter calling her an animal and her desire to run for a local civil court judicial bench “PREDATORY BEHAVIOR” on Coats/Rose letterhead?

There’s an undercurrent of animosity and hatred towards “BLACK JUDGES” that’s hidden beneath the surface and lurking in the shadows of Harris County politics.

“It’s very disheartening, in 2024, I receive letters like this calling me an animal, called me by my first name,” said Judge Erica Hughes, who went on to unseat Judge Mike Engelhart in the Democratic Party Primary race back on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. “Democracy is what this county was built on she explains.

Judge Hughes stated, “I served in the military, so I can run as a judicial candidate in a free country, as long as I’m qualified.”

“PREDATOR REFERENCES.”

Believe it or not, African Americans, whether sitting on a judicial bench or entangled in the criminal justice system, are still, in many regards, viewed the same. The undercurrent of racial tension in Harris County has reached a point where it could inevitably wipe out the gains achieved by African Americans in recent years.

I’m in no way trying to cast President Joe Biden in a negative light but to better understand why LGBTQ+ Attorney Ben Aderholt felt comfortable using the words “PREDATORY BEHAVIOR” in his letter to Judge Erica Hughes, all you have to do is revisit President Joe Biden’s speech from 1993, when he was chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

During his 1993 speech, Joe Biden, who was the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made some alarming comments regarding African Americans.

In his speech mentioned above, he warned his colleagues about people he labeled as “PREDATORS ON OUR STREETS,” who were “BEYOND THE PALE,” and went on to say that these predators had to be cordoned off from the rest of society because the justice system did not know who to rehabilitate them.

Really? Joe Biden’s comments were stated on the Senate floor a day before the Senate released its version of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act.

I’m not throwing any shade at former first lady Hillary Clinton. Still, in 1996, she referred to African Americans as “SUPERPREDATORS” and claimed that we don’t have a “NO CONSCIENCE” or empathy and that we needed to be brought to our knees or “to heel.”

In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed a crime bill into law with bipartisan support that addressed the violent crime rates that were on the rise back then. Included in the “CRIME BILL” was the federal “three strikes” provision, mandating life sentences for criminals convicted of a violent felony after two or more prior convictions, including drug crimes.

“PATHWAY FORWARD.”

On Tuesday, November 5, 2024, registered voters in Harris County, Texas, must put their political differences aside and vote for Dan Simons over Sean Teare in the race for Harris County District Attorney.

A minimal amount of research on Sheriff Ed Gonzalez and how many “BLACK INMATES” have died in his custody at the Harris County Jail makes the choice of Mike Knox in the race for Harris County Sheriff on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, a no-brainer.

The best way to restore confidence in the judicial system is for us to keep “THE GOOD JUDGES” and make it our business to remove “THE BAD JUDGES” like Ursula A. Hall from the bench on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, with Attorney Bruce Bain, who has been vetted and approved.