Robert Downen
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robertdownen.bsky.social
Robert Downen
@robertdownen.bsky.social
52K followers 3.8K following 1.5K posts
Texas Monthly writer focused on the far right, Christian nationalism and the billionaires funding them. Helped expose the Southern Baptist abuse crisis. Fan of Hip Hop and loud guitars. Send me music.
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robertdownen.bsky.social
Don Huffines, the far-right former lawmaker who is running for Texas Comptroller, just announced a "rare" endorsement from Charlie Kirk.
Huffines on Twitter: It is an honor to have Charlie Kirk's rare endorsement. Before he was assassinated, Charlie Kirk endorsed me for Comptroller, saying I had the courage and track record to bring President Trump’s brand of leadership to Texas.
January 22, 2026 at 7:17 PM
robertdownen.bsky.social
Watching the Nathan For You finale again
I reckon you all don't know me at all I just got here today My home is way down in a little town It's not so far away Everybody for miles around Calls me by my name Now that I am in your fair town You must do the same For I'm a Ding dong daddy from Dumas You ought to see me do my stuff I'm a clean cut fellow from Horner's Corner Your ought to see me strut I'm a caper cuttin' cutie Got a gal called Katie She's a little heavy laden but I call her "Baby" I'm a ding dong daddy from Dumas You ought to see me do my stuff I'm a ding dong daddy from Dumas You ought to see me do my stuff I'm a ping pong papa from Pitch Fork Prairie You ought to see me strut I'm a ding dong daddy Got a whiz bang momma She's a Bear Creek baby and a wampus kitty I'm a ding dong daddy from Dumas You ought to see me do my stuff I'm a ding dong daddy from Dumas You ought to see me do my stuff I'm a popcorn popper and a big apple knocker You ought to see me strut I'm a mamma makin' man And I just made Mary She's a big blonde baby from Peanut Prairie I'm a ding dong daddy from Dumas You ought to see me do my stuff I'm a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas
January 22, 2026 at 2:04 AM
robertdownen.bsky.social
On Tuesday, CAIR National also filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the California Dept. of Corrections is not giving incarcerated Muslims access for their five daily prayers.
(WASHINTON, D.C. – 1/20/26) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, along with its California chapter (CAIR-CA), today announced the filing of a federal lawsuit on behalf of an incarcerated Muslim man challenging the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) for its systemic denial of religious accommodations. The lawsuit alleges that CDCR officials violated the constitutional and statutory rights of incarcerated Muslims under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) by refusing to provide consistent access to Jummah prayers, the mandatory Friday congregational prayer central to the Islamic faith. According to the complaint, Jummah services have been provided, at best, less than five times per year.
January 20, 2026 at 9:11 PM
robertdownen.bsky.social
Occasional reminder that Joe Lonsdale recently bragged about co-founding Palantir to cleanse the western hemisphere of communists — a term which, per this Politico piece, he defines extremely broadly.
Article text: Lind said when he asked for definitions of "communists" and "socialists," he'd been told they included anybody who didn't "believe in private property" and "hate the rich."
January 16, 2026 at 7:33 PM
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Texas Public Policy Foundation, the right-wing think tank closely tied to the Heritage Foundation and Trump admin, is hosting an event later this month on CAIR, Muslim Brotherhood and aversaries to "Western values." Two state reps - including 10 Commandments bill author Candy Noble - are panelists.
An advertisement for a Jan 27 event titled: The Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR & Their Networks Working to Influence Western Civilization & Destabilize Texas
January 13, 2026 at 10:34 PM
robertdownen.bsky.social
Roughly 8 in 10 Americans that ICE is baselessly arresting or deporting U.S. citizens. Wasn't long ago that the Trump admin was going after ProPublica and other outlets for reporting this.
Recent polling showing that only 6% of Americans say ICE never arrests US citizens and only 14% say ICE never deports citizens
January 13, 2026 at 1:08 AM
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Two months after Gov. Greg Abbott designated CAIR a foreign terrorist org and moved to strip its tax-exempt status, Attorney General Ken Paxton claims that CAIR's Austin and Dallas chapters can't sue over Abbott's moves because he wasn't actually talking about them, just the national folks
This Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ claims against Attorney General Paton. Plaintiffs lack standing because neither Plaintiff is named as a foreign terrorist organization or transnational criminal organization in Governor’s Abbott’s November 18m, 2025, Proclamation. Plaintiffs do not allege an injury in fact from any action of Attorney General Paxton. Plaintiffs’ claims in this action are not ripe because Attorney General Paxton has taken no action against either of Plaintiffs pursuant to Governor’s Abbott’s November 18m, 2025, Proclamation. Moreover, Attorney General Paxton has sovereign immunity from this suit and any liability herein. In addition, the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution bars this suit.
January 12, 2026 at 7:45 PM
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BONGINO: "I'm Back."
A press release announcing that Dan Bongino is returning to his two-house show
January 12, 2026 at 7:09 PM
robertdownen.bsky.social
On ICE tactics:

-51% say too forceful
-27% say about right
-10% say not forceful enough

Poll was conducted yesterday. Will be interesting to see if/how much these fluctuate.
regional breakdown of polling on ICE tactics, with 51% of all respondents saying they're too forceful; 27% saying "about right"; 10% saying "not forceful enough"; and 12% unsure
January 9, 2026 at 1:05 AM
robertdownen.bsky.social
In Texas - and, increasingly, in other statehouses - Barton's theories have been central to efforts to put more Christianity in public schools and spaces by claiming that the Ten Commandments and Bible are foundational to American society and history.
Citing Barton’s theories, Republicans in 2023 passed a bill allowing unlicensed religious chaplains to supplant mental health counselors in schools, overriding a proposed amendment that would have barred them from evangelizing despite revelations that the leader of the bill’s main backer, the National School Chaplain Association, had for years prior been open about using schools to recruit kids for Christ. (The SBOE’s Pickren, who sits on the association’s board, testified in favor). In 2024, the Texas Education Agency approved new, voluntary grade school curricula that pair lessons with excerpts from religious texts—namely, the Bible—and promised financial incentives to districts who adopt it. The new materials immediately drew backlash: One lesson, for instance, pairs Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” with an Old Testament example of civil disobedience, never mentioning King’s intended audience: white Christian pastors who opposed his protests. By the end of the 2025 legislative session, some Republican lawmakers were openly calling to use schools as a vehicle for evangelism, with one senator saying the Ten Commandments would expose children to the concept of “eternal life.” Aiming to combat the secular influences they blamed for dropping church attendance rates, school shootings, drug use, and other societal ills, legislators allowed for optional prayer time during the school day, required new anti-communism curricula, and mandated that copies of the Ten Commandments be displayed in classrooms.
January 7, 2026 at 7:11 PM
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David Barton, the self-described "amateur historian" whose debunked work has been central to mainstreaming claims that the US was founded as a Christian nation, says he and his son have been directly involved in the Trump administration's efforts to stop "woke propaganda" at the Smithsonian.
Excerpt from David and Tim Barton's podcast: "Yeah, I was going to point out that earlier in the year, the White House asked us to look at some of that," David Barton responded. "At that point, you were leading a tour of legislators in Washington, D.C. ... By the way, we love the American History Museum, the Smithsonian because of the artifacts, but not because of the way they present them. The way they present them is terrible. And so as the legislators went through, Tim, they came back to you and said, 'Oh man, this is terrible and this is bad.' And so you turned that over to the White House on how bad the stuff was, how misleading it was." "You were right in the middle of that story," David celebrated. "This is so encouraging that we actually have an administration saying, 'Let's tell the truth, let's stop this woke propaganda nonsense, let's tell the truth,'" Tim responded. "This is such good news and I'm so excited for what this could mean for the 250th celebration because this is part of what they're gearing it for; they want to make sure we're telling good stories for the 250th."
January 7, 2026 at 6:59 PM
robertdownen.bsky.social
On how COVID polarized churches:

www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
In many churches, COVID-19 brought those simmering tensions to a boil, forcing many pastors to weigh in for the first time on a highly divisive political issue. Suddenly, taking pandemic precautions-masking, digital-only worship, or social distancing-was tantamount to Christian persecution. Small exoduses occurred in pews across the country as congregants left for churches that reaffirmed their views of COVID, thereby speeding up the polarization of American churches that was already well underway. "We are seeing a migration-maybe not toward homogeneity-but a fairly well-defined orthodoxy that is primarily conservative and by implication conservative politically," Haney told me. "I call it the 'tithing of members. When there is a church that is clearly dialed in on an issue that resonates with a moment in the culture, the churches that are not quite as adept at the cultural, attractive issue of the day tithe members to that other church."
January 5, 2026 at 6:49 PM
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It is really hard to overstate the effects of COVID-related church restrictions and closures, both in terms of politicizing once-political churches and pushing countless Americans into the depths of a radical, conspiracy theory rabbit hole.

Exhibit ♾️:
Alone in a Montana hotel room, Yvonne entered a full-on spiritual crisis. She was already upset by the church closing in-person services and moving all activities online. The negative reactions to her COVID protests by church leaders deepened her discontent and questioning. That night she searched for "the truth" in YouTube videos on QAnon. She reflects now on that time: I was very active in our church and was a youth staff volunteer. When the church closed, again that same spirit of wake-up came through and started having me question everything. We were doing youth group online via Zoom, and we were also attending church through live videos—all of which felt so wrong on a soul level. I didn't understand how the church could close. God isn't scared of a disease. I knew now more than ever the churches should be open and available, not closing their doors. The church closing was my biggest red flag and a monumental decision that really exposed to me to who was controlling the church. I saw that the God I had been searching for my entire life really wasn't the God I had learned about in the church. Yvonne started messaging back and forth with church leaders, mostly by recording videos of herself that she posted to YouTube. She started sending them links to the videos that had her questioning her Christian faith. Her response to the concerns from church leaders was to watch even more videos about Anon and spirituality that countered Christian teachings. Looking back now, she sees that as a pivotal moment in her spiritual Journey and even expresses a measure of gratitude. "That's when the Creator showed up in a big way and really started to dismantle my belief system as quickly and gently as It could without completely ruining me. I see that now," she wrote in a Facebook post directed to church leaders. "Thank you," she
January 5, 2026 at 6:46 PM
robertdownen.bsky.social
Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale on blowing up “commies” and their gravesites: “Exactly. What do you think founding Palantir was supposed to be about?”
Twitter user: “Commies aren't allowed in this hemisphere and every one of them should be blown up along with their gravesites” Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale: “Exactly. What do you think founding Palantir was supposed to be about?”
January 5, 2026 at 5:35 PM
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In a promo video released by MercyCulture, they note that the first person to sign their guest book was Dutch Sheets, the New Apostolic Reformation pastor whose sermons and prophesies played a crucial role in mobilizing people to DC on Jan 6.
A screenshot from the Mercy Culture prayer house promo showing the guest book.
January 5, 2026 at 3:42 PM
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MercyCulture, the Christian nationalist church network in Texas that often flirts with QAnon, just opened a prayer house across from the Supreme Court. Among their prayer board items: Ending human trafficking and for Trump to be "baptized in the Holy Spirit."
A screenshot from a promo video from Mercy Culture's new prayer house that shows a prayer board. It lists: "Revival and Reformation in America and the Nations" ; "Abortion to be illegal in all 50 states" ; "Every captive of human trafficking to be set free" ; "Donald Trump to be baptized in the holy spirit."
January 5, 2026 at 3:39 PM
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More from Austin
January 4, 2026 at 8:13 PM
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More from Austin
January 4, 2026 at 7:48 PM
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January 4, 2026 at 7:27 PM
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A few hundred people at Austin City Hall protesting against US military action in Venezuela
A few hundred people at Austin City Hall protesting against US military action in Venezuela
January 4, 2026 at 7:12 PM
robertdownen.bsky.social
This photo rules on so many levels
Tony Hawk laughing in the background as pro skateboarder Tom Schaar poses with Rodney Mullen, who is wearing a “Willie, Waylon, Whataburger & Jeff Phillips” tshirt. Phillips was a professional skateboard from Dallas who died by suicide in 1990
January 4, 2026 at 6:28 PM
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Watching an all-time classic live on ESPN Ocho right now
December 26, 2025 at 12:54 AM
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Great student reporting on why the Harvard Salient, revived to combat what leaders saw as a decline in “contrarian” thought, was abruptly closed earlier this year. (Hint: It was racism). www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
But a series of documents obtained by The Crimson reveal what members of the Salient's governing body were concerned about: variations of a racial slur used casually in a group chat of members; an unpublished issue featuring a call for mass executions; and draft versions of a September article, written by David F.X. Army'28, that included two images of swastikas and a Nazi slogan in the subtitle.
December 21, 2025 at 4:59 PM
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Machine Gun Kelly shows off new Epstein files tattoo
December 19, 2025 at 9:23 PM
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Worth resharing, as Trump continues his "invasion" rhetoric, that one of the people who helped mainstream it as a legal theory is a Texas county attorney who leaders of the Texas secessionists say is a policy advisor to their movement.
But perhaps no one has been more important to the spread of the “invasion” legal theory than officials in Kinney County, a 3,000-person county along the border. In 2021, Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith — who Miller said has served as a policy adviser for his secessionist group — penned a letter arguing that Texas was being “invaded by thousands each day” and should invoke “invasion” clauses of the U.S. Constitution to justify defending itself.
December 18, 2025 at 2:21 AM