October 15th the Republican Party of Texas has officially removed marijuana completely from its platform for the 2020 legislative session.
Spearheaded by Dr. Paul Chaboot, the move came as a last moment surprise. The term Dr. being used here is by request. Chabot prefers to go by this term despite not holding a medical doctorate. AP style guidelines state that the title is reserved in writing for those holding medical degrees unless requested to be named as such. Writers are to do this to avoid public confusion. Dr. Paul Chabot holds a Doctorate in Executive Leadership, and not medical science.
How it started
Chabot is a California native that uses the phrase Don’t California our Texas in celebration of removing such platform positions.
TCC was able to reach out to Jeff Leblanc, a Republican Liberty Caucus member and the precinct chair of the Liberty County Republican Party. Mr. LeBlanc voted on the planks as a platform committee member during the meeting.
“That’s because he makes money off of it. He runs a business that pays for conservative families to move from (marijuana) legal state to states where it’s illegal and help keep it illegal,” LeBlanc stated of the awkward phrase the non-native Texan uses on the topic.
LeBlanc further stated that Chabot did well at putting up opposition to the plank being on the platform. Being a Navy Reserve officer, that led to his credibility as well. Chabot was part of the drug task force under President Clinton. The unsettling part was that he framed people for the plank types support marijuana as George Soros people infiltrating the party. That these are not Republican values.
The lone battle
“I was the only one fighting to save that plank. I swear they must have thought I was the biggest pothead because every time it came up I made it get recalled for a vote twice. The problem was this was such a messed up convention. I didn’t have any backup, you know Heather (Fazio) couldn’t be there. The people from NORML weren’t there,” stated LeBlanc.
As a result, LeBlanc fought a lone battle on this and tried other avenues to stop it from happening. He tried to have Chabot removed from the debate as he was clearly there for a special interest. The chair denied that request.
LeBlanc continued, “There really weren’t many people there and by the time they finally showed, up it was too late. The minute I found out who was on this committee, I told Heather. Somebody needs to be here. We need state representatives here that voted for this. We need you guys here. Somebody has got to be here because they are going to remove this.”
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Chabot plays a thorn
Leblanc stated that it was obvious that Chabot came to the platform committee with the goal of getting the plank removed. He wasn’t on the criminal justice subcommittee. LeBlanc told TCC that Chabot got upset about that. Chabot became upset because he wanted to be on the committee that discussed marijuana.
“I chaired the criminal justice subcommittee. And Chabot got it pulled out when the general platform committee met as a whole. My biggest problem with him is he was a complete a******. I mean there’s ways to debate and there’s way to be against issues without calling people George Soros plants. And he had no clue how to compromise. Did you know he wanted things that I could have voted his way on if he would have left my stuff alone. So after he did that it was extremely funny because everything he tried, when they would say “are there any objections?” I would be like I object,” LeBlanc informed TCC.
LeBlanc tried to subtly hint to Chabot that he knows this is how this works.
Alternative arguments
LeBlanc then told TCC that he was so mad that he didn’t think to play the Briscoe Cain and the James White card.
“We literally have Briscoe Cain, the most conservative member of the Texas House who signed onto this bill, and James White not only signed on to the bill, he co-authored Moody’s bill.
LeBlanc continues, “So are you telling me you think Briscoe Cain is a George Soros plant, get a grip. It is much easier for those guys to vote for decriminalization when it’s in the flat because those constituents do get upset, but they have that to fall back (on).”
LeBlanc doesn’t want people to get him wrong though. He says that people like James White will still support it and liberty-minded Republicans will still support it. He was willing to bet even Briscoe will still support it, but he won’t sign on to it though. He thinks Briscoe’s a little bit more politically aware than that. LeBlanc notes James White has seniority so he doesn’t have to worry about stuff like that, but this is only Briscoe’s second term. And even Republicans aren’t stupid enough to oust a black conservative.
The 2018 platform stated that the party desired to progress cannabis on multiple fronts. The platform called for decriminalization, and it called for expanding the compassionate use program. This platform has none of this, not even mentions of hemp policy. This is a strange reversal given that recently Ag Commissioner Sid Miller publicly backed expanding the compassionate use program, and Chaboot is referencing implications that those individuals are paid George Soros plants.
Voters now decide how they would like to see their legislature work, by using the ongoing election cycle.