Abbott or Costello: Texas Governor must decide if Terror Designation for Muslim Brotherhood Real or a Punchline
Texas is no longer flirting with the issue of politicized Islam—it is hosting it. Between the emergence of large-scale developments like Epic City, the often-cited presence of roughly 2,000 mosques statewide, and the placement of Proposition 10 on the Republican primary ballot, the state has become the frontline test of whether conservative leadership is prepared to move beyond rhetoric. Governor Greg Abbott has declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, but declarations alone do not dismantle networks. Frank Gaffney can argue that Texas voters intuitively understand what state leadership seems unwilling to confront: identifying a threat without acting on it is not governance—it is abdication.
Close to this, quite literally, is Frank Gaffney — founder and President of the Institute for the American Future. He is a leading voice on ideological threats to Western legal systems — warned that “the enemy gets a vote” in Texas unless patriots turn out to affirm Proposition 10. Under Texas’s open primary system, Democrats, independents, and other non-Republican voters can influence the outcome, meaning that opponents of robust legal defenses against sharia may tilt the results if pro-Constitution voters do not mobilize in force.
- Epic City signals organized expansion. This is not cultural expression; it is strategic consolidation through land, capital, and influence.
- Designation without enforcement is meaningless. If the Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist organization, its affiliated mosques and businesses cannot be treated as untouchable.
- Proposition 10 must win decisively. Anything less than an overwhelming vote gives leadership room to delay, dilute, or ignore enforcement.
- Texas hosts infrastructure, not abstractions. Islamist influence operates through real institutions—property, nonprofits, schools—not just ideology.
- Abbott’s problem is follow-through, not awareness. The threat has been named; what’s missing is the fortitude to identify the players and act on that knowledge.
Gaffney is uniquely positioned to articulate what many Republican voters already sense but rarely hear stated plainly: political Islam is not defeated by resolutions, task forces, or symbolic ballots. It is defeated through investigation, designation enforcement, asset scrutiny, and the willingness to confront institutions that hide behind religious protection while advancing ideological objectives hostile to constitutional order.
Proposition 10 is therefore not merely a policy statement—it is leverage. A narrow passage signals hesitation. A landslide demands action. Gaffney can explain why this vote must serve as a mandate, not a gesture, and why state leadership cannot continue to separate rhetoric from responsibility.
Texas has everything national security professionals warn about: population density, institutional depth, political sensitivity, and a leadership class reluctant to follow declarations to their logical conclusion. Gaffney can frame this moment as a choice between seriousness and surrender-by-delay.
The moment is here. The stakes could not be higher.
Relevant Article(s):
Simmons: Abbott’s Islam has an asterisk for oil executive | Community Columnists | seguingazette.com
OPTIONAL Q&A
- How does Proposition 10 move Texas from symbolic opposition to Sharia toward actual enforcement against Islamist networks?
- What does a development like Epic City reveal about how political Islam embeds itself economically and institutionally rather than rhetorically?
- If the Muslim Brotherhood has been designated a terrorist organization, why are Brotherhood-linked mosques, charities, and businesses still operating without scrutiny?
- What message does a narrow passage of Proposition 10 send to state leadership compared to an overwhelming mandate from voters?
- At what point does protecting religious liberty become a shield for political ideology hostile to constitutional law?
- Does Texas leadership lack information about Islamist infrastructure in the state, or the fortitude to act on what it already knows?
- How does allowing ideological networks to consolidate through real estate, nonprofits, and commerce create long-term security risks?
- Is Texas becoming a national model for confronting political Islam—or a warning about what happens when declarations replace action?
ABOUT FRANK GAFFNEY…
Frank J. Gaffney is the President of the Institute for the American Future. He acted as President Reagan’s Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy and served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy. Mr. Gaffney founded and led for thirty-seven years the Center for Security Policy. He is the host of “Securing America with Frank Gaffney” on the Real America’s Voice network and the co-author of The Indictment: Prosecuting the Chinese Communist Party and Friends for Crimes Against America, China and the World.
Websites:
www.CenterForSecurityPolicy.org
CONTACT: Todd Baumann of Special Guests Publicity 512-966-0983 / Bookings@SpecialGuests.com
