Liberty Belles Republican Women’s Club met recently at the Panorama Golf Club with President Jane Williamson presiding. As each woman entered, Judge Tracy A. Gilbert (418th District Court) presented each with a beautiful, red, Happy Valentines rose! Thank you, Judge Gilbert!
Caroline Mason started us off with a prayer followed by Scott Baker leading us in the pledges to the American and Texas flags. After a short business meeting and introduction of elected officials and candidates, President Williamson introduced the Guest Speaker, Montgomery County District Attorney Mike Holley.
Holley’s program, entitled “How Conservative Principles Inform Prosecution” , was chock full of interesting information. He began by asking us a question with two options. Option A – Do you think MOST people will generally do the right thing if the government just gives them enough help and guidance? Or Option B – Do you think MOST people will do whatever they can get away with unless there are rules or consequences? He quoted Edmund Burke “Society is indeed a contract…not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born.” Holley continued by presenting a quote from James Madison (from Federalist No. 51 in 1788) “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external not internal controls on government would be necessary.”
Holley continued his presentation by quoting another famous person in history, Henry Kissinger who served as National Security Advisor and 56th United States Secretary of State under presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He said ” Americans hold that every solution has a problem; Chinese think that each solution is an admission ticket to a new set of problems.”
Actually, according to Holley, “The most important decision we can make is…who makes the decisions.” There are Five Conservative Principals: 1. People are not perfectible. 2. No solutions, only tradeoffs. 3. Intellectual elites have limited value. 4. The Rule of Law must reign. 5. Punishment must be just. Holley closes by quoting another famous American, the 40th President of the United States Ronald Reagan, who said in 1968 that “We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.”
In addition to his program, Holley distributed a spread sheet to all of us, describing the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office flow chart and how we can contact the individuals in his office.
Then, to highlight his presentation, Mr. Holley was presented with a certificate from the Montgomery County Veteran’s Park Commission for his service to the military. As it turns out, Mr. Holley served in the United States Army from 1993-2006 and served as a prosecutor during his tour in Iraq as well as at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and as a defense attorney in Korea, Thailand and Japan.
Thank you again for your service, Mr. Holley!
Liberty Belles Republican Women’s Club meets on the 2nd Thursdays of every month at Panorama Golf Club House. On even numbered months the meeting starts at 6 pm. On odd numbered months they start at noon.
For more information, contact President Jane Williamson at libertybellesrw@mail.com.