OC: Democratic Rep. Mihaela Plesa tears her Dept. of Public Safety escort form in the TX statehouse.

[u/nbcnews]

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[u/Kradget]

Nothing says "This is a state that values freedom" like putting armed cops on legislators to monitor and control their movements.

[u/GodzillaUK → u/Kradget]

True freedom, freedom from choice and personhood. Almost brings a tear to the eye. /s

[u/Khaldara → u/GodzillaUK]

There isn’t a single honest libertarian or ‘small gubmint’ conservative in this entire country.

Nothing but crickets as their party celebrates monitoring what everyone is doing all the time then turns that info over to private industry/Palantir with zero consent from anybody. Militarizes the police, deploys the national guard for absolutely no reason to an area that’s had decreasing crime for years that is currently sitting at its lowest point in thirty years.

Source: Trump’s own goddamn DOJ.

Nothing but ball gargling sycophants.

[u/Ruraraid → u/Khaldara]

Republican motto "Ask not what the govt can do for you but what the govt can do for me"

[u/Whatever-999999 → u/Ruraraid]

My motto: "People should not fear their government, governments should fear their people"

[u/cheekyleaf → u/Whatever-999999]

That’s V’s motto but we all could use it as our own at this time.

[u/Whatever-999999 → u/cheekyleaf]

That's where I got it from.

[u/zombienugget → u/Ruraraid]

Ask not what the government can do for me, ask what terrible things it will do to people who are not me

[u/Beard_o_Bees → u/Khaldara]

Nothing but crickets as their party celebrates monitoring what everyone is doing all the time then turns that info over to private industry/Palantir with zero consent from anybody. Militarizes the police, deploys the national guard for absolutely no reason to an area that’s had decreasing crime for years that is currently sitting at its lowest point in thirty years

A good point, really.

I hate that rank hypocrisy has become the new normal. It's always been a thing, but anymore they may as well take off the mask and breathe a bit better.

Maybe the extra Oxygen getting to their brains will snap them out of it.

[u/snertwith2ls → u/Beard_o_Bees]

I don't think it's hypocrisy any more, it's just out and out lies.

[u/harperwilliame → u/Khaldara]

And didnt lift a finger when dems were assassinated two months ago

[u/wubble123 → u/harperwilliame]

That really passed unremarked upon, didn’t it?

[u/rowenstraker → u/Khaldara]

"libertarians" are Republicans that don't have the balls to admit it in polite company because they know they would be (rightly) ostracized 

[u/[deleted] → u/rowenstraker]

The vast majority of people that I have met in my life who called themselves "Libertarian" don't really know what that word means- and they certainly wern't Libertarian.

[u/Martzillagoesboom → u/rowenstraker]

I thought they where pot smoking republicants ?

[u/SpringsPanda → u/Martzillagoesboom]

That used to be the trope, smoke pot, like cats, LOVE guns and hate government interference. These people are now full MAGA and like to say they're free thinkers.

[u/NightOfTheLivingHam → u/Khaldara]

I find that most people who called themselves libertarians or "centrists" either dropped the moniker when they realized that everyone else who used the label were just republicans in bad faith who didnt like the label, or they are republicans in bad faith.

I'm center left leaning, socially left, financially conservative (unlike the republicans..) Which is an insane take these days according to the dems and republicans. Greed fuels both of them, hate fuels the right wing.

HOWEVER, the "conservative" side of the spectrum, including the "do whatever you want but don't fuck with me" libertarians, wants to control everyone down to how they breathe, kill huge swathes of the population they do not like, and wants the same things as the fascists of the 30s wanted (not just the nazis, Mussolini and Franco too..) which is absolute dominion and power over everything and everyone with maximum suffering, and a return to an era of kings and lords, with everyone else as serfs. This includes the bad faith "centrists" and "libertarians".

Anyone who demands you to bend the knee to them is your enemy. Anyone demanding you bend the knee for someone else and demands you pick a boot polish flavor is your enemy.

Freedom is legitimately under threat in the 2020s. The ultimate goal is to wrangle everyone back in and restore the default social model that has been persistent throughout written history.

Brutal, oppressive monarchies and dictatorships.

Anyone who advocates for the destruction of education is an enemy of freedom too.

I have my qualms with the democrats, and I will give them shit because they are capable of doing better, but the republicans and the right wing, not just in the USA, but in the western world, is an existential threat to anyone who values personal liberties.

This is why you do not vote for the "lesser evil"

[u/Faiakishi → u/Khaldara]

No, they were being truthful about wanting small government. Small enough to fit on a throne.

[u/Whatever-999999 → u/Khaldara]

<extreme_sarcasm>Oh but Khaldara, 'liberty' and 'freedom' are only for human beings, and of course these leftists aren't actual human beings, they're just animals that look like and sound like humans, but they're not God's Chosen People, they have no actual soul like Christian Republicans, therefore they can't be trusted and must be treated like the dangerous animals they are!</extreme_sarcasm>

That's how these people think. We're not really human beings to them, almost as much as they think that non-white people aren't really human beings.
How else could they think it's okay to rip little kids away from their mothers and literally put them in cages? Because you put animals in cages, right? Not human beings, animals.
Why else would they fervently and zealously keep supporting Israel, when Israel has revealed itself to be as bad as Nazi Germany was, literally supporting the genocide of an entire people, bombing and shooting women and children? Because they've devalued them to being 'non-humans', just animals that resemble humans so far as they're concerned.

[u/uptownjuggler → u/Kradget]

“If you are not a criminal you have nothing to worry about”

Is what the idiots/bots will say

[u/Odd-Patient-4867 → u/uptownjuggler]

Until it's about any kind of sensible gun registry or background check process.

[u/Bwob → u/Odd-Patient-4867]

Yeah, weird how all of their justifications immediately evaporate when it's about them...

[u/TheWingus → u/Bwob]

My flag says "Don't Tread On ME", it doesn't say anything about YOU...

[u/Maximillien → u/TheWingus]

"Don't tread on me, tread on them!"

The true subtext of every Gadsden flag.

[u/alppu → u/uptownjuggler]

Ok now the Epstein files

[u/Homesick_Martian → u/Kradget]

Genuine question; can Texas make it illegal to leave the state? Would that not constitute illegal detainment? Like, could they sign this, then go back to Chicago where Texas law enforcement doesn’t have jurisdiction?

[u/fucklawyers → u/Homesick_Martian]

It's actually a US constitutional violation, states may not interfere with the individual right to travel. And that right's in the body, not the amendments of the Constitution.

[u/yellowspaces → u/fucklawyers]

SCOTUS: “Idkkk we’re just in a silly goofy mood today 🤪 SIX TO THREE BABBYY”

[u/ActivePeace33 → u/yellowspaces]

Maybe 9-0. The democrats joined with the others in Anderson. They voted for all of this.

[u/rushmc1 → u/fucklawyers]

The Constitution is just a bunch of suggestions, silly. You know, like the Bible. You just pretend it's binding when it's convenient.

[u/mlvisby → u/fucklawyers]

How bout when people are on trial and out on bond, they are told that they can't leave the state.

[u/klparrot → u/mlvisby]

In criminal proceedings, there can be temporary restrictions on your freedom. I wouldn't worry about not being allowed to leave the state, compared to being held in pretrial detention.

[u/Kradget → u/Homesick_Martian]

Apparently they'll put any old damn thing in the laws at this point and try to make it work, although the rule they're using here is fairly old. I'm not sure whether they're allowed to close their borders in the normal course of business, though. 

[u/SeattlePurikura → u/Homesick_Martian]

https://texasimpact.org/abortion-travel-bans-whats-going-on/
https://americanoversight.org/behind-the-scenes-of-abortion-travel-bans/

They are working hard to make sure pregnant women can't travel. And it's not always easy to determine who's pregnant or not, so they might just start stopping all women. Maybe women should be required to be accompanied by a male relative who can attest that she's not pregnant and/or not travelling for an abortion. Maybe women's travel documents (license, passport) should only be held by a male.

Y'all Qaeda descends.

[u/TheBigC87 → u/Kradget]

I live in Texas.

The only freedom Texas conservatives give a fuck about is low taxes for rich people, the freedom to buy 800 guns, and the freedom to scream the n word in public without repurcussions. They don't give a fuck about freedom and never have.

[u/Ass4ssinX → u/Kradget]

"Land of the free? Whoever told you that is your enemy!"

[u/salomanasx → u/Kradget]

Freedom for me. Not for thee.

[u/Auggie_Otter → u/salomanasx]

They give up their own personal freedoms all the time because in spite of their lip service to "freedom" they're truly frightened HOA rules Karens who just hate anything different than what they do.

I was talking to a guy about how states started banning the import of small Japanese Kei trucks as they became more popular and how we should be free to decide for ourselves if we want smaller imported vehicles. He's a very Republican "freedom" loving proud gun owner so you'd think if these values were logically consistent my personal freedom to choose what works for me should take priority but he was very much like "Oh, well those trucks aren't safe. They're not good. They don't accelerate fast enough. They're not American."

When I pointed out I ride a motorcycle and it doesn't have any safety features or I could buy a classic car that doesn't have airbags or ABS or could be slow to accelerate he agreed that I should, in fact, be free to do those things but he couldn't articulate a logical reason for why buying a Kei truck was actually different but it just "wasn't the same" and he got quiet.

There's constantly something like that too where they're like "It's a free country! No wait, it's not free like that, no you're not allowed to do that, of course you're not."

They should just admit they don't actually like freedom. They like the idea of a strictly and rigidly controlled society.

[u/SwaggermicDaddy → u/Kradget]

Which is hilarious because Texas last I checked ranks 50/50 in terms of personal freedoms and travel freedom, if Texas wasn’t a state America would issue travel warnings to people going there.

[u/Kradget → u/SwaggermicDaddy]

I wouldn't go within 10 miles of the state line, if I could help it. It's Hungary without the healthcare system.

[u/postmodest → u/Kradget]

legislators who refused to have their seats stolen from them by a corrupt administration populated by literal convicted felons.

[u/exipheas → u/Kradget]

Call it what it is. They are now political prisoners.

[u/k_ironheart]

People need to be a LOT more upset about this. They made politicians sign, under duress, a permission form to be surveilled by the police or be illegally detained.

These politicians did nothing illegal. In fact, they did nothing the other side wouldn't do in the future, and haven't done in the past.

And yet the media acts like this is just another day. People act like this is just another day. Authoritarianism is being normalized in our country.

[u/hamptont2010 → u/k_ironheart]

I've been telling people this is legitimately one of the biggest stories in the US right now and we should be furious. This rep is a damn American hero.

[u/No_Feedback_3340 → u/k_ironheart]

Can you imagine if a Democrat majority did this to Republicans? MAGA would be outraged.

[u/thepotplant → u/No_Feedback_3340]

A large proportion of Republican politicians could be legitimately incarcerated.

[u/Count_Backwards → u/thepotplant]

could should

[u/BoPeepElGrande → u/thepotplant]

Do NOT threaten me with a good time.

[u/WeAreAllMadHere218 → u/k_ironheart]

This is how it starts.

[u/Mcaber87 → u/WeAreAllMadHere218]

Starts? You're already in the thick of dictatorship. You have concentration camps, widespread voter supression, a head of state who does whatever he wants despite the law, a massive propaganda network, politicians being killed or detained because they're on the 'wrong side'...

[u/binzoma → u/Mcaber87]

no checks and balances, a court that runs on theocracy and open season on opposition. free speech in the US is dead. the right to free speech is not and has never been about the right to do or say whatever to whoever, its always been the right to protest against the government/speak against the government

[u/Lele_ → u/Mcaber87]

Don't forget mass surveillance so invasive that it makes STASI look like amateurs.

[u/WeAreAllMadHere218 → u/Mcaber87]

It sucks because I feel like where I live, no one is discussing these things, no one is concerned. No one talks about any of this. It’s so deep red around here, if I wasn’t on Reddit I would have no idea the US was even crumbling. Deep in MAGA country, these people have no clue and don’t care. It’s, depressing af. Oh, and I’m in Texas. Where this should be fucking pertinent. It’s not.

[u/Beautiful-Rhubarb-13 → u/WeAreAllMadHere218]

You are not alone, although I know it can feel that way sometimes. I also live in the deep south, your neighbor to the east, Louisiana. I feel the same way, sometimes. But there are more of us than you think. Keep resisting!

[u/eragonawesome2 → u/WeAreAllMadHere218]

What the fuck do you mean "starts" we're already in the fucking middle of it. We have concentration camps, we're dehumanizing entire demographics, we're two steps from martial law in a dozen major cities. Wake the fuck up and realize It's Already Started and we need to fight back however we can

[u/SkinBintin → u/eragonawesome2]

Majority of Americans will wake up in the middle of Handmaids Tale long before they fight back against this shit.

The entire country is designed around standing up for anything being a monumentally huge sacrifice that most simple won't, or cant afford, to make

[u/notredditbot → u/k_ironheart]

No one has the power to revolt unfortunately. We can protest but that sadly doesn't do much except get the word out. It's shameful how much the fascist maga republicans constantly scream about freedom and how Democrats abuse their power yet they do it at a shameless level. Texas needs to vote these fascists out so that Democrats can hold the majority seats so that they can hold these fascists accountable. Everyone needs to vote them out before they remove our ability to vote 🥲

[u/LingonberryDear2163 → u/notredditbot]

My biggest fear is that they've already been working on that before day 1.

[u/notredditbot → u/LingonberryDear2163]

They have. Project 2025 is proof 🥲

[u/samples98 → u/k_ironheart]

I still don’t understand. How did they make them sign it?

[u/-Bluedreams → u/samples98]

They weren't allowed to leave unless they signed it.

[u/samples98 → u/-Bluedreams]

How is that not kidnapping?

[u/QueenRotidder → u/samples98]

umm laws don’t matter in this country anymore. there is a other rep who did refuse to sign and they wouldn’t let her leave.

[u/hambrythinnywhinny → u/samples98]

They're not being moved to another location against their will. It's unlawful imprisonment, maybe.

We'll find out soon, another Rep. filed a habeas writ about it.

[u/nbcnews]

Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows said Monday the Democrats who had arrest warrants issued against them would be allowed to leave the chamber only under certain circumstances.

"Members who have not been present until today, for whom arrest warrants were issued, will be granted written permission to leave only after agreeing to be released into the custody of a designated [Department of Public Safety] officer appointment under the rules of the house," he said, adding that the officers would "ensure your return Wednesday at 10 a.m."

"For those still absent, civil arrest warrants remain in force," Burrows added.

More: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/texas-democrats-return-state-ending-two-week-standoff-redistricting-rcna225243

[u/musicnerdfighter → u/nbcnews]

How does this article have no mention of Democratic Representative Nicole Collier, who refused to sign the "permission slip" and had been confined to the House chambers from Monday until they reconvened this morning?

https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/19/politics/nicole-collier-confined-texas-state-capitol-house-redistricting

[u/alethea_ → u/musicnerdfighter]

My assumption is because we have had lots of coverage about Nicole. This is amazing that someone else is finally stepping up and joining her. I am so amazed by Nicole's strength.

[u/Solomaxwell6 → u/musicnerdfighter]

The article you're responding to is from Monday morning, before it happened.

[u/needsmoresteel → u/nbcnews]

So, house arrest for merely dong their jobs.

[u/bigorangemachine → u/needsmoresteel]

The larger story is Texas is trying to gerrymander and need "De Corum" (enough people from different parties) to ram the rigged maps through "early" (can redraw maps every 10 years).

So forcing her to stay would be so they can use her as a pawn to force a vote through

[u/hammer310 → u/bigorangemachine]

Bro are you talking about needing a quorum, or is this a joke that's going over my head lmao.

[u/bigorangemachine → u/hammer310]

no I spelt it wrong.. its for the world to see now

[u/hammer310 → u/bigorangemachine]

Hahah it's all good, a classic boneappletea 😂

[u/Nilosyrtis → u/hammer310]

[u/Big_lt → u/hammer310]

Ape tit for $200 Alex

[u/UpgrayeddB-Rock → u/Big_lt]

I'll take anal bum cover for $400.

[u/drawkward101 → u/UpgrayeddB-Rock]

I'll take the Penis Mightier for $1000.

[u/GBtuba → u/UpgrayeddB-Rock]

Famous Mothers

"Hahaha! My day has come!"

[u/bigorangemachine → u/hammer310]

Hey I know some french words! lol

Latin however... was is latin to me

[u/smurfsundermybed → u/bigorangemachine]

You understand that it's a doggy dog world, and I respect the hell out of that.

[u/BigDaddyChops78 → u/bigorangemachine]

They need a Quorum not de corum.

[u/TomCruisesDad → u/BigDaddyChops78]

Why not both? Decorum is probably more elusive to them.

[u/mexirab_redux → u/TomCruisesDad]

Decorum is an unknown word to them

[u/lassofthelake → u/BigDaddyChops78]

No, that's just how you type it with a Texan accent.

[u/NRMusicProject → u/bigorangemachine]

"De Corum" (enough people from different parties)

/r/BoneAppleTea

[u/ukexpat → u/bigorangemachine]

You mean a quorum…

[u/postmodest → u/bigorangemachine]

France is Bacon.

[u/JPMoney81 → u/needsmoresteel]

I dong'ed my job and got hauled up to HR.

[u/wookiewookiewhat → u/nbcnews]

How on earth did they get arrest warrants? It’s not illegal to not do your job.

[u/Hesitation-Marx → u/wookiewookiewhat]

Civil warrants, not criminal warrants, and how? Because Greg Abbott is a little bitch.

[u/DadFromRadioFlyer → u/Hesitation-Marx]

Greg Abbott is the reason there's a stairway to Heaven.

[u/PM_ME_SCALIE_ART → u/DadFromRadioFlyer]

Fucking wheezing at this comment like

[u/TwistyBunny → u/DadFromRadioFlyer]

That tree was too generous.

[u/ScyllaGeek → u/wookiewookiewhat]

Because no one else has actually answered, it's straight up because its Texas state law*. The law basically allows for the state to wrangle legislators back to the state house if it deems it necessary. Not a power used very often, obviously, though as the other commenter mentioned these aren't criminal warrants

*constitutional provision, as the other commentor pointed out

[u/wookiewookiewhat → u/ScyllaGeek]

Thanks - it is still insane and I disagree with it, but at least there's a kernel of actual law involved.

[u/zackks → u/nbcnews]

Disobey. Go to jail as a Political prisoner. Fight

[u/JustASpaceDuck → u/nbcnews]

Boy howdy if I were in their shoes I'd be angry laughing at anyone who thought they could detain me or restrict my movement without cause. How physical do you think the DPS officers or offending legislators would be in enforcing this illegal rule? Not enough, I'd imagine.

[u/David-S-Pumpkins → u/nbcnews]

Taxes paying for more cops to lazily do nothing

[u/rodimusprime88 → u/David-S-Pumpkins]

Incorrect. All 400 of them let those kids die in that school

[u/misterjones4]

So, are we calling this a cold civil war yet?

[u/Kradget → u/misterjones4]

There are already military forces being deployed domestically against civilians, routine detentions by secret police, and sporadic terror attacks.

[u/good-luck-23 → u/Kradget]

The Confederates are back.

[u/Dos_Ex_Machina → u/good-luck-23]

We never properly got rid of them.

[u/jimbo831 → u/Dos_Ex_Machina]

Ending Reconstruction before the job was done is one of this nation’s biggest mistakes.

[u/magistrate101 → u/jimbo831]

It goes a step backwards from that: Failing to execute the treasonous insurrectionists that perpetrated the civil war.

[u/jimbo831 → u/magistrate101]

Absolutely crazy to me that they weren't all prosecuted!

[u/penny-wise → u/jimbo831]

They did that by killing the president.

[u/acolyte357 → u/jimbo831]

You mean stopping Sherman?

[u/J_Robert_Matthewson → u/acolyte357]

Sometimes YOU need to be the Tecumseh Sherman you wish to see in the world.

[u/Sky_Night_Lancer → u/J_Robert_Matthewson]

john brown did nothing wrong

[u/Dos_Ex_Machina → u/Sky_Night_Lancer]

John Brown was a weird fella. Hardline religious, he just also happened to do the right thing in a big way when it mattered.

[u/RoninChimichanga → u/J_Robert_Matthewson]

r/ShermanPosting

[u/Number174631503 → u/RoninChimichanga]

[u/philter25 → u/Dos_Ex_Machina]

Can we now or does that violate some frivolous terms of service?

[u/Kjartanski → u/philter25]

Well thats what Article III section 3 is for isnt it

[u/MjrLeeStoned → u/philter25]

It requires effort, the classic foil of the average US citizen.

[u/Kradget → u/good-luck-23]

Hate to tell you, they just admire the Confederates. A bunch of them live in lots of different places. Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maine, Wisconsin, California, and New York also have these guys.

Hell, in my state, half the Republican state legislative caucus are transplants. They do loooooove some Confederates, though.

[u/fng185 → u/good-luck-23]

America lost the Cold War and the civil war in 2025.

[u/rif011412 → u/fng185]

If you think about it, both those enemies teamed up precisely so they could blitzkrieg liberal secular society; corrupting our own rule of law (vilifying common behavior), divisiveness, corruption, bribery, and one hell of a propaganda network.

[u/kymri → u/good-luck-23]

Sherman should have kept going.

[u/kooshipuff → u/Kradget]

That sounds more like 1930s Germany than 1860s US, to be fair 

[u/7tenths → u/Kradget]

And political assassination 

[u/Seawolf_42 → u/misterjones4]

It already is according to the nazis who wrote Trump’s Project 2025:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/heritage-foundation-trump-american-revolution-b2573284.html

“We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be,” Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts told Real America’s Voice on Tuesday.

Comment was made on July 2, 2024.

[u/EJOtter → u/Seawolf_42]

"If the left allows it to be" The fucking audacity

[u/Adorable-Strings → u/EJOtter]

The unspoken part is 'if the left resists, we will shed blood and kill them'

[u/monpetitfromage54 → u/Adorable-Strings]

that's not really unspoken. that's what they actually said.

[u/SteveJobsOfficial → u/Adorable-Strings]

This is why everyone should be arming themselves.

[u/MossyPyrite → u/EJOtter]

“If they just roll over and take it

[u/kent_eh → u/EJOtter]

"If the left allows it to be" The fucking audacity

What I'm hearing is:

"The rape victim will be allowed to live if she doesn't struggle or fight back"

[u/eeyore134 → u/misterjones4]

It's been one for decades, it's just only one side has been fighting while the other side kept considering them colleagues and trying to appease and reach across the aisle and work with them. Even after Trump's first farce of a term they continued to try. We need to rip off this band aid. They want to take literal political prisoners? They want to send troops to California and DC to go to war against their own citizens? Then it's time for blue states to do the same thing. Send the national guard to Texas to free these reps. If it starts a war then a war was necessary, because we should not be standing idly by while this crap happens. They've already shown if they're given an inch they'll take literally everything else. Stop waiting for this to work itself out.

[u/rushmc1 → u/eeyore134]

When all is said and done, if America is lost, the blame will not lie primarily with the barbarian usurpers, it will lie at the feet of the cowards who chose not to engage.

[u/Pretty-Balance-Sheet → u/misterjones4]

Republicans have been in this cold civil war since the Tea Party came into existence around 2008. I personally think the opening shots were fired is when the GOP pulled out of good faith working agreements during the beginning of the push for ACA. The covid vaccine and mask mandates were the catalyst that moved it forward from grievance to action.

A cold civil war happening and has been for a while and has escalated, but Democrats are just finally starting to realize that this is more than an 'oh well, we'll wait until the next mid-term' situation.

[u/semperknight → u/Pretty-Balance-Sheet]

I think the first shot was when Republicans literally tried to overturn an election with a riot and then pardoned everyone who participated in an illegal activity.

[u/v0rt → u/misterjones4]

Been hot for a while
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Garrett_Foster
They pardon Nazi's that murder open carrying liberals in Texas.
MAGAt Sherriff's and cops all over the country openly state on social media they will no longer help democrats.
Project 2025 calls for the enslavement of women and children and murder of democratic men.
Trump going on TV and saying all democrats hate America after 2 were murdered by a magat dressed as a cop.

[u/karenw → u/misterjones4]

I've been calling it that since at least 2016.

[u/NeriTina → u/karenw]

Began 9-11, actually, but yes. 2016 is when it ramped up, and this now is essentially the endgame, which is why the federal government is so desperate to recruit 🧊🧊🧊 agents and is deploying a reluctant military on domestic soil against civilians. We’re all so tired of this bullshit.

[u/Cent1234 → u/NeriTina]

If only the US Constitution had some sort of provision for defending against government oppression. Something that the framers of said Constitution was not only a possibility, but a necessity. Maybe even some sort of pithy phrase about, I don't know, fertilizing the rhododendron of freedom, I don't know, we'll workshop it.

[u/NeriTina → u/Cent1234]

I love you.

[u/OmniTalentedArtist → u/misterjones4]

They already assassinated 2 of out people and troops are on the street. It's already a hot war.

[u/Penne13]

So if they stay in their house and choose to sleep in today are they arrested when they do try to leave their house?

[u/Present-Perception77 → u/Penne13]

No.. they will be drug out of their house in cuffs.. I’d just stay naked the whole time.. let’s see the party of “family values” drag naked people into the chamber. Lmao

[u/_Ralix_ → u/Present-Perception77]

I wouldn't put it past them to drag you out and charge for public indecency, along with putting you on the register if you don't comply.

[u/7tenths → u/Present-Perception77]

The party of family values is backing a child rapist who cheated on each of his wives. 

They'll just blame the woke liberals no matter how little sense it makes. 

[u/1zzie → u/Present-Perception77]

You mean the party af Abu Ghraib? Yeah they don't care, might even relish it.

[u/summonsays → u/Present-Perception77]

Doesn't Texas have a castle doctrine? Shoot anyone coming into your house without permission.

[u/BlogintonBlakley]

Life would be so much better if we took the entire business and political class, along with their elite sugar daddies, and put them all in suspended animation until we develop the techniques to help them recover from their disease.

[u/Kradget → u/BlogintonBlakley]

I had a joke to make about that, but I'm concerned it would be construed as calling for violence rather than a commentary on how that's worked out for rich people who tried it so far (as I'd intend it).

Anyway, we're not doing super good at "suspended animation" for people so far, and there'd certainly be a lot to recover from.

[u/BlogintonBlakley → u/Kradget]

"Anyway, we're not doing super good at "suspended animation" for people so far..."

I thought we were talking about elites and the business and political class and helping them become people?

;)

But yeah wouldn't want to accidentally be unable to unfreeze elites.

{emanates sincerity}

[u/Jack0fTh3TrAd3s → u/BlogintonBlakley]

They already invented the vaccine!! It was invented in France about 230 years back.

Was used to great success.

[u/d3l3t3rious → u/Jack0fTh3TrAd3s]

Ask your doctor if Gillatene™️ is right for you!

[u/Present-Perception77 → u/BlogintonBlakley]

“I can understand it very well. The backbone of America is being raised people who preach a religion that they would never consider practicing. Being heavily punished for not following rules that the people punishing you would never follow. Living a life where violence can come from anywhere but usually it is the people who were supposed to protect you. When you get it so early in life, it ingrains you a thorough and unrelenting distrust of authority. I feel it myself, to this day. It is the sort of thing I can see instantly in another person. And.... It's a huge number of the people I see.

Without the mental and emotional fortitude to face their demons and resolve them, these people ended up with a twisted illness that says two things: Authority cannot be trusted, and that the way that you were raised is the way you raise kids. They walk blindly carrying the contradiction in the hearts that the thing they hated was the right thing to do. As it eats them alive from the inside, they self-medicate by acting out their own abuse in a grim homage to their upbringing.

The worst part is a core tenant of this illness is a sense of shame for feeling this way. That it is your fault, and if anyone found out your reputation would be ruined. You would become a pariah among men. In the end, you must both act this way and keep it a secret. It is a matter of maintaining your identity.

The Tech Bros identified this, and moved to use it as a point of manipulation to drive the required 25% of the population into their corner. These guys are too emotionally broken to seek out the truth, so they will drink whatever juice they like the best.

The juice that makes them feel the best is their failed relationships and their failed careers are not their fault. Simple lies that you can beat with 2 minutes of logic. But then they would have to admit weakness.

This is the backbone of America. It is what holds us up. It is what was the middle class. The Working Class. They are almost all broken. And so our backbone is broken.

And that is why it looks like we have no spine.”

• Unknown

[u/TheMaleBodyPillow → u/BlogintonBlakley]

Just a reminder, firearms in the US out number the amount of people.

[u/BlogintonBlakley → u/TheMaleBodyPillow]

Well yeah... ya gots two hands dontcha?

[u/Combdepot]

Conservatism is a degenerate terrorist ideology.

[u/Styvorama → u/Combdepot]

They hate on their peers to lift themselves up, and worship their masters as they are disillusioned enough to believe they could also be rich, if not for the liberals, LGBTQ, and immigrants who are conspiring to hold them back.

They have a losers mentality, blame their losses and issues on everyone but themselves. They worship people who don't want Americans to succeed. They want America Inc to succeed, just to feed their bottomless hunger for money and power.

Worshipping someone who wants money and power for the sake of it is a wild perversion of the religion and country Republicans claim to love.

They are not serious people, they dont want to discuss facts, and don't even seem to believe there is such thing as a fact. They allow themselves to be told a story as it helps explain their pain in a way that requires no personal responsibility.

[u/etcpt → u/Styvorama]

if not for the liberals, LGBTQ, and immigrants who are conspiring to hold them back

Don't forget the Jews. They really hate the Jews. The only reason your average mouth-breathing conservative evangelical supports Israel is because they think it needs to exist to summon back Jesus to start the end times.

[u/Cyted → u/Styvorama]

It makes more sense when your realize conservatism is just about in groups and out group. They just use whatever ever bullshit to justify actions of/or against either group.

[u/ijustneedaccess → u/Combdepot]

It's Regressivism

[u/sillyhillsofnz → u/Combdepot]

The Republican party is arguably a domestic terrorist group and Rico-level criminal organization.

[u/TLKv3 → u/Combdepot]

Its a fucking disease just like religion.

Terrorism? They want everyone who isn't them to die.

Call them what they are: a plague on Humanity.

[u/SicilianEggplant]

The one locked in the state house clarified this morning on NPR that the wording has them placed into custody (of whatever agency). That needs to be mentioned every time instead of “escort”.

[u/Mazon_Del]

Just remember, there is no law requiring a member of the Texas House of Representatives to show up to the job. It's an oversight most states make.

Legally, there is nothing criminal about being elected to the Texas House of Representatives and then leaving the state never to return.

The Sergeant At Arms IS empowered to go and get you, but it's not because you committed a crime, that's just an aspect of the office itself.

[u/Carl_Bravery_Sagan → u/Mazon_Del]

They should have never come back to begin with. And you will never hear a good reason why besides "California might pass new maps (ignore the fact that they were going to try that before we decided to leave) so we decided to give up and distract people with some planned meaningless outrage."

[u/Mazon_Del → u/Carl_Bravery_Sagan]

At a complete guess? The pervasive falsehood that they've actually committed a crime of some sort likely was focus-group testing in such a way that the think-tanks and such pointed out that further hold-out behavior was causing a negative.

[u/ashigaru_spearman]

I still don’t understand how this isn’t kidnapping.

[u/WhyMustIMakeANewAcco → u/ashigaru_spearman]

Easy: because republicans are doing it, it is good and legal. You can tell because they say so.

[u/subnautus → u/ashigaru_spearman]

It isn't kidnapping because Texas has a law that puts out arrest warrants for legislators who flee the state to prevent quorum in the Leg. It's a bullshit law that only went into the books because of another time Republicans had the votes to push through a bullshit law but not enough bodies to hold a vote to begin with, but the law is there nonetheless.

[u/ashigaru_spearman → u/subnautus]

I understand that, but does it allow holding them hostage unless they sign permission slips for being continuously monitored and arrested if they leave sight of their minders?

[u/subnautus → u/ashigaru_spearman]

Just so we're clear, I'm about to describe things as they are, not how they should be. We agree that being compelled to attend a legislative session by goons with guns is fucked up.

That said, the arrest warrants are already issued. The legislators in question are basically being offered something akin to being released with bail conditions. Basically, until the vote they're going to have goons with guns controlling where they're allowed to be. The only question is where.

And, to be sure, if I were in the position the democrat lawmakers are in, I'd be publicly choosing to be kept at the capitol building to highlight how fucked up the law is, too. But the problem isn't that they're having to "sign permission slips." It's the law the put them under arrest in the first place.

[u/Florac → u/ashigaru_spearman]

It is, but those responsible for wnforcing those laws side with the kidnappers

[u/Dreams-Visions]

Good.

They never should have signed these in the first place. It's frustrating to see daily that these current Dems don't know that placation and capitulation is how you cede ground, not hold it.

[u/rushmc1 → u/Dreams-Visions]

Hear, hear.

[u/psaepf2009]

This is why the democratic party is so toothless. Their "civil disobedience" is still obedience. Leave the Capitol building and don't sign the permission slips, let them actually arrest you as to show how messed up it is to arrest your political opponents.

I promise, like half this country that would actually care doesn't know or give a shit.

[u/copperblood]

Mihaela Plesa is such a badass. We need to see far more of this kind of resistance. Take note fellow liberals: writing strongly worded emails, getting on social media and shaking your finger in disgust isn’t actual leadership. When you do that the general public perceives you as weak. Standing in defiance and literally ripping up an authoritarian document in front of the people does not equal weak ✊🏽

[u/discoduck007 → u/copperblood]

This is it right here. The more who stand the more will stand.

[u/fasterthanbulletz → u/copperblood]

She has the Romanian blood in her, that's where the badass comes from.

[u/cannedpeaches]

They shouldn't have signed them in the fucking first place.

Start with the obvious: if you know Collier was not going to sign, you are absolutely selling her out to get made an example of. What a way to betray a colleague.

But then go further. You were willing to accept these conditions? Seriously? Is this just like Cory Booker, burnishing his image with a record-setting filibuster only to then go on and confirm a bunch of authoritarians to Trump's cabinet? What is with Democrats and putting up only enough resistance to not put their safety or, god, their professional comity with Republicans at risk?

The legislators who will be rewarded in '26 are those that showed real spine, not PR-friendly spine. Collier has. Plesa has not.

[u/SecondRealitySims]

I don’t get how legally they could be held at the statehouse at all. If there are arrest warrants, shouldn’t they be arrested and taken to jail? If there isn’t, on what grounds are they being held at a building against their will? What’s to stop them from just walking or forcing their way out?

[u/sloppy_steaks24]

Shithole state

[u/cygnus2 → u/sloppy_steaks24]

In a shithole country.

[u/InvertedAlchemist]

Okay but now they need to leave. This is nothing more than symbolic. Because if they still just stay in the Capitol building and don't leave then they're letting the Republicans get away with this BS.

[u/g2g079 → u/InvertedAlchemist]

The one who stayed is suing them.

[u/MonkeyWithIt]

Only halfway there folks!

https://www.project2025.observer/en

[u/TheTallGuy0]

We send 1,000 people, each dressed like a different Dem TX State representative and REALLY fuck with these fascists fuckwads, they’d loose their “keeper” in a second. What a fucking time we’re in… 

[u/L4nthanus]

How is this legal in the first place??

[u/stupidnameforjerks → u/L4nthanus]

Where have you been? How effective has "but they're not ALLOWED to do that!" been in the last few years? Legal/Not Legal isn't a thing anymore.

[u/showmiaface]

Fuck the fascists!

[u/WinstonChurshill]

I’m embarrassed you all signed it in the first place…

[u/cardboardcowboy9]

We should call the FBI and the US Marshalls office to report a hostage situation at the Texas House...

[u/Thatguywritethere45 → u/cardboardcowboy9]

Except the FBI agreed to track them down in the first place to force them to come back. They’re not on their side.

[u/pocketjacks]

If Texas legislators have no problem with extrajudicial detainment of their fellow members, they certainly will have no problems with detaining you on flimsy suspicion of you being here illegally or driving out of state for an abortion. The rule of law is currently binding but not protecting one group while protecting but not binding the other.

[u/Imakergag]

The republicans really are going to burn America to the ground, just so that the GOP can rape children and protect pedophiles.

[u/PopeKevin45]

Don't know how anyone could sign such a fascist document. Nothing says 'nazi' more than 'Papers please!'. If fascist republicans could stop protecting pedos and start actually defending America, that be great.

[u/DemonRaily]

I am not American so let me get it straight. The minority party, in this case the Democrats are able to prevent a vote they are guaranteed to lose as long as they can simply not show up so enough people are missing in general to call the vote in the first place.

This law of passed will redraw the map in a way that will guarantee Republican victory forever

Then there is a law that can forcefully assemble them to vote if stuff is super important(and of course the ruling party decides if it's important) as they can grab them and drag them to do their job by force. This law exists so the minority party can't just refuse to show up in every single vote and stop all laws from being passed forever. So the Democrats ran away to another state.

Now that the time for the first vote ran out they came back and got locked in the government building until another vote is called unless they agreed to an escort so they would not run away again. If I get it right that's the illegal part, because technically they are supposed to have another chase once it is called instead of keeping them there?

Is America a big elaborate joke or something?

[u/WheresMyBrakes]

AM I BEING DETAINED OR AM I FREE TO GO?

[u/sxb0575]

I'm kinda mad about the ones who decided to jump on the bandwagon after Rep Collier. Like where was your courage two days ago.

[u/GlassAndStorm]

Great. But why'd it take them so long to do this and why are on the woman standing up.

Come on Dems.