Republicans Shut Down Democracy In Texas

The roadmap from Austin to authoritarian rule.

Last night, we expected Senator Carol Alvarado to filibuster the maps bill (HB4), but Republicans blocked her filibuster in one of the most outrageous Legislative moments I’ve yet witnessed. Top ten, for sure.

Senator Charles Perry explained that he believed it was illegal and unethical for her to filibuster that evening because she had sent out a fundraising letter earlier that day. He found it offensive, but also because it was Friday night and he wanted to get home.

When Senator Roland Gutierrez questioned the presidance of shutting down a filibuster, the Lieutenant Governor shut down his questions.

There is no democracy without dissent.

If you watched the short video above, you saw there was a brief moment where the Senate was interrupted and Dan Patrick ordered someone removed from the gallery.

It was a man shouting, “Fascists, fascists, fascists.” Then, as DPS was escorting him out, he yelled, “We all saw this.” From _meganthuy on Threads:

We definitely did see it. Saying a filibuster is “illegal and unethical” because Carol Alvarado sent a fundraising email? That’s complete bullshit.

Republicans spend every single day fundraising. Every day.

While they’re on the floor voting away your rights, while they’re holding press conferences, while they’re bullying Democrats, they’re also blasting out texts and emails begging for donations.

When Republicans push anti-LBGTQ+ bills, they fundraise off the “culture war.” When they ban abortion, they send out glossy mailers celebrating it, with a donation link at the bottom. When they haul Democrats across the coals, call them names, or accuse them of being un-American, they use those clips in ads to raise more money.

They even fundraise off fascism itself.

You’ve seen it, Dan Patrick and Greg Abbott smiling in front of cameras, passing laws that target immigrants, students, or workers, while their campaign staffers are in the back of the room cutting the footage into a fundraising video before the ink is dry.

So, for Charles Perry to clutch his pearls because Carol Alvarado dared to send one email while preparing to filibuster a racist map? Spare me. Republicans were angry because a Democrat was ready to stand up to them, and they’ll twist any excuse to shut it down.

As authoritarianism has taken hold in DC, the cult members down here in Texas gladly comply with shutting down opposition.

We saw it last week with the permission slips and holding Nicole Colier as a political prisoner in the Texas Capitol building for two days.

Abbott added “punishing Democrats” to the call of the second special session, for using a legal legislative procedural tool granted to them in the Texas Constitution.

They’ve already fined each of the quorum-breakers $10,000.

On Monday, the House Election Committee is slated to take up HB18, which will prevent any House member from fundraising while on a quorum break.

Republicans have also introduced the following bills:

• HJR8 and HJR29 to make sure legislators don’t get paid if they break quorum.

• HR58 to block Democratic vice-chairs and Democratic chairs of Sub-Committees, as well as blocking Democrats from having a budget on Committees.

And all of this because Democrats tried to stop them from stealing Congressional seats for Trump.

Who knows what else they’ll try to do?

Silencing the opposition is a core tenet of fascism.

Fascism thrives on eliminating dissent, stripping away the right to challenge those in power, and normalizing the punishment of anyone who dares to resist. Once the majority party uses its control of the rules to choke off debate, to criminalize protest, and to punish opposition financially, democracy ceases to function.

What’s left is authoritarian rule wrapped in the false trappings of procedure.

Every other fascist movement in history has literally done the exact same thing. Nazi Germany began with procedural measures. After Franco’s coup in Spain, he banned leftist parties from parliament. It’s a pattern. Trump Republicans and Texas Republicans aren’t doing anything new.

It always starts with a ruling class using the rules of government to shut out the opposition, silence debate, and punish dissenters until the only voices left are loyalists.

That’s why we have to resist. We have to fight back. Not next year, not when it’s convenient, but right now.

Get involved with your local 50501 movement. Get involved with your local Indivisible chapter. In North Texas, there have already been protests at some Republican legislators’ offices, but not nearly enough. We need more bodies, more voices, more pressure. We need an Indivisible that isn’t just focused on Congress but laser-focused on Austin, because these mofos are out of control.

Right now, the special session is their playground, and they’re trying to rewrite the rules of democracy to shut us out for good. If we can get through this special session, then we can regroup and focus on the election. That’s the long game, getting these fascists out of office.

But we can’t ignore what’s happening today. The American president has already unleashed the US military on American citizens on American soil. Who the fuck knows where we’ll be in 18 months? But I know this much, we can’t give up, and we can’t check out.

We have to stay optimistic, because at the end of the day, we’re fucking Americans. Our whole story is built on standing up to tyranny. We dumped tea in the harbor. We told a king to shove it. We’ve marched, we’ve bled, we’ve fought, and we’ve won before. Revolution is in our DNA. And if history tells us anything, it’s that we, the people, can beat back authoritarianism.

This is one of those moments. We can’t sit it out.

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