Texas Gov To Arrest Dem Lawmakers Who Fled State On Private Jet To Block Voting Rights Bill

Update (0930ET): Texas’s Republican governor, Greg Abbott, has vowed to arrest the Democrat lawmakers who fled the state in an attempt to stop an overhaul of election laws…

“As soon as they come back in the state of Texas, they will be arrested, they will be cabined inside the Texas capitol until they get their job done,” Abbott said.

* * *

Texas Democrats have up and walked out on the legislative process.

As AmericanThinker.com’s Andrea Widburg details, the background to the story is that the Texas legislature, which currently has a Republican majority (18-13 in its Senate and 83-67 in its House) is poised to pass a voting reform bill. As with similar bills across America, the point is to ensure that the people voting have a legal right to vote and are, in fact, who they claim to be.

The most contentious issues for Democrats are cleaned-up voting bills and, especially, photo ID. The problem is that most Americans support photo ID. According to a Monmouth Poll, when it comes to photo ID, 62% of Democrats, 87% of independents, and 91% of Republicans support it. Texas, with a strong Republican majority, is intent upon passing a bill that the vast majority of Americans would back.

So, what do the Democrats do? Like Brave Sir Robin, they run away:

Texas Democrats fled their state on private jets Monday in order to stop Republicans in the state from passing their voting rights bills through the state legislature.

‘Today, Texas House Democrats stand united in our decision to break quorum and refuse to let the Republican-led legislature force through dangerous legislation that would trample on Texans’ freedom to vote,’ the Texas state House Democratic caucus said in a statement.At least 58 Democratic lawmakers left Austin to fly to Washington D.C. on two private jets chartered for the occasion and will use the time in the nation’s Capitol to rally support for federal voting legislation.

The Democrats’ departure paralyzed the Texas state house as the legislature requires a quorum of two-thirds of lawmakers be present to conduct business. It’s also akin to a move Democrats used in 2003 when they fled to neighboring Oklahoma to block Republicans‘ plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts.

The Democrats risk arrest and expect state Republicans to send law enforcement officials, possibly including the Texas rangers, after them.

To permanently block the two voting bills that Texas Republicans are pushing, the Democrats would have to stay away through the end of the special legislative session, which can last as many as 30 days.

In addition to this profoundly anti-democratic (small “d” democratic) act, the Democrats on the lam seem to have forgotten that Greta Thunberg would be very angry at them for using private jets. Depending on how many passengers those jets carry, they “create ten times as much greenhouse gas as an economy class traveller on a commercial flight, as well as 150 times more than those travelling by train.” (Think about that the next time some leftist billionaire who only travels by his private jet scolds you about your carbon footprint.)

One more thing: I hope you noticed those beaming smiles, courtesy of the fact that none of them are wearing masks…

Oh, and there was that alcohol issue. As the Democrats were ferried somewhere on a bus (presumably to the private jet airport), Julie Johnson snapped a selfie in which she proudly boasted about how the Texas Democrats are protecting democracy by refusing to let the Republican majority vote on an act that comports with the public will.

The whole thing would have been a lot more profound if the snap hadn’t caught a case of Miller Lite on the bus too. Johnson deleted the tweet, but Twitchy caught it:

They promptly earned some media coverage and went without masks, in violation of the FAA’s COVID restrictions.

But as PJMedia.com’s Bryan Preston details below, this is not the first time such malarkey has occurred.

Inexperienced media seem to think Texas Democrats abandoning their posts rather than doing their jobs is new.

ON PLANE TO DC: Texas Democratic lawmakers are leaving state to break quorum to stop Republican voting bill. Veteran Capitol observers say this is unchartered territory. Photo from Democrat on the plane. https://t.co/YOuOMb0A2m pic.twitter.com/abWoARvFIC

— ScottGordonNBC5 (@ScottGordonNBC5) July 12, 2021