The fissures in Texas Republican politics are somewhat reflective of the national battle for the soul of the Republican Party, as the anti-MAGA establishment has allied with Democrats to try to defeat the Republicans’ conservative base by any means necessary.
In 2023, “Republican” Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, Dade Phelan, sought to impeach Texas’ Attorney General, Ken Paxton, who has aggressively used his office to battle the left’s agenda. While Paxton was technically impeached for “misusing the powers of his office,” it was an obvious political exercise to take out an elected conservative warrior.
The good news is that the impeachment failed, as enough senate Republicans in the state legislature heard from angry constituents who helped the Senators understand that if they removed Paxton from office via impeachment, they would also be terminating their own political careers. Best of all, Paxton has emerged stronger than ever from all this, and he is poised to defeat 24-year incumbent John Cornyn in the 2026 Texas Republican primary for the US Senate.
Meanwhile, Dade Phelan became an object of scorn and mockery. There is a famous video of him incoherently drunk as he was speaking to the House around the time of the impeachment trial. Having been widely mocked, Phelan is now trying to make it criminally illegal for Texans to mock him. Although he is no longer Speaker of the House, he still as a Republican representative serves in the legislature in an alliance with Democrats and a lot of other fake-Republicans. So, he had his buddies in the legislature pass a bill for the purpose of criminalizing memes that mock Dade Phelan. Seriously.
The Texas House has approved legislation by former Speaker Dade Phelan that would criminalize the distribution of altered political media, such as memes, videos, or audio recordings, unless they contain a government-mandated disclaimer. Despite tweaks in a recently adopted committee substitute, the bill continues to face intense criticism from First Amendment advocates who warn it would chill political speech and satire.
It is not yet law, as it still must be passed by the state Senate and signed by Governor Abbott.
Meanwhile, Rep. Phelan is going on social media highlighting examples of the memes he is trying to criminalize. I believe this is called the Streisand Effect, in which you bring attention to that which you are trying to suppress.
Please Mr. Phelan, continue to let us know of any and all memes you encounter that disrespect you.
Far be it from me, however, to post any of those memes that Rep. Phelan wants to criminalize. But I will post a video of him struggling to make a coherent sentence at the dais of the state House of Representatives.
It’s also worth remembering that the same “respectable” establishment Republicans in Texas who state that Donald Trump has neither the character nor temperament to serve in public office remain steadfast in their support for Dade Phelan.
[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]