Texas House Democrats Wrong To Sign Police State Permission Slips-Fight Ahead Up To Us

Please Contribute

​









​Most all Texas House Democrats left the state earlier this month to stop the progress of the Trump-ordered redistricting. That was good. 

Most of them-though not all-came back over the past weekend. I accepted it because it seemed clear they were not going to get enough members to stay away much longer and I don’t look for solutions in the fight for democracy centered on elected officials. I appreciate the members who have not returned. 

As we move rapidly towards authoritarianism, we’ll see that each of us are the main act and the star performers.  Elected employees are in support role. 

(Above you see word of a protest at the Texas Capitol this evening. Here is the page for members of the Texas House if you want to contact any of them.)

When some members returned on Monday, they were asked to sign a permission slips to be allowed the leave the House Chamber. In addition, the permission slip said a DPS state trooper would be attached to them. One Democrat who returned, Nicole Collier of Tarrant County, refused to sign and is confined like a prisoner in the Capitol. 

I don’t understand why the House Democrats signed the slips. They represent us. The autonomy and freedom of action they signed away belong to us. How can we be fighting a police state and then have our officials acquiesce to a police state measure?

I urge House Democrats to not reenter the House Chamber while under police coercion. That would very much be the wrong example to set. 

Even more important, the fact they signed in the first place makes it even more clear that the fight ahead is ours.
​
I'm on the Egberto Willies Politics Done Right Show every Thursday from 6 AM to 7 AM for the Houston Democracy Project segment. You can hear the show on the radio, stream it on KPFT or watch later Egberto's YouTube channel.​​

Here is a fundraising pitch for the Houston Democracy Project. I'm doing the work and showing up in many different ways.  Please help the effort. ​​​​​​​

---

Please CONTRIBUTE