Good morning, 

Besides the responses to yesterday’s One Click Survey, in this edition of the Texas Minute you’ll find out how some Democrats are using their quorum-busting trip as cover for a European getaway.

Oh… and the mask mandates are coming back to Texas.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Wednesday, August 4, 2021
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UPFRONT: Yesterday’s Today In History contained a typo. Calvin Coolidge was elected president in his own right in 1924.

Texas Ds European Vacation 

• Claiming they fled Texas to bust the Legislature’s constitutionally-set quorum requirements, it turns out two of the far-left Democrats might just have used it as an excuse to enjoy a European vacation. Brandon Waltens has the details.
       
• Several Republican members of the Texas House posted to social media yesterday that Democrat State Reps. Julie Johnson (Carrollton) and Jessica Gonzalez (Dallas) had gone to Portugal on a vacation. Their offices have not responded to requests for comment.
      
• If some Democrat House members have indeed fled for Europe, it would be just the latest in a series of high-profile missteps after leaving the state on July 12. Since departing for the trip with a case of Miller Lite in tow, several members have contracted (and spread) COVID-19, Dallas Democrats solicited care packages of soda and candy to send to members, and the lawmakers have still failed to secure a meeting with President Joe Biden let alone influence the U.S. Senate to take up and consider leftwing legislation aimed at undermining the states’ election integrity efforts.
        
• Though Democrats have not signalled an imminent plan for return, House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) and the remaining members have for weeks refused to take any meaningful action that would compel the missing lawmakers’ attendance—such as stripping committee chairmanships from them or issuing fines for their absence.
      
• Nothing fits the “fighting for the common man” motif of the Democrats like skipping work for a summer jaunt to Portugal!

Re-Masking Texans

• Despite Gov. Greg Abbott’s recent executive order forbidding local governments from imposing mask mandates, local officials across the state are doing just that. Jacob Asmussen has the full story.
   
• For example, the Williamson County District Court’s office, located in a suburb of Austin, announced they will require “all individuals coming to the Justice Center, including the public and employees, … to wear face coverings and observe social distancing at all times in public spaces of the Justice Center unless otherwise noted.”
   
• Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner enacted a similar mask mandate for all city employees on city properties, and last week, Austin Mayor Steve Adler even wanted to force citizens to get injected with COVID vaccinations.
   
• All this is in direct contradiction to Gov. Abbott’s recent executive order specifically prohibiting local officials from mandating vaccines or masks on citizens.
   
• Will Gov. Abbott do something about his order being ignored?
   
• Frankly, the governor has shown himself to be all-bark, no-bite. Remember, he explicitly said he would arrest any of the quorum-busting Democrats when they returned to Texas but he didn’t do that; so it isn’t surprising that local officials aren’t taking his ‘ban’ seriously.

Maskless County Commissioner Gets Kicked Out of Meeting

• Dallas’ chief administrator – County Judge Clay Jenkins (D) – has defied Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order banning mask mandates, and to make the point had the county’s only Republican Commissioner, J.J. Koch, escorted out of a commissioners court meeting for refusing to wear a mask.
      
• Robert Montoya reports Jenkins asked those not wearing a mask to leave the courtroom by 9:30 a.m. Koch was the only commissioner not wearing a mask.
      

• Jenkins turned to Koch and asked, “Do you refuse to wear your mask?” The commissioner replied, “Yep. You do not have the authority [to mandate wearing a mask], under the governor’s order.” Jenkins then asked a bailiff to escort Koch to his office so he could join the meeting virtually.
      

• “This is yet another display of political theater where Judge Jenkins is spreading fear-porn and flouting the governor’s orders, which underscore our right to breathe freely.” – Dallas County resident Lynn Davenport

$10,000 / Day For CRT!

• A recent open records request reveals Austin city officials are paying more than $10,000 per day of taxpayer money to a local consulting firm for “anti-racism” training at the police department as part of the city council’s so-called “reimagining public safety campaign.” Adam Cahn has the details.
        
• According to the consulting company’s contract with the city, the program includes “transformative learning, critical race theory (CRT), and adult learning.”
     
• Get $10,000 to preach your ideology to a captive audience? Nice work, if you can get it…

Texas’ Next Generation

• Applicants need only demonstrate a commitment to foundational conservative principles, strong character, and a committed work ethic in order to be competitive. More information is available on our website.
      
• We’re taking applications for the Fall 2021, Spring 2022, and Summer 2022 programs.

Y’All Answered

We asked who readers thought would act first; would it be U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arresting Republicans for not being masked in the Capitol, or Texas Gov. Greg Abbott following through on his threat to arrest quorum-busting Democrats?

By a margin of 88.4 percent to 11.6 percent, readers believe Pelosi is more likely to act first on the threat.

Here’s a small sampling of the feedback…

• “Pelosi is drunk on power so she will strike first. Abbott is showing he has no backbone and is just a barking dog with no bite.” – Marti Graves
     
• “Democrats love to wield their power as publicly and flamboyantly as possible. Meanwhile Abbot is just saying what he thinks voters want to hear from a Republican governor—and only under duress as he feels election pressure from more favorable candidates.” – Lauri Helms
       
• “I punched the Abbott button however, I don’t think either will arrest anyone. Just a bunch of smoke to take your mind off their hand in your pocket.” – Gene Klutts
     
• “It won't matter if any "lawmakers" are arrested or not. There will NOT be any serious repercussions, there never are when politicians are involved.” – Doug Freedman
      
• “Your survey needed a third option; nobody will get arrested.” – Randall Woodman
      
• “Governor Abbott’s threat to arrest the Democrats that fled is a joke. He could have arrested the one that came back, before he left again. Our House Speaker is a RINO and Abbott is a moderate with no backbone.” – Joseph Hunt
      
• “Obviously, Pelosi will make an arrest first. Unlike Abbott, she actually follows through on her threats.” – Michael Kinzie
      
• “If Gov. Abbott was going to arrest anyone, as opposed to making idle threats, it would have already happened.” – Bob McCleskey
       
• “Neither will arrest anyone, both are playing politics and neither will do anything good.” – Gerald Slater
        
• “Are you listening governor? Arrest them all.  I’m tired of spending my money on all these indecisions!” – John Denison

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