Remember when lawmakers who played shady games to avoid allowing a vote to happen were actually punished? Recently, Texas Democrats fled the state on maskless private flights (with many of them catching COVID and infecting others) to prevent democracy from happening. Lawmakers were poised to vote on multiple bills intended to protect the integrity of the vote. Democrats knew they were beaten and decided to just stop the vote from happening — by running off to Washington. The state House ordered their arrest upon their return to the state, but now a Democrat judge has blocked the arrest of Texas Dems who fled the state.

“If these people want to be hanging out wherever they’re hanging out on this taxpayer-paid junket, they’re going to have to be prepared to do it for well over a year. 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,” said of the Democrats. The state House voted to arrest them as soon as they came back to Texas. But 22 of the Democrats filed a lawsuit claiming they are a “protected class” who is suffering from “much anxiety and stress” over attempts to get them to do their jobs. And sadly, at least for now, the lawsuit has been a shocking success in the sense that they have convinced a judge to protect them from facing the music. The Texas Tribune reports:

A state district judge in Travis County issued an order blocking the arrest of House Democrats who have broken quorum by leaving the state, paving the way for those who remain outside of Texas to return home without threat of apprehension.

State District Judge Brad Urrutia, a Democrat, granted the temporary restraining order late Sunday night restricting Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dade Phelan from “detaining, confining or otherwise restricting” the free movement of House Democrats within the state or issuing any warrants ordering their confinement.

The order expires in 14 days unless extended by Urrutia. The court will hear arguments on a temporary injunction on Aug. 20 where Abbott and Phelan must show why a temporary injunction should not be filed against them.

For the next 14 days, these fugitives can come home, pack clean clothes, manage their affairs, then jet off to D.C. again if they want to. It’s unclear if the vote will ever happen, but Republicans are determined to ensure it will.

Remember masks? Democrats have spent the entire pandemic yelling at the rest of us if we choose not to wear one — especially in areas heavily trafficked by people, like airports and especially on planes. But when Texas Democrats fled the state in an effort to block voting on bills that would protect the citizens of the state from unethical actions in elections, they all decided to skip the masks. Now five maskless Texas Dems caught COVID after fleeing the state to avoid a vote.

Over 50 Democrats fled from Austin to Washington D.C. — something that will lead to their arrests when they return to Texas — at a cost of $100,000. The private charter planes were filled to the brim with traitors whose only goal was to block democracy from happening. And many of the traitors on them? They chose to completely skip the masks they used to shame the rest of us for more than a year despite federal guidelines saying they should be worn “onboard commercial aircraft.”

The Hill reports that a growing number of those Democrats gave caught the Wuhan Flu, with the number increasing from three to five following additional testing. The Texas House Democratic Caucus announced the new cases on Sunday:

“In light of some positive COVID-19 tests over the weekend, the House Democratic Caucus has decided to go beyond CDC guidance and provide daily rapid tests for all Members and staff in Washington D.C. for this week,” the caucus said in its statement. 

“As part of this precautionary testing, today two additional Members who were fully vaccinated tested positive,” the caucus continued, saying that all of the members who tested positive either do not have symptoms or have only mild symptoms and feel good. 

The Sunday statement did not include the names of the caucus members who tested positive, but state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D) confirmed that he was one of the two members who tested positive on Sunday.

“This morning, I received a positive COVID-19 rapid antigen test result. I am fully vaccinated, and had tested negative on Friday and Saturday. I am quarantining until I test negative, and I am grateful to be only experiencing extremely mild symptoms,” Martinez Fischer said in a statement shared on Twitter.

“Just as these new variants sweeping the country are more aggressive than ever, the wave of anti-voter legislation in this country is worse than we’ve seen in generations. That’s why, I will continue the fight for voting rights with every single fiber of my being,” he added.

The COVID diagnoses, of course, give Democrats another excuse to stay out of Texas (and avoid a vote on a bill they know will pass if they let it happen) for another 10 or more days as they separate and self-quarantine.

Oddly, not a single Democrat has spoken out against this behavior despite repeated admonishments by Democrats targeting anyone who so much as went outside without a mask earlier this year.

All of these Democrats who flew maskless should resign immediately and allow someone who takes their job seriously to legislate in Texas.

Through the pandemic, we saw many states force churches to close. Texas as one of those states, succumbing to pressure from leftists, who felt that houses of worship somehow presented a threat. But the Texas state legislature and the state’s governor have taken steps to prevent the government from taking away people’s ability to practice their faith.

Abbott announced in a tweet that he signed a bill preventing this from ever happening again.

“I just signed a law that prohibits any government agency or public official from issuing an order that closes places of worship,” Abbott tweeted. “The First Amendment right to freedom of religion shall never be infringed.”

This bill bans  “any elected or appointed officer, employee, or agent of the state” from closing a “building or grounds where religious activities are conducted.” In theory, this could also include any business that, in the event of another frenzy of forced closures, allows religious services to be performed on its grounds.

Texas state Rep. Scott Sanford, who filed the bill, says that “Closing churches not only eliminated these critical ministries and services, but it violated their religious freedom, guaranteed by our laws and Constitution.” He points out that “churches provide essential spiritual, mental and physical support in a time of crisis.”

Many were locked out of the places they needed the most during the COVID scare, but now many are questioning how effective the lockdowns are. Texas was at the forefront of easing and removing the restrictions and has shown great improvement in COVID numbers since reopening. Now, lawmakers have protected the citizens of Texas from attempts to use this pandemic or any future emergencies to steal away their faith.