The 46 Texas Traitors

Last week, the Texas legislature preemptively covered their posteriors in lieu of the July release of the American Phoenix Foundation’s sure-to-be scintillating and scandalous undercover videotaping of over 800 hours of footage of Texas legislators engaged in…well, we don’t know yet.

But 46 of your Texas Republican representatives decided that their possible involvement in said videotapes was more pressing an issue than supporting lowly citizens’ First Amendment rights—you know, the ones protected in the Constitution.

SB19, hereafter known as the Censorship Bill, would criminalize any private citizen who videotaped any legislator even in public areas of the Austin capitol building—with fines reaching up to $10,000. In essence, our legislators—who work for US, not the other way around, remember—want to shield themselves from any citizen journalist wielding a camera who might have some tough questions for them. Questions like, oh, I don’t know, why didn’t this legislature do more to secure the border as promised? Or pushed for Constitutional Carry? Or stopped public money going to toll roads? Or, to those who voted to weaken Texas abortion laws, why did you do so? Or why ALAC (American Law for American Courts) couldn’t make it out of committee? Or why the law promoting electric grid security died on the vine? Or why Texas legislators got bullied by the LGBT mafia and refused to pass a religious freedom act? Just stuff like that.

Now, what on EARTH could have all these *staunch* Constitutional conservatives’ panties in such a twist? Could it be that Hannah Giles and her husband Joseph Basel, with their American Phoenix Foundation, dug up some nasty and down-low dirt on the legislators who voted “yes” on the bill? I wonder—will the footage show philandering spouses, backroom deals, outright lies told on camera, and essentially the seedy underbelly of Austin politics? (Side note: how I WISH I had thought of this first! Bravo, Hannah and Joseph.)

The pesky thing these legislators don’t seem to understand is that regardless of this truly bad bill, citizens of Texas and the United States still *bitterly* cling to their First Amendment rights. The first time one of these blowhards tries to civilly punish or prosecute a non-threatening citizen journalist from asking questions of his or her elected official, on camera, I would expect every First Amendment lawyer in the country to beat a line to their door. And in the end, the citizen journalist will prevail.

The sad thing is, as you will read, there are a handful of usually quite solid conservatives on the List of 46 Texas Traitors. No matter—they must be held accountable as well.

You want a fight?

Bring. It. On.

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Below are the 46 Republican legislators (many more Democrats joined them) who voted in favor of curtailing your First Amendment rights. The number next to that legislator and his/her email is their Raging Elephants Liberty Score. Thanks to www.clashdaily.com for compiling the original list.

1. Trent Ashby (HD 57) @TrentAshbyTX, [email protected] 61
2. Jimmy Don Aycock (HD 54) @Aycockjda, [email protected] 54.5
3. Cindy Burkett (HD 113) @CindyBurkett_TX, [email protected] 78.1
4. DeWayne Burns (HD 58) @BurnsForTexas N/A
5. Angie Chen Button (HD 112) @AngieChenButton 69.4
6. Giovanni Capriglione (HD 98) @VoteGiovanni, [email protected] 93.8 (THIS ONE HURTS)
7. Travis Clardy (HD 11) @TravisForTexas 59.4
8. Byron Cook (HD 8) [email protected] 54.3
9. Tony Dale (HD 136) @TonyDaleTX 71.9
10. Drew Darby (HD 72) @drewdarby4Tx, [email protected] 53.6
11. Sarah Davis (HD 134) @SarahforHD134, [email protected] 51.1 (I like to call Sarah our Republican Abortion Barbie.)
12. Gary Elkins (HD 135) [email protected] 71.8
13. Wayne Faircloth (HD 23) @WayneFaircloth N/A
14. Marsha Farney (HD 20) @DrMarshaFarney, [email protected] 54.2
15. John Frullo (HD 84) @FrulloForTexas, [email protected] 68.3
16. Rick Galindo (HD 117) @GalindoForRep N/A
17. Charlie Geren (HD 99) @charliegeren 56.2
18. Larry Gonzales (HD 52) @larrygonzales52, [email protected] 59.8
19. Patricia Harless (HD 126) @PatriciaHarless, [email protected] 51.2
20. Dan Huberty (HD 127) @DanHuberty, [email protected] 60
21. Todd Hunter (HD 32) @toddahunter, @Dist32StateRep, [email protected] 63
22. Kyle Kacal (HD 12) @KyleKacal, [email protected] 48.2 (How low can you go…)
23. Jim Keffer (HD 60) @RepJimKeffer, [email protected] 54.1
24. Ken King (HD 88) @KingForTexas, [email protected] 51.2
25. Linda Koop (HD 102) @LindaKoopHD102 N/A
26. John Kuempel (HD 44) [email protected]  58.9
27. Lyle Larson (HD 122) @RepLyleLarson, [email protected] 55.5
28. Jose Manuel Lozano (HD 43) @RepJMLozano, [email protected] 36.7
29. Morgan Meyer (HD 108) @MorganMeyerTX, [email protected] N/A
30. Doug Miller (HD 73) @DougMiller73, [email protected] 58.5
31. Rick Miller (HD 26) @Vote4Rick, [email protected] 76.8
32. Jim Murphy (HD 133) @JimMurphy133, [email protected] 62.3
33. John Otto (HD 18) @RepJohnOtto, [email protected] 53.1
34. Tan Parker (HD 63) @tparker63, [email protected] 84.7  (Et tu?)
35. Larry Philips (HD 62) [email protected] 77.7
36. Four Price (HD 87) @FourPriceTX 59.9
37. John Raney (HD 14) @RaneyForTexas, [email protected] 56
38. Debbie Riddle (HD 150) @debbieriddle 66.1
39. J.D. Sheffield (HD 59) @dr_sheffield, [email protected] 37.5 (This is Democrat Score-Land)
40. Ron Simmons (HD 65) @RonSimmonsTexas, [email protected] 86.6 (Sad.)
41. Wayne Smith (HD 128) [email protected] 51.6
42. Ed Thompson (HD 29) @RepEdThompson, [email protected] 83.6 (Really?)
43. Gary VanDeaver (HD 1) @GaryVanDeaver N/A
44. Jason Villalba (HD 114) @JasonVillalba, [email protected] 58.7
45. Paul Workman (HD 47) @PaulWorkman, [email protected] 67.8
46. John Wray (HD 10) @wrayfortexas10 N/A