Texas, This Is What Autocracy Looks Like
Texas Has Crossed The Fascist Line
In January 2024, I launched the Anti-Fascist Book Club—one book at a time to help regular people spot authoritarianism in the wild. The warning lights flashed bright when Gov. Greg Abbott sent Texas DPS to police college protests. That was the moment you could feel the line move.
Texas isn’t behaving like a democracy anymore. People still have a voice; our Legislature just stopped listening. Too many are puppets on oil-soaked strings, dancing for billionaires and a would-be strongman desperate to rig the next election.
The last two weeks in plain English
Punish the opposition: Threats to remove legislators for breaking quorum.
Criminalize dissent: Accusations of bribery and “illegal fundraising” lobbed at lawmakers and Beto O’Rourke.
Use the badge as a leash: Warrants and arrest orders for missing legislators.
Normalize menace: Boasting about having “bullets in his belt” while talking about lawmakers. Totally normal stuff, if you’re building a police state.
Today, new redistricting maps were introduced and rammed through committee without meaningful public input. It’s the same playbook they tried with private school vouchers: shut out the public, rush the process, call it “freedom.” How is this legal? Good question. It isn’t how representative government is supposed to work, and yes, people should be watching.
Tonight,
House leadership locked Rep. Nicole Collier in the chamber after she refused to be tailed by a DPS officer for simply doing her job. We hear endless sermons about “freedom and liberty,” yet it evaporates the second you disagree with Texas Republicans. Several legislators remain gone, and tell me, why would anyone return to a chamber that treats elected colleagues like suspects?
If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention
I’ve been waiting 30 years for Texas to turn blue. It’s exhausting to watch Democrats grind for crumbs while Republicans jam the system, whether they’re in the majority or the minority. Enough. We need fighters and fighters who also demand accountability from our own side. That’s not disloyalty; that’s how you prevent corruption from taking root.
This is what 21st-century fascism looks like in everyday clothes:
Criminalize opposition and intimidate critics.
Replace public debate with police power.
Rig the maps, then call it “the will of the people.”
Elevate loyalty over law, and threats over votes.
Choose a side now. Because pretending this is normal is how democracies die, quietly, in committee hearings scheduled at inconvenient hours.
Do something (today)
Show up & speak up: Testify, submit written comments, bring neighbors.
Call your Rep & Senator: Demand real public input on maps and oppose weaponizing DPS against colleagues or citizens.
Back the doers: Support legal challenges, watchdog groups, and local organizers who keep receipts.
Organize your block: Host a living-room teach-in. Use our Anti-Fascist Book Club picks. Make politics a social habit.
Protect the vote: Volunteer for voter registration, poll watching, and ballot curing teams.
Share the receipts: Don’t just doomscroll, link, and post. Authoritarians hate daylight.
Receipts
Yours in Resistance,
A very pissed-off mom,
Nancy Thompson
All of this, man, it's just right out there now. I keep asking myself why suddenly they're being so brazen about it, and I'm not liking the answers.
Nancy, thank you for all your efforts. Your voice is making a real difference. Our democracy is truly under attack, and we are up against the wealthiest and most powerful elites. But with education, persistence, and solidarity, we can awaken more Texans and reclaim our state at the ballot box. Keep pushing forward. We are with you!