It seems like only a few days ago that Texas fleebaggers were begging for a meeting with Joe Biden. The Texas Democrat Congressional delegation sent a letter to Biden asking him to meet with the Texas state lawmakers. As it turns out, it was one week ago that I wrote that post and Biden still has not responded to the request for a meeting.

The group of Texas state Democrats who ran from their jobs as legislators to the open arms of Democrats in Washington, D.C. is beginning to splinter. They have done all that they can do – secured meetings with senators to push passage of the For the People Act in the Senate, held press conferences, given interviews on friendly cable news stations, received glowing covering in the media, fundraised off their antics, and tweeted up a storm. Still, Biden will not grant them an audience. Frustration has set in.

During a Zoom conversation with U.S. Rep Lloyd Doggett of Austin, state Rep. Richard Peña Raymond of Laredo vented about the holdup.

“He won’t meet with us on Zoom like this, and I’m trying to be tactful, but I don’t know how else to say it, man. I’m just pissed off at this point. He doesn’t give us the respect the way you have,” Raymond told Doggett.

So far the biggest names they’ve secured meetings with are House Majority Whip James Clyburn and Kamala Harris. That seems like consolation prizes because Biden has no interest in wasting time with them. We’ll try to “be tactful”, too, and say that the Texas Democrats’ vacation in D.C. has turned out to be a public relations disaster. Remember, they agreed to be useful idiots for national Democrats. They were sent to Washington to pressure senators to get on board with the For The People Act that is languishing in the Senate. Instead, a desperate Biden is focusing on the passage of infrastructure legislation.

Richard Pena Raymond appeared on CNN this morning. The CNN host described Biden as a lawmaker – I know – and Raymond had to correct him. He said Biden isn’t a lawmaker anymore, he’s in charge of the Executive Branch. The interview centered on Raymond’s irritation that Biden is ignoring the fleebaggers. Raymond yammered on about voting suppression laws and southern states. He noted that voters are being suppressed in states across the country by new legislation, not just the south anymore, using Pennsylvania and Iowa as examples. When the CNN host asked if this is all just a political stunt, Raymond conflated their actions to those of Abraham Lincoln and John Adams. No, really. These Texas state lawmakers are besotted with themselves. They truly believe they are heroes, saving voting rights that voters already have, but let’s not let facts get into emotional stunts. “Everything is second”, Raymond said. If ‘voting rights legislation’ dies during Biden’s administration, that will be his legacy. Changing the subject, Raymond said that instead of threatening to arrest wandering Democrats, Governor Abbott should be arresting those responsible for Texans freezing to death in February.

This is the problem for the Democrats. No one knows who they are as individual lawmakers. Texans couldn’t even identify most of them. Yet, they think they are saving the country from election integrity legislation. They have bought into the publicity and are arrogantly convinced of their own importance. The legislation in Texas that they are trying to prevent from passing actually increases early voting hours, and it deals with some concessions made during the pandemic in Harris County, such as 24-hour voting and drive-thru voting. Neither of those options was in state law and a rogue county clerk, a Democrat, decided to make his own rules in Texas’ biggest county.

Some Democrats are breaking off and working with Texas House Republicans on the election integrity legislation. This is unnerving to the fleebaggers who continue to commit to remaining in D.C. through the end of the special session. Rep. Philip Cortez left D.C. this week and headed back to Austin. He is trying to negotiate changes desired by Democrats. Rep. Harold Dutton is back in Austin, too, doing the same. The chair of the House Republican Caucus (my state representative) is sounding optimistic that soon enough Democrats will be present to have a quorum.

House Republican leaders hailed the return of Democratic Rep. Philip Cortez, suggesting that they now have 91 of the 100 members they need to re-establish a quorum and resume work.

“We’re getting closer every day,” said House Republican Caucus Chairman Jim Murphy of Houston. Because it takes time to pass bills, the Legislature needs a quorum and fast, Murphy said, appealing again for Democratic House members to return to Austin.

“We’re kind of on the bubble right now, time wise and number wise,” he said.

“We do desire a more productive day." When the TX House did roll call this morning, they had 93 members — which means they still need 7 more Democrats to make quorum. Republicans say they are hopeful they'll make quorum soon, saying they're running out of time. @KHOU pic.twitter.com/3XpGunp5dr

— Janelle Bludau (@JanelleKHOU) July 22, 2021

As breakaway Democrats receive attention for getting the work done that their constituents expect them to do, more will return to Austin. The political stunt by the Democrats has proven they are not ready for prime time. There has been one gaffe after another in D.C. One female lawmaker posted a picture of her underwear on Twitter, another female lawmaker told us how brave she is and announced her campaign to go to D.C. as a member of the Congressional delegation. A male legislator described himself as a fugitive in D.C. while posting a picture of his lunch salad and diet soda. One black female lawmaker referred to being treated as a slave. Most importantly, their vacation is turning into a super spreader event. Six Democrats have tested positive for COVID-19, though allegedly fully vaccinated, and Kamala had to go to get a test to check if she was infected. It’s no wonder Joe won’t meet with them. His staff isn’t going to expose him to possible COVID-19 infection in his feeble state. True, he, too is fully vaccinated, but still. He’s 78 years old and has underlying medical conditions.

Beto O’Rourke weighed in with the traveling Democrats, because, of course, he did. He plays a big part in the financing of this trip. He encouraged them to hold Biden accountable. On a Zoom call with them, he announced a $600,000 donation to their vacation expenses and told them that they must focus on meeting with Biden.

“I know that there’s a balance for us to strike. We want to continue to encourage him and celebrate the good work that he’s doing and demonstrate our support for him. But we must also hold him accountable. And right now, he is not. He’s not doing what is required, given the threat that we face in Texas,” O’Rourke said.

“The least he could do, in my opinion, is to meet with you and listen to you and hear it directly from you about what your constituents face already and what they’re likely to have to endure going forward if voter suppression legislation is passed in Texas and voting rights legislation is not passed in Washington, D.C.,” he said.

The Democrat fleebaggers have epically failed. Their fifteen minutes of fame has waned. The only time they get publicity now is when they act badly or another one tests positive for COVID-19. Their hero capes are faded and frayed. It’s time for them to pack up and board their private jets. They should return to Austin and act like grown-ups. Do their jobs and work for the legislation they want and vote accordingly. Their attempt to stop the legislation completely is futile. Republicans will pass it and Governor Abbott will sign it into law. It’s time for Democrats to stop embarrassing themselves.