"It's Not Just a Texas Problem. It's an American Problem."

[Jilly_in_VA]

A lot of people want to get a hold of James Talarico these days. The 36-year-old Texas state representative and seminary student is a rising Democratic star. You—like 5.6 million others—may have seen him in your social-media feed, calling a proposal to place the Ten Commandments in every public-school classroom “un-Christian” and the mark of a “dead religion.” Or perhaps you caught his recent two-and-a-half-hour conversation with Joe Rogan—who told him he should run for president. (He’s thinking about running for Senate.)

He’s also on the lam. The state speaker of the house ordered arrest warrants for Talarico and dozens of Democrats who left the state last weekend to prevent a vote on a mid-decade redistricting plan that would likely give Republicans five more congressional seats. “Right before we got on the flight to leave Texas, we all gathered in an interfaith prayer, holding each other’s hands, because this is not just a political struggle, it’s also a spiritual struggle,” Talarico says. I spoke to the legislator via Zoom from an undisclosed location outside Chicago on Thursday, hours after Republican Sen. John Cornyn—a man he may end up running against next fall—announced that the Trump administration would assign FBI agents to help “hold these supposed lawmakers accountable.” This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Tim Murphy: Sen. John Cornyn says the FBI has agreed to help locate you. How does it feel to officially be wanted by the FBI?

James Talarico: Well, I mean, I think Senator Cornyn is trying to stay relevant in his primary battle with Ken Paxton. So I understand the gimmick, but I think it should trouble us that any politician is trying to use the resources of the state to arrest or remove duly elected legislators who are exercising their constitutional right to break quorum. The Texas State Constitution gives us this tool in our toolbox as the minority to check the abuses of the majority, and so we’re not doing anything wrong. And there’s about 200 years of history in this country of legislators breaking quorum, including Abraham Lincoln. You know, we’re here in Illinois, in the Land of Lincoln. And that’s appropriate because, because Abraham Lincoln broke quorum in 1840 as a state senator by jumping out of the window of the Illinois State Capitol. And thankfully, I didn’t have to jump out of any windows back in Texas. But this is not unusual. It is a tool the minority has. And so for Greg Abbott to threaten to remove us from office, for Ken Paxton and John Cornyn to be threatening our arrest, it is unacceptable in a democracy, and this is a page out of an authoritarian playbook we’ve seen in other countries, and it should be alarming to all of us, regardless of our political party.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/08/james-talarico-texas-redistricting-gerrymandering-cornyn/

So far, I'm liking this guy.

[ananda]

1. It's a white problem stemming from 100's of years of colonialism.

All white nations have this same problem... that their long history
of brutal, often religious, colonialism has led to immigration...
to their countries... and once there are too many immigrants,
then the far right jumps in and starts gaining traction.

Just give me an example of a white nation where this has not
happened.

[Melon]

2. It sounds racist to say it this way

Only white countries are areas for immigration? All white countries have an immigration issue? And it’s all due to colonialism?

Ok. Russia? Poland? Austria?

It’s an economic issue. Nations that are successful economically become attractive to countries that are less successful economically or who have more oppressive governments. It’s only white if you only see success in predominantly white countries.

[ananda]

3. My point is that people from colonized areas have immigrated...

to countries that have been notoriously brutal colonizers, many
of them religious (particularly the Jesuits).

When enough of these people enter white nations, it can become
a problem, since they tend to settle in poor areas, form gangs,
increase crime, and so on.

Then it becomes easy for the far right to gain traction, even in
countries that are trying to resist fascism and white supremacy.

Now.. this is a fact, not an opinion. Colonialsim is part of the
history of most white nations, many of them in Europe.

The USA is a colonial nation, one of the most brutal ever.

We are such a large nation, with nuclear weapons, and a history
of genocide and slavery that we have not been able to shake.

This is the country that Trump, Magats, and many white people
want to bring back... not the one that tried to reform and
give equality and rights to all people.

[Melon]

4. So you think that the US's colonialism causes immigration???

The US colonized....Hawaii...maybe Guam or Puerto Rico...The Virgin Islands.....This causes immigration??? You can just as easily argue that those locations have benefitted from our connections. And if the US wasn't in that role, a European power would have taken over their governess.
The most Brutal Colonizer ever? You need to read up on Belgium or the UK maybe. The US isn't close, nor have these examples caused immigration.

Many of these countries we are getting immigrants for are rich in Resources and people and poor due largely to their corrupt governance. Years of being pilfered not by other countries but by themselves. Haiti has received over a Billion dollars in aid in the last 50 years. Ethiopia over $2Billlion from the US alone. It goes to the government and not the people. The Mexican government has been in bed with the cartels for more than 20 years. South America the same.

The People come to America because it is safer, more prosperous, with more opportunity. We are the vacuum being filled due to their own poorly run countries.

[ananda]

5. No. But Spanish colonialism does, along with some overseas.

Consider the way that the white colonialist mindset
operates when we do business in other countries,
or help out fascist leaders in order to make profit
there.

Many Latin American countries have policies in
place that cause people to want to leave,
notwithstanding problems with drug cartels and
human trafficking.

So many desperate people, looking for freedom
and safety from violence and torture have come
here for asylum and/or just to make a living.

I would say that centuries of colonialist oppression
and brutality have led to this.

[Melon]

6. I think you like and want to use the word colonialist oppression

So the US, because it’s the top spot for immigration, is the least of the colonialist oppressors? Adding that spin just complicates things especially considering that the Spanish bowed out multiple hundreds of years ago. Their current governments steal from the taxes of the people, they don’t invest in themselves, and they live in areas of high crime without help from their governments. So they come here.