One of the major undercurrents of Republican politics in 2025 is a deep-seated desire to arrest, prosecute, and lock up perceived enemies, including many and perhaps most Democrats. It’s sometimes explained as retribution for the alleged weaponization of law enforcement against poor, innocent Donald Trump during his four years in the wilderness (partially protected, thank God, by the U.S. Supreme Court and, of course, by God himself). It’s probably the bedrock reason for the MAGA obsession with the Epstein files, long thought to hold evidence of vast criminal activity by leading Democrats who will only face righteous judgment (and prison!) if the secrets are dug up and exposed.

But right now, the lust for incarceration is most evident in Texas. Republicans are enraged by Texas Democrats’ efforts to subvert the pre-midterms power grab ordered by Trump, aimed at harvesting five extra U.S. House seats for the GOP via a rare and sketchy mid-decade redistricting. Democratic state House members (and most of their state Senate colleagues) left Texas en masse to deny Republicans a quorum for the redistricting........

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