The optics of this really do speak to the amount of disdain the GOP has for the will of the people. In front of thousands of Texans as well as hundreds of thousands of viewers across this nation, they chose to assuage their wounded pride by forcing this vote through tonight rather than getting the last laugh by having Perry call a special session where they’d ram the bill through. They’ve made a mockery of everything they supposedly stand for as a party, from individual rights to the rule of law, with their actions tonight. If the world were just and fair, this would pretty much spell the end of the Texas GOP as a viable party for at least a generation.

But the cynic in me, or rather the cynic that is me, knows that they’re already hard at work stacking the deck in their favor, both at the state as well as federal level, and the Texas GOP will do everything in their power to install one-party rule for however long they can get away with it.