If you look at Twitter right now, you may come across a wordy hashtag reading #AbbottFailedTexasAgain. It popped up after Abbott announced that the lockdown measures in Texas are being lifted and there will be no more mask mandate. The left is obviously pretty peeved about this, believing that doing this will ensure Texans will die of the virus.

That’s not what science says, but when has the left ever really been concerned about science that inconveniences their narrative?

But I digress.

Within the #AbbottFailedTexasAgain hashtag, you’ll find a little graphic going around that the left thinks is incredibly creative. It’s the famous “Come and Take It” flag from Texas, but instead of the signature cannon from the Texas War for Independence, they replaced it with a mask.

On this #TexasIndependenceDay we tell @GovAbbott

👨‍🎨@michaelnoteric pic.twitter.com/yhPI2PektM

— Derek Ensign (@derekensign) March 2, 2021

Clever! There’s only one problem.

Abbott’s administration lifted the mask mandate. They didn’t ban masks.

The point behind the flag is a dare for a government to attempt to take something away from the people by force. The Texans used the message to dare the Mexican army to come and take a cannon from the Texans during their war. Before that, it was “Molon Labe,” which means “come and take them,” which was attributed to King Leonidas when the Persian army demanded the Spartans give up their weapons.

All that to say that the phrase has a proud history of being used as a way for independent people to voice defiance against an opponent attempting to force them into compliance and servitude.

The left is using it under the misunderstanding that Abbott is forcing them not to wear masks (he’s not) so that they can continue to obey rules set for them by people who can’t make up their minds about whether or not a mask is necessary at all, or that you should stack your masks on your face in order to stop your tongue from licking any boots in the nearby vicinity.

The truth is, Abbott didn’t fail anybody. Science says that certain methods work against the virus and others don’t, and Texas stopped doing the things that don’t work. The left is angry that the things Texas stopped doing just so happened to be the opposite of authoritarian. The thing is, they’re still free to wear so many masks on their face that they form a protective cocoon where, after a period of gestation, they will emerge as a fully-fledged clown.