The humor behind this misses an important point.

Putting the mandates in place was a mistake. They fed an on-going group-think panic among the population which allowed the authorities to censor alternative perspectives demonstrating the lack of effect of mask/distancing policies on viral transmission. In most states, this panic continues to one extent or another.

But - and this is a super important but - Abbott is willing to change policy based on evolving information. That's huge. While he made a mistake putting the mandates in place, he is now willing to undo that mistake. That demonstrates a flexibility of thought that is sadly lacking in today's politics. Given the huge unknowns about the virus as it was spreading around the world, I can understand that decision makers were desperate to CYA and take the most conservative course of action.

Even though that was a mistake, I celebrate Abbott using the excuse of dropping rates to end the earlier mistake now, upon seeing the data evolving more solidly toward what some recognized from the beginning: masks/distancing demonstrate no significant benefit in practice (not even according to the strict medical perspective), while leading to significant harm in the form of massive spikes in mental illness and of the obvious associated economic disaster.

Better late than never, and I look forward to the results of this new Texas policy continuing to put nails in the coffin of the pro-state-mandate ideology.

If something doesn't work, stop doing it. That's a big and very difficult thing for a politician to do. Good for Abbott for doing so.