Texas Democrat legislators who fled to Illinois and New York are beginning to speak to the press, and while my standards for the left are low, my expectations for how crazy they would be were somehow still outdone here.
As RedState reported, the 51 legislators broke the law and abandoned their seats to leave the state and deny a quorum to Republicans, who are attempting to pass a new congressional map. Arrest warrants have already been approved, and Gov. Greg Abbott has authorized the Texas Department of Public Safety to enforce them. They are also being fined for every single day they are absent.
SEE: Texas House Passes Arrest Warrants for Democrats Who Fled, Gov. Abbott Takes Immediate Action
All of this surrounds a push to redistrict so that Texas is more in line with gerrymanders like California, where Democrats enjoy an overwhelming advantage compared to their vote totals. Ironically, many of the Democrats who fled the state ended up in Illinois, which has a far worse gerrymander than anything being proposed in their own state.
In a move to try to win public sympathy, those Texas Democrats are now doing interviews. Yeah, about that. Here's how that's going.
JONES: And then integration happened and everything thought they accept us. They don't accept us. They are showing us who they are. We should belive them, and we better have the courage to stand up, otherwise we will fall for anything, and in this country, we will be defeated, deported, I mean, we will lose all of our rights. If you think it can't happen, it can.
And I would liken this to the Holocaust. People are like, "Well, how did the Holocaust happen? How was somebody in a position to kill all them people?" Well, good people remain silent, or good people didn't realize that what happens to them can very soon happen to me or somebody I love. And so, and so, even if you made it, man, you have an obligation to help people who can't because God forbid they end up targeting you and your family.
Nothing says "Holocaust" like politicians flying on private jets to luxury hotels and five-star meals paid for by donors while they refuse to do their jobs. I mean, that's just like the worst genocide in human history, isn't it?
These people just can't help themselves. They have main character syndrome to the point of mental illness. President Donald Trump is a lot of things. A rabid tyrant ready to exact death and destruction on his political opponents isn't one of them. If he were, State Rep. Jolanda Jones (D-TX) and her colleagues wouldn't be saying what they're saying. On the contrary, their willingness to say the most absurd things is proof that Trump isn't what they say he is.
In another interview, State Rep. Ann Johnson (D-TX) tried out what was obviously a well-worked talking point. When asked about abandoning her job and running away, she brought up...Cancun? And Donald Trump and Georgia?
JOHNSON: Yeah, no, abandoning your job is going to Cancun in the middle of a deadly freeze, right? Abandoning your job is cutting health care when people need access. Abandoning your job is cutting public education when we already have one of the worst education systems in the nation. What we are doing is the fundamental protection and our Texas constitution, that says that the minority has the opportunity to break quorum when you know that the majority has really gone off the rails.
Words have meanings, but not to Democrats. The swipe at Sen. Ted Cruz is especially rich given that he had no role to play in the disaster response to the cited storm as a U.S. senator. That's the kind of low-IQ insult a real interviewer would have called out, but that's not present in this case. And how is deciding funding levels on something like public education (which only gets worse the more money we dump into it) abandoning one's job? Yet, we are supposed to believe that getting on a chartered jet at the behest of left-wing billionaire donors to avoid having to show up for the role you were elected to fill isn't abandoning your job? Come on.
Johnson then launched into a tirade about Trump and finding 11,000 votes or something. What that has to do with anything going on is anyone's guess. Like I said, her talking point was clearly prepared for her in advance, and she's just parroting it. It's the political equivalent of throwing spaghetti against the wall. Just say "Trump" enough times and talk about a half dozen other topics that have nothing to do with the issue at hand.
JOHNSON: This threat of arrest, this is not normal. Do not think that we can turn into a nation where you arrest and jail your political opposition for not only rendering their voice for the people but doing something that is protected by the Texas Constitution.
I've got some news for Johnson. Arresting her and dragging her down to the Texas State Capitol is also "protected by the Texas Constitution." In fact, it's the specific remedy allowed to ensure that the minority party doesn't sabotage the legislative process by refusing to provide a quorum. So, maybe she should think her talking points through a bit more next time.
In the end, these Democrats have two choices. They can return and do their jobs instead of trying to blow up the democratic process, or they can remain exiled indefinitely, racking up fines and risking their seats being vacated. Either way, this congressional map is eventually going to pass because that's how winning elections works.