There’s something strangely pathetic when members of a party’s state-level legislative conference leave home in order to evade a vote on a piece of legislation they can’t defeat.
This is true whatever party it is. When Wisconsin state Democrats pulled the stunt back in 2011 to avoid a vote on limiting the power of unions, it simply drew attention to the fact they didn’t have the electoral numbers to prevent it any other way.
The same thing was true in 2019 when Oregon’s Republicans “fled their state with little more than spare underwear and their passports,” per The New York Times‘ semi-mocking coverage of the stunt.
The Times called it right that time. Not surprisingly, you don’t see the same tone used when The Times refers to Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives high-tailing it out of the state.
Even though they used the same I’m-taking-my-ball-and-going-out-of-town tactics to stall a GOP election integrity bill — decamping to Washington, D.C., in order to deny Republicans a quorum in their state’s lower house — the Democrats are being treated as conquering heroes by the establishment media.
If you needed a reminder just how pitiful this all was, however, allow Houston-area Democratic state Rep. Gene Wu to provide it.
On Tuesday, having fled the Lone Star State with his comrades, Wu tweeted a picture of a Caesar salad along with a Coca-Cola Zero. “My fist [sic] meal as a fugitive,” he wrote. “Delicious.”
My fist meal as a fugitive.
Delicious. pic.twitter.com/97M2CmPFXO
— Gene Wu (@GeneforTexas) July 13, 2021
Wu’s “fugitive” status has to do with the fact that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has promised that the Democrats who fled the state will be arrested when they return and forced to carry out their elected duties and vote on the legislation.
That’s not exactly Dr. Richard Kimble stuff there, particularly since the “fugitive” Texas Democrats escaped their state aboard a party bus that took them to a private jet.
In now deleted tweet, @juliejohnsonTX & derelict Democrats board party bus, then leave town on private jets instead of fulfilling their duty to represent their constituents & complete the legislative business pending before the #TXlege Special Session #ItsMillerTime pic.twitter.com/VCykvUoBW9
— Election Transparency Initiative (@ETI_now) July 12, 2021
Imagine being so clueless you self-mythologize over your own escape from the state in the lap of luxury, a private plane no less, all to avoid passage of a bill that will help Texas prevent election fraud.
In a second tweet, Wu assumed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is actually guilty of a crime.
[firefly_poll]
While Paxton is the subject of an investigation by the FBI involving claims he illegally helped a donor, according to The Associated Press, Paxton hasn’t even been charged with anything, much less convicted.
Apparently, state politicians can dispense with such formalities as constitutionally guaranteed due process of law and the presumption of innocence.
“Now I have an idea what AG Ken Paxton must feel like every day … it’s not bad,” Wu wrote. “No wonder he keeps committing more crimes.”
Now I have an idea what AG Ken Paxton must feel like every day… it’s not bad.
No wonder he keeps committing more crimes.
— Gene Wu (@GeneforTexas) July 13, 2021
Maybe Wu just doesn’t put too much thought into his Twitter posts. Misspelling “first” as “fist” certainly gives that impression. Maybe he just didn’t realize or care how ridiculous this sounded.
And that’s what conservative Twitter is there for.
“Fist meal” https://t.co/Ry30MRp3kf
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) July 13, 2021
1. This is pathetic
2. Salad is not delicious https://t.co/YRmqrcSQ2x
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) July 13, 2021
Please, guys, keep doing this. https://t.co/iNr2J9VGYs
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 13, 2021
Who knew Beto was the sane one. pic.twitter.com/mXNKze7W1F
— Natalie Johnson (@nataliejohnsonn) July 13, 2021
Lmao they’re literally making fools out of themselves to stop a bill that makes it harder for them to cheat in elections https://t.co/u7WWHItiHg
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 13, 2021
If you wanted a more serious take on this, the Manhattan Institute’s Brian Reidl pointed out the absurdity of Texas’ “fugitive” Democrats treating themselves as if they were civil rights icons for blocking the election integrity legislation.
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“The ‘look at me!’ narcissism and bravery-on-the-cheap is so cringeworthy,” Reidl wrote in a Twitter post. “You are elected officials ditching the state and refusing to go to work. That is all. Stop acting like you are civil rights activists courageously marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Grow up.”
The “look at me!” narcissism and bravery-on-the-cheap is so cringeworthy. You are elected officials ditching the state and refusing to go to work. That is all. Stop acting like you are civil rights activists courageously marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Grow up. https://t.co/M2YARhHOjP
— Brian Riedl ? (@Brian_Riedl) July 13, 2021
Wu is hardly alone in this publicity and fundraising grift, although he’s the worst thus far by a relatively sizable margin.
Consider this tweet he published after arriving in the nation’s capital.
Landed safely in DC.
Officially out of arrest jurisdiction of Gov. Abbott.
It was wonderfully to randomly run into people who recognized me and applauded what we are doing. pic.twitter.com/3F8uH1wbPs
— Gene Wu (@GeneforTexas) July 13, 2021
I bet George Clooney could have walked right by and nobody would have noticed until Amal asked Wu for an autograph.
And in case you’ve forgotten what this is all about, allow Wu to remind you:
Donate here for more typos in tweets:https://t.co/DXsO5zWgEK
— Gene Wu (@GeneforTexas) July 13, 2021
While you’re here, please consider chipping in what you can as we continue to fight these draconian voter restrictions in Texas!
Thanks for your support! #txlege #LetThePeopleVote https://t.co/PHaPRh4Kpr
— Gene Wu (@GeneforTexas) July 13, 2021
One would hope the backlash against Wu’s tweets must have taught his cohort something.
Surely the rest of the Democratic delegation from the Texas House has a bit more self-awareness now and realizes not to engage in this kind of tone-deaf puffery.
Texas Democrats start singing “We Shall Overcome” during their press conference in DC after leaving the state to prevent quorum on an election integrity bill
pic.twitter.com/Jy8OvPvyw9— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 13, 2021
Or not.
Pathetic is really the only word for it.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
