Victimhood: The Democrats' only strategy

In June we saw Senator Alex Padilla of California being handcuffed by federal agents in Los Angeles during a Department of Homeland Security press conference. Now we are seeing Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordering the state Department of Public Safety to locate and arrest Democratic state legislators who fled the state attempting to block a vote. Who is to blame - are Republicans unfairly targeting Democrats or are we witnessing a great act of self-victimization?

In the months that Donald Trump has been in the White House, the Democrats, without any power in either chamber, with historically bad results in the polls, and with a strong internal fight between different factions, seem to have adopted victimization as their sole strategy against Trump. A strategy that is nothing more than a variant of what they had already been doing for years. Throughout the presidential race the Democrats blamed Trump for being a threat to democracy, now they want to make their Administration look like a Government that has lost its sanity. Meanwhile, they portray their lawmakers as heroes fighting in the face of a tyranny.

In June, many Americans saw the image of Democratic Senator Alex Padilla lying on the floor and handcuffed. Surely Democrats chalked that image up as a triumph for their narrative that this administration is authoritarian. But anyone who had been following the situation from the beginning surely realized that the whole thing was probably a premeditated act of provocation and that image was precisely what the Democrat was going for.

That day, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was holding a press conference, a man (Senator Padilla) enters the room and advances toward Noem shouting. What else was the security detail going to do? Minutes later the senator was released, the secretary spoke with him, and then said publicly that his security team did not know he was a senator and only acted according to protocols. The normal thing is for anyone entering a press conference to respectfully listen to statements, and at question time raise their hand. Why would the senator think he has the authority to come in screaming and interrupt the secretary's speech?

No wonder Republicans accuse Padilla of trying to provoke. The same seems to be true of his co-sponsors who on several occasions have gone to ICE detention centers without making an appointment, and have even tried to force their way in. They seem to be looking for any way they can to get photos of themselves being arrested.

Now eyes are on texas state legislators who fled the state to block a vote on redistricting that would benefit Republicans. Governor Abbott gave them an ultimatum and has imposed fines for each day they are away from their jobs, but they have assured that they are willing to pay the price. Do the lawmakers intend to stay out of the state forever?

The move pushed by the governor to ask local authorities for civil arrests for lawmakers to return to their jobs may be applauded by some, or criticized as unnecessary by others, but beyond opinion on the matter, it seems clear that precisely what these Democratic lawmakers are looking for is for the Republicans to move forward and act in some way that allows them, once again, to present themselves as victims before Americans.

Republicans must be careful not to always give the Democrats what they want and not to fall for their game.