James Hirsen huffed in an Aug. 14 Newsmax column:
Over 50 Democratic legislators recently fled their home state of Texas and took up temporary residences in the ultra-blue states of Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts.
While the who, what, and why of their ill-advised departure continue to be hammered out, the how may be of particular importance to Texans and the country at large.
Seemingly, the absconders may have received an assist in their runaway efforts from none other than George Soros, Beto O’Rourke, and possibly others.
More than a mere political stunt, the performance act is a frontal assault on the legislative process and blatant mockery of our governmental system.
Hirsen eventually got around to the reason why the Democrats left the state: “They have one major goal in mind: To thwart a constitutionally mandated redrawing of a congressional map, which is necessitated by Texas’s population growth and the societal values of the region.” In fact, redistricting is mandated only once every 10 years, and mid-decade redistricting is highly unusual. He failed to mention the fact that President Trump essentially ordered the state to redistrict so he could have more Republicans in Congress. Rather than acknowledge this partisan reality, Hirsen instead sought to justify the redistricting:
Texas has seen its population explode over the past decade, with millions of residents being added and additional congressional seats being warranted.
Politically, the Lone Star State is a red one powered largely by conservative principles, such as smaller government, religious liberty, and individual autonomy.
Texas voters have repeatedly rejected the left’s agenda of open borders, higher taxes, and radical social policies.
The proposed congressional maps reflect these realities.
The truth is Democratic Party hypocrisy is in plain view.
Gerrymandering, or the redrawing of lines on congressional maps, which set unnatural boundaries and carve out slivers of one-party voters, has been the hallmark of Democrats for years, if not decades.
[…]These absentee lawmakers are shirking their responsibilities, wasting taxpayer dollars, and undermining the foundations of representative government.
Democrat legislators have chosen to game the system.
May honorable leaders right the wrongs.
Actually, the Republicans are the ones who are gaming the system and are not the “honorable” ones, and Hirsen will never demand that their wrongs be righted.
Hirsen played whataboutism on redistricting in his Aug. 28 column:
The legislature of the Golden State recently came up with a proposed redistricting plan, which is spearheaded by Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif.
Democrats are taking a democracy-destroying approach to supposedly save democracy. Wobbly-headed, but after all, this is the left coast.
The whole thing is a dangerous step backwards for the state, and even more importantly, for the nation at large.
It wasn’t until the 27th paragraph that Hirsen got around to mentioning that “Proponents argue that it’s a necessary counter to Republican redistricting in Texas” — but he’ll never described gerrymandering in Texas as “a dangerous step backwards for the state, and even more importantly, for the nation at large.” Still, he insisted on blaming California:
So, it looks as though the scheme may actually kick off a redistricting war nationally, inviting both parties to manipulate congressional maps to the max.
This is a game that Republicans will likely win, since most blue states have already been highly distorted by previous gerrymandering.
Again, Hirsen refused to admit the fact that Texas started the redistricting war, not California.