In reading about the Democratic exodus out of Wisconsin today, I recalled that it wasn’t the first time Democrats have pulled such a stunt. Texas Democrats similarly fled to Oklahoma to prevent a vote on redistricting in 2003.
In all fairness, however, one must recall that Abraham Lincoln and two or three other Whig-state legislators tried to escape out a window just before a vote to prevent a quorum. But in mitigation, that was an impulsive act of the moment, not a well-hatched-out scheme to coincide with bused-in demonstrators descending on the Capitol. Moreover, Lincoln had the good sense to be ashamed of that failed attempt in his maturity.
— Wesley J. Smith is a senior fellow in the Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism, and a legal consultant for the Patient’s Rights Council.