Patrick Cuts Early Session Meltdown Odds
with Reality Return Better Late than Never

Patrick Runs Risk of Mob Revenge with Admission

Trump Texas Trip Could Flush State Leaders Out

Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside
January 10, 2021

Democrats would be wrong if they contend that Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick is doing too little too late with an apparent bid for redemption that began on Sunday when he conceded that the siege at the U.S. Capitol last week had been carried out by President Donald Trump loyalists.

It's true that Patrick's political career could be toast after setting himself up to be branded by Democrats as a puppet for a president who's facing accusations of treason on both sides of the aisle in the deadly uprising's wake. Democrats are going to butcher Patrick if ever dares to run for public office again in advertisements that will make him look like a shameless self-promoter with clips of false and outlandish statements that he'd served in Fox News interviews during the pandemic.

Texas Democrats who'll be sensing blood will argue that Patrick didn't lift a finger to protect his country state from the COVID-19 crisis country and constituents assault on American democracy that began at the courthouse immediately after Democrat Joe Biden ousted the incumbent at the polls more than two months ago.

But Patrick's failure to own his own silent complicity or to repent for other transgressions doesn't mean that he didn't accomplish something positive with when he ended two months of silence on the QAnon-fueled election challenge that set the stage for the deadly uprising in Washington D.C.

With the Legislature set to convene in regular session on Tuesday in the face of unprecedented challenges that the pandemic has spawned, Patrick's might have prevented a potential mutiny in the ranks of fellow Republican lawmakers who have significant cover now for a collective exodus out of the president's camp.

Patrick might have increased the odds for violence at the statehouse if Trump terrorists decided to strike in the Capital City as revenge for the break with the president in war that has no middle ground. After trying to pin the blame on the Memorial Day riots here on socialist militants in Antifa and the Black Lives Matter movement, Patrick might be concerned now about the threat of danger from the hard right if Trump declares him to be a traitor for refusing to go along the attempted coup or to stay mum on it any longer.

GOP leaders and lawmakers in Texas could find themselves on the same path that prompted Democratic state in Washington to cancel plans to have the Capitol in Olympia open for the start of their annual session this week after learning about a planned attack by right-wing militia members.

But Governor Greg Abbott and legislative leaders haven't indicated whether they will be beefing up security at the Texas Capitol in anticipation of the potential for an attack by the right-wing insurgency as payback for Patrick's betrayal in a state where Trump thought he owned the Republicans.

But the Republicans might not be as prone to fear possible attacks by Antifa, the Black Lives Matter movement or other leftist mercenaries after a concerted effort by Abbott and Patrick to pin the blame on outside liberal agitators for the violence here last spring. Some Texas Republicans like Attorney General Ken Paxton attempted to falsely accuse Antifa revolutionaries of fueling the mob attack in Washington before the FBI found no evidence of such involvement.

Patrick is no longer a member of an elite group of Texas Trump loyalists that includes U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and Paxton who appear to have disgraced themselves beyond repair with their major supporting roles in the insurrection. Patrick appears to have kept his hopes alive for potential absolution for his part as a major Trump enabler before joining the rapidly growing parade of Republicans who are deserting the president now.

“Most importantly, we must end the caustic hateful rhetoric toward each other that proliferates on social media, electronic, print media, and in our streets,” Patrick told supporters in an email today. "If we cannot respect others political views and are bent are destroying everyone who supports a candidate we don't agree with or who runs for or holds public office, our nation is doomed."

Patrick's sincerity about the need for healing will get an early test on Tuesday when he will have the chance to follow through with plans that he had before the Trump mob attack to strip more power away from Senate Democrats as a way to expand his own. He appears to have a taken a significant baby step in the right direction for the time being with the dramatic turnabout on Trump that will spark collective sighs of relief among most GOP colleagues who might be able to operate more effectively in 2021 if they don't feel the threat of his wrath as much.