Kamala Harris embraces the disruption of Tennessee's legislature.

In 2020, Kamala Harris urged her Twitter followers to contribute to the Minnesota Freedom Fund (MFF) so that group could bail out Minnesota “protesters.” One such bailed-out protester, Jaleel Stallings, was charged with attempted murder for shooting at police. Another, Chylen Evans, was charged with looting a liquor store, clothing store, and mobile store. A third, Lionel Timms, was bailed out by MFF on an assault charge. A month later, he was charged with committing third-degree assault, leaving the victim with a traumatic brain injury and a fractured skull.

This weekend, Harris visited Tennessee to support and applaud the two members of the Tennessee House who were expelled for taking to the floor of the House and leading protests with a bullhorn. Considering her past support for violent rioters, Harris’ Tennessee grandstanding seems more like a misdemeanor than a felony.

But lionizing those who disrupt legislative proceedings is a dangerous move. It’s also hypocritical, given the Biden administration’s criminal charges against January 6, 2021 protesters for “obstruct[ing], influenc[ing[, or imped[ing] official proceedings.” Although no criminal charges have been brought against the Tennessee disrupters (which is fine with me), they clearly obstructed and impeded House proceedings.

Nonetheless, Harris was full of praise for the two black disrupters and their white supporter. She stated:

The underlying issue is one that we are witnessing, over and over again, this community experienced it firsthand just 11 days ago.

And they understood the importance, these three, of standing to say the people will not be silenced, to say that a democracy hears the cries, hears the pleas, who hears the demands of its people who say that children should be able to live and be safe and go to school and not be in fear.

But no one silenced the Tennessee Three. All of them had the opportunity to express their views, both on the House floor and in protests outside of the House. If any silencing occurred, the victims were House members who wanted to speak pursuant to regular order but couldn’t during the protests led by their two immature, attention-seeking colleagues.

It’s true the Tennessee Three couldn’t get a vote on gun control legislation they advocate. But that’s because the democratic process in Tennessee left them miles short of the votes required to do so. The good folks of Tennessee have given the GOP a super-majority in the House.

In the U.S. Senate, Republicans couldn’t bring their favorite legislation to a vote when they held 50 seats last term. I never heard Harris, who presides over the Senate and gave the Democrats their majority, complain that this was anti-democratic.

By referring to “the underlying issue” and the “pleas and demands” of people, Harris is saying, in effect, that if you feel strongly enough about an issue, it’s okay to obstruct official proceedings when you don’t get your way. We shouldn’t be surprised that Harris takes this view. As noted, this is someone who raised money to bail out violent protesters because she thought the protests were righteous.

But leftists aren’t the only Americans who believe their causes are righteous. And there is no principled way to condemn disruptive protests by ardent conservatives, or to oppose bail for them, while extolling the Tennessee disrupters and raising bail for violent BLM protesters.

There is, to be sure, a tradition of non-violent civil disobedience in America as an expression of conscience. But in that tradition, as I understand it, those who disobey accept the consequences without whining.

Harris also said:

We understand when we took an oath to represent the people who elected us that we speak on behalf of them. It wasn’t about the three of these leaders. It was about who they were representing. it’s about whose voices they were channeling. Understand that – and is that not what a democracy allows?

But it’s not consistent with democracy for legislators who represent one set of constituents to hijack proceedings from legislators who represent other sets. This is what the two expelled legislators tried to do.

What they were mainly trying to do, though, is draw attention to themselves and become heroes of the left. They are succeeding and Harris is assisting in the process.

Finally, I’ll note that often when a tragedy like the Tennessee shootings occurs, Joe Biden arrives to console the families and the communities. In this case, though, the families were strongly Christian and the shooter was trans.

Perhaps that’s why it took the expulsion of the Tennessee Two to bring Harris to Tennessee. It would have been better for “our democracy” if Harris had stayed home.