ArcaMax

Scene 1: There I sat in the Senate chamber, waiting for a Republican to decry the use of force against one of their own.

Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat, was knocked to the ground and handcuffed by federal agents in a conference room where Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem promised to "liberate" Los Angeles from "socialists."

An absurd South Dakotan, Noem pretended not to know Padilla.

Waiting and watching, I was keen to know if Senate Majority Leader John Thune, also of South Dakota, would say something on the floor.

New to the job, Thune faced a defining moment. Does he have a bipartisan bone in his body -- or the milk of human kindness?

If Thune spoke out for Padilla, his words would carry weight with his party. He'd help break the violent cycle that President Donald Trump unleashes with his ceaseless trash talk against Democrats.

As Trump's former Defense Secretary James Mattis observed, Trump does not even pretend to try to unify us. Hatred of Democrats, us versus them, is his "brand" like no president ever before. He never lets up.

Scene 2: It got worse, with blood shed. A political shooting rampage against two Democratic state lawmakers shocked some of the nation.

Minnesota House Speaker emerita Melissa Horfman, 55, was assassinated in her Minnesota home at 2 a.m. by a right-wing man going to "war."

You'd think that would shut Trump down for a day. Instead, he insulted Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as "whacked out" and a "terrible governor."

Any other president would make a sympathy call to a state leader in mourning, but not this one.

Then Mike Lee, a Utah Republican senator, followed Trump's lead and unleashed more dogs of the war within.

Lee, 54, posted vicious tweets about the Minnesota murderer that I won't repeat. As if the victims deserved the political violence.

Confronted by Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith personally, he initially refused to take them down with an apology. Lee is a vociferous hardliner who has few true friends in the Senate.

Smith's deputy chief of staff addressed Lee in a statement. "You exploited the murder of a lifetime public servant and her husband to post some sick burns about Democrats. Did you see this as an excellent opportunity to get likes and retweets? Have you absolutely no conscience?"

Scene 3: That day, millions upon millions of peaceful resistors gathered in 2,000 spots across the country, in cities and towns in every state.

I attended an afternoon rally in affluent Bethesda, Maryland. Next to us was a Smith College graduate, a Quaker, a Nashville man visiting family, and a counsel for a major government agency. Thousands of passing motorists, from Mini Coopers to Mercedes, honked and waved with thumbs up.

The newly minted Smith graduate wrote on her sign "We the People," the first three words of the Constitution, in elegant period lettering.

And it was exhilarating. To witness tidal waves of energy, motion and determination not to let democracy go. The Quaker city of Philadelphia, liberal San Francisco and Madison, capital city of Wisconsin, had spirited turnouts and marches.

The same day, Trump's 79th birthday party, a parade of Army tanks and other hardware, was a bust under wet, humid skies. The soldiers marched listlessly. The sparse crowd size along the route fell far short of the projected 200,000. Bummer for the president, who glowered and pretended not to care.

Scene 4: A somber Senate chamber listened to Padilla tell colleagues, with his wife and three sons in the gallery, of being forced to his knees and to the ground. His voice broke slightly.

Padilla, 52, is seen as a "gentle giant" in the legislative body. Los Angeles, his hometown, is a center of immigrant raids, with the Trump-deployed National Guard and Marines on the streets making matters worse. That's why he went to the federal building for a briefing.

"Colleagues, this is not about me. ... There is nothing more patriotic than peaceful protest for your rights."

He urged more resistance "before it's too late."

A handful of Republicans came.

But Thune, the strong silent type, was absent. Earlier, he condemned the Minnesota murders. Yet he never said a public word about Padilla's brush with brutal force.

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The author may be reached at JamieStiehm.com. To find out more about Jamie Stiehm and other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, please visit creators.com.

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