Aggressively declaring their hostility to democracy

A couple days ago I wrote that Ken Paxton, Attorney General for Texas, filed a suit with the Supreme Court to throw out the results of the presidential election in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Georgia. This wasn’t a request to recount to change the result. It was a request to toss the result. At that time AGs in 17 other states joined the suit. Since then the AGs of the targeted states states have issued defendant statements, saying Texas has no standing to dictate the results of another state’s election and also rebutting all the other points the suit makes. The AG from Pennsylvania clearly calls this suit sedition, as in attempting to overthrow the government. Joan McCarter of Daily Kos filed a post yesterday afternoon. 106 GOP members of the US House have signed on in support of the Texas suit. Mark Sumner of Kos, in a post from today, wrote:

On Thursday, 106 Republican members of the U.S. House added their names to this declaration that they’re done with the whole concept of representative government. If politics is war by other means, then Republicans are levying that war against the people, institutions, and foundations of the United States. This is not a partisan dispute. There is no coming back from this. Certainly it should never be forgotten. Neither should there be any forgiveness. Republicans have launched a second civil war in the courts, and it should be treated no more kindly than any launched on the battlefield. ... For the attorney generals who have signed their names to this blatant effort to overthrow the duly elected government of the United States, the Supreme Court should send a powerful rebuke. It’s not clear what punishment the court might mete out to the complainants … but it should seek the harshest available. Then every bar association should seek the disbarment of every one of these attorneys general for an act that involves signing on in support of statements they know to be false. This is an illegal, immoral, amoral, and insupportable attempt to break the nation. It should be treated as such. And then every member of the House of Representatives who put their name to this document should be expelled. So 106, or 107. Republicans might have signed on to this atrocity. But there are 233 Democratic members, and 89 Republicans who did not rush to anoint themselves Traitors for Trump. Let the House put their integrity to the test by calling for the expulsion, one at a time, of every member who attempted to destroy the nation’s most foundational institution. And let them start with Minority Whip Steve Scalise. It does not matter that the text and assertions of the Texas suit are ludicrous. It does not matter that they’re certain to fail. ... The only thing more ridiculous than the suit issued by Texas, is the idea that these people might take this action and then carry on as if it never happened.

Leah McElrath tweeted the names of all the GOP House members who joined the suit. Then she got to the main issue about Ken Paxton:

He’s doing so because he’s a crook under indictment for securities fraud, facing charges of bribery, and wants Trump to pardon him.

Jamison Foser tweeted that the count of seditious House members is up another 20 to 126. He then turned his scorn to the media. Many of these guys have been trying to destroy democracy their entire careers. Only now is media catching on. In response to the Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board rescinding their endorsement of one of these traitors Foser wrote:

If you’re a journalist who honestly believes you had no way of knowing a few months ago that a Republican candidate was not committed to democracy, please resign immediately. These 126 House Republicans are aggressively declaring their hostility to democracy in a way no honest journalist can possibly doubt. So the question becomes: will their coverage of these Republicans forevermore reflect that?

Bill Pascrell, representing New Jersey, wrote a letter to the Hose leadership. He pointed out a couple things: First: the Constitution says the House has control of the qualifications of its own members. Second, the 14th Amendment says “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress … who … shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the country. This was to prevent Civil War secessionists from returning to Congress. He calls on the House leadership to refuse to seat these 126 traitors in the next Congress, which begins in January. Michelle French and others replied to Pascrell, saying if they say the presidential election was fraudulent, theirs was too. Walter Einenkel of Kos reported on what SCOTUSblog had to say about all this. It is a site that covers news of the Supremes, explaining logistics and rulings. In its 20 year history this is the first time the blog has posted an editorial. The site is run by Tom Goldstein and Amy Howe and a crew of about 100. Goldstein urged the Court to not just dismiss the case, but explain why. Even a five-page document would be significant in this moment. This evening McCarter posted again to say the Supremes responded: Nope, not gonna hear that case. Texas has no standing to challenge the manner in which another state conducts its elections. Curiously, justices Alito and Thomas objected to not hearing the case but say they would not have granted any relief (at least that’s what I think they mean though I’m puzzled why they would want to hear the case then declare the plaintiffs would not win). McCarter wrote:

The civil war and coup attempt will have to continue without the Court’s blessing.

The Court also left to others what sort of punishment should be given to those who supported this sedition. It also didn’t issue the five-pager explaining why the case is such a danger. Dartagnan of the Kos community wrote that now that we have this ruling from the Supremes we need to remember what has happened over the last few weeks. * The GOP House caucus, including its leader, signed on to a bogus attempt to overturn a national election. * The GOP Senate leader has been holding the new president’s cabinet in limbo while the election was being “litigated.” * The outgoing president has been working hard to sabotage and hamstring his successor. * There is still a pandemic and related economic collapse raging. Now consider what would have happened in 2012 if Obama lost to Romney, yet insisted he had won. The Democrats would have told him to shut up and go home. And if Democrats had protected him Republicans would have demanded hearings, called it all treason, and urged constituents into the streets. Even though the Supremes have thrown this case out, this isn’t the end. The Republicans have shown their true colors. They have declared that votes not for the nasty guy were by definition fraudulent and, more precisely, your vote is fraudulent if you are not white. They, and that opinion, are still around. In the scenario we have, Republicans have shown again they are fascist. And what are Democrats doing? Perhaps they’re waiting for it to “blow over.” Dartagnan wrote:

Fascists are impervious to reason, shame or argument. The only thing they understand is power when it’s used against them. The Democratic Party represents the majority—by a considerable margin—of the American voting public. As diverse as our coalition is, it is in fact the majority, and it needs to behave like a majority. We—not the Republicans—were the millions who marched in the streets of Washington in 2017. We—not the Republicans—were the millions who marched in every major city in the country—and practically every other place in the country—in opposition to racism and police brutality. We—not the Republicans—were the ones who flooded the polls in 2018, and again in 2020, throwing this abomination out of office. A majority has power, and knows when to use it. What the Republicans are doing has been, and is, intolerable. Any Republican—at the state level, the federal level, or any other capacity—should be made to understand that have betrayed the country, and they will they are going to be viewed—and treated—like people who have betrayed their country for the rest of their political careers. They need to be made to understand that they will face the consequences of their treachery for the rest of their lives. Unless and until that happens, they will continue to mock us, to disenfranchise us, knowing that we will sit back in fear, relying on our fragile “institutions” to protect us.

In other news of the day… A group of lawmakers, including Senate Republicans, have come up with a coronavirus aid package. Moscow Mitch declared Senate Republicans won’t support it – which is BS because some (enough) Senate Republicans were involved in writing it. What Mitch is saying is Mitch won’t support it. Then he declared Democrats are the problem. And media portrayed it as “squabbles” – implying both parties are at fault. Moscow Mitch keeps doing this because it keeps working. Ken Klippenstein tweeted a link to an article on Market Watch discussing the income the billionaires have been making off the pandemic. Klippenstein added:

Billionaires in the US could give everyone in the country a $3,000 stimulus check and still be wealthier than they were in March.

Responders, of course, added: but they earned it. No they didn’t. Reason one: Their workers are at risk and aren’t being paid any more. And were already underpaid. If I wanted to bother I could come up with at least reasons two and three.