For the tens of thousands of people who made the trip to the National Mall this weekend, there was some solace in the crowds. They came, Ohio's Melissa Regan said, to fight for their freedom. "I'm a mom and a proud American," New York's Lisa Morin told a photographer on an unusually warm December day. "And I'm really scared about what's happening in this country." It's not just about exposing the truth of the election, she insisted. It's about exposing the truth, period.
Like so many of the president's supporters, they could only shake their head in frustration at the latest setback to that truth. Hours earlier, seven justices of the U.S. Supreme Court announced they would not hear the 18-state lawsuit against Georgia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan for its gross violation of election law. In a brief, three-sentence explanation, the justices claimed that the attorneys general lacked the standing to sue. "Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections." Although Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas didn't necessarily disagree, they did make a point of releasing a separate statement saying they would have at least heard the case.
The justices blamed standing, Margot Cleveland wrote, "'a judicially cognizable interest.' But how can the state of Texas not have a judicially cognizable interest in her sister states living up to the compact they entered when they entered the Union?" Part of the lawsuit might have been a stretch, she agreed, but "by failing to mention Texas's constitutional claims, and by not providing any reasoning for its decision -- omissions likely needed for the court to maintain its near-unanimous agreement -- the Supreme Court created the appearance that it does not care about constitutional violations." Let's hope, she went on, that their decision was rooted in the Constitution and not their concern about meddling in the election.
For now, the media is having a field day with the 126 House Republicans who urged the Supreme Court to take the case. Fellow Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said she was "disgusted" that the members weighed in, even though they had a very real stake in ensuring their states' votes counted. If Georgia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan violated their election laws, then guess what? They're breaching the entire contract on which our country is based. All the states, a brief from Citizens United had argued, "are interdependent. Our nation's operational principle is E Pluribus Unum. Each state has a duty to other states to abide by this..." This isn't an infringement on other states' sovereignty, the group insisted. "Each state depends on other states to adhere to minimum constitutional standards in areas where their sovereignty is ceded to the union. And if those standards are not met, then the responsibility to enforce those standards falls to this Court."
Not only did these attorneys general have a right to file this lawsuit, under the contract of the Constitution, they had an obligation to file this lawsuit. Liberals, of course, who've never wanted to be governed by anything but their own radical agenda, don't care what our guiding document says. In fact, they're so incensed that any Republican would exhaust these legal options that they've floated the idea of punishing them in the new Congress! Rep. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), in a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) argues that these patriots are "traitors" "who would seek to destroy the Union." These are, in his words, "unbecoming acts that reflect poorly on our chamber." House leaders, he insists, cannot agree to seat them.
What House Republicans did may be a fireable offense in the eyes of lawless Democrats, but that's what makes it so commendable. Standing up for the rule of law takes courage in a ruthless environment like this one. And when the media and liberal activists and even some Republicans are telling you to just "let it go," (and by "it" they mean our constitutional process), it was all the more heroic that these conservatives stepped in and stood up for integrity.
At the end of the day, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) reminded everyone, "Duty is ours, results are God's." Doug Masriano (R), a Pennsylvania state senator who hosted the first public hearing on election integrity he's heard from "thousands of people" across the state about fraud at every level. These are real problems in our system, he insisted. That's why he's not quitting -- and neither, Masriano said, should Republicans. "We're on the side of righteousness -- and we need to fight forward politically [to clean up the process], not just roll over." Courage is rising, he said. "And it's not too late. It's never too late."
