I will never forgive, nor will I ever forget, the 126 out of 199 Republican United States Representatives, the 17 out of 26 Republican State Attorneys General, or Donald J. Trump (acting in his individual capacity) who joined Texas vs. Pennsylvania et al.
This was Texas A.G. Ken Paxton’s (above) suit against the states of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin which sought to invalidate their votes in the 2020 presidential election. Nor will I ever forgive or forget that Sen. Ted Cruz (below, R-TX) giddily agreed to argue the case before the Supreme Court.
Fortunately, the Court refused even to hear the case, sparing the nation one more mortifying moment. As the 9-0 Court ordered on December 11, 2020:
The State of Texas’s motion for leave to file a bill of complaint is denied for lack of standing under Article III of the Constitution. Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections. All other pending motions are dismissed as moot. Statement of Justice Alito, with whom Justice Thomas joins: In my view, we do not have discretion to deny the filing of a bill of complaint in a case that falls within our original jurisdiction. See Arizona v. California, 589 U. S. ___ (Feb. 24, 2020) (Thomas, J., dissenting). I would therefore grant the motion to file the bill of complaint but would not grant other relief, and I express no view on any other issue.
Thank you to The Washington Post for this list of State AGs and GOP House members who were eager to disenfranchise millions of voters to avoid a mean tweet from the outgoing President of the United States. Lest we forget who these “brave patriots” are, allow me to SAY THEIR NAMES!
States Attorneys General (in alphabetical order by State):
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the author of this legal monstrosity
Eric Schmitt, Missouri, on behalf of the State that filed the brief
And the rest of the AGs in alphabetical order by State:
Alabama: Steve Marshall
Arkansas: Leslie Rutledge
Florida: Ashley Moody
Indiana: Curtis Hill
Kansas: Derek Schmidt
Louisiana: Jeff Landry
Mississippi: Lynn Fitch
Montana: Tim Fox
Nebraska: Doug Peterson
North Dakota: Wayne Stenehjem
Oklahoma: Mike Hunter
South Carolina: Alan Wilson
South Dakota: Jason Ravnsborg
Tennessee: Herbert H. Slatery III
Utah: Sean Reyes
West Virginia: Patrick Morrisey
Republican U. S. Representatives:
Kevin McCarthy (California), Minority Leader
Steve Scalise (Louisiana), House Whip
Jim Jordan (Ohio), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee
Kevin Brady (Texas), ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee
Gary Palmer (Alabama), head of the Republican Policy Committee
Mike Johnson (Louisiana), who organized this constitutional abomination
And the rest in alphabetical order by State:
Alabama: Robert B. Aderholt, Mo Brooks, Bradley Byrne
Arizona: Andy Biggs, Debbie Lesko
Arkansas: Eric A. “Rick” Crawford, Bruce Westerman
California: Ken Calvert, Doug LaMalfa, Tom McClintock
Colorado: Ken Buck, Doug Lamborn
Florida: Gus M. Bilirakis, Mario Diaz-Balart, Neal Dunn, Matt Gaetz, Bill Posey, John Rutherford, Ross Spano, Greg Steube, Michael Waltz, Daniel Webster, Ted Yoho
Georgia: Rick Allen, Earl L. “Buddy” Carter, Douglas A. Collins, Drew Ferguson, Jody Hice, Barry Loudermilk, Austin Scott
Idaho: Russ Fulcher, Mike Simpson
Illinois: Mike Bost, Darin LaHood
Indiana: Jim Baird, Jim Banks, Trey Hollingsworth, Greg Pence, Jackie Walorski
Iowa: Steve King
Kansas: Ron Estes, Roger Marshall
Louisiana: Ralph Abraham, Clay Higgins
Maryland: Andy Harris
Michigan: Jack Bergman, Bill Huizenga, John Moolenaar, Tim Walberg
Minnesota: Tom Emmer, Jim Hagedorn, Pete Stauber
Mississippi: Michael Guest, Trent Kelly, Steven M. Palazzo
Missouri: Sam Graves, Billy Long, Vicky Hartzler, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Jason T. Smith, Ann Wagner
Montana: Greg Gianforte
Nebraska: Jeff Fortenberry, Adrian Smith
New Jersey: Jeff Van Drew
New York: Elise Stefanik, Lee Zeldin
North Carolina: Dan Bishop, Ted Budd, Virginia Foxx, Richard Hudson, Greg Murphy, David Rouzer, Mark Walker
Ohio: Bob Gibbs, Bill Johnson, Robert E. Latta, Brad Wenstrup
Oklahoma: Kevin Hern, Markwayne Mullin
Pennsylvania: John Joyce, Frederick B. Keller, Mike Kelly, Dan Meuser, Scott Perry, Guy Reschenthaler, Glenn Thompson
South Carolina: Jeff Duncan, Ralph Norman, Tom Rice, William Timmons, Joe Wilson
Tennessee: Tim Burchett, Scott DesJarlais, Charles J. “Chuck” Fleischmann, Mark Green, David Kustoff, John Rose
Texas: Jodey Arrington, Brian Babin, Michael C. Burgess, Michael Cloud, K. Michael Conaway, Dan Crenshaw, Bill Flores, Louie Gohmert, Lance Gooden, Kenny Marchant, Randy Weber, Roger Williams, Ron Wright
Virginia: Ben Cline, H. Morgan Griffith, Rob Wittman, Ron Wright
Washington: Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Dan Newhouse
West Virginia: Carol Miller, Alex Mooney
Wisconsin: Tom Tiffany
Although the suit was tossed out on its ear, and despite the fact that the Electoral College yesterday awarded 306 votes to Joe Biden, eclipsing Trump’s 232 votes, the U.S. did not really dodge a bullet in this shameful exercise. Democracy was gravely wounded, and we will not know until 2024 whether it will survive. As Ruth Marcus put it in The Washington Post:
…[T]hey are laying the predicate for a contentious new phase of American democracy, if it can continue to be called that, in which election results — after appropriate recounts and audits and certifications — are no longer accepted. Instead, they merely open the door for a second phase of legal and political guerrilla warfare in which no tactic, no lie, no baseless claim is off-limits. Democracy cannot function this way.
Should any member of the House or any Senator challenge the slate of Electors from any State on January 6, 2021, when Vice President Pence reads the votes before both houses of Congress, such challenge will be symbolic but nonetheless corrosive of the democratic process. In that case, I will state the challengers' names here in a future post.
Because we cannot simply forgive and forget such a wanton, deliberate, reckless, and potentially lethal political act. To deflect the next shot from those who aimed the gun at the heart of democracy---the peaceful transfer of power through a free and fair election---I will SAY THEIR NAMES, CALL BULLSHIT, and never forget.
Keep it real! And wear your damn mask!
Marilyn








A pretty unedifying moment in the history of the US, frankly.
ReplyDeleteI'm from Kenya, and we would be appalled if our political class - who are generally dreadful anyways - behaved this way after an election.
Speaks volumes for the long road back for you guys.
The Republican Party needs to take the next exit ramp off the Road to Perdition and drive the clown car to the demolition yard.
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