In 2020, contrary to conventions in the nation’s election laws, states were able to change the election rules in the middle of the election and did so with the blessings of the judiciary, often including Trump-appointed judges. Likewise, the Trump-appointed Secretary of Homeland Security offered elections procedures to use during COVID-19 that deviated from prior elections, including the use of drop boxes for voting — a procedure novel to many states. These changes, approved by judges, led a congressman friend of mine to declare the election was “stolen fair and square.” Democrats, often leading the rules changes, embraced them and played the system.

Concurrent with those procedural changes, Trump supporters have often claimed other evidence of voter fraud. Unwilling to acknowledge that elections are run by people, people are stupid, and there is no perfect election, Trump supporters have taken legitimate irregularities, combined them with many things cast as irregularities that are not, and made unfounded claims about conspiracies and voter fraud that have not held up in court, often in front of Trump appointed judges. To this date, no court has found sufficient evidence to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election.

I write this not to relitigate 2020. I write all this to point out that the Left, with the press on their side, is engaged in the exact same behavior. The Supreme Court has stopped giving the Left what they want, so the court must be delegitimized.

Progressives began with attacks on the character of the conservative justices. Justice Clarence Thomas has a rich friend who is generous with his friends. Thomas, therefore, is on the take. Fifteen years ago, Justice Samuel Alito took a trip on a plane, and even another judge was told there was no reason for disclosure, but Alito is corrupt.

Major media outlets ran the stories, which originated on a left-wing site called ProPublica. While these same outlets have vilified Republican narratives casting doubt on 2020, they willingly embraced ProPublica’s attacks. When the court was 5-4, the Left could still get much of what they wanted culturally, from the preservation of abortion to the legalization of gay marriage. But a 6-3 court is less likely to give them what they wanted, so they might as well discredit it.

The latest allegation is that the 303 Creative case, which said a person could not discriminate against gays, but could decline specific projects that would require the person voice support for causes he disagrees with, was based on a fake request for a website for a gay wedding.

Media outlets sought to discredit a case they had already mischaracterized in their basic reporting. Originally and falsely, virtually every news outlet claimed the case held that a business could decline to offer services to someone who was gay. In fact, with regard to the online request, the case had already been filed in court prior to the request being made. The State of Colorado helpfully stipulated that Ms. Smith and her company would immediately run afoul of Colorado law if she refused to build a website for a gay wedding. Courts normally require an existing controversy, but this case falls in a rare exception where the court will hear a legal challenge knowing a plaintiff would immediately be in violation of the law if she acted as she intended. The online request had no bearing on the federal courts taking the case.

The Left and their press allies are no different from the Trump supporters who have cast doubt on the elections. The latter stormed Congress on Jan. 6. The former attempted to assassinate a Supreme Court justice and protested outside the homes of justices with an attorney general refusing to enforce the law against protests outside the homes of federal judges.

If anything, the Left’s assault on our republic is worse than Trump’s because the Left is using the current Justice Department, the press and cultural and academic institutions to both lie and undermine the institutions of the republic. Already, one person attempted the assassination of Supreme Court Justice. Like with James Hodgkinson who attempted the mass assassination of Republican congressmen, the Left and media want no accountability for their hysteria and the violence it provokes.

To find out more about Erick Erickson and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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