Democrats are rushing down a river without an oar as they move toward the midterm elections. They know they're very likely to be slaughtered severely. It's not surprising because of the deplorable policies they've enacted and the shoddy job Democratic President Joe Biden has done.
Therefore, they do not have a lot of choices. They're playing redistricting games hoping that they'll be able to steal seats this way. They'll try to milk the January 6 committee to the max hoping they can find something to harm Republicans, such as that tape featuring Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
They're also playing the game of trying to exclude certain Republicans from the elections by calling them “insurrectionists” and filing cases to block them from the ballot. The irony is that they're confirming that Republicans are in the forefront and will defeat them in the midterms. The Democrats are the ones trying to keep Republicans off the ballot so that voters can't elect them. The plot is slipping away.
In one such case, the plaintiff is the Free Speech for People (more irony) organization, which is trying to make use of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution that prohibits elected officials from engaging in revolt or insurrection. Its game plan is clear: to take Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and Arizona state Rep. Mark Finchem off the ballot in Arizona.
There are some issues with this argument. Not one of the three was involved in the January 6 Capitol riot, which Democrats have attempted to label as an insurrection. The plaintiffs claimed that they were involved in the march that took place on January 6, 2021. That protest is a separate issue. Gosar and Biggs voted to reject the 2020 election results of some states, citing what many Democrats did after previous presidential elections. That's not considered an “insurrection”–indeed, it is one of their rights in their capacity as representatives of Congress to recognize the results (or not). When the Democrats took part in the vote to confirm the results, they claimed that they were defending democracy; but when Republicans voted, Democrats declared they were attacking democracy. This is hypocrisy.
But the plan to shut out the Republicans was not successful in the courtroom, with the matter being dismissed by an Arizona judge who determined the plaintiff didn't have a personal right to take action. As part of his advisory opinion, Judge Christopher Coury pointed out that Finchem, Gosar, and Biggs haven't been “charged with or convicted of any state or federal crime that relates to insurrection or rebellion.”
Biggs and Gosar both argued that only Congress is authorized under the Constitution to determine whether its lawmakers are qualified. This argument was convincing to Coury. “It would contradict the plain language of the United States Constitution for this Court to conduct any trial over the qualifications of a member of Congress,” Coury's opinion declared. “Moreover, a state judicial trial relating to the qualifications of Rep. Biggs and Rep. Gosar arguably implicates the doctrines of federalism and separation of powers between the branches of the government.”
There's a separate case being heard in the case of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). The case could have been dismissed earlier for the same reasons. However, ultimately, she'll win (assuming the court pays close attention to law). A similar case against Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) was dismissed as well.
Anyone trying to block the GOP in this manner isn't a believer in allowing voters to make their own decisions. They're trying to thwart the democratic will of the people while, at the same time, pretending to defend it.
