So it's a "tragedy," "mockery," or "coup" if Republicans challenge an election result, but completely acceptable -- four months later -- if you're a Democrat? That's the incredible double standard on display this week in the U.S. House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is throwing optics to the wind to pad her Democratic totals. In one of the grandest displays of hypocrisy this country has ever seen, the Left is actually trying to boot a sitting member of Congress, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) after her election was certified -- without any evidence of fraud. And the GOP is the party of subversion?
It was the closest House election of the 2020 cycle, but Rep. Miller-Meeks not only won once -- she won four times. After the general election and three recounts, her margin of victory had dwindled from 282 votes to just six, but it was still enough, Iowa's election officials decided, to declare her the winner. Now, months later, her opponent, Rita Hart, is refusing to go through the normal legal channels to challenge the result and is instead asking House Democrats to reverse the results. And House Democrats, to everyone's surprise, is considering it.
Literally weeks after accusing Republicans of trampling democracy and flouting the Constitution, Democrats on the House Administration Committee have launched an official inquiry -- brushing off comparisons to their conservative counterparts in the process. "We can't be concerned about [appearances]," North Carolina Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D) said, who sits on the House panel considering the challenge. "We've got to review the evidence and see where it leads us." But the evidence, as even the Des Moines Register points out, should have been considered in court -- not a partisan body where Democrats have an interest in adding to their majority.
Even CNN, who joined the Left's 24-hour smear campaign during the long weeks of the 2020 election challenge, is questioning just how wise it is for Democrats to try to overrule "the will of voters just months after lambasting former President Donald Trump for trying to reverse his electoral defeat." Are they even aware of how it looks, reporters wondered, trying to oust "a member of Congress from the opposing party who was declared the winner by bipartisan state election officials?" Some moderates like Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) are warning the party to back off. During a session of the House Judiciary Committee, he asked, "What motivates Congress to look at something that should be a state issue? I want to see what compelling reasons there are for the feds to get involved in this. I think these are issues that right now are probably best left at the state level," the Democrat said.
When Republicans, fueled by legitimate complaints and abnormalities, raised concerns, the response from the Left was ferocious. Liberals like Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) blasted conservatives, arguing "Republicans in the House and Senate will make a mockery of our democracy in their attempts to undo the will of the people... Each member who moves forward with this ploy will be remembered for their willingness to subvert democracy," she warned. "This pathetic, opportunistic stunt is an attack on our democracy. It's un-American and unconscionable," Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) piled on. A "publicity stunt," Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) called it. "'I did sedition because I was up for re-election' is a helluva thing to explain to your grandkids," tweeted Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)."
Now, put the shoe on the other foot -- except with no proof of fraud or foul play -- and suddenly it's Pelosi's duty to see "where this takes us." It's criminally disingenuous, even for Democrats. "Right now, as we speak," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) argued on the floor Thursday, " Speaker Pelosi and Washington Democrats are literally trying to overturn a state-certified election here in Congress... The outcome was certified. That's the magic word, 'certified,' that we heard over and over again in November and December..." McConnell jabbed. "The process played out in a way that every liberal in America spent November, December, and January insisting was beyond question." Now, fast-forward a few weeks, he said, and "Democratic leadership is trying to use brute political power to kick [Miller-Meeks] out and replace this congresswoman with a Democrat whom she defeated. You don't often see hypocrisy this blatant and this shameless so quickly."
So what now? Will corporate America turn on Pelosi's party the way it divested itself of Republicans? Will these woke CEOs refuse to give to the liberals who are questioning this election? Or will they sit back on their moral high horse and pretend -- once again -- that there is no double standard?
At the end of the day, one thing is consistent: Democrats are willing to violate any law to get the results they need. It was true in the 2020 election, when they bypassed the states' authority and constitutional processes. And it's true now, when they're willing to go against the people of Iowa -- and the law in Iowa -- to get whatever political advantage they can. But the country is watching -- and they'll be just as loathe to see liberals steal this election as any other.
