Weekend thread: Supreme Court slaps down crazy attempt to overturn election

126 GOP House members proved themselves traitors. Now what happens to democracy? And what will be the enraged, demoralized Donald Trump's next step?

Welcome to The Signorile Report, where you’ll read hard-hitting political commentary and exposés, hear interesting conversations, join in great discussions and get lots of other stuff.

A thread for you all to jump in, offer opinions and discuss the big news of last night and anything else you want to talk about this weekend.

The Supreme Court, in a no-brainer decision last night, rejected to even hear the preposterous case brought by Texas against Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Georgia. This was essentially a 9-0 decision on the merits — a complete rebuke — just to clear up any confusion. Justices Alito and Thomas believed the court had a duty to hear the case — but made clear they would have offered no relief. As Mark Joseph Stern wrote at Slate:

Alito, joined by Thomas, wrote a brief statement explaining this position. He hastened to add that while he felt obligated to permit Texas’ filing, he “would not grant other relief, and I express no view on any other issue.” That means neither Alito nor Thomas would’ve granted Paxton’s request to overturn the election.

Attorney General Ken Paxton of Texas, under indictment, wants a pardon from Trump and thus had a motive for this attempt to overturn an election and throw out millions of votes in four states. Most abominable, however, was that 17 other state attorneys general joined the suit, and 126 GOP members of the House of Representatives signed on to it.

These people are traitors to democracy, willing to subvert an election and the will of the people, bowing to an authoritarian whom they either worship or fear — or both. Columnist Ruth Marcus at the Washington Post listed all of their names so we remember them. The video below flashes through their faces quickly so you can see what they look like. They need to be shamed, protested and hounded out of office.

NowThis @nowthisnews

BREAKING: The Supreme Court has rejected Texas’ lawsuit to overturn the results of the election. These are the 126 GOP members of Congress who supported it.

The fact that more than half of the House GOP supported this stunt shows what a grip Trump still has on them and how powerful the cult of Trump is. And it only emboldens those millions of Americans who not only believe the election was stolen but who will think of doing this kind of thing in every election in which they don’t like the outcome.

I’ll be writing more on this, but wanted to hear your thoughts, including on what it means for democracy and what Trump does next.

Already he is lashing out on Twitter at the court, and at Bill Barr, and apparently the leader of the violent white supremacist group the Proud Boys was at the White House today. Trump also tweeted about MAGA rallies underway in DC this weekend, reveling in his supporters not accepting the outcome.

Trump is a cornered rat now. And this is probably when he’s most dangerous. But he can’t change the facts and has exhausted his possibilities: The Electoral College meets on Monday, will certify the election, and Joe Biden will be inaugurated on January 20th.

What are your thoughts and reactions to all this? Jump in on this thread on that topic and anything else you want to talk about. I’ll be coming back and joining the discussion throughout the weekend.