First, I’m sure that some Republicans are genuinely concerned that this could ruin their impending victory. She might be jumping to conclusions, but there’s no reason to think Fox News host Laura Ingraham is lying when she says she’s mad about “a naked attempt to try and change the outcome before the final decision is issued.” The GOP is haunted by the possibility that one of the court’s conservatives could go squishy and change their mind at the last minute, much the way Chief Justice John Roberts did when he decided to uphold the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate after initially voting to strike it down. Roberts did not sign on to the leaked draft opinion, and CNN reports that he wants to allow a 15-week abortion ban without junking Roe entirely. Some conservatives have to be worried about a scenario in which public anger helps the chief justice pick off one more conservative ally, and forces the court to write a more moderate decision. Genuine nerves might help explain why one conservative politician after another has urged the court to “stay strong” and “not be swayed.”

To Democrats, Republicans look like an NFL team complaining about a meaningless penalty call while they’re about to win the Super Bowl. In the eyes of Republicans, though, there’s still a chance they’ll somehow lose the game with only seconds left on the clock (and, to maybe overextend the metaphor, if they do lose it’ll be because the refs didn’t call an obvious offensive pass interference penalty on their opponent; the refs in this case being the media).

Besides the sheer anxiety factor, it isn’t exactly a surprise to see Republicans getting worked up defending the Supreme Court’s honor, and treating any breach of its internal procedures as a violation of “sacred traditions,” as Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn put it. After all, they control the institution!