“[T]he problem is Republicans’ insistence on denying the key component of a democracy: the power of the people to elect the leaders of their choice to govern,” Rubin wrote. “Republicans have grown attached to tactics that perpetuate minority rule, including thwarting voting (e.g., filibustering voting rights legislation) and denying election results (e.g., signing onto a brief to disenfranchise millions of Americans, baselessly challenging Biden’s electors) … Simply put: We need to shore up democracy.”

To be sure, by “shore up democracy,” Rubin means for Democrats to once again escalate political tensions by abandoning their allegedly precious norms and precedents.

They did it under Obama when the Democrat Senate majority terminated the filibuster for cabinet appointments. They did it under the same presidency by defending his IRS commissioner’s demonstrable harassment of right-leaning non-profits. They did it under Trump by claiming — without evidence! — that he stole the presidency with an assist from Russia and then that he was actually a Russian agent guilty of treason. They also chased down Trump’s private tax records.