Don’t think it hasn’t occurred to any of them. In fact, don’t be too sure there isn’t a working group right now inside Camp Runamuck, spitballing ideas on how the current pandemic can be weaponized in order to keep the president* in office if things seem to be going sideways in the fall. Once you accept the fact that this administration* respects no democratic institution, or any of the norms that allow those institutions to function, it’s easy to see clearly what’s possibly coming down the tracks.

There was a good-faith public health argument to be made that Ohio should not hold its primary election on Tuesday. But there was no excuse for the hash that Republican officials made of the process of postponing it. First, Governor Mike DeWine and Secretary of State Frank LaRose sought to postpone the primary unilaterally. A local judge monkey-wrenched that plan. Then DeWine and Ohio’s public-health director, in apparent defiance of that judge’s ruling, ordered the polls closed. Late Monday night, the state’s supreme court bailed everyone out by ruling in a separate case involving a state judicial candidate. That decision essentially gave DeWine and LaRose the power to push the election back to June. From Cleveland.com:



The Ohio Supreme Court effectively allowed the election to be postponed from March 17 in a remarkable early-morning decision on a complaint from a Wood County judicial candidate. After requiring the state to respond before 1:30 a.m., citing the “exigent circumstances," four judges issued an unsigned decision unanimously rejecting the complaint, which had been filed before Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration issued a public health order closing the polls over the new coronavirus. Two judges running for re-election — Justices Judith French and Sharon Kennedy — and Pat DeWine, who is DeWine’s son, did not participate.



(Wait. The governor’s son is on the state supreme court? Have I mentioned recently what a terrible damn idea an elected judiciary is?)



Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s son is on the state supreme court? Justin Merriman Getty Images

And then there’s Mitch McConnell, who is being absolutely adorable these days. From the Lexington Herald-Leader:



“Amy McGrath’s decision to blanket the airwaves with deceitful ads during the coronavirus outbreak is tasteless and shameful,” said McConnell campaign manager Kevin Golden. “As Kentuckians adjust their daily lives and schedules to help stem the outbreak, the last thing they need to see on TV is negative political advertising. The McGrath campaign must stop airing all of their advertisements.” McGrath has been running advertisements in Kentucky since July, when she first announced her campaign for U.S. Senate. Recently, she has been running national ads on MSNBC and Fox News in an effort to boost her already prolific fundraising totals.



I mean, seriously, isn’t that just darling? Mitch McConnell, stirring himself into a righteous froth over politics being practiced against him, and hiding behind sick people to do it. At the moment, he’s trying to get elderly Republican judges off the federal bench so he can install more Federalist Society larvae in their seats before the clock runs out this fall. He’s also sitting on a coronavirus relief bill in the Senate. So how dare anyone practice politics during this time of national emergency?



They have no shame. They are capable of anything. We should all bear that in mind. Self-quarantine is a good environment for counter-plotting.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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