What we have here is a failure to communicate. At no time in American history has the ruling party so insistently striven to impose its iron will on such a loudly unwilling citizenry. They are not listening, and they will stop at nothing.

When flim-flammery fails, try intimidation.
When intimidation fails, try chicanery.
When chicanery fails, try illegal.
And when illegal fails, try unconstitutional.

Let’s recap the last year of the Democrats’ Health Care Takeover adventure. Why? Because it was fun, and we won:

• With 60% majorities in both House and Senate, and flush from victories on Porkulus and Cap-and-Trade, Obama and the media tried selling America on their signature issue – government health care takeover — with glib lies, fuzzy math, and blaming ‘evil’ insurance companies.
• FAIL – it smelled like a government takeover.
• They shut Republicans and their ideas out of all discussions, in order to shut down dissent.
• FAIL – America noticed, and so came the August recess fiasco. So also came 99.54% party discipline, as only Joe Cao (from a hyper-blue district) voted with the Democrats, to date.
• They skipped, dodged, and staged astroturfed townhalls.
• FAIL – Twitter. Internet. Americans found and crashed the meetings anyway.
• They sent their SIEU and ACORN thugs to intimidate ordinary outraged Americans.
• FAIL – People took their beatings. And brought video cameras.
• Obama and the media decided they had not made themselves clear. So, more speeches, ABC specials, and more blaming of insurance companies. And doctors.
• FAIL – America actually HAD heard it right the first time. and polls really started to look nasty.
• They accused Republicans of just being obstructionists, having no alternative plans themselves.
• FAIL — Republicans were obstructing with the blessing of their constituents, and their always existing plans sounded a whole lot like cost-lowering free-market ideas. [correction, h/t Jeff Emanuel - Repubs lacked numbers to actually obstruct anything, which the press unerringly failed to ever point out]
• Their own members began to revolt, so they were bribed and blackmailed
• FAIL – Americans reacted very badly to the Chicago way.
• They passed the Senate version on Dec 24 while America traveled and thought of loved ones.

At this point they really thought they had won this thing. Unfortunately for them, Americans are not like Russians, programmed to serve silently and cower in fear of their government.

It was just getting interesting.

• FAIL – America noticed anyway. McDonnell and Christie smoked VA and NJ governor elections. Scott Brown campaigned as “Mister 41″, and easily won the “Do it for Teddy” seat in deep-blue MA.
• They plotted to delay the seating of Scott Brown in order to get a bill passed.
• FAIL – once that was made public, they denied they would have considered such a dastardly thing.
• With America dead set against it……more speeches. And publicly dressing down the Supreme Court.
• FAIL – again, America already got the message, polls sunk even further, and wobbling Democrats were catching bloody hell from their constituents.
• With 60 out of the question and 216 shaky at best, they decided to break congressional rules and jam the bill through by “reconciliation”.
• FAIL – the shaky 216 started to look more like 200.
• With no more hopes of even passing the House, now they propose the Slaughter Rule — to declare the Senate bill passed without a vote.
• FAIL – just wait and see.

Now we’re up to date. Let us look at the United States Constitution, which even Democrats will grudgingly acknowledge as the supreme law of the land (h/t Dan Perrin and Leon Wolf), the over-arching, indisputable law of the land (bolding mine, and Leon’s):

Article 1, Section 7:(excerpt)
Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law,be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively.

In short, two quick and extremely easy points.

• The same bill has to pass both House and Senate. The exact bill, word for word.
• It passes by vote.

Which brings us to the Slaughter Rule, in which Democrats just flat-out defy the Constitution and declare a bill “passed” which has not been voted on. It’s been discussed at length here, here, and here, by constitutional scholars, veteran congressional experts, and other VSGs (very smart guys). Here’s the EPU’s Notes version:

Unable to pass the Senate bill in the House, unable to pass ANY bill in the Senate (thank you Massachusetts), and thwarted in their attempt at reconciliation parlor tricks, the Democrats have hatched a plan. The House will vote on and (presumably) pass a new bill, which is the Senate Bill with amendments. Call it House Bill #2. House Rules Chairman Louise Slaughter will propose a rule deeming the Senate bill to be “passed”, the new rule will be voted on and (presumably) approved by the House, and the amended bill — House Bill #2 — will be sent to Obama to be signed into law.

Yes, that was the short version.

Now, let’s talk about consequences.

The American public was at first peeved about this government power grab, leading to wildly entertaining August recesses for congressional Democrats. As the Dems shoved non-matching bills through House and Senate, America got positively miffed. Witness McDonnell, Christie, and Brown.

Now America is flat irritated. And if the Dems try sporting this blatant middle finger at the Constitution and America, we will all see what happens when America is finally angry. Like Dan Perrin, I think Democrats will back down before doing this. But we’ve both underestimated their stupidity several times in this process. Nothing’s a safe bet anymore.

Before this, Democrats were already going to lose HUGE in November. There are more House Democrats retiring in “safe” districts than there are Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys in prison. But if they try this stunt, the ensuing electoral revolt will be epic and irreversible, resulting in a Democrat Party crippled so irredeemably that I predict a new center-left party will emerge in the next 10 years, attempting to shed the stench of scandal and disrepute that will be permanently connected to the Democrats. Most likely the partisan press will accelerate their own death spiral as they are unwilling to speak ill of the Democrats.

But that is November. What will happen in March?

Six things I can think of, the first three within days. I couldn’t say what order, because things will move pretty quickly. So I list them how my mind sorts them.

1. The Supreme Court will strike it down within days.

I don’t remember which of the 3 authors I cited said this (or maybe I heard it on the radio), so I don’t know who to cite. But every American has standing here, due to the exceedingly far reach of the Health Care Takeover bill. Somebody will sue. I predict GOP members of Congress will, and it will go straight to the Supreme Court. They will strike down the whole caboodle, and they will do it almost immediately. Probably 6-3, with Breyer and Kennedy voting with the originalists. Their ruling is very likely to include language extremely damning of the behavior of Democrats.

2. Numerous states will declare statutorily under the 10th Amendment that this law will be unenforceable within their borders.

I’m guessing 20 states. The move has been afoot for awhile anyway, and this blatant flouting of the Constitution will trigger the America-loving, freedom-loving instincts into bold (if rash) action. And while they’re at it, they’re going to say the same thing about everything emanating from the EPA.

3. There will be public anti-government outrage so great that it will boil into violence.

I do not condone this; it will be ugly and more than a little scary. Lest I give anybody fresh ideas, I will not expound upon it other than to say it will be directed, not generalized — directed at objects, property, and symbols of government, not at people. Although those who voted for this Slaughter Rule would be wise to perhaps hang around in Washington for awhile.

4. (Even more) new candidates opposing incumbent Democrats will come out of the woodwork.

Many already have, but many good ones have considered, then declined. Many of those will change their minds, even in blue states. And new ones will pop up like dandelions. And a whole bunch of them will win. The leftist partisan national media currently think Republicans might, juuuuuuuust MIGHT, get 40 seats and the House back. Idiots. It was already going to be 80 and 8. But after this stunt, it might be 120 and 14. This is what happens when the entire center turns on a party.

5. State AGs will bring charges against sitting Congressmen for whatever they can plausibly pin on them.

Sedition is the actual crime (IMHO), and that’s a federal charge. But no USA will touch this, since they work for the president. Because members of Congress cannot be recalled, citizens will be thirsting for vengeance. Very loudly. State AG’s will be chomping at the bits to exact SOME form of payback, encouraged (or pushed) by their citizenry. Things like corruption, conspiracy, bribery, racketeering, tax fraud, and so on, will be easy indictments. As the last few months have shown, congressional Democrats have been so thoroughly corrupt for so long, nobody will even have to trump up anything.

6. Republicans will shut down business in Congress until January 5.

Then it will REALLY get fun.

Democrats will lose the country days after they pull the Slaughter Rule. They’ll have their illegal law both flouted and overruled, their members will be subject to investigations and indictments, and not a single item of interest will be signed into law, nor will any appointment be approved, before January 5, when a hundred or more of them leave Washington for good.