Ellis-Marseglia contends that her on-camera statement that was ‘inartfully worded’ and became ‘misinterpreted’ and ‘taken out of context.’ Of course!

You may recall watching Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia declare, “I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country, and people violate laws any time they want.”

In today’s Philadelphia Inquirer, Ellis-Marseglia contends that her on-camera statement was “inartfully worded” and became “misinterpreted” and “taken out of context.” Of course.

You see, Ellis-Marseglia explains, when she said “precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country, and people violate laws any time they want,” she was not contending, as many believed, that “precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country, and people violate laws any time they want.” What she meant was, apparently, she wanted more guidance from the Pennsylvania courts on how to handle mail ballots that lacked the required handwritten dates on the return envelopes, even though the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had explicitly stated twice this autumn that a state law requiring mail ballots to have handwritten dates on the return envelopes is constitutional.

It was just all so confusing! There was just no reasonable way for Ellis-Marseglia to know whether those ballots should be counted or not!

After a long and inexcusable stretch of silence, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro finally got off his duff and issued a statement that Pennsylvania’s elected officials at all levels are required to follow the law and cannot ignore or dismiss laws they find inconvenient or objectionable.

“Any insinuation that our laws can be ignored or do not matter is irresponsible and does damage to faith in our electoral process,” Shapiro said. “It is critical for counties and officials in both parties to respect it with both their rhetoric and their actions.” In the spirit of the approaching Christmas season, welcome to the party, pal.