Virginia Democrats just lost a 4-3 ruling at the Virginia Supreme Court over their gerrymandered redistricting maps, and their response isn't to appeal, or to make a legal argument, or to do literally anything a normal political party would do. Their response is to purge the entire court. Lower the mandatory retirement age from 73 to 54 — the exact age of the youngest justice in the majority — force them all out, and pack the bench with loyal activists who'll rubber-stamp whatever maps the Democrats draw next.

But sure, tell me again how Trump is the "threat to democracy."

As reported by The Blaze, the scheme started gaining traction after Michigan State law professor Quinn Yeargain published a column in The Downballot, a progressive newsletter, proposing what he called "a simple — and lawful — solution: Send the entire court into early retirement." His exact proposal? "Make it 54 for Supreme Court justices... and make it take effect immediately." Immediately. Not after the next election cycle. Not after a public debate. Right now, before the ink dries on the ruling they don't like.

Constitutional law professor Josh Blackman at South Texas College of Law Houston had the perfect description for this little maneuver: "This is not constitutional hardball. It is murderball."

Here's how the scheme works. Virginia's judges are appointed by the General Assembly — which Democrats currently control in both chambers. Under Article VI, Section 9 of the Virginia Constitution, there's a mandatory retirement age for judges. Right now it's 73. Democrats want to lower it to 54, which would force out every justice in the 4-3 majority, including Justice Arthur Kelsey — the 64-year-old who wrote the majority opinion — and Justice Stephen McCullough, the youngest justice at 54. Then the Democrat-controlled legislature appoints replacements, the new court rehears the redistricting case, and — what a coincidence — this time the maps pass.

The quiet part isn't even quiet anymore. Democratic Representative Suhas Subramanyam, who represents Loudoun County, Virginia, said it out loud: "Everyone has got to have a strong stomach right now; this is a complete disaster waiting to happen if people are timid." Translation: do the authoritarian thing and don't flinch.

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, writing for Fox News, noted that the court's own ruling described Democrats' redistricting scheme as "wholly unprecedented in Virginia's history" and "a story of the tail wagging the dog that has no tail." So the court caught them cheating, and their answer is to fire the court.

Governor Abigail Spanberger would have to sign any legislation lowering the retirement age. Her spokeswoman, Libby Wiet, hasn't committed one way or the other, which tells you everything you need to know.

And let's not pretend this is some isolated Virginia thing. Democratic strategist James Carville already told the national party the playbook: expand the U.S. Supreme Court from 9 to 13 justices. "Don't run on it. Don't talk about it. Just do it," Carville said. Virginia is the test kitchen.

These are the same people who spent four years shrieking that Donald Trump was going to destroy democratic institutions. The same people who called every Republican election reform "an assault on democracy." And now they're openly plotting to purge a state supreme court because four justices had the audacity to rule against them.

Justice Kelsey wrote that majority opinion knowing full well he's up for reappointment by the Democrat-controlled General Assembly in January. That's called integrity. Democrats should Google it.