Seems like only yesterday Democrats and the establishment media didn't like "insurrectionists."

But when Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy appeared Sunday on "Meet the Press," he openly declared a branch of government established by the Constitution to be "illegitimate" and predicted a "popular revolt" if Democrats don't get their way.

It was the latest, but most flagrant, in a long line of Democratic attacks on the Supreme Court, and NBC's Chuck Todd never blinked an eye -- but plenty of conservatives had plenty to say.

Murphy made the comments in response to an obviously sympathetic prompting from Todd about Democratic plans for pursuing gun control laws in the face of a Supreme Court majority that thinks the Constitution means what it says when it comes to guaranteeing American rights.

"But it does sound like you've got to do it within the construct of, 'Look. You're probably not going to be able to regulate much having to do with access to the gun by anybody over 18,'" Todd said.

"Well, listen, if the Supreme Court eventually says that states or the Congress can't pass universal background checks or can't take these assault weapons off the streets, I think there's going to be a popular revolt over that policy," Murphy responded.

"A court that's already pretty illegitimate is going to be in full crisis mode," he said.

[firefly_poll]

A Democrat threatening a "popular revolt" might want to consult the history books to see how well that went for his party between the years 1861 and 1865 -- when it took up arms to defend the institution of black slavery. (Black Democrats might want to consult those history books, too.)

But as some Twitter users pointed out, a Democrat calling for a "popular revolt" in defense of not having guns might do even worse than the outgunned and outnumbered Confederacy in a war of attrition it could never win.

I’m thinking it might not have the results that he’s thinking it would

— Anthony Formica (@AnthonyFormic13) May 14, 2023

A popular revolt by the folks who don't believe in guns... Hmm, tell me how that works...

— Bill Sobel (@BillSobel) May 14, 2023

However, there's a bigger problem than the logistics of a deliberately disarmed "army" staging a popular revolt.

What Murphy is doing here is worse than anything that had to do with the "insurrection" Democrats accused Donald Trump's supporters of staging during the Capitol incursion of 2021.

This is a sitting senator calling the Supreme Court "already pretty illegitimate."

Maybe Murphy, now in his second term, has managed to forget the basic structure of the American government -- running as a Democrat in deep-blue Connecticut can make a man pretty comfortable in his job, and out of touch with the rest of the country.

But the Supreme Court is a third branch of government -- equal to the Senate. For a senator to brand the court "pretty illegitimate" because it has a conservative majority at the moment is the equivalent of a Supreme Court justice calling the Senate "pretty illegitimate" because it has a Democratic majority at the moment.

An actual journalist following the conversation might have taken an interest in that kind of thing. But since this is Chuck Todd, a man whose interview technique when it comes to Democrats is made up of offering up Democratic talking-point questions and swallowing the spoon-fed answers whole, the obvious questions go unraised.

Such as: "What makes the court 'illegitimate'?"

And: "If the court's rulings are 'illegitimate,' who's going to decide disputes?"

And: "What the hell does 'full crisis mode' mean?"

Todd didn't understand the importance of what Murphy had raised, but Americans who saw it did:

Insurrectionist senator issues veiled threat against Supreme Court.

— J Michael Waller (@JMichaelWaller) May 14, 2023

Chris Murphy once again referring to the Judicial Branch of the US Government as “illegitimate.” He’s making a habit of this. This rhetoric is dangerous, serving only to sow further division and incite violence when the Court’s legal rulings don’t agree with his personal opinion. https://t.co/nBtArVscHL

— Michael Grant (@MikeGrant262) May 15, 2023

Sen. Murphy should be teaching people how the Constitution works rather than predicting a “revolt”. The Constitution protects peoples rights, it doesn’t negate them and the Supreme Court upholds the Constitution, it doesn’t chip away at it. Want change? Amend the Constitution.…

— The Golden Sledgehammer (@Golden_Sledge) May 14, 2023

And this one says it all: "Would they be calling the Supreme Court 'illegitimate' if they controlled the majority?"

NEW: Democrat Senator Chris Murphy warns of a widespread ‘revolt’ if the ‘illegitimate’ Supreme Court issues any pro-gun rulings.

Would they be calling the Supreme Court “illegitimate” if they controlled the majority?https://t.co/uJi18eTJlW

— Proud Elephant (@ProudElephantUS) May 14, 2023

Americans know the answer to that, of course. Progressives didn't call the Supreme Court illegitimate during the long decades that liberals were in control.

Whether the decision was the moral and legal atrocity of Roe v. Wade that enshrined legalized abortion in the United States for half a century (until just last summer), or constitutional abominations such as the Chevron decision that enshrined the administrative state (and remains intact), leftists considered them Holy Writ.

During those decades, Democrats pretended to revere the court's standing in the Constitution. But after the presidency of Donald Trump changed the makeup of the court, attacks on the court from the left have been increasing, including at least one very real assassination attempt.

It's been bubbling for some time -- with then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer standing outside the Supreme Court in 2020 to warn Justices Neal Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh they would "pay a price" for their positions on abortion. (A price Kavanaugh almost paid with his life.)

In an April Twitter post, liberal darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York claimed the court "has devolved into a highly politicized entity that is rapidly delegitimizing."

As The Hill reported in April, Ocasio-Cortez and her backup singers in "the squad" were demanding that Justice Clarence Thomas be impeached over a Pro Publica report, larded up with innuendo, that tried to claim Thomas has somehow behaved improperly by being friends with a man who thinks like does.

And, of course, there's the ever-present talk of "court packing" by Democrats, adding justices to ensure liberal decisions. The fact that that would destroy the court as it's currently understood by most Americans doesn't bother them at all.

Now Murphy has dropped the veil entirely.

His Democratic Party isn't interested in resolving constitutional questions; it's interested in power. And the extent to which it considers the court "legitimate" is entirely based on how submissive the judicial branch of government is.

Now that submissiveness is a thing of the past, and with it is Democratic respect for the institution.

A simpering stooge like Chuck Todd might have let it go by, as the establishment media always does with Democrats, but Americans who understand how the country is set up understood how dangerous it is.

The goal for conservatives in 2024 -- no matter who the Republican presidential nominee is -- is making the rest of Americans understand it, too.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.