In a story worthy of the satire site The Babylon Bee, Time magazine published an article titled: “Top Republicans Are Attacking Hakeem Jeffries as an ‘Election Denier.’ Here’s Why That Label Is Misleading.” Written by Jasmine Aguilera, the article tries mightily to defend the House Democrats’ soon-to-be minority leader from the “election denier” label Democrats and the Leftmedia have repeatedly used to smear Republicans.

In her article, Aguilera attempts to rebut several social media posts from the Republican National Committee that accurately capture Jeffries’s comments following the 2016 election. One example of Jeffries’s assertions: “The more we learn about 2016 election the more ILLEGITIMATE it becomes. America deserves to know whether we have a FAKE President in the Oval Office.”

Aguilera also notes comments from Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who recently stated on the Senate floor, “The newly elected incoming leader of House Democrats is a past election denier who basically said the 2016 election was quote ‘illegitimate,’ and suggested that we had a quote ‘fake president.’” It’s as if she’s trying to blame Republicans for what Jeffries actually said.

If there’s anything that riles up Democrats and leftists more than normal, it’s when the standards they have applied to judge and condemn Republicans and conservatives are turned around and applied to them. Indeed, it’s the Matthew 7:2 principle in effect, wherein Jesus warned, “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Well, evidently for Aguilera, the notion that Democrats like Jeffries or Hillary Clinton or Nancy Pelosi or the rest of the lot could be labeled “election deniers” over their response to Trump’s 2016 election victory (or George W. Bush’s in 2000, for that matter) is simply unconscionable because Democrats are the good guys … or something.

So, in order to defend Jeffries and other Democrats from this spurious charge, she starts by denying their denials. She does this by playing the term-redefinition game. She writes:

The term “election denier” has taken on a particular meaning, however, after Trump’s failed re-election campaign. The phrase has come to be associated with Republicans who claim the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, assert without evidence there was fraud in 2020 voting, and cast doubt on secure voting systems — claims that lead to the deadly January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Ah. According to Aguilera, the term can be applied only to Republicans because “it has come to be associated with” them. What a remarkably passive thing to “observe” coming from the ones throwing around that label. Leftmedia rags dutifully joined Democrats in using the smear after the 2020 election — especially during election coverage this year — hypocritically ignoring their own history over the last 20 years. Never mind the fact that Democrats denied Trump’s 2016 election, making baseless assertions founded upon what were obviously dubious claims that later proved to be an absolutely bogus conspiracy of Russian collusion. A conspiracy that was cooked up and seeded by Team Clinton.

Aguilera further asserts that the Republicans’ election denials were worse not only because of the January 6 riot but because they “threaten democracy” by casting doubt on America’s “secure voting systems.” So, just to make sure we have this straight: When Democrats object to the election of a Republican, they are trying to “protect democracy,” but when Republicans object to the election of a Democrat, they are sowing doubt in the electoral process and therefore are threatening democracy.

Once again, Aguilera’s argument essentially boils down to that subjective “good guys vs. bad guys” ethic. It’s OK if our team complains about the refereeing when we lose because we’re the “good” team, but if the other team complains about the refereeing after they lose, then they are poor sports who deserve to be reprimanded for daring to question the refs’ authority.

Finally, what Time and Aguilera serve to do is reinforce an old adage: If it weren’t for double standards, Democrats wouldn’t have any.