I’ve written before about the disgusting tactics and lack of shame seen among North Carolina Republicans. I’ve covered the fact that it’s gotten so bad, they’re alienating their own members. I really would’ve thought I couldn’t be surprised by anything they did.

And yet, here we are. We’re in a place where North Carolina Republicans decided that September 11th didn’t have enough tragedy associated with it, so they spent it trying to kill democracy. To that end, the North Carolina House of Representatives held a surprise vote to override a veto by the state’s Democratic governor.

After GOP legislators told their Democratic counterparts that there would be no votes that day, and while many Democrats attended a 9/11 commemorative event, they decided to have a vote anyway. Republican Jason Saine even had the unmitigated gall to frame this as a patriotic act, and feign his own outrage:

GOP Rep. Jason Saine, who called the motion for the vote, declared that he was “appalled that anyone in our country would stop going about their normal business on this day. When we stop being a beacon of freedom, hope and democracy, then the terrorists win.”

Our nation doesn’t need to stop all business every September 11th, but it’s right for our lawmakers to take time to remember. It’s also right to stand by one’s word. Instead, Republicans used 9/11 to undermine democracy in the Tar Heel State. That’s literally what “the terrorists” wanted to accomplish in 2001.