The Late Great GOP

It ain't over til it's over, and I don't want to start singing the elegy just yet, but the stench of putrefaction has grown very thick, and there seems to be the sound of low and sonorous bells pealing in the distance, growing louder by the day.

Republicans are not people of honor, so there's practically no way for them to act in good faith.

They can't be trusted - shit, they can't even trust each other.

They're lost, and at this point, not worth the effort to find them and finish burying whatever's left of them.

We have to let them go.

WaPo: (pay wall)

Opinion: Kevin McCarthy plumbs new depths of political cowardice

Democratic and Republican negotiators agreed last week to create a high-level, expert commission with subpoena power to conduct an examination of the Jan. 6 Capitol invasion, one of the lowest moments in U.S. history. But House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday threw his negotiators under the bus, condemning the compromise and vowing to oppose the bill creating the commission when it comes to a House vote Wednesday. This is cowardice, distilled.

Many Republicans do not want an impartial panel to remind the public of their party’s role in the event. A fair inquiry would examine how GOP lawmakers fed the election lies that inspired the mob, and how they built Jan. 6, which should have featured a pro forma counting of electoral votes, into a showdown over the 2020 presidential election. Republican lawmakers who signed a spurious lawsuit seeking to overturn the results bear some guilt; those who went on to object to the counting of electoral votes from several swing states bear even more.

An honest proceeding would also require Mr. McCarthy to testify under oath about his eyewitness experience of the violence — and to then-President Donald Trump’s apparent indifference. Mr. McCarthy has resisted offering the public a frank accounting of his interactions with Mr. Trump, including on a phone call during which Mr. McCarthy reportedly begged Mr. Trump to stop the mob. Mr. McCarthy has concluded that whatever political benefits he receives from embracing Mr. Trump are worth the price of his integrity.

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Politico:

McConnell opposes House’s bipartisan Jan. 6 commission bill

Former President Donald Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy are also against the commission proposal.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told Republicans on Wednesday that he is opposed to an independent commission investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection as envisioned by the House, casting serious doubt on the future of the proposed bipartisan panel.

McConnell had signaled on Tuesday that he was undecided but came down more firmly after another day of deliberations, according to a person with direct knowledge of his remarks on Wednesday morning. He explained his stance in more detail on the Senate floor, calling the House’s proposal “slanted and unbalanced” and saying the ongoing congressional investigations are sufficient to probe the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol.

“It’s not at all clear what new facts or additional investigation yet another commission could lay on top of the existing efforts by law enforcement and Congress,” McConnell said.

The Kentucky Republican’s stance suggests that legislation creating a bipartisan commission on the Capitol riot — a bill set to pass the House later Wednesday — is likely doomed to fall to a Senate filibuster if major changes aren’t made. Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.) had forged a deal with House Democrats to allow equal partisan representation on the 10-member commission and to give it subpoena power to focus on the events of Jan. 6.

Yet Republicans are now wrestling with how much more they want to litigate the presidency of Trump, whom McConnell no longer speaks to or talks about.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that regardless of McConnell’s stance, the Senate will vote on the commission bill. The measure will need the support of 10 Senate Republicans to pass.

“The American people will see for themselves whether our Republican friends stand on the side of the truth or on the side of Donald Trump’s big lie,” Schumer said on Wednesday morning.

A number of House and Senate Republicans have expressed support for the commission, but the weight of the party's leaders is now beating back that sentiment. Both Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy are opposed to the commission proposal, and McConnell’s opposition will further pressure rank-and-file Republicans to oppose it.