January 6th Committee Irony

June 23, 2021

The ever increasing split in our nations politics has spilled over into what shouldn’t be such a partisan debate – the Jan. 6 Committee. Everyone lived through what happened that day – a day that will live in infamy for the rest of our lives. How could the world’s most shining example of democracy ever allow such thing to happen? A clear, thorough investigation is needed, but with both parties working together to get to the truth.

It is a shame that this needed investigation has become such a weapon that both sides will use against each other. For Democrats, this is the easiest thing to use in 2022 and beyond, labelling Republicans as truth deniers and fill-in-the-blank insults. For the GOP, they can claim the Democrat-led committee is bias and will steer the investigation to their own pre-determined opinions. This will just lead to more bickering and division, and it never had to be this way.

To me, a right-leaning conservative, this is once again confirmation of the path the GOP has chosen. Former president Donald Trump gave Republicans the perfect opportunity to break from him and re-establish their conservative roots, led once again by good men and women. After the riot, instead of seeking to find a new, honourable leader who would help repair the image and standing of the GOP, Republicans once again humbly fell on their knees in front of their lord and king. House Minority Puppet Kevin McCarthy took the calculated risk of going out of his way to meet Mr. Trump at his Florida home within weeks of the devastating attack on the capital. This only emboldened Trump, as the meeting signalled top Republicans still looked to him as their faultless leader.

What strategic goal did this positioning achieve? Republicans got ruthlessly swept in federal elections because they alienated moderates. Clearly the American people and the centre-right spoke! The GOP were never going to lose their Trump supporters, as they think it treasonous to vote for anyone but a neo-MAGA conservative. Yet Republicans failed to recognize this, despite the opportunity to separate themselves from Trump. They’ve chosen to embrace lies, conspiracies, and cancel culture, all in the name of party unity.

For the GOP, party unity has taken on a very different meaning. “Party unity” should now be “Trump loyalty.” It does not matter how often you voted conservatively, it does not matter your faith or service background, if you go against Trump in any way, you are cancelled. Representative Liz Cheney is the best and most famous example. She clearly has a more conservative voting record than most Republicans, not to mention her previous professional roles and family background. Yet when she called out Trump on his “big lie,” she was cancelled in favour of a Trump loyalist (Rep. Elise Stefanik), despite her marginally at best conservative voting record.

So when both Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger answered their constitutional duty to serve on the Jan 6 committee, they were of course attacked by their GOP colleagues. These objective Republicans give the committee some much-needed bipartisanship, yet Trump loyalists ironically lambasted the selections as confirming a Democrat bias. There was never a need for the GOP to go this route, and they won’t cover themselves in glory. Their march towards the wrong pages of history books continues, and I fear the worst for them.