I'm close to ready to go full on conspiracy theorist here. This time last year I fully expected that Ryan and McConnell would jump ship after (1) they got their Spanish Inquisitor confirmed to the court, (2) they gutted the ACA, and (3) transferred more of the tax burden to the middle class while making the revenue picture one that necessitates cutting lots and lots in the near future. They got all three and yet they're still all in. Why? There are only a few reasonable explanations.

First is that they're enjoying gutting the welfare state so much that they just don't want to stop. This is likely. It doesn't account for some of the seedier things they've done, however, such as degrading law enforcement and intelligence gatherers, which are supposed to be GOP sacred cows.

Second, they could be full on conspirators in Trump's embezzlement scheme. I view this as so exceedingly unlikely that I hesitate to even type it.

Third, Russia has compromised them by the same tactics that they used against the Dems, and have heavy threats against them if they don't play ball. I find this to be a very real possibility. Donna Brazile told Clinton that she was going to be asked about emails at a town hall. Shocking and scandalous! Can you imagine what type of nefarious shit McConnell says and does when he thinks no one is watching? What about Paul Ryan, a person who admits in public that the long game of tax reform is to cut entitlements, and that Ayn Rand is his hero. Those are the things he's not embarrassed to say. There's an almost 100% certainty that these crooked dealers have a lot they need to keep under wraps. Is it so embarrassing and profoundly immoral that they would sell out NatSec to keep it hidden? I don't think that's beyond reason.

Some RNC staffers have said on the record--and then "corrected" themselves--that their emails were hacked. But we've never seen that evidence. So either the corrections were legit, or there's an anvil hanging by fishing line above the entire GOP's head. Do we think that somehow a bunch of old ass rich dudes are so tech savvy that they're immune to state sponsored hacking? Not likely.