I think that as humans, much of who we are is defined by who we follow. What our creeds are, what our allegiances are. I think this is what allows tribalism, politics, philosophy, religion, fandom etc to exist. I think that when we align so voraciously with a movement so... bitter. So unaware. So selfish. It lets the lesser within us subsume the greater. This is why movements matter. Why public discourse matters. Why "both sides" only works when the sides are equivalent. Why authorities need to earn their respect. Because otherwise you get this shit. How fucking bereft of meaning do you have to be to fly to the capital and shout in a cop's face to let you in where the congresspersons are? How devoid of other purpose must you be to invest this heavily in THAT?
The ability of Graham and Rubio to both-sides this within 48 hours has been head spinning. I'm of the opinion that the House is the Wild West, so there's nothing that can be done there, but that the Senate needs a purge. Hawley and Cruz should both be expelled. Ron Johnson's expulsion is already being called for by his home town news paper. Heads need to roll, or else the only lesson that will be learned was that they didn't go big enough.
I think 40 years ago you could argue that opportunism and hypocrisy were characteristics that, unfortunately, permitted one to rise within the Republican Party. I think over the ensuing 40 years opportunism and hypocrisy have become the defining characteristics of the Republican Party.
Ronna McD got re-elected(?) as RNC head, like, yesterday. So yeah. 0 lessons learned. I'll continue helping to destroy the party :).