But Her Emails...

I can't tell if the results of yesterday's vote in the House of Representatives to have a January 6th Commission was a good thing or bad.  The vote passed by 252-175, which is a pretty big, bipartisan margin these days.

On the one hand, 35 Republicans actually broke rank and went against party leadership to vote in favor of having the Commission.  On the other hand, 175 Republicans voted to not have a study of the insurrection that breached the U.S. Capitol, attempted to overthrow the U.S. government, forced members to barricade themselves in five people died, including several police officers, and 140 police officers were injured.

This is the same Republican Party that held around 16 hearing on Benghazi, and questioned then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for 11 hours.  And spent most of the 2016 presidential campaign crying to the heavens about Ms. Clinton's emails.  But 175 members of this GOP couldn't be bothered to vote to authorize an investigation of an attempt to overthrow the government.

Still, given that that is today's Republican Party, and only 10 Republicans voted to impeach Trump for his part in the insurrection, and given that their party leader in the House was opposed to the measure, to have that many Republicans vote in favor of having the Commission is huge.

In general, I was impressed that 35 Republicans voted for the Commission.  I expected a lot to, and I was hoping for even more, but I wasn't expecting that many.  So, I think that was a really Good Thing.

And until I sat down to write this here, that was pretty much the reaction I was more leaning to as "better."  But the more I had to focus on the specifics, the more I've changed my mind.  As impressive as it was that 35 whole Republicans voted in favor of the bill -- it's sickening that 175 Republicans thought we shouldn't investigate an attempted overthrow the United States by an insurrection breaching the Capitol where five police and rioters died, 140 police were injured, and there were cries to kill the Speaker of the House and vice president of the United States.

And further, the fact that the insurrection was so horrific that it pushed 35 Republicans to vote in favor of having a Commission speaks even louder to how craven today's fascist Republican Party is.

So, and good and encouraging as those 35 votes were, it's overshadowed by how reprehensible those 175 members of today's Republican Party showed themselves to be.

And we haven't even gotten to Mitch McConnell.  And the likelihood that Republicans in the Senate will, in the end, block it all.

Because ultimately, this is about the Republican Party, which has enabled fascism throughout its party across the country and is complicit.