The House took a vote today to censure Rep. Paul Gosar. If one is unfamiliar with what Paul Gosar did, it is almost irrelevant. But to sum it up in a phrase, he used an anime cartoon (already a bad start for an adult) replaced the characters with adult pictures of heads, making himself the “hero,” and it ends with him slaying AOC.

Your regular Republican member of Congress is likely humiliated to the point of now wanting to vote to censure Gosar and is likely mad at Gosar for once again bringing forcing a news cycle and all accompanying humiliation along with it to the party.

They had the perfect opportunity to unleash their anger this afternoon. The House held a vote to censure Gosar and strip him of committee assignments. Perfect, right?

No. Wrong.

Why? Because Paul Gosar is one of Trump’s biggest supporters, right at the level of Boebert, Gaetz, Marj, and Cawthorne. It makes him a made man, untouchable. Thus, the only two votes to censure Gosar came from Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, the two with the independence to tell Trump where to go.

From the rest? Silence.

It was up against this anticipated silence that AOC, prior to the vote, challenged the Republican party:

“What I believe is unprecedented is for a member of House leadership of either party to be unable to condemn incitement of vi0lence against a member of this body … what is so hard about saying that this is wrong?”

And not a single House member – MAGA member answered honestly. It is not hard to say it is wrong. Indeed, it’s all too easy. The hard part is crossing Trump and they won’t do it. They simply cannot. The base is still too strong. Much as the base peels away, there are still too many, too many that will primary them, and that is what makes saying that it is wrong “so hard.”

They want their jobs too badly, It requires fealty to Trump. For today, that basic, humiliating fact was exposed more clearly than ever before. Thankfully, the Democrats still control the House, Cheney and Kinzinger still control their conscience and Gosar was and Gosar was censured.

AOC never got her answer. Well, she did. Just, not out loud.

AOC: "What I believe is unprecedented is for a member of House leadership of either party to be unable to condemn incitement of violence against a member of this body … what is so hard about saying that this is wrong?" pic.twitter.com/99Gavn8a34

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 17, 2021

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[email protected] and on Substack Much Ado About Nothing

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