Primary Day: what's a non-Trumpist conservative to do?

 It's now 2 o'clock in the afternoon here in Indiana. On any other Election Day, primary or general, I would have gone to the polls hours ago.

I'm not inclined to go at all today.

I know there are honorable people of good character running for various offices on the Republican ticket, which is how I've always voted (except when I wrote Evan McMullin for president in 2016; in 2020, I wrote in a Republican, Ben Sasse.) (Well, there was 1980, when I still had my head up my ass and voted for Barry Commoner.) I even know some of them personally.

But push is going to come to shove, either in this election cycle or the next, and they'll have to come down on one side of the fence or the other regarding the glaring question: Do they repudiate Donald Trump and the drool-besotted cult he commands?

90 percent of the Republican Party now consists of cowards and/or nuts and/or sycophants, at least to some degree. Some are not completely given over to this abnegation of character, but enough so that they do the wrong thing when doing the right thing is imperative.

Mitch McConnell is often lauded as the Senator's Senator, the guy who unflinchingly takes into account political realities, who plays the long game, who is willing to keep his cool and move forward with his aims with steady bearing. 

But there comes a point at which all that statesmanlike demeanor can't conceal the fact that he puts dragging the Republican brand over the finish line above consistency regarding a political figure he knows to be unfit, unhinged and repulsive.

In early 2021, there was a two-week span between what McConnell said about Trump's culpability for January 6 and, well, this. And he gave that classic politician's waffle as his excuse: we must move on and look forward:

Less than two weeks after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declared that there was “no question—none—that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking” the insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol—while simultaneously voting to acquit on impeachment—he told Fox News on Thursday evening that he would “absolutely” support Trump if he is the Republican nominee in 2024.

Ahead of Trump’s big speech at CPAC on Sunday, Fox anchor Bret Baier asked McConnell to weigh in on the widespread assumption that the former president will be the frontrunner should he decide to run again.

At first, McConnell hedged a bit, saying, "There's a lot to happen between now and ‘24” and adding, “I’ve got four members, I think, that are planning on running for president, plus some governors and others.” With no incumbent Republican running, McConnell said, “It should be a wide open race and fun for you all to cover.”

But when Baier then asked him directly if he would support Trump should he become the nominee, McConnell answered, “The nominee of the party? Absolutely.”

Earlier in the interview—McConnell’s first since the Capitol riot—when Baier confronted his guest with the cognitive dissonance between the remarks he made on the floor of the Senate 12 days ago and his renewed embrace of Trump, McConnell told him, “My point is what happened in the past is not something relevant now, we’re moving forward. We’ve got a new administration.”

Last month, Jonathan Swan of Axios confronted him about this glaring contradiction and got this response: 

“Help me understand this,” Swan said. “I watched your speech last year in February on the Senate floor after the second impeachment vote for Donald Trump.”

Swan was surprised that McConnell could support a man he called “morally responsible” for an attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“After you said that about him, I think it’s astonishing!” Swan said.

“I think I have an obligation to support the nominee of my party,” McConnell explained.

Swan wondered if there is anything a Republican nominee could do that would lose McConnell’s support. 

The senator couldn’t think of anything.

“Well, that will mean that whoever the nominee is has gone out and earned the nomination,” McConnell argued.

Swan then pointed out that McConnell was seemingly holding “two concurrent conflicting positions,” but McConnell insisted he wasn’t “inconsistent” at all.

“I stand by everything I said ... because I don’t get to pick the Republican nominee for president. They’re elected by the Republican voters all over the country,” McConnell said.

After Swan noted that Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said she believes “there are some things more important than party loyalty,” McConnell said, “Well, maybe you ought to be talking to Liz Cheney.”

Swan then insisted his question wasn’t meant to be a “gotcha.”

“I’m actually trying to understand. Is there any threshold for you?” Swan asked.

“You know, I say many things I’m sure people don’t understand,” McConnell responded.

Can it get any lamer then that?

Then there's House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who has been caught red-handed saying, in January 2021 - to Liz Cheney, no less - that the Very Stable Genius should resign:

Just days after the Jan. 6 riot, House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy told a fellow Republican lawmaker that he would recommend to then-President Donald Trump that he resign, according to audio of a call shared with MSNBC and aired Thursday night.

In the Jan. 10, 2021, call, McCarthy can be heard telling Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., that he planned to tell the president he should step down following the violent attack on the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters.

McCarthy, R-Calif., also indicated that he thought impeachment would succeed in the House and possibly the Senate.

“The only discussion I would have with him is that I think this will pass, and it would be my recommendation you should resign,” McCarthy said in audio that aired on "The Rachel Maddow Show."

Weeks later, McCarthy was one of the throne-sniffing sycophants who made the pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring. And earlier this year, he gave his endorsement to Cheney'sprimary opponent, Harriett Hageman.  

And he and his spokesman told a stinking rotten lie about the January 10 call:

McCarthy released a statement Thursday calling the report “totally false and wrong.” His spokesman, Mark Bednar, told the newspaper, “McCarthy never said he’d call Trump to say he should resign.”

And where does he stand on Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar?

- Any update on your conversations with Congressman Gosar and Greene?

KEVIN MCCARTHY: Yes, I've talked to Greene. I'm still waiting to talk to Gosar.

- And?

KEVIN MCCARTHY: I've talked to them.

- But you said-- I think you told Jake and [INAUDIBLE] that there's no place for--

KEVIN MCCARTHY: There isn't no place for that. There's no place for what has gone on with that organization by far, and there never will be in this party. And it'll never be tolerated.

- And will she go again?

KEVIN MCCARTHY: Yes.

- Do you--

KEVIN MCCARTHY: No, she will not go again.

- Did she get-- any repercussions for her?

KEVIN MCCARTHY: Look, my conversations with my members are exactly that. And I appreciate you asking.

- Well, I-- on this topic, I mean, three years ago, when Steve King made comments that are [INAUDIBLE] to this, you supported kicking him off his committees--

KEVIN MCCARTHY: I removed him from committee.

- Yeah. And obviously Greene and Gosar are already off their committees. You said in November that you'd return them to their committees. And you said they might even get better committee assignments. Do you stand by that still?

KEVIN MCCARTHY: They have the ability to be able to get committees based upon that time when it comes.

Speaking of MTG, her primary opponent, Jennifer Strahan, was supposed to be the Great Georgian Hope, a foil to Taylor Greene's clown show, someone actual conservatives could enthusiastically support. Then she pulls this:

I have been very clear from the get go that I support President Trump...I believe that he has had the best policies I've seen in my lifetime... I proudly voted for Trump in 2016 & again in 2020 & if he's our Rep nominee, I will gladly vote for him again in 2024

Thanks for nothin', Jen.

Now it's 2:47. I don't have forever to make my decision. 

And I sure as hell am not going to vote Democrat. A perusal of this site's posts quickly makes clear that I hold them in the same regard from a moral standpoint as I do Republicans. 

But I just don't think I can go down to my customary polling place and get in line.

I can't perpetuate the spiritual rottenness that is at the core of the Republican Party.