The Big Lie, Con't

America still has questions about the January 6th terrorist insurrection, and the majority of us expect Congress to get us some damn answers, which ostensibly is a problem for the GOP.

With Congress' January 6 Select Committee slated to start work soon, Americans still overwhelmingly disapprove of the events they witnessed that day, a sentiment that includes big majorities of both Republicans and of former President Trump's voters, too — and most do think there's more to learn about it. But beyond that larger sentiment, not everyone describes what happened the same way.

A majority of Americans still specifically call what happened that day an "insurrection" and an attempted overthrow of the government. This is where most Democrats and independents land. But roughly one-third of the country call it patriotism, or defending freedom, even though some of them nonetheless disapprove of the attack itself. And on those descriptors, we see divides within the GOP.

 

This may be worth watching: among Republicans, there is some shifting sentiment as they disapprove, though not quite as strongly as they used to. This less intense disapproval, among some in the Republican base, comes perhaps on the heels of recent comments about the day from former President Trump and others.

  

Here's the thing though: "There's more to learn" in this case to the GOP clearly means "goofball right-wing conspiracy theories must be investigated and given equal importance", and that's where Kevin McCarthy's merry band of assholes comes in.  

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has made his selection of five Republicans to join the select committee investigating January 6, ensuring that Republicans will have input in the investigation run by Democrats. 

Republican Reps. Jim Banks of Indiana, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Rodney Davis of Illinois, Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota and freshman Troy Nehls of Texas have been selected by McCarthy, the minority leader confirmed to CNN. The group of House Republicans who were named to the select committee huddled in McCarthy's office for a meeting on Monday evening. 

When asked how he arrived at his selections, McCarthy said he carefully chose a mix of members who represent a wide swath of views inside the House GOP conference and can each bring a different area of expertise to the table because of their past jobs or current committee assignments. 

"You've got a mix from the entire conference, from people who objected, people who didn't object. ... You've got people who authored the commission," McCarthy told reporters. "So, you've got a microcosm of the conference."

 

Please note the "microcosm of the conference" here are all white men from the Midwest, three of the five (Jordan, Banks, and Nehls) who voted to make Trump dictator on January 6th. Rod Davis is the one Republican in that group that actually voted for the January 6th Committee.

But let's be real about what the goal here is:

 

When asked by CNN what Republicans want to accomplish on the select committee, Jordan attacked Democrats: "You know what this is about. This is about going after President Trump. The Democrats don't want to talk about anything else." 

Banks was selected to be the ranking Republican on the committee and is also the head of the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative caucus in the House. 

In a statement, Banks confirmed that he had accepted McCarthy's appointment, but outlined his concerns with the scope of the committee, framing it as an effort by Democrats "to malign conservatives and to justify the Left's authoritarian agenda." 

"I have accepted Leader McCarthy's appointment to this committee because we need leaders who will force the Democrats and the media to answer questions so far ignored. Among them, why was the Capitol unprepared and vulnerable to attack on January 6?" Banks asked.

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The goal was always to muddy the water and produce ignoble headlines like "Dems, GOP Clash On January 6th Committee" for several weeks, and America tunes the arguing out.

 

Pelosi knows this, so she told Jordan and Banks to piss off.

 

McCarthy has now pulled all Republicans from the committee and vows that he'll keep it from going forward.

The fact that Jordan, who should be a potential witness called to answer for his role in the insurrection, was chosen the committee signals very clearly that the GOP is going to do its dead level best to cover up the mess here, and America will just shrug and go back to watching reruns of Judge Judy.

Republicans don't want answers. They want the Big Lie.