in a thoughtful and informative column that starts by discussing Democratic senators' ethics complaint filed against Cruz and Hawley.
Third, we can surmise that the purpose of this letter is likely not to obtain expulsion (which virtually never happens) but rather to create a record, put pressure on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to move the two senators off plum committees and force Cruz and Hawley (already under public pressure and facing a donor boycott) to defend their actions. If nothing else, demanding that they retract the Big Lie that the election was stolen would serve the interests of “unity” and repair some of the damage they did to our democracy.
It is an open secret that Cruz is one of the least-liked members of the Senate. ... And certainly other potential presidential contenders in 2024 would love nothing better than to see Cruz and Hawley publicly flogged. But it is a truism that the Senate is a club in which members are loath to call out colleagues for conduct in which they themselves had engaged.
Sadly, lying to stir up low-information, violent extremists is nothing new in the Republican Senate caucus. One need only listen to the Russian propaganda that Republicans peddled to defend former president Donald Trump during the Ukraine scandal to know how utterly shameless too many in the party have become.
What is necessary is to raise the standard of conduct expected of a U.S. senator and make it untenable to operate in a parallel universe of lies and incitement. During the previous administration, we saw just how much time and energy Republicans devoted not to solving voters’ problems but to stirring White resentment, posturing for right-wing propaganda outlets and fundraising off their hysterical rhetoric. The solution to that is far beyond the purview of the ethics committee.
Civil society — including donors, bar associations, think tanks, media, party activists and the voters themselves — must raise the price of engaging in the sort of disreputable conduct for which Cruz, Hawley and their ilk are famous. That is the great challenge in our MAGA-corrupted politics.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/22/senate-democrats-investigate-insurrectionists/
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