The Deserved Refusal to Shake Hands
GOPrs celebrated 1/6 rioters but stiff-armed the Capitol Police heroes
It was the snub seen ‘round the world.
At an event honoring the heroes of the 1/6 insurrection, some members of the Capitol Police and family members of fallen officers showed Republicans that actions have consequences. Some of these men and women who sacrificed their health, their lives and their loved ones, as they walked down a receiving line, ignored that outstretched hand of Senator Mitch McConnell and passed Congressman Kevin McCarthy without so much as an acknowledgment of his existence.
What did they expect? Republican members of Congress, in all of their typical spinelessness, refused to participate in investigations of the attack, refused to even meet with Capitol officers who fought to save these legislators lives in the midst of a riot. They have whined and complained that criminals have been treated in the same way as any other locked up criminals. They have called them “political prisoners.” They have ignored the suffering of the heroes. They have shrugged as the leader of their party - Donald Trump - has professed his love for the violent anti-American hoodlums and has promised to issue blanket pardons to them, all while stiff-arming the 114 law enforcement officers who fought to save our nation. While attempting to cripple investigations into what happened that day, they have promised Congressional hearings into nonsense, all for talking points on Fox News. And when two Republicans who actually care about this country - Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger - joined the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, Republicans condemned them, removed Cheney from her leadership position, while the MAGA punks who proclaim themselves to be patriots issued death threats to those two members of Congress for participating in an investigation of an insurrection.
Topping it all off, they have actually celebrated the rioters - the ones who attempted to thwart our Constitution and hoped to murder the Vice President and Speaker of the House - as the real heroes of that day. After the conviction of Simone Gold, on the day after her release from prison for her participation in the riot, Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Insane Asylum) awarded her a flag that had flown over the Capitol, while proclaiming her a political prisoner.
MAGA types - in their endless tantrums about having to face the consequences of their own actions - whined about how rude it was for the officers and family to snub the leaders of the Republican Party. While McCarthy deserved every bit of scorn for his endless kowtowing to Trump and the rioters - after mumbling his condemnation days after the 1/6 attack - at least McConnell never backtracked on his criticism. But both of them tried to kill the Special Committee to investigate the attack. And McConnell has stayed silent as his Republican colleagues deemed the criminals as “patriots” and “tourists” and “political prisoners.” Never in American history could anyone have imagined that a political party would side with thugs who attacked the heart of our democracy. They deserved the snub.
Ken Sicknick, brother of Officer Brian Sicknick who died just after being attacked on 1/6, summed up the reason for the snub. “It’s self explanatory in a way,” he said. “They came out right away and condemned what happened on January 6. And whatever hold that Trump has on them, they backstepped and danced, and won’t admit to wrongdoing - not necessarily of them themselves, but of Trump, of the rioters…It’s disgusting. It takes away everything my brother’s done. It takes away the heroism brother showed.”
He continued: “They have no idea what integrity is. They can’t stand up for what’s right and wrong. To them, it’s party first.”
It is not as if the attack on 1/6 was some sort of surprise. For months, Republicans remained near silent as Trump raged his lies - fueled undoubtedly by this sociopath’s narcissistic collapse from having lost an election - ginning up the anger and outrage of people too uninformed, or too trapped by the conservative media bubble of falsehoods. Trump promised that January 6 would be “wild.” And Republicans stayed silent.
Make no mistake. Just like now - as Republicans toadies squirm away, unable to criticize their God King for proclaiming the Constitution needs to be terminated and for dining with anti-semites and neo-Nazis - this party is adding to the rage of MAGA thugs, rage that has, is, and will continue to fuel to violence. All so sniveling cowards like McCarthy can keep their office. As Ken Sicknick put it, in words that should be emblazoned in the history of this pathetic political party, “They have no idea what integrity is.”
So it is little wonder why some of the heroes of 1/6 and their families snubbed McConnell and McCarthy. They certainly did not want to stain the memories and honor of their loved ones with the blood that still drips from the hands of the GOP’s leadership.