Notes from Surreal Land

Yesterday the Republican National Committee voted to censure Republican representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for serving on the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th, 2021, insurrection, attack on, vandalizing, and occupation of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob intent on overturning the 2020 presidential election that terrorized members of Congress and resulted in a number of deaths and numerous injuries. The Republican leaders said censure was justified because the investigation is a “persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse.”

This characterization of the events of that day is so far removed from the bounds of reality that it would be risible if it weren’t conclusive evidence of the moral disintegration of most Republican office holders and officials, signifying a departure from the norms of civilized behavior that is bizarre, distressing, and demonstrative that we are living in a gravely troubling era of American history.