Meanwhile, coloring just a little more inside the lines we still have the Republicans trying to run things with a minority vote. It was reported July 21 that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had rejected two Republicans tapped by House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy to sit on a committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, a decision McCarthy denounced as “an egregious abuse of power.”

McCarthy said the GOP won't participate in the investigation if Democrats won't accept the members he appointed.

So I guess we’ll see how Republicans actually serve the public when push comes to shove. And will McCarthy really be able to gain control of the House and Pelosi’s job in 2022? Scary.

Pelosi cited the “integrity” of the probe in refusing to accept the appointments of Indiana Rep. Jim Banks, picked by McCarthy to be the top Republican on the panel, or Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan. Both are close allies of former President Donald Trump, whose supporters laid siege to the Capitol that day.

In the hours after the insurrection (the word selected by the Associated Press), both Banks and Jordan voted to overturn Joe Biden's presidential victory. Pelosi said she had spoken with McCarthy and told him that she would reject the two names.

Even more to the point are the comments of columnist Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post July 21. “No one should be surprised that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) — one of the disgraced former president’s most cringeworthy supplicants — chose to appoint three House members for the select committee on Jan. 6 who voted to overthrow the election and opposed the formation of a bipartisan commission.

“McCarthy, who experienced an initial spasm of patriotism and honesty in January when he admitted that the failed Republican nominee ‘bears responsibility’ for the attack, quickly reverted to form. He voted against impeachment and supported the ouster of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) from her leadership position in the Republican Party because she had the temerity to insist her party stop lying about the election results and hold the instigator in chief responsible for his assault on democracy. McCarthy subsequently opposed a Jan. 6 bipartisan commission, and he refuses to take action against those in his party who lie about the severity and purpose of the attempted coup.

“McCarthy’s appointment of Republican Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Jim Banks of Indiana and Troy E. Nehls of Texas to the select committee (as well as Republicans Rodney Davis of Illinois and Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota) is par for the course for McCarthy. Jordan, Banks and Nehls all voted to overthrow the election results on Jan. 6, further evidence of McCarthy’s spineless adoption of Trumpian lies and authoritarianism. (Remember: A vote for a Republican for the House in 2022 is a vote to install Donald Trump’s pawn, McCarthy, as speaker and empower him to overturn the 2024 election results if they again show a Democratic winner.)”

Yes, I subscribe to the Post. That paper’s syndicated columnist and blogger also had a lengthy editorial page piece in the July 21 Seattle Times for those of you who still have that kicking around.