Honesty is important in a politician, but honesty is born of courage. Where was McCarthy’s courage? Where is anyone’s? We know the Democrats lack the courage to speak the truth on virtually anything, from crime to gender identity to inflation. Republicans of today are not exactly the cast of Braveheart either, but just a temporary spike in courage last January could have saved the party a grueling series of headaches in the future.

Barring Trump from returning to the White House would have required just ten additional Republican votes in the Senate. Yet Mitch McConnell voted nay even though he had just been reelected, and won’t have to face voters again until 2026, when he’ll be 84. “The Democrats are going to take care of the son of a b**** for us,” McConnell said of Trump, relying on questionable math, days after the riot. He added, “If this isn’t impeachable, I don’t know what is.” He did an about-face when he realized Trump was going to be acquitted.

Many other Republican senators had also just been reelected and hence had every reason to feel secure. The whole point of six-year terms is to encourage senators to think about the long run — to lend them some courage. Yet almost every member of the group of senators that won’t face voters again until 2026 — Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Steve Daines of Montana, Jim Risch of Idaho, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, John Cornyn of Texas, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, and Roger Marshall of Kansas — misplaced their fortitude, along with Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who had just been reelected and who said of Trump on the Senate floor on the night of January 6, “All I can say is enough is enough, count me out.” Oklahoma’s Jim Inhofe voted nay even though he had just been reelected and would announce his retirement six months later.