The New York Times has done an appallingly bad job in this age of Trump. What they see here about the bad job done by Republican politicians is all true. But I wish they would turn their scrutiny inward a bit: New York Times: The Cult of Trump: "Every now and again, someone sticks a neck out...
...Consider poor Representative Trey Gowdy. In 2015, the South Carolina Republican became a conservative darling as head of the House’s Benghazi inquiry. But last week, Mr. Gowdy, now chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, went on television and undercut the Spygate conspiracy theory that Mr. Trump has been peddling so vigorously. Mr. Gowdy not only batted down the term “spy,” but dared to defend the F.B.I. Quicker than you can say “collusion,” the congressman got dog-piled by Trump fans in the conservative media. On the heels of Mr. Gowdy, the House speaker, Paul Ryan, ventured forth this week with his own questioning of the Spygate fantasy. This may well signal growing unease among congressional Republicans with Mr. Trump’s conspiracy mongering. On the other hand, it’s probably not coincidental that Mr. Gowdy and Mr. Ryan have both announced they are retiring at the end of this term.
A week ago, John Boehner, the former House speaker, neatly captured the state of his party during a policy conference in Michigan. “There is no Republican Party,” he told the crowd. “There’s a Trump party. The Republican Party is kind of taking a nap somewhere.”
Sounds peaceful. But where will the party, not to mention the country, be when it finally wakes up?..."
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