I'm often asked why the Republicans do this or don't do that. The answer is always the same, and it's really simple: the ONLY thing that drives their decisions is whether they think it'll increase or decrease their odds of keeping their own seats. It's that drop dead simple.

If you're a House or Senate Republican in this era, you're corrupt and you're in it for the money and power. But if you lose your seat, no more money and power for you. So you're going to try to be as corrupt as you can, but only up to the limit where you can still get reelected.

When the republicans look at whether to convict Trump, or expel Greene, the ONLY factor is whether they think it'll increase or decrease their own odds of keeping their own seats in 2022. The right or wrong thing doesn't matter to these types. Keeping their seat does.

The only reason you see some conflict among republicans is that they come from different states and districts, and therefore they each have a different threshold for what they can get away with and still be reelected.

When the republicans occasionally turn on each other, it's because the ones in the most far-right districts, who can get away with anything they want, take their corrupt antics to the point that it puts republicans in more reasonable districts in danger of losing their seats.

With the republicans, it is NEVER about the right or wrong thing. Ever. Why would it be? Such concepts don't exist to people like that. They do the wrong thing when it benefits them, and they occasionally do the right thing to look good so they can get reelected. Just strategy.

Nor is there any such concept as a republican politician growing a "spine" or a "conscience." These are imaginary concepts that we try to apply to republicans, that simply don't exist in their species. For them it's only a calculation about keeping their seat, period.

Republicans don't always guess right. McConnell thought his actions in November-December would win him the runoff elections. He guessed wrong, and he lost his job over it. But his behavior was entirely about TRYING to win those runoffs. He's just capable of making mistakes.

If you're using words like right, wrong, spine, or courage in reference to republicans, you're basically speaking gibberish. They don't care about any of that. It's all math for them. What can they steal from us and still keep their own seats?

It's also naive of us to presume that republicans are always LOOKING to do the wrong thing. They're not mustache twirling cartoon villains trying to cause random mischief. They're professional thieves. Occasionally, doing the right thing helps them personally, so they do it.

Once you stop viewing republican politicians as humans, and you starting viewing them as professional thieves who want to steal as much as they can without losing their seats, THEN you can figure out what they'll do next – and how to outfox them.

If your only goal is to bash republican politicians for being bad people, then have at it, but this won't help you defeat them one bit. You're accomplishing nothing, but making yourself feel good. Want to outfox them and beat them? Focus on how they actually think.

I'm always befuddled by how confused liberal activists are about why republican politicians do what they do. But it's just so simple. Their every move is calculated based on whether they'll be able to keep their own seats. There simply are no other factors. It's child's play.

Changing the behavior of republican politicians is also simple. If you want them to do a certain thing, you have to make it so they're afraid of losing their seats if they don't do it. Simple as that. Not easy, but certainly simple in terms of parameters.

If you want Greene and Boebert expelled, you have to make it so the other House Republicans are afraid they'll lose their seats if they don't vote to expel. Again, that simple. This is all kindergarten level logic, once you filter out the misperceptions about who republicans are.

There is literally no other path to getting Greene and Boebert expelled. You MUST convince the other House Republicans that they'll lose their seats if they don't expel.

If you look at it any other way, you're just wasting words and effort on imaginary scenarios.

"But why don't senate republicans just convict Trump and get rid of him?" Because they've made the calculation that convicting him would be more likely to cost them their seats. Again, there are literally no other factors in these decisions. There simply never are.

Senate republicans know full well Trump will be in a New York prison long before 2024, and won't be within a million miles of being a candidate, and they're pleased at this. So why should they take the heat of banning him from running, when it'll happen anyway? That's their logic

"But they should grow a spine and have the courage to do the right thing!" ... you haven't been listening. You're talking about some other species. Those words simply do not apply to the republican politician species. You're just making random noises at them.

Every democratic politician knows all of the above. It's how they approach the republicans on every matter. The democrats get it. Trouble is, most liberal activists are totally confused about how republicans operative, and therefore they aren't effective in supporting democrats.

Why don't most media pundits just explain this to you?

1) They fear this blunt of truth would make them look "biased"

2) The media isn't in it to inform you, the media is in it to milk you for ratings. Why just tell you what's going on, when they can pretend it's all a mystery?

That's right. In the same way that republican politicians base every decision solely on whether it'll increase the odds of keeping their own seats, the mainstream media bases every decision solely on ratings. It's just that drop dead simple. But that's for another thread :-)