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And yet, we are hearing no pieties about American lives from Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, no sense that the cause of the failure should be investigated, let alone that Trumps role in it should be a major investigative focal point.

It is through events like Benghazi that we see just how paper-thin the GOPs commitments to its most defining ideals really are. What Republicans have held forth as fundamental principles are, thanks to Trumps election, revealed as hollow bromides and shibboleths. Trump will likely be president for at least four years; but starting now, and through the eventual end of GOP rule, we never have to take Republican sanctimony at face value again, and their phoniness ought to be a commanding narrative of the Trump era.

Over the weekend, Trump referred to James Robart, a George W. Bush appointee who temporarily enjoined his anti-Muslim immigration order, as a so-called judge, and directed his Twitter followers to blame future terrorist attacks on Robart and the entire court system.

This is the second federal judge Trump has attacked directly and his most undisguised assault on the judiciary in general since he became a national political figure. With a handful of exceptionsSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell notably said its best not to single out judges for criticismRepublicans on Capitol Hill have decided to pretend nothing happened.

Given the understated nature of their response to Trumps shameless and dangerous assault on the integrity of the judiciary, would you believe that when President Obama politely disagreed with the Supreme Courts 2010 Citizens United decision

conservatives lost their minds?

Whereas Trumps efforts to discredit the judiciary need to be resisted, he is free, as far as Im concerned, to undermine the National Prayer Breakfast however he chooses. To that end, he couldnt have done better than plugging The Apprentice during his speech there last week. He asked attendees to pray for the shows ratings, knowing evangelical conservatives would stick their heads in the sand, as they have for all of Trumps unholy outrages.

It shouldnt be forgotten, though, that many of these same evangelicals were beside themselves (or claimed to be) when Obama implored Christian critics of Islam to be mindful of terrible things that have been done throughout history in the name of Jesus Christ.

Hypocrisy is a third-rate political crime. But it isnt just that conservatives apply different standards to different politicians on the basis of partisan affiliation; its that their appeals to like-minded voters are fraudulent. National security, rule of law, and religious faith are supposed to be central facets of conservative identity. Presumably some Republican voters around the country are genuinely motivated by conservative views on these issues. For the time being, its up to Democrats and the media to make clear to these voters that the GOPs commitment to their principles is illusory.

But eventually Trumps presidency will end, and just as quickly as they abandoned these pieties, Republicans will try to reclaim them. It will be a major failure of politics, and perhaps also the media, if they succeed in doing so. Republicans outed themselves when they submitted to Trump, and they cant be allowed to pretend it never happened.

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Never Believe the Republicans' BS Ever Again - New Republic