A month ago today, (September 26th), Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee announced his retirement, and on Tuesday of this week, Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona announced his retirement.

Are we witnessing courageous patriots standing up for all that is good and true in this most wonderful nation of ours, or the political equivalent of rats abandoning ship in search of the so-called “moral high ground” from which they can render judgement upon fellow Republicans until their respective terms come to an end?

A careful parsing of Flake’s speech offers tantalizing hints.

…the verdict? Bret Stephens penned a fantastic opinion piece in the New York Times today and – spoiler alert – he exposes these Republican sissies for what they are – just that, sissies:

Corker and Flake aren’t stepping up; they’re bowing out.

Exactly. How opportune. Yup, even the doofus responsible for dragging the nation into not one, but two, unnecessary conflicts a decade and a half ago apparently got ‘woke’ on October 19th, warning all who listened about the dangers of ethno-nationalism, succumbing to degraded discourse and adopting isolationist sentiments… Huh? Hasn’t it dawned on anyone that “…from which we reap…” dates back to the Bush-era? Go back to sleep ’43’ – you’ve done quite enough.

…and let’s not forget about the other Republican Senator from Arizona, John McCain, who characterized the rabid, frothing, vile, rhetoric being spewed by the administration as little more than half-baked, spurious nationalism a mere 10 days ago, (October 16th). Yet another courageous patriot, unafraid to speak his – or her – mind, no matter the political cost? Nope, not even close.

Corker, Flake and McCain are – and have been – complicit. For eight years Republicans steadfastly obstructed genuine attempts at improving our nation’s prospects, and then they tacitly endorsed Trump as their candidate. …since November 8th they’ve quietly milled about – at least until very recently – in Washington D.C., hoping the dire situation we, (as a nation), find ourselves in would, in fact, improve.

Well, it hasn’t; the nation’s degradation continues apace. Complicit, got it? Stephens aptly points out Trumpism has been:

…aided and abetted by those conservative intellectuals who proved so quick to prostitute themselves…

in the past. Rather than mounting a forceful opposition to all things Trumpian as full-fledged members of the so-called Republican ‘establishment’, we’ve got three duly-elected Republican senators who are simply opting out – two by choice, one owing to health-related issues well beyond their control – though all 3 are doing so vociferously.

No, these people are not red-blooded patriots committed to preserving the nation’s democratic ideals, despite the personal and/or professional toll it takes. Rather, all three are clear-eyed political opportunists taking carefully-measured steps to scrub the Trumpist stink off their already-tarnished reputations while they still can…

Courageous speeches? No, not really. The truly courageous thing to do would be to call for articles of impeachment to be drafted and to expedite the impeachment vote.

…now that’s what I call courageous!