@BluescreenOfDeath @technocrit It reminds me of a scene from the film "Amazing Grace," where actor Ioan Gruffod's "Wilberforce" character schedules a vote in Parliament to abolish the slave trade, at the same that he knows a majority of the slavery-defending members will be absent, thereby guaranteeing him a victory. The GOP needed to do some posturing, so their Messiah Trump would not be blamed for the obvious military failures. They also needed to create some distractions fast, so their cult would have something to talk about besides the blue wave discussions, which would have shown them why they should no longer support Donald, and would have proven that the blue wave was real and not "fake news."If any of the GOP who are in Congress now genuinely wanted #Hegseth #impeached and removed, they would have waited until the Dems were in charge to propose it. This was all theatre, and the attendance-- or absence-- of a small number of Democrats at this point was never going to change the final result. That particular game was rigged. The vote and results were decided before anyone even stepped in the room.