They aren't who they used to be. Or maybe they are.

I appreciate Thom Tillis taking stands on principles. I just wish he had done it before he lost them.

I appreciate the new Thom Tillis. His principled stand of blocking any replacement for Attorney General Pam Bondi who doesn’t condemn January 6 is welcome. Of course, it should be a no-brainer, but in today’s Republican Party, Tillis is the exception.

I wish I could say that Tillis was courageous, but he’s not. He’s really a coward. A courageous man would have stood up for principles when he had something to lose. Tillis waited until the stakes were almost nil. He voted for all of the miscreants who make up Trump’s dysfunctional and dangerous cabinet. Voting against them would have been brave — or at least principled.

If Tillis wanted to show courage now, he would hold Donald Trump to the same standard that he holds the nominee for attorney general. He doesn’t. His criticism of Trump has been veiled or tepid at best. He says that he wants the president to succeed without really defining what that means. He takes shots at Trump by criticizing those around him.

A principled man would have voted to impeach Donald Trump in the wake of January 6. Tillis voted to acquit. In those days in early 2021 when Trump was already planning his return to power, a leader would have rejected the would-be dictator. Tillis was silent.

As I have regularly described him, Tillis is a guy who knows what’s right and does what’s wrong. He’s not alone, though. As one journalist overheard in the Capitol last year, the Senate is full of people who want to be John McCain but are really just Thom Tillis. In short, they lack the courage of their convictions.

I’ve spent the last two months re-reading blog posts I wrote thirteen years ago. The exercise has sent me down rabbit holes of old newspaper and magazine articles from the pre-Trump era. The GOP was a fundamentally different party than it is today — or at least they claimed to be. I’m not sure what to believe now.

Some of the conservative writers and thought leaders stuck to their principles and have largely left the Republican Party, even if they find themselves politically homeless. Most of the Republican politicians and operatives chucked the values they openly espoused to become MAGA. Pragmatism, accountability, and compromise lost.

Congressman Tim Moore was the pragmatic successor to Tillis in the NC House, initially avoiding culture wars and defending North Carolina’s “brand” before he embraced Trumpism. Dan Bishop was always a staunch conservative, but social media exposed a bullying streak and tolerance for bigotry that he wore on his sleeve. And Phil Berger probably knew better than to endorse a moral midget like Mark Robinson, but by the end of the decade, that’s who excited Republicans.

The pundits who have stayed with the GOP are even worse. All of their writings are documented. It’s hard to know whether they never had core values or if they are just shills. Erick Erickson is probably the worst. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a commentator less consistent in his views. Like Tillis, he knows what’s right and does what’s wrong. It’s hard to understand why he’s still taken seriously other than that he’s a smart guy.

Today, they all overlook atrocious behavior that they never would have tolerated in 2010. Or maybe they would have — that’s what I don’t know. Were they lying about their commitment to personal accountability and the rule of law or did they always believe it didn’t apply to them?

Republicans’ main defense is whataboutism. They claim Democrats did it first, but that’s just not true. In North Carolina and in Washington, Democrats have held their own accountable. In the first decade of the 21st century, North Carolina Democrats resigned and even went to prison for crimes that seem quaint compared to what Trump is doing. Al Franken was forced out of the U.S. Senate by his fellow Democrats, not Republicans.

No, Republicans have given up on closely held principles. They have allowed themselves to be led by a con man and grifter who plays to the ugliest instincts of a reactionary populism animated by grievance and resentment. Like Tillis, too many know what’s right and do what’s wrong.

I doubt I will ever trust what Republicans tell me they believe again. Right now, though, I’m just struggling to find the grace to either pity or respect them. After reading what I’ve read, it’s hard.

They aren’t today who they were back then. Or maybe they were.