See, “Bill Barr is the most corrupt piece of shit ever” would actually be the best possible argument one could make to defend Matt Gaetz.

But this time might be different. Kiddy fiddling is something you accuse Hillary of, not something you want to defend within your own caucus. And those other R Reps have kids. Nobody wants to socialize with a Short Eyes.

In an attempt to be dramatic you’re using language the covers up the likeliest reason why they’re NOT going to have the moral reaction you’re anticipating: it’s not a child or a boy.

American conservatives have been fine with men chasing teenage girls for decades. It’s mostly been viewed as completely normal: if you’re past puberty you’re an acceptable target for lust; the curved lens of “won’t happen to MY daughter” is just permanently locked in place because a girls’ sexuality isn’t a concern because of her safety or wholeness, but as a symbol of parental virtue; they love the kind of shame-based culture that gives young women few channels to complain within and where authority figures either cover up problems or send away victims; and they fully believe in the kind of “that girl was trouble” “she was asking for it” just-so-stories that cover abuses of power.

There’s silence, but not because some moral hazard has been tripped—just as it wasn’t tripped with Roy Moore or Donald Trump—but because they’re waiting to see the exact level of fuck-up they’re covering for. Gaetz is a fruiting body from Trumpian mycelium with no allies in the more-masked party who he has specifically thrown his weight at—people like Liz Cheney—so there’s also a denominator to the math—is this slick piece of useless shit worth it?