Trump-humping Republicans aren't afraid of Trump.

They're complicit.

If you’ve been indulging in a steady diet of CNN (as have I), then you’ve witnessed an endless loop of talking heads — Wolf! Poppy! Chris! — discussing Republicans who continue to support the former president. Each commentator has repeated the trope that the politicians’ continued support shows just how frightened they are of Trump.

This purported fear has been repeated in print media, both foreign and domestic.

It’s time to stop saying that. It isn’t fear that fuels the Trumplicans. It’s white privilege (which Trump doesn’t acknowledge exists), and a desire to hang onto the perks of that privilege. Elected officials who stand in Trump’s corner aren’t afraid of him. They agree with him. While he was in office, his acolytes consistently supported his most racist, woman-hating, earth-choking outlandish policies because they agree with those policies.

This idea, of course, is hardly original with me. The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, of the Poor People’s Campaign, said it on Twitter last night.

If you aren’t familiar with the Rev. Dr. Barber, here’s the text of his Inauguration prayer service.

Yesterday, the House GOP met for hours outside the public eye to discuss the future of their party, with members firmly in two camps — that of Rep. Marjorie (Jewish Space Lasers Start Forest Fires and Hillary Clinton Killed JFK Jr.) Taylor Greene, Q-Georgia, and that of Rep. Liz Cheney, who voted to impeach Trump.

Greene got a standing O from her fellows, and forgiveness from GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, who looked into her eyes and saw his very soul. After the meeting, McCarthy insisted Greene had apologized for her past nonsense. Green has not, as yet, publicly apologized or recanted any of the offensive things she has said. In fact,

In that same meeting, Cheney, who refused to apologize for her impeachment vote, survived a vote that could have stripped her from her leadership position. She received, from news reports, no standing ovation, and 61 of her fellows voted against her.

Today, because McCarthy took no action with Rep. QAnon, House Democrats will vote to strip Greene of her committee assignments, rendering her into little more than a human-shaped door stop. Count on Greene to use her fake-martyrdom to raise real money.

My next career will be that of Professional Victim. I hear it’s lucrative.

The House vote will be public, so the rest of us can see not who is afraid of Trump, but who is in bed with him.