This investigation was a waste of taxpayer money.
This investigation, along with a lot of other factors, begs the question as to whether or not the GOP is a party that deserves to govern at any level, given its present composition. They are not a "loyal opposition"; they are a fringe party that is controlled by a minority of schnooks that feel free to shut down the government at will.
The Democrats have their own faults, but they have been far more of a "loyal opposition" than the GOP has been. While the level of hyper-partisanship has ramped up since 1994 (a consequence of the narrowing of ideology within both parties), the Democrats never tried to shut down the entire government as these Republicans have.
Why did Woodrow Wilson ultimately fail on his most far reaching initiative, the League of Nations and the Peace Treaty ending WWI? Wilson could not compromise; he could not accept the treaty as approved by the Senate because it contained a number of Republican "reservations", which were somewhat meaningless, but it gave the treaty a Republican wrapper. Wilson overstated the effect these reservations as amendments that "nullified" the treaty, to where he actively worked for a deadlock, then went on a speaking tour to try to shift public opinion in his favor it didn't work. The Republicans would not budge off their reservations; they voted FOR the League of Nations WITH RESERVATIONS. Wilson instructed his Democrats to reject this, and most did; they joined forces with the uber-isolationists who wanted no treaty, period. This is how the United States stayed out of the League of Nations; it is also how the ultimate Treaty of Versailles came about that punished Germany to the point where a Hitler was able to come about. This happened because of Henry Cabot Lodge's hatred of Wilson, and because of his belief that Wilson would not compromise solely out of vanity. They knew that the treaty was in America's interest, but their goal was driving the Democrats out of power in 1920, so they pushed these "reservations" which, unfortunately, Wilson awfulized.
Sound familiar? The difference is that today, Obama is less stiff-necked than Wilson, but the Republicans have the numbers to tie up everything. The Iran deal, for example, is kind of a deal "with reservations" that don't really affect anything. But this GOP doesn't care; they ONLY WANT POWER. They have either not thought about the ramifications of America backing out of an agreement that they have negotiated with other nations, or they just don't care.
I have come to believe that today's Republicans need to be crushed at the polls in order to bring them to their senses. The crushing won't last long; the GOP recovered from their 1974-76 drubbings to elect Reagan and take the Senate in 1980. The level of irresponsibility of this particular Republican party is scary. The Democrats aren't great, but they are, at least, acceptable. These Congressional Republicans are a disgrace.
