At a moment when 60 votes are required to overcome even a 35 vote filibuster (parliamentary rules rule!) to obstruct debate, eleven senate weasels cast no vote one way or the other.

While every vocal Republican senate supporter of Trump’s mad theory that in spite of bipartisan certification of the election the presidency had nonetheless been stolen from him (Cruz, Hawley, Johnson, Cotton, Tuberville, Kennedy, Scott, along with less vocal Hyde-Smith, Marshall and Loomis [1]) showed up to vote to kill the January 6 Commission, nine other Republicans opted for abstention (“neutrality” on the issue by simply not casting a vote — so much for Schumer’s vow to force all obstructionists to show their faces while voting), along with two “moderate” Democrats who didn’t vote:

Patty Murray (D-Washington) (citing personal family reason for missing vote)

Kyrsten Fucking Sinema (D-Arizona)

From Sinema’s Wikipedia page:

Sinema urged Senate colleagues to vote in favor of the proposed January 6 commission to further investigate the storming of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. In a statement, she said, “we implore our Senate Republican colleagues to work with us to find a path forward on a commission to examine the events of January 6th.”^[106] But she was one of two Senate Democrats who did not vote on it, the other being Senator Patty Murray of Washington, who cited a “personal family matter” for her absence.^[107][108] Sinema did not give a reason for missing the vote.^[109]

Nor did her spokespeople give a reason, when reporters inquired.

We learn, also from Wikipedia:

During the 116th Congress, she voted with President Donald Trump‘s position roughly 25% of the time, the third-most of any Democratic senator, behind Joe Manchin [2] and Mark Kelly.^{[note 1][6]}

The nine Republican senators who opted for “abstention” were:

• Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee
• Republican Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri
• Republican Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana
• Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina
• Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma
• Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota
• Republican Sen. James Risch of Idaho
• Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama
• Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania

Profiles in fucking courage, yo.

[1]

These patriots all voted to dispute the Electoral College certifications in one or more states, after the Stop the Steal riot that violently interrupted the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021:

What happened to loud-mouthed Trumpists Ron Johnson from Wisconsin and Tom Cotton (R- Arkansas)? Apparently they were as cowardly that day as the useless Mike Pence…

[2]

Manchin, by the way, voted for the confirmations of Jeff Sessions (52-47), Neil Gorusch (54-45), Boof Kavanaugh (50-48) and yes to a federal law to ban abortions after 20 weeks (51-46). On the other hand, the “centrist” from West Virginia voted with the rest of his party against the hurried confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett (48-52, straight party-line vote), as did fellow “moderate” Kyrsten Sinema. Manchin also voted “no” on the confirmation of Betsey DeVos (50-51) for the cynically ironic post of Secretary of Education.