Jeff Flake said it’s time to stand up. Then he said he’ll step down.

Bob Corker stood up to Trump, but he’s also stepping down.

George W. Bush gave an eloquent speech. But W, Poppy and Low-Energy Jeb are history.

John McCain gave a great speech. But he has nothing to lose.

For all the fine speeches and tough talk, one thing is clear: Trump has completed the hostile takeover of the Republican Party.

Republicans are too cowed by Trump and Steve Bannon to stand up and speak up. That, or they’ll overlook anything in hopes of enacting their agenda: screwing most Americans and rewarding the super-rich.

Flake drew a parallel between Trump and Joe McCarthy. It was Boston lawyer Joseph Welch who took down McCarthy on national television: “Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness….Let us not assassinate this lad further, senator. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency?”

No, Trump doesn’t. His mentor and role model is McCarthy’s sidekick Roy Cohn, who taught Trump to never apologize, never back down, and attack, attack, attack. 

The Republican Party has surrendered to Trump. Come the 2018 mid-terms, Republicans will sink or swim with him.