Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Sen. Dan Sullivan have a lot to answer for.

They must share the blame for the Trump coup attempt, the Republican terrorists, and the shameful events in the nation’s capital Wednesday.

Trump lost, but he is unable to face reality. True to form, he places himself above the country and lies all the time.

Four years of obsequious treatment by Semper Fi Sullivan, Murkowski and the other leading figures in the Republican Party did much to create the poisonous situation that allowed Trump to continue his con game and find an audience of suckers.

“As you may know, President Trump is an unconventional president who communicates in unconventional ways,” Sullivan said in the insipid form letter his office mailed to thousands of Alaskans over the last few years.

This fall, after one of Trump’s attacks on the election process, Sullivan’s office quoted this bit of nonsense from Sullivan himself: “Of course we’ll have an orderly transition of power—as we’ve had since the beginning of our Republic. We’re the United States of America, not a banana republic.”

What is it that happened in Congress Wednesday, Dan?

Murkowski deserves a little credit for the mild remarks she has made about numerous Trump transgressions over the years. But in almost every instance, she failed to follow through in any meaningful fashion. Rolling her eyes and expressing various levels of concern, disappointment and worry is not what the situation required.

Sullivan has spent the past four years looking the other way, eager to keep in good standing with Trump, regardless of what damage is done to the country.

Murkowski opposed the Trump coup, while Sullivan has hid in the corner, unwilling to tell Alaskans anything at all about the election lies.

As I write this, I expect that both senators have asked their employees to write a response to the disgraceful events in Congress, statements that will feature plenty of hand-wringing and claims that both sides are to blame for the crisis brought about by Trump and the Republican terrorists.

Sullivan and Murkowski won’t take any responsibility for the political cowardice they’ve shown in responding to Trump.

Later Wednesday, the pair of them produced more empty hand-wringing.

“It is truly mob rule at the moment,” Murkowski tweeted Wednesday afternoon. “Mr. President, tell your supporters to stop the violence. Stop the assault. Now.”

Supporters? They were Republican terrorists. Trump incited violence. Murkowski chose the tepid response, almost always her fallback position.

This latest in the long series of mild rebukes from Murkowski was in keeping with her failure to tell the truth about Trump. She knows that he has been a disaster, but party loyalty kept her from being impolite.

Trump loyalty is the hallmark of Sullivan’s senate tenure. Sullivan tweeted that he was “disgusted” by the scenes at the Capitol. “We are the United States of America. We must be better than this. We ARE better than this.”

He didn’t mention banana republics this time. Putting “ARE” in caps does not change a thing. “We” must be better than this, Sullivan should have said, “but we are not.”

Neither Murkowski nor Sullivan said anything about GOP terrorists or criticized Trump, the leader of the insurrection and the chief culprit. And they did not admit their role in allowing the Trump infection to fester these past four years, culminating in the disgraceful show in Washington, D.C. As long as Trump remains in office, the country is at risk, in part because of Alaska’s U.S. senators.

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