[Source.](https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/05/puppy_dog_republicans_afraid_to_act.html) > ...The examples of Democrat Party malfeasance go on and on, through the three-letter acronym agencies Like the FBI, CIA, and IRS, Democrat politicians like Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell, and Elizabeth Warren who intentionally introduce false evidence into official government proceedings, have illicit affairs with hostile foreign operatives, and willfully misrepresent themselves to gain unfair professional advantage. > Yet through all this, Republican response is tepid at best. Hardly a protest or a word of objection. When asked about Babbitt’s shooting just a few weeks ago, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy sheepishly said, “He was just doing his job.” Really? His job was to shoot an unarmed protester who posed no danger -- an annoyance, yes, but no danger -- to anyone? Would that have been the response of a Democrat in a parallel situation? > So, the big question is why. Why do Republicans continue to act so timidly when Democrats commit such misconduct? Democrats never miss the opportunity to take Republicans to task for far less. Democrats get in front of every single mass shooting and try to blame it on Republicans who support the 2nd Amendment, or they try to link the alleged shooter with President Trump or the MAGA movement. And the Democrats are mostly successful in getting their liberal media allies to perpetrate their initial anti-Republican take on the story, even if it later proves to be false. The Democrats know it’s the first impression that counts. “Accusation on Page One, Retraction on Page Twenty-Seven,” as the old saying goes. > This brings us to what some people refer to as "Puppy Dog Syndrome." Puppies instinctively love their master. Even if that person mistreats them, the dog will continue to try to please its owner, hoping for improved treatment, a return to the affection of old. “Please pet me again. Please play with me again. I’ll do anything you want. I just want and need your approval.” > It’s almost as if Republicans believe that by showing restraint and not taking a hard line -- despite getting burned by Democrats time and time again -- Republicans are hoping that the Democrats and the liberal mainstream media will accord them some sort of “credit” and approval. It comes across like Republicans are trying to say to the Democrats with their soft, non-vindictive approach, “See? We’re not so bad. Tell everyone we’re really okay.”