I agree the Dems should have rejected Pelosi. She's 100% owned. But that doesn't mean the cons who are refusing to install McCarthy are rebels. It means someone powerful doesn't want McCarthy. That is how DC works.
It's performative. Beginning with Obama's ascendance, the GOP shifted from their purported values of limited government, low taxes, free market and interventionist foreign policy to grievance politics, victim ideology and hate. Those were always baked into the cake of the conservative mindset, but they threw policy out of the window and have been screaming for the last 15 years.
And their base has responded because many have legitimate issues to be concerned about. But these people were fed the chum of xenophobia, racism and hate. They bit down hard. In order to stay in power, they need dollars, many, many dollars. Their base responds with dollars. It's all performative and anyone that thinks they're sticking to their guns is mistaken.
When this stops working, they will stop having "backbones". It's all a show.
Get yourself some popcorn.