If it makes you feel any better, I have no doubt it is because, as bad as this makes them look, and as much as this may affect them in the “distant” future, it’s better than the alternative. I think they grasp better than most people exactly what was at risk if this decision had gone the other way.
I think it would have sparked Civil War II or something like that. But all they’ve done is put off the inevitable, and I suspect they have not put it off all that long.
It’s a bit like throwing stuff out of a baloon that is losing altitude. You throw out important stuff (like the constitution in this case) to at least slow your descent. And once you actually hit the ground, still at terminal speed, the constitution will be useless anyway. But you’ve bought yourself a couple of minutes.
I think that is basically what is happening here.
We are very close to the end.