House Leadership acting like Democrats; McCarthy avoids Republican Study Committee

How in the world can conservatives expect House leadership to fight the Obama administration when it employs the same tactics? The House 'Purge list' that has served to widen the chasm between the establishment and conservative wings of the Republican Party continues to be hidden from view by House leadership.

Breitbart's Matthew Boyle reported that the alleged author of the list - House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy - agreed to meet with the Republican Study Committee (RSC) to provide some clarity and transparency. However, something apparently came up and McCarthy did not attend the meeting.

Via Breitbart:

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy blew off a scheduled meeting with the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC) on Wednesday. At the meeting, McCarthy was going to explain the secret criteria list, including a voting scorecard, that he created for House Speaker John Boehner to use in his purge of conservatives from influential House committees.

A source familiar with the situation told Breitbart News that McCarthy backed out of the meeting at the last minute – after having agreed to it last week. “Congressman McCarthy did agree last week to attend today’s RSC meeting to discuss the issue of the four members removed from their committees,” the source told Breitbart News. “Citing the need to attend to a family matter, he did not end up making it to the meeting.”

Roll Call and POLITICO both have articles that point to what could be a new narrative developing as to the reason for the jettisoning of the four conservative House members from their committees - that the men were booted because the were "A-holes" who publicly criticize House leaders. In either case, the stonewalling that has come from House leadership only serves to raise more questions and exacerbate tensions.

For example, there seems to be some inconsistencies with respect to McCarthy's absence from the RSC meeting.

Via Roll Call:

Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, who was booted from a coveted spot on the House Budget Committee and also lost his position on the Agriculture Committee, told reporters that McCarthy was going to address the group. RSC Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio told the group the whip would be there to explain whether a secret vote scorecard had been used to weigh whether to kick members off committees. But a GOP leadership aide said McCarthy was never scheduled to attend.

That led to Jordan telling the group that McCarthy had, in fact, bailed out at the last minute to tend to a family emergency, said Rep. John Fleming of Louisiana, who was at the meeting.

“That was the announcement Jim made, that [McCarthy] was going to be here to tell us whether or not there was scorecard and what it meant if there is one and then some things came up at the last minute,” he said. “My understanding is a family matter came up and he’s leaving to go back home.”

McCarthy was still in town when the House voted, hours after the RSC meeting.

So, did McCarthy miss the meeting because he wasn't scheduled to be there or because of a family emergency? While we're at it, were the four conservative members booted from their committees because of their votes or because they were "A-holes"?

Perhaps we'd know if Mr. McCarthy would tell us.