While many focused on the results of the gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey, something just as vital took place: The indictment of Christopher Steele’s source. The revelations from this, as well as the indictment of Michael Sussmann, should be the beginning of a reckoning.

Let’s be very blunt about the effects of the Steele dossier: This hoax, bought and paid for by the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and the DNC, was used to justify “resistance” to Donald Trump, and the lies that it spurred led to, among other things, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe and a cottage industry that was populated by Never-Trump types and the Left in the media. They claimed it was about defending norms and standards, but these days, they’re destroying those norms and standards to get Trump and to make examples of his most prominent supporters to chill political opposition.

Grassroots Patriots know darn well there were abuses carried out by the Left before Trump ran for office, during Trump’s administration, and since the Biden-Harris regime took over. They know that the bulk-mail ballots, “Zuck bucks” in key locales, and other means of “fortifying” (as Time magazine reported, so it’s not a conspiracy theory) the 2020 election were, in some ways, justified by the rhetoric aimed at President Trump, partially from the Steele dossier, and partially from other lies.

How many times did the notion that Trump was a Russian puppet get pushed by the likes of Adam Schiff, Rachel Maddow, and others? Other claims, including that Trump supporters were Nazis, or that Republican healthcare proposals would kill tens of thousands, were also thrown around. Dennis Prager noted that the various claims about Trump and his supporters would lead to consequences of one sort or another.

So, we need more than a collective “oops.” We accountability for this dossier. Not just from those who perpetrated the hoax, but those who spread it with a depraved indifference to the consequences, and even those who cited its allegations to justify double-crossing grassroots Patriots.

Furthermore, this dossier joins a long list of lies, hatred, and other attacks inflicted on Americans whose only crime is disagreeing with the Left’s agenda. Conservative media outlets are now targets for attack, part of an effort to silence dissent.

And the Republican and conservative establishments, particularly the factions of each that went Never-Trump, has its own accounting to do. The gaslighting that was carried out by some was inexcusable. Others have failed to act against phony claims of racism — not to mention other lies — from the Left.

The fact of the matter is that until we have a reckoning for the Steele dossier and the lengthy list of lies and abuses, far too many grassroots Patriots will feel caught in what Kurt Schlichter calls the “Alec Baldwin conundrum.” Actions and words have consequences, and it is well past time for the Left and Never-Trump cadres to face them.