I resisted the temptation to craft a subject line containing a reference to crowbars, Art, just so you know.

I think the answer to the question of "where were these voices of discontent in the past decade" is respect for authority. It's part of the Conservative way of looking at the world, and manifests in very mild form in moderate Republicans, and out at the extremes as a distinct authoritarian conservatism mindset. Quite simply, the authority of the leadership had to be demonstrated to be illegitimate before most Conservatives could feel comfortable speaking out. Nothing demonstrates the illegitimacy of a particular set of leaders better than to be voted out of office.

In support of that theory I'd note how, over the last couple of years, Republican support crumbled from the center out, with the least authoritarian Republicans speaking out first. Losing the election was just the final straw that gave license to even the most dedicated authoritarian conservatives to criticize their authority...for losing power. When power matters so much, loss of power matters even more.