2927

That’s certainly true, but I’m not interested in the excuse of “the other side is the problem”. Because what matters is that the problem exists.

I have no problem tossing them all out. Like I said, they aren’t unicorns. We’ll find other folks who are just as qualified, if not moreso.

2928

It’s not just the congressmen with this attitude, it’s the people in general. GOP doesn’t want universal health care and carbon tax and gun control, Dems don’t want abortion banned and tax cuts for the rich and so on…

You’re saying that “the problem exists,” but that requires people to agree that there is actually a problem. Republicans don’t think climate change is a problem, to pick an obvious example.

2929

Exactly. The root issue for Republicans has been to content the validity of issues that require them to regulate, tax or in any way change - and then by counter-example bring up other issues and turn politics into bothside-ism. Abortion vs. Civil Rights, Immigration vs. Climate Change, 2nd Amendment vs Health Care. Thus essentially stalemating politics and making it almost impossible for anything to change, which from a Republican point of view is almost as good as winning.

2930

Apparently this doesn’t really get polled (the article you cited with one poll from 2013 a bunch from 1990-1992 and one from 1977 is the only one I could find). It shows approve greater than disapprove in all cases.

Here is the latest approval for senators I could find easily: https://morningconsult.com/2019/01/10/americas-most-and-least-popular-senators-q4-2018/

There are 11 people on that list who are under water or even, and 47 or 48 who have at least a +15 approve/disapprove gap.

2931

That’s a net approval of +20. Which is not bad. The median net approval for governors is also +20. Most of whom are term limited.

By the way, your own Gov. Tom Wolf personally has a +20 net approval rating, and I think he is doing fine.

2932

I have to say it’s weird to hear a self-proclaimed moderate suggest that government should solve all of our problems. Even to a big government liberal like me, it seems a strange criterion to use for Congressional success. They’re fixing some of the problems. But their ability to effect policy is deliberately hamstrung by being a Democratic body and by checks and balances.

They’re uniquely experienced in the job. I mean, you’re right: every two years, those Congressmembers’ constituents get the opportunity to replace them with someone else who is just as capable. I’m not sure why there needs to be an additional artificial constraint.

2933

Hey! Actual impeachment news! Really important fucking impeachment news.

2934

Thanks.

2935

Lots of interesting things there:

They don’t put call notes from conversations with foreign leaders into the codeword system as a matter of course (as has been claimed)

The notes weren’t moved until after Vindman expressed concern about the call.

Vindman was asked several days later not to discuss the call

It’s interesting that Vindman didn’t consider moving the notes into the codeword by itself a sign of a coverup.

2936

I agree. It is crazy to think that any legislator is going to be an expert at the proper ratio of gravel to asphalt, understanding peer to peer internet traffic exchange, the trade off involved in increasing capital reserves requirement for banks, and the difference between the various ethnic groups in the Middle East, or the banking issues related to Cannabis However, the good legislator do learn these things. Barney Frank didn’t know shit about banking when first came to Congress by the time he left, he’d be qualified to run many banks. Same thing with John McCain, he had some exposure to Middle East due to his experience as military aid, but by the time he died he was an expert.

The majority of laws require industry help to write and should also get input from citizen action groups.

2937

What just seems crazy to me here is that there was clearly a recognition that the July 25 call was really bad. And that action needed to be taken. And they didn’t go to high levels of the NSC and State Department to say “We know you’ve got this side thing going on with the Ukraine with Rudy and his flunkies…but POTUS may have just stepped in it big, and we need to figure out a way to get him on the phone, walk it back, and try to make the best of it.”

Instead, the first impulse was “We gotta bury this.”

2938

Yeah, but he’s our governor. He’s not in Congress.

2939

Yeah, the GOP is going to spin real hard to pretend none of that happened.

2940

I think it’s important to emphasize now that the impeachable offense is not just the phone call. The marginally-sane Republican talking point now is: “OK, it looks bad, but do we really want to impeach the President for something he said on a phone call to a foreign leader that had no effect anyway?” There was a shadow policy towards Ukraine that involved multiple government officials, a sitting senator, and non-government actors that proceeded through many actions, the phone call being just one of them, and was designed to achieve the President’s private and corrupt ends.

2941

The point is that individual governors are equally well liked as individual House representatives. Which suggests that House representatives aren’t especially unpopular, and term limits wouldn’t improve their popularity.

2942

I mean, honestly, you may have hit on why they couldn’t do anything but try to cover up. Trump is so involved in this shadow diplomacy and is the instigator of it at its heart. If they have to say “The President got fed up with Sondland and Rudy dancing around this, so he decided to get on the phone and make it explicitly clear what he wanted all along” isn’t a super good defense. :)

2943

I mean, it worked for AOC. In spite of things I disagree with her on, her being elected is one of the best things I’ve seen in my 40+ years on this Earth. Because she was a fucking regular person, who worked as a bartender. She wasn’t the heir to some political family or whatever. Just a regular schmuck like the rest of us that got sick of the bullshit, ran for Congress, and got elected.

That’s how it should be for every Congresscritter.

2944

Republicans have spent weeks calling impeachment proceedings a coup, and then a witch hunt. Confusingly, they appear to believe witch hunts are quasi-judicial proceedings run by actual witches, and accordingly circulated merchandise depicting Democrats as a coven. Then yesterday — of all days to stop talking about witches! — they made the puzzling decision to switch metaphors again, and begin likening impeachment to a Soviet show trial. It was as their sole messaging objective was to make Arthur Miller turn over in his grave.

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