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Being a Senator is a huge honor and a privilege; this behavior is inexcusable and unbecoming
It’s hard to take this comment seriously when you got zombies like Mitch McConnell who should’ve walked away from office 10-20 years ago!
I think all people have a history and some of the skeletons come to light easier for some. But I see your point about the hypocrisy
So McConnell’s health issues only started in 2023 unless you are talking about how he walks weird but that’s because his upper I want to say left leg is paralyzed from polio…
The guy delivered the 2017 tax cuts and three Supreme Court Justices for Trump in a single term a remarkable feat itself. Prior to this Congress he had done a good job of continuing to move the Republican agenda forward while balancing Trump. Once he started having health issues he stepped out of leadership and moved to just finish out his term.
Given how the elections would work and the political infighting the man has just been trying to hold on to ride out his term. If he left early there would be a huge hundred million plus race within the Republican Party as Massie would try to force himself to be the nominee and that would let the Dems have a solid chance to pull off an upset.
The political calculus is complex and wild but for the sake of Party and country he’s gotta hang on.
EDIT: He also does get a shitload of money sent to Kentucky still that otherwise would not go to Kentucky due to his seniority and the weight he can throw around. It’s a lot like Sen. Collin’s of Maine. I want to say it was Maine University or something that did an economic evaluation if she lost and it would be WILD for Maine.
And here you are making a justification for a grandpa to be in the role of guiding the country. And this is what’s wrong with American politics today.
I’m saying all of this could have been accomplished with a younger person. Furthermore, you mention conservative wins, but what about the losses, like the Patriot Act? Immigration, the infatuation with lower taxes has negatively impacted other aspects of American society.
That's not how Congress works. You cannot just replace one Member with another and there not be a dramatic fall-off in what they are able to do. Senority is a vital thing; it has been since the establishment of Congress and is why you see the House and Senate the way they are.
McConnell is a huge border security person and has consistently made border security a fundamental condition before we even try any new immigration legislation. The Patriot Act was passed in 2001, and so sticking to that loss of 25 years ago is kinda moot because these programs have to be reauthorized. Now, if you are upset about Section 702 (FISA), that isn't a Patriot Act provision, though people often confuse it with being so. FISA was originally established in 2008 via the FISA Amendments Act of 2008.
Taxes are a core feature of the Republican base, so being against tax-lowering legislation is just something that doesn't exist. It is comparable to a Democrat being opposed to climate change or LGBTQ issues; that just does not exist in the party for their elected officials. For instance, using your idea of a younger person, a younger person could have done this; a younger person would never win a party nomination if they did not speak about lowering taxes; it's part of the song and dance. People running for Republican nominations talk about taxes, immigration, smaller government, etc.; that's just how American society has deemed it to work.
If we want change, it has to come from people who vote. Time and time again though while people claim they want change in XY or Z they do not vote for it. Realistically, the change has to also start at the county and city levels and build up its very rare and uncommon for the change to happen at the top suddenly, and more often than not, when that happens the ideas they run on do not come to fruition (AOC and the Green New Deal is a prime example).
People running for Republican nominations talk about taxes, immigration, smaller government, etc.; that's just how American society has deemed it to work.
If we want change, it has to come from people who vote. Time and time again though while people claim they want change in XY or Z they do not vote for it.
Here is the key point I was making. The Republican Party became the party of low taxes and small government but yet look at the taxes today compared to when the county was started!
You are absolutely right about the turnover rate I have heard on various podcasts that the re-election rate for Congress is over 90%!! This cabal of politicians have made policies that are generally anti American and they undermine grass roots political movements to keep the status quo. Ron Paul and the Tea Party were completely squashed by your stalwart Republicans like Mitch McConnell. The same guy who hated Trump until he bent the knee to the establishment.
AOC is a political hot rod and yeah her ideas are zainy at times but they are new ideas to challenge the conventional way of governing for better or for worse.
The way I look at it is that when people found out about the inappropriate history of Rep. Swalwell and Rep. Gonzales, everyone was quick to call for both of them to either resign or get removed by Congress. When they faced this, they both quickly resigned. With Platner, he didn't have just one or two inappropriate incidents; he had
My whole issue with this is how a party can scream over and over to believe women but that was clearly not the case here. It should not matter what your political party is; that is not a reason to dismiss or ignore this behavior, especially from someone who has a very clear history of problematic behavior. Even the MS Now contributor Matt Stoller has come out and plainly stated that Jenny Racicot's claims were "far more credible" than Fifield's. Even now, some of these big voices who dropped their endorsement of Platner because of the Racicot story have not walked back their comments on Fifield, something that the Left and the media would be eviscerating Republicans for doing and screaming how they don't believe women.
Platner was a problematic candidate from the beginning, and it wasn't because of his views or how the Dem establishment didn't back him at first; it was his history of bad behavior. For months, people worked to explain it away and say things like it was due to the PTSD he had when he got back from Iraq or this, that, and the other, but I am sorry that does not excuse behavior being bad for this long. Being a Senator is a huge honor and a privilege; this behavior is inexcusable and unbecoming.