Politics is a funny business. Reps like MTG and Matt Gaetz appear to be representing their districts accurately. You can blame gerrymandering or the demographic sorting that is going on (liberals like to live in/near cities, rural less populated districts are more conservative).
That said, I agree with you that it is past time to put stake through Goldwater and his "Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue." philosophy.
Same with the Hastert Rule suggesting that the Speaker should only bring legislation to the floor of the House that a majority of the majority party supports.
Same with Reagan blaming government as the source of the problem rather than the solution.
Finally, Citizens United hasn't done us any favors either. Special interests and dark money play a huge role reducing the willingness to compromise. When folks can repeatedly get re-elected without actually passing any legislation that benefits their constituents, the system is broken.
Fortunately, we appear to be entering into a phase where voters are finally tiring of extremism and just want a government that at least keeps the lights on and invests in things that benefit large numbers of people. In particular, I believe that a majority of voters finally realize that it is dangerous to hand power over to those who don't believe in the rule of law and don't feel obligated to preserve either the constitution or democracy. Yesterday it was immigrants. Today it is your trans kid who is the target of hate. Tomorrow it will be ANYONE who disagrees with the government.
It will be interesting to see how the vacate the speaker vote turns out. I'm no fan of McCarthy either, but at least he is predictable. He will do whatever it takes to hold onto power. If it turns out that becoming a champion of bipartisanship is in his best interests, he will be there in heartbeat.
I agree that if that happens, it could be the next best thing to the Dems regaining a House majority.
What is WRONG with this country!?! (rhetorical question, of course.)
Don't forget we really need to pass the ERA!
Politics is a funny business. Reps like MTG and Matt Gaetz appear to be representing their districts accurately. You can blame gerrymandering or the demographic sorting that is going on (liberals like to live in/near cities, rural less populated districts are more conservative).
That said, I agree with you that it is past time to put stake through Goldwater and his "Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue." philosophy.
Same with the Hastert Rule suggesting that the Speaker should only bring legislation to the floor of the House that a majority of the majority party supports.
Same with Reagan blaming government as the source of the problem rather than the solution.
Finally, Citizens United hasn't done us any favors either. Special interests and dark money play a huge role reducing the willingness to compromise. When folks can repeatedly get re-elected without actually passing any legislation that benefits their constituents, the system is broken.
Fortunately, we appear to be entering into a phase where voters are finally tiring of extremism and just want a government that at least keeps the lights on and invests in things that benefit large numbers of people. In particular, I believe that a majority of voters finally realize that it is dangerous to hand power over to those who don't believe in the rule of law and don't feel obligated to preserve either the constitution or democracy. Yesterday it was immigrants. Today it is your trans kid who is the target of hate. Tomorrow it will be ANYONE who disagrees with the government.
It will be interesting to see how the vacate the speaker vote turns out. I'm no fan of McCarthy either, but at least he is predictable. He will do whatever it takes to hold onto power. If it turns out that becoming a champion of bipartisanship is in his best interests, he will be there in heartbeat.
I agree that if that happens, it could be the next best thing to the Dems regaining a House majority.