Partisans And Demagogues

If you've seen one day of congressional testimony from Jerome Powell, you've seen them all. That's an unfortunate state of affairs. The whole idea behind hauling people before Congress is to promote accountability, or at least the appearance of it -- to give the public confidence in the idea that unelected officials are ultimately accountable to elected officials who are in turn accountable to voters. Of course, it's hardly that simple. Voters don't trust Congress (just 18% approved of how US

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6 thoughts on “Partisans And Demagogues

  1. A reasonable man, confronted by unreasonable people, who obviously should know better and help our Nation, instead of their own political purpose.
    Great editorial
    Thank you.

  2. Fair analysis. Warren once was far more consequential. She might retire after this term is up. I saw some of of the other questioning. By and large not very impressive on the senator’s part. Tim Scott sounded intelligent until you stepped back and listened, and then thought about what he actually said.

  3. “If the subject at hand requires any sort of analysis or reflection, Americans would sooner inject bleach than pay attention.” This is really funny, really sad and very accurate at the same time, in the end I don’t see how we overcome this in a world of ever expanding complexity.

  4. “The result: Nobody learns anything and nothing is accomplished on days like Tuesday, because rather than fostering substantive discussions with witnesses, lawmakers instead compete for likes and retweets with combative questions designed specifically to reinforce already entrenched biases among a nation of social media addicts who, when they’re not busy trying to make ends meet or watching their favorite Will Ferrell movie for the eight hundredth time, are committed partisans.”

  5. “…and I doubt even one in five Americans could tell you anything about the Fed’s mandate”. 1 in 5, H? Must be a typo? If 1 in 5 knew what “the Fed” refers to, it would be an unbelievable advancement over reality. In my rural, Trump-voting township and county, I’d be utterly amazed if it’s 1 in 50.

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