A sample: here's Treasury Secretary Bessent to Senator Ron Wyden.
Bessent: “We would like to hear what Adam Wyden and Jeffrey Epstein talked about. Your son’s largest investment position was Rick’s Cabaret. Did your son and Jeffrey Epstein talk about pole dancing as he begged him for money, using your limited credibility?”
Warning to Democrats: do not poke Trump's cabinet members with a stick.
I saw those clips ... ... a lot of those hearings are held so Congresscritters can get soundbites to feed to their base.
ReplyDeleteBoth sides do this, but the donks go all in on the screeching hyperbolic moronic harpy approach, even when they have the majority in Congress. And their staff can't even brief their bosses properly! Those congresscritters go blank when presented with a factual counterpoint.
That said ... ... kudos to the Trump Administration for pushing back on these tantrums.
And speaking of congressional staff ... ... there's chatter on X that most of the problems we see today in Congress come directly from those professional bureaucrats. They are the power behind the throne (so to speak); most of the elected members are clueless on the issues and legislation, and just follow the leads of their non-elected staff.
DeleteI believe it -- I saw a similar situation when I was still a federal employee. We had commissioned Army officers nominally in the command structure of the organization, but their ability to command was short sheeted by the long term civilian employees, who knew far more than the officers.
It was sad to watch. I saw maybe 4 officers in my time (almost 40 years!) who could and would make the staff toe the line.
Instapundit has one of those staffers coblogging.
DeleteHis posts about those staffers are about how smart and better they are.
I got into once with him in the comments. They really do think that's the way our system should work and they"re just so brilliant, we should be grateful for their hard work and brilliance.
I read Instapundit, Veeshir, but not the comments. I should start doing that.
DeleteWhich coblogger do you speak of?
I don't know who that is, but I bet he/she got mercilessly dragged in the comments. The commenters there can be ferocious, and there are also quite a few trolls. It's kind of fun to see Ed Driscoll get knocked around from time to time because he keeps linking NeverTrump types, even if he has to link articles that are ten or twelve years old to find something that isn't overtly anti-Trump.
DeleteTapscott I think.
ReplyDeleteHe isn't often dragged in the comments, certainly not as much as he deserves..
His cobloggers are all of The Elite!, at least in their own minds, with all the parochialism that implies.
Jeff, the comments there are often worthwhile, once you block the trolls.
I mostly crack jokes. Some days I'm very active, it can be fun.