Yesterday, both slimeball Democrat Eric Swalwell and scumbucket GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales resigned from Congress as they were about to be investigated for serious sexual misconduct. This was a net win for both parties, Congress, democracy, the public trust and the United States of America.
A few times in the past I have expressed longing for an arrangement that allowed Democrats and Republicans to purge their parties of the worst of the worst by engineering similar trades: “We’ll join you in voting to expel this incompetent asshole if you’ll join us in voting to expel one of yours whom you know is just as bad!”
Matched pairs..
- Rep. Lauren Bobert and Rep. Ted Lieu
- Rep. Nancy Mace and Rep. Jamie Raskin
- Sen. Mitch McConnell and Sen. Dick Durbin
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Sen. Adam Schiff
- Sen. Tommy Tuberville and, of course, Sen. Mazie Hirono
You get the idea. The problem is that such a system would take a Constitutional amendment, and that’s not happening, each party would try to get rid of its moderates (Democrats would love to trade away Sen. Fetterman), and, as I see it, horrible Democrats outnumber horrible Republicans right now by about 4-1. Yes, and it’s a slippery slope that both parties would try to manipulate for their own narrow advantage.
It’s not happening. But I can dream, can’t I? Meanwhile, getting rid of both Gonzalez and Swalwell is good for everyone, and we should just enjoy our good fortune.
PS. An AI bias note: I asked Google to identify the dumbest and worst GOP members of Congress, and a list popped right up from Google’s bot. When I asked the exact same question but replaced GOP with Democratic Party, the reply began, “Determining the “dumbest” members of Congress is subjective, as such labels are often based on political opinions, gaffes, or partisan criticism rather than objective measures of intelligence.”
Ethics Alarms 
Our buddy, Grok was more even-handed. Same question:
“There is no objective, data-driven way to crown anyone the “dumbest” or “worst” member of Congress—Republican or otherwise. Those labels are almost always partisan insults dressed up as analysis. Intelligence isn’t measured by gaffes on camera, viral clips, or how much the opposing team hates you. “Worst” is even squishier: it depends on whether you value legislative output, scandal avoidance, ideological purity, constituent service, or just not embarrassing your party on national TV.Why this question doesn’t have a clean answer
Partisan selection bias is obvious. Asking only about “GOP members” assumes the answer is only on one side. Every Congress has underperformers, attention-seekers, and people who say ridiculous things across the aisle. Singling out one party is how echo chambers stay loud.
No serious IQ or competence ranking exists. Congress doesn’t take standardized tests. Any “dumbest politician” list you’ve seen online is cherry-picked quotes, late-night comedy bits, or activist scorecards. Public blunders happen on both sides (remember some of the all-time verbal trainwrecks from both parties over the decades?).
“Worst” metrics are contradictory.
If you mean least effective at passing bills, non-partisan trackers like the Center for Effective Lawmaking or GovTrack give scores based on actual sponsorship and enactment—some members rank low because they’re ideological bomb-throwers who don’t compromise, not because they’re stupid.
If you mean most ethically compromised, look at indictments, FEC violations, or House Ethics Committee referrals. Scandals hit both parties regularly.
If you mean lowest district approval or most primary vulnerability, that’s district-specific and changes with every cycle.”
It then offered to “Compare to Democratic members”, and began:
The exact same logic applies to Democratic members of Congress. There is no objective, non-partisan, data-driven way to rank…”
It eventually wound down to offering a list of “Objective ways to compare the two parties (if you actually want facts)”, an citing some sources for information.“
Elon wins again.
On your AI bias comment, the third question would be to remove any party label.
Does it give you the Republican list, the Democratic dodge, or a completely new response?
-Jut
That is one heck of a rambling statement by Eric Swalwell. He is admitting serious mistakes, and fighting the serious allegations. My impression is that you should not do both in the same statement. You either fight the allegations because they are false, or you admit mistakes and get specific about these, or you take the advice of your criminal defense attorney and keep you mouth shut.
Eric Swalwell’s statement does not help him from both a legal and public relations perspective.
I think he means, “yeah, I have done some pretty bad stuff, just not what they are accusing me of.”
-Jut
If I were on the jury in a criminal trial, and the defendant would make such a statement, then I would deem his less credible and not forthcoming with the whole truth. Eric Swalwell needs a good defense attorney right now.
A couple more remarks on Eric Swalwell:
My thoughts turn only to the concept of ‘matched pairs’. My proposal is the following: We have just got to set up a national TeeVee match — a genuine spectacle of the Ages! — in which President Donald Trump, all dressed as The AntiChrist is paired to battle against the new Pope Leo! Yes! It is perfect for the age we are in. It will take place in a dark surfer-infused auditorium with the background sounds of diving warplanes, explosions and the screams of an entire people, a civilization, being erased from the face of the globe. But when the Pope comes in he is dropped down on a crane from the Far Above. But do not even for a minute think he is not fierce. He likely even knows Kung Fu …
Think of that Master of Ceremonies in Hunger Games! We will need some really BIG personality to introduce the Epic, possibly even world-ending Battle! Not only will weapons be ALLOWED in the auditorium they will be encouraged, perhaps even distributed.
Look, this is all speculative and I can only sketch out the general idea. But it is going to be good and it is going to be BIG. Huge ratings! Palantir as main advertiser. And I think a mid-fight Klezmer band would be appropriate:
https://youtu.be/XV_yIOpXZyg?si=t3m8stViCllR6hD4
Billionaire former backer says he’s now a “libertarian Republican”, and kicks Swalwell out of his house. About 2:10 on vid.
(Seems like he could afford a set of upper teeth, if he’s a billionaire, though.)