Political Trintellex

FOX 5: Two people have been found dead in murder-suicide inside the home of former Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax.

Interesting poll- my numbers are doing just fine. It’s not redistricting bringing numbers down or she wouldn’t be doing worse than the “yes” campaign. The problem she has to correct is her policies don’t match her rhetoric from the campaign trail. Her issue is credibility.

1. Swalwell did some very unsavory stuff, and I find it a little confusing that his wife is still his wife, but that's between them. 2. I can imagine some voters voting against him in future elections because of this unsavoriness, but, of course, the voters have been cut out of the equation. 3. Are we missing something? All these women are adults. No one did anything illegal. Definitely inappropriate, crude, wrong. But illegal? Why are we acting as if he blindfolded and raped -- actually raped -- an underage girl behind an alley in the dark of night? If it comes out in the future that there was more to this story, then we should proceed accordingly. But for now, this all feels just a tad overwrought. 4. People keep talking about "justice." Maybe. But real justice demands truth, and we're not getting much of that right now. The truth is the timing of this whole scandal smells awful, with en election six weeks away, and everyone knows it; it's inconceivable that did not play a big role here. Aren't some (most?) of his accusers "content creators," meaning influencers -- people whose livelihoods depend on clicks, shares, *attention*? Why aren't we bothered by the fact that, just months ago, one or more of his accusers were still posting go-Eric-go content? It feels like the public is being manipulated. 5. The Democrats. My God these people roll over like a bunch of pinstriped mannequins. They're terrified of being perceived as in any way having abetted Swalwell's crimes against humanity, so they feel compelled to denounce him with a great, uncontrollable fervor. Never mind that many of the denouncers are, one imagines, guilty of any number of their own indiscretions. 6. The silver lining. It's hard to imagine that Swalwell would have been the transformative governor California desperately needs. Gavin Newsom was lobbying on his behalf, which is why, presumably, the congressman landed the endorsements of the major public-sector unions -- meaning he would have been unable to do much about the state's subpar schools or tackle its budget woes or deregulate an economy suffocating under the weight of decades of pay to play regulation c/o the environmentalists, the plaintiff's bar, etc. Nor would he have held Newsom to account as the now-governor launches his White House bid. There is a chance -- slim but not exactly remote -- that something constructive comes of all of this.

This midterm wave is going to be bigger than most people realize yet.