Gail: And then the country moved on.
Bret: With Gaetz, by contrast, all the allegations against him seem entirely in character. Same with Eliot Spitzer or Andrew Cuomo: When the claims against both New York governors emerged, you kinda thought, “It figures.”
Gail: Yeah, and in some cases — I’m thinking of the very early sex scandals with Rudy Giuliani — people yawn and say “Everybody already knew that.”
Bret: I do think there’s an ideological, if not exactly partisan, element. With the distinguished exception of The Wall Street Journal’s Dorothy Rabinowitz, the press showed almost zero interest in Juanita Broaddrick’s rape charges against Bill Clinton, at least until he was long out of office. Ted Kennedy is still remembered worshipfully by liberals as the “Lion of the Senate,” even though he was almost certainly guilty of what most of us would consider an appalling sexual assault in the company of Chris Dodd, his Democratic Senate pal, who also retired honorably. Cuomo, obviously, is a Democrat, but he also has a lot of enemies on his left.
By contrast, Bob Packwood, the Oregon Republican, got thrown out, deservedly, on his ear. And then of course there’s Brett Kavanaugh.
What should the Biden administration prioritize?
- Nicholas Kristof, Opinion columnist, writes that “Biden’s proposal to establish a national pre-K and child care system would be a huge step forward for children and for working parents alike.”
- The Editorial Board argues the president should address a tax system where “most wage earners pay their fair share while many business owners engage in blatant fraud at public expense.”
- Veronica Escobar, a Democrat who represents El Paso, writes that “the real crisis is not at the border but outside it, and that until we address that crisis, this flow of vulnerable people seeking help at our doorstep will not end.”
- Gail Collins, Opinion columnist, has a few questions about gun violence: “One is, what about the gun control bills? The other is, what’s with the filibuster? Is that all the Republicans know how to do?”
Gail: Now a member of the Supreme Court. Which is not exactly a terrible punishment.
Bret: Haunted by an accusation that was never corroborated by other witnesses but will almost surely be in the first paragraph of his obituary.
Speaking of the court, what do you think of Biden’s plan to examine expanding it, and maybe term-limiting judgeships?
Gail: Two thoughts about court-packing: One is that it’s a righteous response to the behavior of the Republicans during the Obama administration. Mitch McConnell ignored judicial nominations the president sent him. Just let them stack up in a closet somewhere. Until Donald Trump entered the White House.