Only Congress Could Give Us a Matt Gaetz

[DonViejo]

Government has none of the measures in place that other workplaces do to deal with bad behavior.

APRIL 2, 2021

David A. Graham
Staff writer at The Atlantic

Last week, Representative Matt Gaetz tweeted that if he were ever engulfed in scandal, he wanted it to be called “Gaetzgate.” (The Floridian was replying to a groaner of an Elon Musk pun that he seemed to have missed; that lack of perceptiveness was an omen.)

Gaetz got his wish quickly, and then some. First, there’s reportedly a federal criminal investigation into whether the 38-year-old Gaetz paid women for sex and whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. Second, Gaetz has alleged that he is the subject of an extortion attempt related to this investigation. Third, CNN reports that Gaetz showed House colleagues nude photos of his sexual conquests, sometimes even on the House floor.

If these scandals seem to demand an explanation for how a member of Congress, entrusted to hold power in Washington, could behave in such a way, the reality may be the opposite: Only a member of Congress could behave like this and get away with it. Whether Gaetz’s alleged behavior rose to the criminal is yet to be seen, but if true, it would have gotten him fired long ago in any conventional gig. Congress is no normal gig, though. It is, almost by design, a hostile workplace.

Untangling the threads of this scandal takes some work, and Gaetz may have benefited (so far) from the Trumpian excess of it all: When so many bizarre fiascos are happening at once, it’s hard for anyone to grasp any of them. The first set of allegations remains murky. The FBI investigators reportedly hold lots of evidence, including text messages and receipts, but it’s one thing to demonstrate that Gaetz was promiscuous and another to prove that relationships between consenting adults actually broke the law.

more
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/only-congress-could-give-us-matt-gaetz/618494/

[dem4decades]

1. If a district elects scum aren't they themselves scum?

[jrthin]

2. I think so. Like attracts like. nt