The so-called party of law and order isn’t really living up to its name right now.
As most Republicans scoff at the Democrats’ pleas for a bipartisan Jan. 6 commission, the rest of us are scratching our heads, including Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA).
When you think of the GOP, you think of “a party that can both hold the cops accountable when they make mistakes and put reforms in place, but also a party that can stand by them when they act honorably,” but in this case, “just completely blowing it” when it comes to “standing up for the cops that protected them” Swalwell tells host Molly-Jong-Fast in this episode of The New Abnormal.
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As sad as it is, getting ten Republicans to vote for it seems hard, but he was surprised even seven of the other side voted for Trump’s impeachment. That’s something.
“I would hope that seven that voted to remove Donald Trump for causing the insurrection would at least want to understand what an independent commission said about the instruction,” he adds. “Almost every recommendation from the September 11 Commission was put into place so that we would be safer. And so if we can't do that [for Jan .6], who's to say that this couldn't happen again.”
So is Swalwell worried about midterms? Not at all, he tells Molly. The strategy he’s telling his colleagues is to get the infrastructure plan passed, and not be like those whining Republicans with a “potpourri of grievances”— “whether it’s, you know, Dr. Seuss or Mr. Potato Head.”
Plus! He’s determined to make governing cool again.
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