WaPo notes the reluctance of Congress to exercise oversight powers on the President, a responsibility of Rep. Chaffetz (R-UT):
Chaffetz never met a probe he didn’t like during the Obama administration, from Benghazi to the IRS. In September alone, Democrats complain, his committee held five days of “emergency” hearings probing Clinton’s emails and issued 12 subpoenas.
Now, as my Post colleagues have reported, several U.S. officials have confirmed that national security adviser Michael Flynn discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with the Russian ambassador in the month before the inauguration — contradicting public assurances by Vice President Pence and other administration officials. But Chaffetz has showed no curiosity about that, nor about Russia’s attempts to tilt the election in Trump’s favor, nor about much of anything Trump-related.
Instead, Chaffetz is targeting the head of the Office of Government Ethics for questioning the Trump administration’s conflicts of interest.
Chaffetz thought Clinton’s use of a private email server threatened national security. But over the weekend, Trump proved more brazen: He plotted his response to North Korea’s latest missile test from the main dining area of his Mar-a-Lago Club. Club members posted photos on Facebook of Trump and Japan’s Shinzo Abe discussing the matter and poring over documents in proximity to waiters, club members and guests.47
I’ve discussed the problems of politics as a team game here and here, but this is one facet I’ve missed – when team politics persists post-election, until one’s loyalty to the Party leader are greater than to the responsibilities you’re assigned, that you’ve titularly earned, then that’s another mark against politics as a team game. As any number of pundits, political junkies, and PoliSci professors will point out, our political system is built on checks and balances. When the key guy is asleep at the switch – or, worse yet, has a deliberate ethical failing – then the country is endangered.
Utahans, it’s time to consider recalling Rep Chaffetz. His failures over the years, from repeated investigations that come up empty (the first is fine, but when you run a bunch on Hillary Clinton and they all fail, this indicates an attempted lynching and an innocent victim), to the recent passes he keeps handing out to his own Party leadership, indicate he’s incompetent and, in the interests of providing for a better country, the good people of Utah should withdraw their support for Chaffetz and find someone better.
A hint: the first question you should ask of candidates is whether or not they believe politics is a team game, and if the answer is Yes, then tell that candidate to move on.
