July 6, 2022

"[D]ozens of celebrity Democratic supporters and activists... joined a call with White House aides last Monday to discuss the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. The mood was fatalistic...."

"[Deborah] Messing said she’d gotten Joe Biden elected and wanted to know why she was being asked to do anything at all, yelling that there didn’t even seem a point to voting. Others wondered why the call was happening. That afternoon, participants received a follow-up email with a list of basic talking points and suggestions of Biden speech clips to share on TikTok. The call, three days after the decision eliminating federal abortion rights, encapsulates the overwhelming sense of frustration among Democrats with Biden. It offers a new window into what many in the President’s party describe as a mismanagement permeating the White House...." 

The President who campaigned on putting America back together again after four years of deep divisions appears to have stopped trying, supporters say. 
“There’s no fight,” another Democratic member told CNN. “People understand that a lot of this is out of his hands – but what you want to see is the President out there swinging.” 
A year and a half in, the Biden administration is struggling to untangle supply chains and tackle soaring inflation.... 
Biden’s support of a gas tax holiday was the subject of months of deliberations among officials – many of whom were against it and privately suggested it was a purely political step to show initiative on gas prices, and only recently put the question in front of Biden directly. “It had the appearance of throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks,” one official said privately.
Reminds me of the time Trump confronted Biden in the dining room:

Next time, try ketchup.

80 comments:

chickelit said...

Biden isn't the hub at the center of whirring Dem policies--he's just an old hubcap installed to cover the vacant hole where all the spokes come together.

Kevin said...

“There’s no fight,”

Your party controls the Legislature and the Executive.

You don't need to "fight". You need to effectively operate the government.

AlbertAnonymous said...

I got you elected…

Do something for me!!!!!!

David Begley said...

1. The Left wants an authoritarian leader. They hate democracy.

2. There is little any President can do to reverse Dobbs. He doesn’t have the votes in the Senate.

Curious George said...

Why is Deborah Messing so upset about Roe? Her birthing days are over. If it disqualifies me, then it disqualifies her.

AlbertAnonymous said...

Did any of these people actually think ol’ Joe was going to be anything other than the grifter he’s been for the last half century?

Buckwheathikes said...

Here's something Debra Messing should share on Tik-Tok (assuming she even knows what Tik-Tok is, which I doubt):

"Back in 1994, then-Senator Joe Biden wrote a letter to a constituent who had contacted his office with a request. 'Please don’t force me to pay for abortions against my conscience,' he said. Biden assured the man he understood, promising that any position he would take on abortion in the U.S. Senate would be guided by his conviction that those who oppose abortion should not be compelled to pay for them. ... In ’94 Biden boasted to have voted against federal funding for abortion 'on no fewer than 50 occasions;' among those was a vote in 1977 against allowing Medicaid to pay for abortions for victims of rape and incest.

Joe Biden opposed abortion, even in the instance of rape and incest. That's not some right-wing blogger's statement. That story was printed in The Rolling Stone. In 2019, just before Joe Biden's "election."

Joe Biden spent a lifetime, 40 years in the Senate, opposed to abortion and federal funding of abortion, Debra. I should think you'd know that.

It's your fault that he became President. You got him elected.

So ... get to Tokking or Tikking, or whatever, Debbie.

RideSpaceMountain said...

"[D]ozens of celebrity Democratic supporters and activists..."

They still just don't understand why so many hate them so much do they?

Lurker21 said...

In politics, you need your opponents to keep your supporters from demanding and expecting too much. Once your own side realizes that what's impossible, unnecessary, counterproductive, and ultimately undesirable isn't going to happen, they won't give you trouble you don't need. Team Biden was in overdrive from the beginning and raised these people's hopes too high, when it should have been expecting and teaching them to expect difficulties and disappointments.

Sydney said...

I get that celebrities have a lot of money to throw at politicians, and so they get special access, but I don’t want celebrities calling the shots for my government or even being able to buy influence. They do not have one iota of authority to represent the citizens of the United States. At least traditional lobbyists represent some sector of the populace - workers, businesses, etc. But celebrities only represent themselves and their own desires. Yuck.
And if anyone ever thought Joe Biden was capable of managing a large organization, even in his prime, they were not paying attention for the past 50 years. That guy is only and has only ever been capable of collecting perques of office.

Beasts of England said...

’Others wondered why the call was happening.’

Me, too!

tim in vermont said...

The guy campaigned from his basement and checked out by early afternoon.

Rory said...

""[Deborah] Messing said she’d gotten Joe Biden elected"

The sooner all actors are replaced by CGI the better.

Buckwheathikes said...

Oh, and while we're on the subject of Democrats who aren't working to "codify Roe" we can't forget noted Catholic and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Is she working the Halls of Congress "fighting" to re-instate the rights women lost to those horrible white Supremecists on the Supreme Court?

Why no, she's not.

She's sunning on an Italian beach this week with her drunk husband, having just met again with The Pope ... who, as you know, also opposes abortion.

Maybe Debra Messing can Tik-Tok that.

"Hello fellow Tik Tokkers ..." I imagine her saying, with a skateboard hanging off her back.

MikeR said...

Were there people out there who did not understand that Biden was elected because he was not Trump, not because he could actually do anything? It was pretty clear to me!

tim maguire said...

Typical. They thought all they needed to do to get what they want is put their people in charge. God forbid they try to persuade anyone or build a coalition.

Gusty Winds said...

"[Deborah] Messing said she’d gotten Joe Biden elected and wanted to know why she was being asked to do anything at all, yelling that there didn’t even seem a point to voting.

How delicious that crazy Deborah Messing is having and out of body on a celebrity call with the WH. Hopefully Alyssa Milano and Jane Fonda were shrieking background vocals. Messing is delusional if she thinks she helped get Biden elected. Talk about self-absorbed.

Messing is correct. With the implementation of successful targeted voter fraud, and untraceable absentee ballot harvesting, there really is no point to voting. She just doesn't understand why.

I'm still torn about voting this upcoming fall. Simply on the premise that only I'm allowed to jerk my own chain.

R C Belaire said...

Biden not up to the task? And these sycophants didn't realize this before now?

Enigma said...

This is the great unravelling of the self-brainwashing on the left during Trump. The left can no longer blame the rude and crude but moderate Trump for their own failings and lack of direction two years on.

When too much cognitive dissonance accumulates a political movement falls apart. Biden was perhaps the perfect choice to force a collapse: and old "moderate white guy" capable of defeating the old white guy Trump, but not at all what Democratic Party voters wanted. Ineffective and disrespected in all ways. Lack of moderation, lack of unity, lack of significant political victories, and merely paying lip service to the hard left. Biden has been a pyrrhic victory embodied.

wendybar said...

Progressives still have George Takei and Rob Reiner!!

J Severs said...

“The President who campaigned on putting America back together again …. “

I rate this half-true. I think Biden is trying to put America ‘back together’, but only on his terms.

robother said...

First, we had Forrest Gump, the Oscar-winning movie, then the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant chain. Now we've got the Gump Presidency, featuring a guy who has spent his whole career pretty much as a feather in the wind.

WisRich said...

Celebrity supporters? This is getting serious now.

William said...

From what I've read about 100,000 women will now find it necessary to make an out of state trip to secure an abortion. Is this the greatest challenge they will ever face in their lives? Does this make America some kind of theocracy?

JRoberts said...

I don't remember seeing Deborah Messing, or any other "celebrity", on my ballot, much less voting for her. Therefore, why should her opinions and outrage carry any value beyond her Hollywood cocktail friends. Oh, that's right, she raised a bunch of money for candidate Biden.

#WhoOwnsJoe

Bob Boyd said...

Entitled swells phone WH to point angrily at the toothmarks of reality now marring their cherished posteriors.

Howard said...

You're going to need a stronger stomach if you want to be in the back room where the sausage is made. Bert Cooper

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Self important self-absorbed rich people who play dress-up on TV are so much better than the rest of us.

We should worship them.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Tonight on Will and Grace -

Grace is upset to find another ex-boyfriend in Will's arms. Also they are shocked to learn Biden is a puppet to the billionaire world order. they all get the sads and run for the wine.

mikee said...

The Dems used abortion for the past 50 years solely as a political cattle prod to move their base and raise funds, rather than legislating the issue and removing it from the political sphere to be a medical issue. The Repubs did that too, but had a goal that has now been achieved - the return of abortion to state legislative control with the repeal of Roe.

One side was playing stupid political games with medical issues for votes. The other side was playing with a goal in mind. For once, the Republican dogs ran just fast enough to catch the car bumper. What they do with that car now is for the future to tell.

ga6 said...

“The President who campaigned on putting America back together again …. “

Deb miss understood what fumble mouth was saying. He was really talking of putting his family investment portfolio back to Kennedy/Obama size.

MartyH said...

Biden’s always a step behind and can’t think even a step ahead, so he’ll never catch up.

MadTownGuy said...

"[Deborah] Messing said she’d gotten Joe Biden elected and wanted to know why she was being asked to do anything at all, yelling that there didn’t even seem a point to voting."

I'm wondering what exactly she did to get Biden elected. Harvesting votes? Enrolling dead people? Anyway, if the hard left gets it's way, there won't be any point to voting. Perhaps she should just yell at the sky.

Mr Wibble said...

I've said before that I think the WH received a copy of Alito's draft opinion from someone on SCOTUS back in March, and that they were the ones who leaked it to the press in April. The original leak from SCOTUS was to give the admin time to prepare their response, but they chose to make it public for short-term distraction. If so, then it may very well have backfired on them. Rather than making it old news, the drawn out wait made the WH look impotent to stop the ruling, and hurt their ability to work quietly behind the scenes to prepare legal and policy responses, as no Dem could afford to be seen as accepting the end of Roe.

Buckwheathikes said...

’Others wondered why the call was happening.’

Ask Obama adviser Ben Rhodes. He'll tell you.

These people know nothing.

Ambrose said...

They clearly want a dictator- one that agrees with them, but a dictator nonetheless. And they want one in the name of democracy.

Temujin said...

Democrats just hate that we live in a constitutionally limited republic. It is so damned inconvenient. Can't we just have a country ruled by a majority living in metro LA, New York, and whatever is left of Chicago? Do we need to actually ask whether what we, the majority want, is legal? I mean, if Debra Messing, Michael Moore, and Wanda Sykes all want the same thing, shouldn't that be guide enough?

They have no idea that the pushback has not even happened yet. It's coming. And it's going to be huge.

gilbar said...

"codify Roe"
how WOULD that work? Someone want to explain? Cutup Baby parts are Interstate Commerce? Is That it?

gspencer said...

"Babs, could you open our celebrity meeting with one of your uplifting songs?"

"People
People who kill people
Are the luckiest people in the world
What's seen is not a child, just clumps of cells
We'll show our grown-up pride
Just to hide the child inside
Where we know but deny they are children"

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Speaking of throwing stuff at the wall, couldn’t the president instruct the surgeon general to have one those Wisconsin women left hanging the day Roe died, brought to the White House for her abortion. Have a photo op after and post it on the White House instagram.

Always glad to help my president 😉

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Hollywood is stupid if they counted on Joe to do anything useful but what caught my eye in the longer excerpt on Instapundit was the complete lack of planning for the end of Roe. And Joe is in no position to help there. That’s 100% on the Democrats at the state and federal levels who hid behind the anodyne phrase “a woman’s right to choose,” with which many would agree given limits. But Democrats demonized any common ground and would brook no limits up to and including the moment of birth. Zero tolerance is bad policy in general but has proved catastrophic for abortion activists who have no clue what to do now with millions of women who will be denied services, are right now being denied, solely because Democrats refused to accept compromise. Now we have the silly situation where Mississippi has a liberal 15-week abortion scheme and Wisconsin has no access to abortion at all with apparently no plans to address it. Which makes me think Democrats liked having the issue to debate and use as a threat but have no urgency now or for the past two months when we were warned by the leak this reality was looming. How would even Hollywood idiots trust them now?

Leland said...

Throwing spaghetti is a bad idea, but if you do and some of it sticks to wall, you cooked it wrong too. And this seems to be the case for this CNN article. We begin with a suggestion on hearing solutions to Dobbs, but we get back to back paragraphs suggesting Biden ran as an uniter and is failing at it because he isn’t fighting? Fighting is uniting, Democrats? I thought fighting was insurrection. How about passing laws protecting access to abortion in blue states, advertising such access, and pushing for compromise on limited but some access to abortion in red states? Nope. Instead we get a jump to supply chains, inflation, and gas tax holidays. It’s a tangled mess for sure, but an appetizing plate of spaghetti it is not.

JAORE said...

"[Deborah] Messing said she’d gotten Joe Biden elected"

All by herself....?

Bless her heart.

They are shocked Biden could not take decisive, and effective action? Like Afghanistan? Like the border? Like inflation? Like the supply chain? Like.....

Mark said...

Is [Pelosi] working the Halls of Congress "fighting" to re-instate the rights women lost to those horrible white Supremecists on the Supreme Court?

The House has already passed a bill to "codify Roe" last year. So it's up to the Senate.

hombre said...

Donkeypox. Incurable and killing America.

Joe Smith said...

Messing is Exhibit A of the far upper-right quadrant of the Hot/Crazy matrix.

chuck said...

Reminds me of the immigrant who used to complain about the inefficiency of the US government, but eventually figured it out: it was designed that way on purpose.

minnesota farm guy said...

Why does anyone expect a man who demonstrated that he was suffering from advancing dementia during the "campaign" to show any leadership at all? We are back to the Edith Wilson running the country expect Jill lacks even the talent Mrs. Wilson had!

Rick67 said...

These are the people who think they should make us live the way they want.

Actors.

Robert Cook said...

This is why Democrats should not vote for shitty candidates just to block the Republicans' shitty candidates. They should vote for third party candidates, OR, vote out the corrupt, sclerotic Dem leadership who have a stranglehold on party positions and votes. Support ONLY those candidates who expressly commit to work for the people (which excludes those whose voting records will reveal their true constituents, e.g., corporate entities, the military, etc.).

Skeptical Voter said...

The Dims say "there's no fight". Haven't they seen an angry old coot yelling at this or that? Yeah, he's a fighter because, after all, he decked Cornpop. On any issue that counts, not so much.

Yancey Ward said...

Any coma patient would be a more capable president than Joe "Shit-for-his-Brains" Biden.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Is Dobbs the complete overruling of Roe v. Wade that it now appears to be? Maybe not if one of the conservative Justices leaves the Court in the next two years. The overruling is dicta per Chief Justice Roberts. The narrow holding is to approve the 15 week line.

Michael K said...

The Democrats are trying very hard to make people think that the Dobbs decision banned abortion. The "Fuck the Fourth" rally in Tucson was all about that misunderstanding. The Democrats have to convince enough voters of that lie. There are a lot of Ingas in that party so they have a chance but I don't think there are as many that dumb as the DNC seems to think.

chuck said...

Support ONLY those candidates who expressly commit to work for the people

I, too, wish for a Democratic Party with no members.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

This column is nothing but an assault on the elderly.

tim maguire said...

Temujin said...Democrats just hate that we live in a constitutionally limited republic. It is so damned inconvenient

Democrats want a country where there are no impediments to doing the right thing and no institutional path to doing the wrong thing. The problem, of course, is that they haven't thought much about how you distinguish between the right thing and the wrong thing. To them, right and wrong are simply umbrella terms for "stuff I like" and "stuff I don't like."

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Yes Mark the WHPA failed in the Senate even with the party of “the right to choose” having a majority. Read the room. What does that tell you? Your other point, that WHPA would “codify Roe,” is debatable as it perfectly illustrates my premise that the bill goes too far and Americans are solidly opposed to abortion in the third trimester. Zero tolerance no compromise Democrats will continue to lose on this issue rather than find common ground. It’s like watching the three stooges.

~ Gordon Pasha said...

If you think that the Democrats have lost it, wait until the current court finds DAPA to be illegal under the same reasoning that led to the recent W Va vs EPA ruling.

https://reason.com/volokh/2022/07/06/the-legality-of-daca-after-west-virginia-v-epa/

effinayright said...

Mark said...
Is [Pelosi] working the Halls of Congress "fighting" to re-instate the rights women lost to those horrible white Supremecists on the Supreme Court?

The House has already passed a bill to "codify Roe" last year. So it's up to the Senate.
**************

Too late. The Supremes have already said that abortion is a state matter, so the Congress will have a very tough time trying to argue that they can make it a federal matter.

There is no constitutional authority for doing so: Can't point to the Commerce clause, not "necessary and proper", a clear 10th Amendment violation, etc.

Rabel said...

A bit shocking to read the personal attacks on Biden on CNN.

They have a plan. This is part of it. We'll see what it is as the year rolls on.

JK Brown said...

Biden held one private sector job, as an attorney back in the '60s. He's never had to get things done. He's a career back-slappin' legislator with little to show for his long career in congress. And suddenly, while in the decline of old age, he's suppose to find his inner executive?

Historically, career senators and congresspeople have made poor presidents. The path required leaving Washington to the governor's office before the presidency.

Trump terrified them because he did know how to get people to do things by convincing them to join even when they were unsure. It is about doing things today to set the scene months, years down the line. Things Trump did are still just now paying off.

Original Mike said...

Robert Cook said..."Support ONLY those candidates who expressly commit to work for the people…"

Who are "The People"?

Serious question. I support a government which passes only those laws that have widespread support, not that which you can eek out by parliamentary maneuvering of a razor-thin majority. Some might call that "limited government", which is what the framers intended and the only government that I believe is morally defensible.

n.n said...

With the epiphany of Roe's regrets, Ruth's remorse, and human rites, we have progressed to the past where "our Posterity" is labeled a witch, judged a warlock, deemed a "burden", and counted as less than human for social, redistributive, clinical, and fair weather causes. Still, a baby step in the right direction to mitigate the influence of people... persons, special and peculiar interests, foreign and domestic, who bray at the Twilight fringe, subscribe to the nominally secular Pro-Choice ethical religion, indulge diversity [dogma], and defer to mortal gods and goddesses for subsidies in lieu of affordability, for progressive prices in lieu of market integrity, for cargo cults in lieu of science, for comfort in lieu of principles of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

Throw another baby on the barbie, it's not over. One step forward.

Jim at said...

Notice how the Democrats are doing everything but what SCOTUS said they should do?

Mr Wibble said...

If you think that the Democrats have lost it, wait until the current court finds DAPA to be illegal under the same reasoning that led to the recent W Va vs EPA ruling.

https://reason.com/volokh/2022/07/06/the-legality-of-daca-after-west-virginia-v-epa/


I was telling someone else that I thought Roberts released the EPA ruling and the Arizona ruling on the same day as a message to Biden about trying anything with immigration.

iowan2 said...

Dems still think its messaging, Good for them.

They still haven't figured out its the message. (more accurately, the results from the message)

Maynard said...

Is Dobbs the complete overruling of Roe v. Wade that it now appears to be? Maybe not if one of the conservative Justices leaves the Court in the next two years. The overruling is dicta per Chief Justice Roberts. The narrow holding is to approve the 15 week line.

Although I support a 15 week rule, Roe needed to be overruled anyway. It was a travesty of a judicial opinion.

If Schumer introduced a simple 15-week proposal in the Senate, what do you imagine the outcome would be?

If it passed, the Right and Left abortion factions would howl for a few months before things settled down. Of course, the DNC might instruct Uncle Joe to veto the bill. It would not be good for business.

wendybar said...

Yeah, because who cares about non existant baby formula, gas prices, grocery prices, and everything else going on....celebrities are mad because they didn't get their way with Roe so they want to burn the country down in the name of dead babies.

JRoberts said...

"If Schumer introduced a simple 15-week proposal in the Senate, what do you imagine the outcome would be?"

Assuming the bill passed, I believe Planned Parenthood would downsize their Washington, DC office and move their lobbying efforts, and campaign donations, to the state capitals. Of course, despite protestations to the contrary, most of those campaign donations were kickbacks from federal funding of Planned Parenthood's operations. A lot of DC Democrats have gotten fat off those kickbacks over the years.

Mark said...

Yes Mark the WHPA failed in the Senate even with the party of “the right to choose” having a majority. Read the room. What does that tell you?

Well, your comment indicates that you need to pay attention to who is saying what. The point I made is that Pelosi has nothing to do with the bill at this point in response to the person criticizing her for being in Florence.

Now, what does MY FREQUENT AND VEHEMENT DEFENSE OF ALL HUMAN LIFE FROM THE MOMENT OF CONCEPTION -- while all too many people here have tried to push for a "compromise" that allows for the killing of some prenatal babies -- what does that tell YOU???

Read the room. Pay attention.

Mark said...

Congress will have a very tough time trying to argue that they can make it a federal matter.
There is no constitutional authority for doing so


NSS

Mark said...

Is Dobbs the complete overruling of Roe v. Wade that it now appears to be? Maybe not if one of the conservative Justices leaves the Court in the next two years. The overruling is dicta per Chief Justice Roberts.

You tell me: "The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives."

Who cares what ONE justice said? Roberts is only ONE justice. The Court has nine justices. And a majority explicitly and repeated said that Roe and Casey are overruled. That means that ROE AND CASEY ARE OVERRULED.

Why oh why must you people insist upon being intentionally ignorant?

Maynard said...

I am not a lawyer, but it seems pretty simple to me: Roe has been overruled.

If Democrats succeed in changing the makeup of the SCOTUS to favor the Left, they cannot reinstate Roe. They have to come up with a different rationale for a supposed constitutional right to abortion.

That might not be as easy as people think, but it would certainly be an improvement over Justice Blackmun's alleged reasoning.

Yancey Ward said...

"Why oh why must you people insist upon being intentionally ignorant?"

Is it intentional?

Original Mike said...

There Are Two Fundamentally Irreconcilable Constitutional Visions

"This year the big three were Bruen (gun rights), Dobbs (abortion rights) and West Virginia (administrative regulation of CO2).

All three cases were decided 6-3 along ideological lines. These cases involved the most basic issues of what the Constitution is and how it is to be interpreted. On those issues there is virtually no hope of one side ever convincing anyone from the other side. There just are two fundamentally irreconcilable visions of how this should work. The two visions can be summarized in just a few sentences each:

Vision 1. The Constitution allocates powers to the three branches of government, and also lists certain rights entitled to constitutional protection. The role of the courts is (1) to assure that the powers are exercised only by those to whom they are allocated, (2) to protect the enumerated rights, and (3) as to things claimed to be rights but not listed, to avoid getting involved.
Vision 2. The Constitution is an archaic document adopted more than 200 years ago, and largely obsolete. The role of the courts is to implement the current priorities of the academic left and then somehow rationalize how that is consistent with the written document."

If you don't buy that, the author makes a compelling case by looking at the intro of the dissents in these three cases. They're all about how "important" the issue is, not what the Constitution says.

JRoberts said...

Original Mike, I appreciate your post, but I would say there was a (combined) fourth big ruling this session made up of Makin and Kennedy which stipulate the First Amendment rights of religion are NOT conditional and cannot be infringed upon.

The Godfather said...

For half a century, the pro-abortion side has not had to persuade their fellow citizens to support its position. All they had to do was say "Roe" and "Casey" and that was the end of the debate. So now that the abortion issue is back in the political arena, they pro-abortion advocates ill-prepared to persuade their fellow citizens who are not already committed to the pro-abortion side. That's why we get stupid arguments about "codifying" Roe.

It's now a state-by-state issue. Look at your state. How polarized have people become after 50 years? In about half the states, you could probably persuade a majority to support abortion "on demand" (that is, without proof of medical necessity) within the first trimester or so, but not after. That's the vast majority of abortions. If you really care about troubled women, isn't that enough? No? Then there's California and New York.

No, you say it's a amtter of principle? Fine. People who think you're a baby-killer also have principles. In some States there are more of them than there are of you. We call that democracy.

Chris Lopes said...

"Were there people out there who did not understand that Biden was elected because he was not Trump, not because he could actually do anything?"

I was actually hoping he wouldn't do anything. Doing something has a way of making things worse, which it did.

Chris Lopes said...

"I'm wondering what exactly she did to get Biden elected."

She thought (like the rest of the Theater Arts majors on the call) her opinion actually swayed the American voting public away from Orange the Clown. Trump did that all by himself, but self-important idiots like her like to take credit for shit like that.

The fact is, guys like Biden go to Hollywood for the easy money, not the endorsements. They know these out of touch assholes couldn't convince the general public of anything beyond their own ignorance. So smart politicians cater to their egos until the check clears, and ignore any "advice" they might give on the issues of the day.