I used to suspect they were being blackmailed, but it seems to mostly come from other kinds of threats:
It affects more than lawmakers, too:
If Democrats can’t win the upcoming special elections in Florida and New York after all the motivation voters have been getting from the GOP this year, a lot more of their base will probably push for progressive or third party alternatives.
Sure. Again, this whole concept depends not upon finding their grinch-like hearts and making them grow but making them more afraid of their constituents than they are of T**** and his minions. My impression of Maine and Alaska is that is actually feasible. Collins has shown her colors as perhaps the most fraidy-cat Senator is US history. Murkowski has shown more courage and probably just needs Alaska to send her a clear message. Where another 2 GOP senators could flip is another matter. Oddly enough, I could see Rand Paul not flipping but just leaving the GOP to form his own party.
And he’d still caucus with the GOP, because, despite his attempts to craft an image of political maverick, he’s a fascist at heart. He has always been a fascist, and will never not be a fascist…
The cameras were on so we all saw how it went, but I guess the right wing aren’t going to let that deter them from gaslighting the hell out of it anyway. This was one of the Bush crowd, he’s been awful and stupid for decades now, and yet somehow he still gets treated like a voice worth considering. 
Oh, I don’t think he’s a maverick. I think he’s a narcissist. Still, if he smells blood in the water, I could see him splitting in order to get attention, much like Sinema did with the Dems.
Who, to Mindy’s point, still caucused with the Dems. Sure, occasionally she blocked some legislation to get something put in or taken out, but she never blocked a Biden nominee.
I read some of the editorial, just to see if maybe the actual writing was different than the headline. It is not. He is blaming the entire incident solely on Zelensky. I should have done it before, but I have now canceled my subscription. That’s just unacceptable. WaPo is now the FoxNews of newspapers.
ETA: Ok, I was going to subscribe to the Kansas City Star since I’m back in the area and I’ve dropped WaPo, but someone please explain this pricing structure to me. Am I crazy, or is the annual subscription a LOT more expensive?
ETA2: This is a digital only subscription.
ETA3: Ugh. Maybe I won’t subscribe. The Star is now owned by Chatham Asset Management, a hedge fund with close ties to the Republican Party and Trump. One of the first things they did after acquiring McClatchy, who owns a bunch of daily newspapers including the Star, was to move the printing of the Star to Des Moines, Iowa. Yes, the Kansas City Star’s print edition is printed in Iowa, and then delivered every day to Kansas City. How in the hell can that possibly be cost effective? Why is local news so universally awful now?!
ETA4: Yeah, not subscribing. Chatham was the financing behind AMI, which owned the National Enquirer at the time of the whole catch and kill nonsense when Trump ran for President in 2016. Chatham’s owner at the time claimed to be shocked by the story and they subsequently sold the Enquirer, but still…ugh. I can’t support this. He’s another oligarch.
And nearly complete in its transformation to American State Media.
“Maoist”?!? What the fuck, fareed!
It’s like a random word generator was giving AI prompts and they named it Fareed Zakaria.
The fuck? Are we in the EU not allies?
Oh, it’s written by John Bolton.
Yeah.
Wake up Maggie, I think I got something to say to you. . .
And of course she focused on probably the least consequential thing in the SotU.
“Fascism, yes, but did you hear him put down Biden? How uncouth!”
