Getting out was Chaffetz's only good option

[DonViejo]

By Jennifer Rubin April 20 at 10:30 AM

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Unless you actually believe Chaffetz’s ambition and yen for the limelight were superseded by longing to spend more time with his family, it’s not too hard to figure out why he might want to get out — the sooner the better. Chaffetz’s shtick — bullyboy investigator targeting the right’s bogeymen — worked when Hillary Clinton and/or President Obama were his targets. It cannot work for him when his own party controls everything.

With President Trump in office, as we have written, Chaffetz’s party loyalty, time and again, outweighed legitimate oversight concerns. He couldn’t be bothered to explore violations of the emoluments clause, Trump family members’ gross conflicts of interest, Russian connections, Trump’s concealment of his tax returns and financial holdings — or anything else that might upset the Trumpkin base. Chaffetz’s refusal to do his job put him under the microscope of Democrats, the press and his own constituents.

A boisterous, angry crowd at a town-hall meeting in February left Chaffetz looking defensive and shaken. A Republican in Utah simply isn’t used to that kind of treatment. Like Trump, he lashed out at voters, accusing them of being liberal plants.

Chaffetz no doubt figured that he was in a no-win position. Do his oversight job, and the Trump mob would pillory him. Avoid his responsibility, and his political opponents and the press would bash him. It is hard enough these days for the ordinary House Republican to straddle the divide (between Trump and principles or Trump and constituents), but the ordinary House Republican is not a highly visible committee chairman. A back-bencher can lay low, avoid talk shows and bob and weave on votes that force him to choose between the White House and the base (e.g. health care). Chaffetz did not enjoy that “luxury” and is temperamentally unsuited to inconspicuous public service.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/04/20/getting-out-was-chaffetzs-only-good-option/?utm_term=.8086c4841f51&wpisrc=nl_popns&wpmm=1#comments

[Cary]

1. Poor Jason

No lies and smears to propagate, and forced to reckon with the prospect of integrity.

[dhill926]

2. Fuck im...

[Eyeball_Kid]

3. Handslap Chaffetz is the prototype political hack.

He's licked the derrieres of power so much, for so long, he can no longer taste dignity and self-respect. But not to worry for Jason. He's got plenty of lobbyist offers in his mailbox. He's made lots of billionaire friends during his licking sessions. He'll land a job in no time.