The steady state machine ...

Illustration by Jade Cuevas/POLITICO (source images via AP, Getty Images and iStock)

Politico's pix nails it. Congress, filled with fools whose only real objective in life is to get reelected, without the limits of term limits, now talk on what's it's like to be part of one of the most hated entities in America in an article titled 
Sex, Drinking and Dementia: 25 Lawmakers Spill on What Congress Is Really Like

It’s hard to find an institution the public loathes more than Congress. But guess what? A lot of the people in Congress aren’t so happy with it either. 

“I got elected in 2018, and one of the first things I had to do was to go sit in a classified briefing. I’m sitting there and I’m furiously taking notes. And I look at Elissa Slotkin and raise my eyebrows to her, and she raises her eyebrows back at me. In my head, I’m thinking, ‘Man, I’m swimming with the big fish now. I’m vibing with the CIA officers.’ And we walk out and she goes, ‘The fuck are you doing taking notes in a classified briefing?’ You effectively get a security clearance without a background check.” — Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.)

How good of friends some of us are, whose political ideologies are totally separate from each other. Some of my best friends up here are members of the progressive caucus. We go out, have dinner and a beer, and we can even tell jokes with each other, as long as nobody’s listening.” — Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.)

“I was surprised at how thirsty my colleagues are.” — Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.)

“Practicing radical self-care and recognizing that every person here is not an adult. Saying no is very important. Laughing. If you don’t laugh and you take it all too seriously, you’ll be in a fetal position on the floor in the corner.” — Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.)

“The single least impressive person I have ever met in this job or any job I’ve ever had is Kevin McCarthy. He is just a vapid shell of a human being who stands for nothing, who never took his oath seriously.” — Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.)

“We really got our asses kicked in. If we don’t get our shit together, then we are going to be in a permanent minority.” — Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.)

It's all about the money, again.

“More than anything, unlimited money. This is the only business where you can spend unlimited money to destroy someone’s reputation. And then social media. That became a narcotic.” — Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.)

The actual truth ... for a change.

“This is a cross-section of society. I suspect — I don’t know — I serve with functioning alcoholics, just as I serve with people who take too many prescription drugs. As long as they’re functional, which means able to do their job in a way that satisfies their folks back home, it’s not really my position to grumble, bitch or moan.” — a House Republican

“There’s no question that somewhere between six and a dozen of my colleagues are at a point where they’re … I think they don’t have the faculties to do their job.” — Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.)

“I have a difficult time sometimes telling between the deterioration of members and a handful who are just not very smart.” — a House Republican

Stagnation 101. Nature recycles but no ... Congress doesn't. 94-98% pols get reelected ... forever.

WASHINGTON, DC JANUARY 15: (L-R) Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell briefly speak with each other as they attend a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on January 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. Congress awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to former NFL player and advocate for patients with Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS) Steve Gleason. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

They're still here.