It's no use

[fadedrose]

21. After having watched Orin Hatch at the TPA meeting

I was so amazed at the man's composure, courtesy, and willingness to listen.

With every amendment proposed by everyone except Widen, he accepted everything. I thought, boy are they lucky to have this "gentleman" as the chair of this group, and not a butthole like Cruz or some of the others.

But then, when put to a voice vote, every damn one of the Republicans said, no, no, no, no, and even Hatch said no, no, no, no.

That's when I realized that all this rebellious complaining was for the sake of the Dems' constituents, and Hatch knew damned well what they were doing and why, and he played along beautifully. Too beautifully if you ask me. He had not the least bit of confrontation in him, and treated them like spoiled children who he'd rather let them vent till they were satisfied with themselves and their performances.... Hatch knew it was going to pass and so did they. The next day, it was said that the Dems had caved, and Wednesday, the vote went thru.

The Dems who could afford to vote "yes" were mainly from the western coast of the US where they deal mainly with Asian ports, and the cities there would prosper just from shipping if nothing else. The central and eastern Senators were able to vote "No" and did so for their duped supporters, mainly the unions, and I think that if the deal goes thru, the unions' time and their salaries are history....but something will be done to make it look like it's not so.

We been hoodwinked.

And to your point, yes, they could have done the whole damned thing at home with a conference call/video arrangement.