Just how bad are things in Washington, D.C., these days? Apparently some constituents won’t even oblige their senator a friendly game of hoops with the president.
“It’s become shirts versus skins far too often,” Sen. Jeff Flake, Arizona Republican, told Esquire. “A couple of years ago, I got invited to play basketball with the president, myself and nine other House members. And I was in the White House in the basement lacing up my shoes, and I got a call on my cell phone. Somehow somebody patched it through, and it was a woman from Arizona, a constituent, crying hysterically. ‘Don’t play basketball with that man!’ she said. It’s become terrible. It really has.”
Mr. Flake is quoted in a piece in which a host of members pontificate about what’s ailing the nation’s capital. In it, they lament the state of the redistricting process, bipartisanship and money in politics, among other things.
“I didn’t get elected to Congress to not get things done — most people here want to get things done. I didn’t get elected to Congress to make meaningless speeches on C-SPAN and tell lies about people,” one member, identified as a House Republican, is quoted as saying. “I didn’t get elected to Congress to scare the hell out of the country and drive the sides further apart. I didn’t get elected to Congress because I love politics — I hate politics, to be perfectly honest, and if I didn’t before I got here, I do now. …”
“I always believe things are going to get better,” he added. “Hey, look. It’s been worse. I mean, we are not caning each other on the House floor. That has been done.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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