David Pakman

And all of a sudden, it's less about people saying, I agree with grab them by the pussy.

No, it's just like, listen, I care about what are his policies.

Do you even know what they are?

No, but it doesn't matter.

I don't care about that stuff.

Oh, women said he sexually harassed me.

Maybe they're telling the truth.

Maybe they're not.

But he's got the right policy on men and women's sports or whatever.

So I think that this is extraordinarily dangerous.

If behavior doesn't produce a reaction that has consequences, there's no incentive to behave any differently.

And in fact, there's a huge incentive to just push further.

If you can survive a scandal that would have sunk a senator 15 years ago, why would you stop?

Test the next boundary.

Why not?

Why not see if you can walk back a major military commitment or bypass some Democratic norms without suffering any polling consequences?

We are no longer in a moment where the behavior of our elected officials shocks people.

And to a degree, I'm guilty of it.

And I'll explain what I mean.

I am so steeped in this stuff that I have to remind myself, hey, David, don't don't let this be normalized.