I think I have American politics figured out

[Hiawatha Pete]

As a Canadian watching American news, I think I've finally got it figured out.

George Santos (R): not expelled from Congress - because allegations against him "not yet proven in a formal court of law".

Al Franken (D): forced to resign due overwhelming pressure from the Senate because of a USO comedy skit.

Is that it?

Do I have it right?

[Chainfire]

1. You are certainly on the right track.

[Glorfindel]

2. You have it right.

All you need to remember is: "It's OK if you are a (gag) republican." Democrats do the "right thing." rePukes do whatever they want to do, and get away with it.

[apnu]

3. There are rules for us (normal people) and them ( Republicans)

We are bound by rules of decency and morality. Republicans don’t have any rules like that. In fact, the more hypocritical a Republicans is, the less the rules apply. All of this is a sign that all variants of authoritarianism share. It’s how you can tell if you’ve encountered a strong man cult.

[Warpy]

4. Yep, that's about right and a lot of us are still pissed off aoout it.

However, don't look so smug. I've seen those pleasant and mannerly Canadians try to rip each other's faces off in IRC during your mercifully brief election seasons.

You did miss one part: Santos is part of a razor thin GOP majority and will most likely be ousted next year. That's why they're clinging to him and Boebert and Gaetz and MET. They're bodies occting chairs on the GOP side.

[BlueCheeseAgain]

5. Nobody expelled Franken.

If he had refused to resign, they wouldn't have expelled him either.

[TheProle]

7. +1

[peppertree]

6. And what gave one the edge the other one lacked? At the end of the day - elites' preference for the GOPee.

A lot of it is psychological: The mere perception that "Republicans represent the rich" is often enough to give them a pass in the minds of many - because, after all with status comes privileges.

But the effect can more direct, too - most visibly in the deferential way many in Big Media treat GOP figures, and their many scandals.

There are exceptions to these rules - but in many ways the dynamic resembles third world totem-pole politics.

An as wealth becomes more and more concentrated, this trend is becoming more entrenched.

So it's fair to say that yes, whatever their flaws, it's Democrats - and their many allies in law, the media, business, academia, culture and elsewhere - that are often the only thing standing between the American people...

And outright plutocracy.