Unforced Error

Though my politics are more in tune with Republicans than Democrats, I'm under no illusions about the wisdom, intelligence, or character of some Republican members. One of the first items that the House Republican majority put on the agenda was to "reduce the power of an independent ethics office":

Republicans had voted 119-74 in a secret House GOP Caucus meeting Monday night to hobble the Office of Congressional Ethics as part of new rules to govern the incoming Congress.

Not everyone who voted in favor of this item was motivated by venality (the Office had a history of tying up Members with spurious claims by activist groups, as well as investigating legitimate accusations), but surely there are more important things to do in the first hundred days.

It took a tweet from the President-elect to shame the Republicans to remove the provision.

With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017

The un-politician seems to have more political sense than those with many years of experience.