Mm-hmm.

... where people who came together, many with different ideologies, without any of the kind of bitchiness and cruelty that exists now, would sit down, and they would argue, and they would drink and...

As people got to know each other as human beings rather than a policy position, they were in a better place to then trade votes, negotiate during the day.

The fact of the matter is, is that it is impossible even for a president to do anything alone in this town, and everybody needed other people, whether it was advice or friends of friends.

You, you needed other people to be able to accomplish something big.

Is Washington better off now not having people like Evangeline Bruce convening in that way? Is it more egalitarian? Is it more democratic? Or have we lost something, an important function that those parties served?

I am going to say that in column A you have a bunch of wealthy white people, for the most part, attempting to solve the problems of the world from a very elite perch.

And you can find, quite easily, all the things wrong with that.