FOG BLOG U.S. POLITICS LOG: REP. MATT GAETZ , SAYS 'WON'T RESIGN' DESPITE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST HIM:

Rep. Matt Gaetz won't resign from Congress. His utter lack of shame helps him politically........A decade on, Rep. Matt Gaetz is showing the shame game has changed considerably — for Republicans, at least. The Florida congressman, previously known as one of former President Donald Trump’s biggest boosters on Capitol Hill, has become a national figure in the most unflattering way since news broke last week that the Justice Department is investigating whether Gaetz “had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel with him.”

Gaetz denies any wrongdoing and says he’s not resigning. And his insistence on riding out the bad headlines in office may be a good political bet. After all, recent political history has shown lawmakers can get away with it — for a while, at least — if they’re willing to stay defiant even as they endure daily revelations about their allegedly sordid personal lives.

Republican lawmakers — perhaps inspired by the approach of unrepentant party leader Trump, who made no apology for his alleged misdeeds — have increasingly lasted well beyond their political sell-by dates. Democratic politicians in the modern political era have more often caved in to public pressure.