Of course you realize that all of this points to what a colossal mistake the 17th amendment has been.
Darn Right! The last chapter of my book is dedicated to the disaster of the 17th Amendment. It’s poisoning of the judiciary is noted well.
I do think there is a fair compromise on the extreme that the 17th Amendment took. I think we could Amend the 17th amendment to include a provision for removing Senators by an act of the state legislature. Senators could be popularly elected but they would still be beholden to the interests of the states as separate governments.