Biden Must Call On Senate To End Filibuster

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This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis.

When President Joe Biden hosts the Summit for Democracy on Thursday, he will not do so as the leader of a beacon of democracy to which the rest of the world aspires. Instead, he’ll be fighting an uphill battle to reassert America’s democratic credentials before skeptical allies. After four years of Donald Trump undermining democratic norms, which culminated in the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol—and roughly a decade of Republican efforts to strip voting rights away from poor, elderly, and minority voters—the United States is in no position to tell other countries to follow in our footsteps. 

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1397441
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What will animate Democratic turnout in 2022?

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The GOP has damaged US interests, perhaps fatally.

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My friends in Europe are telling me that they no longer have confidence in the US and it’s time for Europe to chart it’s own course thanks to the damage Trump and the Republicans have done to our international image.

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He should push for the end of the filibuster. Just his advocacy for it would be important. I don’t think it will move Manch-enema at all, though. In the end he’ll just be painted as weak.

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I will be challenged for saying this, but what Biden is doing is putting the GOP on the spot.

The GOP lives to attack.

However they attack Biden it will expose a flaw in their make-up, because, for them, the attack is the policy.

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America’s credibility and moral authority are on the line

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Is there anything as important?

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That was de Gaulle’s idea, and he was right–as he usually was.

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Overturning Roe, maybe?

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I actually hesitated before “Liking” this, as in general I think de Gaulle had a huge ego and was a bit of an ass, but as I contemplated the point I had to agree. The “European Cabal” that controlled things (i.e. the British, with US support) were not particularly focused on what France, or any other part of Europe, needed so a little flexing of muscle would have been appropriate.

Now, if only they’d bowed out of Indochina gracefully… :cry:

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it seems likely the first thing the GOP will do if they are successful retaking both chambers is to eliminate the filibuster so that they can solidify minority rule and get to the fascist part. its probably too late for the dems to take advantage of eliminating it to solidify majority rule…

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Please draw me the line from “Biden publicly calls on Senate to end filibuster” and “Manchin and Sinema have sudden epiphany and declare end for support of the filibuster” without using Underpants Gnome logic. Because barring that, all it does is make him look weak and ineffectual. Because barring that, this is just more “Use the Bully Pulpit! Twist Arms! Go LBJ! Fight!” demands for purely symbolic action that makes some Democrats feel warm feels for fifteen minutes before it turns out to be completely ineffectual and then just provides more fodder for Murc’s Law disaffection.

I have no doubt he’s working on them in private. In fact, we know he’s working on them in private. It’s clear that Manchin is going through a process of trying to find a reason not do it that either ends with him saying “I tried everything possible and the Republicans aren’t capable of doing it so l am changing my mind” or else him saying “I tried everything possible and it all failed but I don’t give a damn.” Neither outcome is advanced and the latter outcome, already probably the likely outcome, is only made more likely if Biden Goes LBJ, Twists Arms and Uses the Bully Pulpit.

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I’m hoping it all does. I’m motivated as lgbt, bc I know what’s coming should they win it all. I just pray mom and pop in the boonies of suburbia get what’s going on. Enough of them anyway.