Well, McSally had to go, so it was the better choice. Who knew Sinema would completely flip off her constituents and use the office for fatuous posturing and cash-grabbing? Didn’t she campaign as a progressive? What a rudderless twit she turned out to be.
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If one has no values, it’s easy to make amoral choices.
`
`JUST IN: Kyrsten
—
Sinema’s favorability among Democrats in Arizona has fallen to a new low
of 8 percent. 80% of Arizona Democrats view her unfavorably. (@civiqs)
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) January
20, 2022
Why she gets up in the morning and goes to work is up for speculation.
Oh yeah, so she can screw the entire country over as performance art. Up next, wardrobe choices. Um, the panties over the pants option may be on the docket. That will show everyone what she thinks.
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Worn backwards of course.
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It was a sad day for Democracy. It was a good day for Democracy. It was a good day because the racism and hypocrisy of all Republican and two Democratic senators got to see the light of day and was on full display. (which wouldn’t have happened with one less D).
The best I can do is to offer excerpts from today’s article by Jennifer Rubin:
This was a clarifying moment for the country. The two Democratic senators’ excuses for leaving the filibuster in place have been utterly debunked. Manchin, for example, made the preposterous statement that the filibuster had a 232-year tradition in the Senate. It wasn’t until the late 19th century that the filibuster was used to block legislation. Since then, the Senate has repeatedly carved out exceptions, such as to confirm judges, to pass budget reconciliation bills and to raise the debt ceiling.
Meanwhile, the moral and intellectual chasm between the parties has rarely been so vivid. Republicans offered nary a word as to why the Voting Rights Act should not be fully restored. The argument was nearly entirely devoted to defending a false account of the Senate’s procedural history.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who bent over backward to accommodate Manchin’s concerns on voting reforms, blasted the gamesmanship: “I think by voting this down, by not allowing us even to debate this, to get to the conclusion of a vote, that is silencing the people of America, all in the name of an archaic Senate rule that isn’t even in the Constitution. That’s just wrong.”
Biden did not let up, either. “There are certain things that are so consequential that you have to speak from the heart as well as your head," he said at his Wednesday news conference in response to criticism for saying that Republicans would be on the side of Bull Connor and George Wallace if they continue to pursue their voter suppression tactics. “You don’t get to vote this way and somehow it goes away,” he added. “This will stick with you the rest of your career and long after you’re gone.” It’s typical that on an issue of such historic importance, all the Republicans could think to do was to play the victim.
The media today so often frame politics about winning and losing. Had they been covering John Lewis on the bridge, one shudders to think that they might have “scored” that day as a win for the Alabama troopers who met the marchers with clubs and tear gas. Coverage entirely denuded of moral content becomes camouflage for bad conduct.
Democrats cannot force Republicans to do the right thing. But Democrats did force Republicans and their two Democratic cohorts to reveal the paucity of their arguments and the puniness of their consciences.
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Best case scenario – both of them quit their positions, preferably now, but certainly before they even think of running again – we need to infiltrate/influence all Arizona and West Virginia polls, PACS, donor groups, and real media.
My wife’s take on it was he didn’t intend to say “ just as high a percentage as Americans overall.” He knew what he was saying and how it would be heard. I agree. If he misspoke and gave a shit he would have issued a clarification. Haven’t seen one.
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Paging Dr. Freud! Also, Mitch is citing past election turnout, which is PRECISELY THE REASON his party is trying to shut that increased voting by African-Americans and other POC down. @LeaderMcConnell knows that, because he hopes to benefit from it. https://t.co/ke5XeJQeUr
— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid 😷 (@JoyAnnReid) January 20, 2022
I eagerly await the severe consequences that will be imposed on these turncoats by the Democratic Party Establishment.
This lost vote has given all of us a goal to go at. Two more Senators and we get this, and it’s less than a year away.
The action of Manchin and Sinema yesterday is just mind-blowingly stupid. Schumer’s strategy was to SHOW THEM how uncollegial the Senate has become by the behavior of the ReThugs in the debate. He succeeded spectacularly. The problem is the hubris of Manchin and Sinema brought into the chamber would not allow them to see the evidence all around them in living color - they had already made up their minds and facts would not deter their “NOBODY (not even God) can tell ME what to do” attitude. Fuck 'em. The DSCC and the DNC should cut them both off and we, the Democratic base should tell the DSCC and DNC that if they don’t, ALL our donations will be vectored to candidates directly, including Rep. Ruben Gallego who would make a fine Senator who will actually talk to his constituents.
If the debate had last much longer, I am certain that a hot-head like Graham would have followed the proud South Carolina tradition of the Senate and use a cane to beat Sen. Bennet to death. (BTW, Micheal Bennet is an excellent witness to the obvious - I LOVED his speech because he said it like it is - the Senate as constituted TODAY is a waste of money and space.) If we ever have a Constitutional Convention, the segregationist Senate should be the first thing to go. IMHO we should transition to a larger (660 members) unicameral legislature like Nebraska has, headed by a Speaker chosen by the people. It works better that the disaster we have in WDC today. The second thing to go should be the Electoral College - the POTUS should be chosen by the popular vote.
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Bite your tongue!
The Senate itself is not the problem—the way McConnell has broken it is the problem.
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The answer is yes - even Manchin recognized it yesterday. The reason Schumer hasn’t pressed ahead is that they have to get a budget passed in less than a month. He can’t afford to tie the Senate up until the budget gets through. Once THAT happens, though, the essential business for this Congress is done and he can tee the Voting Rights Bill up again.
Take a look a Senate Rule XIX on Debate. It says nothing about the filibuster, which is, essentially a shortcut. If you drag the thing out using the Debate Rule XIX, AND you do not close the “Legislative Day” (by recessing and NOT adjourning) you can theoretically bring any Bill to the floor for a straight up or down vote because each Senator may only address the Senate twice in one Legislative Day. It just could take months to vent the spleen of every ReThug windbag in the Senate.
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The are differing strategic considerations for Democrats, in terms of political retribution in 2024 against Manchin and Sinema.
If Manchin (he’ll be 77 years old in 2024) decides to run for reelection, and if he is still a Democrat at that point - and both of those are open questions - Democrats will have to decide whether to try to mount a serious primary challenge. The political reality is that, even if Manchin can be beaten in a Democratic primary, a Democratic senate nominee to the left of Manchin would have virtually no chance of winning a general election in West Virginia.
So Democrats would likely be left with the decision whether to hold their collective noses and support Manchin, on the grounds that he is at least a vote for Democratic control of the senate, and his replacement would almost surely be a far right Republican.
As for Sinema, in purple Arizona, the strategic calculus is different. Democrats can, and should, recruit and coalesce behind a strong primary challenger to Sinema. She will be very vulnerable, and the candidate who defeats her in a primary stands a fair chance (unlike West Virginia) of winning the general election.
So I say, gear up, and get moving on taking out Sinema in the primary, and wait and see what is in Democrats’ best interest with respect to Manchin’s seat.
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Whew! Sen @TammyDuckworth just said: l can’t believe Senators in this room are having pages bring them water at just the right temperature - with ice or not - but won’t vote to protect against a law that keeps ppl from receiving water on a voting line. pic.twitter.com/EEcLWp1GNI
— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) January 19, 2022
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That is for when Sinema actually acts like a Democrat and the proverbial flying monkeys need an exit.
[Scratch that. Just realized the ladies usually don’t have a fly]
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What is hard to miss is how on key votes over the past several years the Republicans have had no defectors, while the Democrats do — and have to cajole even to get what they can. The difference: a mass movement built and led over some decades by the right wing of American capitalism, with an absence of much of anything beyond sectoral Me-focused, politics from the left, including the virtual absence of a working class or labor or genuine left-wing movement to pose even a modest threat. As usual, the Democrats are currently serving their historical role in the American political system of greasing the way back to the Republicans, the base party of American capitalism. This time, likely, without Trump.
I wrote him an email and called him a liar and his poster a big fat lie.
And support Demings and Ryan, among others.
But how do you un-ring that bell?