As former President Obama made a passionate case for honoring the legacy of the late Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) by expanding voting rights, he said that the Senate filibuster should be eliminated if it stands in the way of measures that protect the right to vote.
President Obama just threw down the gauntlet on behalf of Joe Biden, no doubt they discussed this. And it puts Republicans on notice that Dems won’t tolerate their obstructionist behavior, this time, on every issue. It looks like they’ve learned from what happened during the Obama Administration, and are looking to assertively get things done this time around come hell or high water.
About time. Should have ditched that years ago, before the republicans decided to do it to push through their agendas.
And while we’re at it, can we get rid of the Electoral College once and for all?
Thank you, President Obama, your eulogy was heartfelt and needed.
I was able to watch Obama’s entire John Lewis eulogy.
Awe-inspiring and such a departure from the moron (moran) we have in the Oval right now.
This is actually a big deal…Republicans have used the filibuster to block almost everything that Democrats have tried to do for decades. Any really big reform to help people was quashed by the undemocratic vote of a minority of the Senate. And, when used by Democrats to stop really awful judges from being installed for a lifetime on the courts, Republicans instead removed the filibuster for themselves. As usual, it’s just about power and control for them, they use whatever means to keep the nation from progressing towards a more free place for all Americans.
It’s especially notable that Obama is saying this…he bent over backwards to try to work through things with Republicans (probably more than he should have), and he respected the precedent in the Senate. For him to declare that it’s unjust for the filibuster to stop progress, and to use civil rights as the vehicle for that pronouncement, really makes it clear what is at stake in the continued abuse of the process by Republicans. He probably just gave the Democrats the reason and permission to remove the filibuster if they can retake the Senate…it’s a very good thing, as it will allow rapid progress on many issues that the Democrats have already shown they will pass if they have Congress.
This will become an issue in the Senate races, Republicans will probably try to wrap themselves int he flag and tradition…pointing out that the tradition includes supporting racism and cutting everything from the Postal Service to the safety net is a winning stance for Democrats to take.
But getting rid of the filibuster would be so unfair to the citizens of Wyoming, Vermont, North Dakota, South Dakota, Delaware, and Alaska.
…after the current so-called prez has done everything he can to burn every democratic tradition down to the ground.
The GOP are a bad faith party running on bad faith cash for bad faith churches and the execrable rich.
To the gallows with them all.
Was a good move framing it in the context of Jim Crow, the filibuster isn’t a relic of compromise and tradition, but one of power and oppression. That needs to be front and center in the push to get rid of it.
Now THAT’s a President, leading, inspiring, and eloquent.
Rep. John Lewis’s body may have died this week…but his spirit, love of country and ideals have just been set free to carry us forward to the Voting day and beyond.
What an incredible person…
And yet, if it advantaged McConnell, he’d nix the filibuster quicker than COVID spreads at a Trump rally.
His eulogy of John Lewis was inspiring, hopeful, and Presidential. It was a reminder of Presidents who are able to speak to us all not just a few. He threw down the gauntlet and now we need to vote. I really really miss him.
There were bipartisan proposals to reform the filibuster, allowing it for example to force more debate for a set period unless it was overridden by a super-majority, but not allowing it to permanently block. These never gains a sufficient number of Senate backers.
But credit Moscow Mitch for demonstrating both how the filibuster could be abused by the minority and how it could be suborned or bypassed when in the majority; i.e., a tool for corruption rather than deliberation, It needs to go now.
And this
petty whiny little bitch
being a petty whiny little bitch
Read the twitter responses
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/07/trump-calls-reporters-to-the-white-house-for-surprise-event-as-obama-delivers-eulogy-for-john-lewis/
The filibuster used to be fine because it was once a tool understood to be used in a, “In case the other side is being genuinely insane, break glass.”
Now it’s being used to end democracy. It has to go.