What Do We Do About the Obstructive Duo?
Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia is having the time of his life as the rest of us are sweating bullets over the future of our democracy. Kyrsten Sinema is on the same ego trip but in Manchin’s shadow.
The whole idea of these two people holding out on most of Joe Biden’s agenda is bad enough, but the gamesmanship on democracy is unforgivable because they are siding with autocracy. No matter how anyone spins this the fact is they are standing with the autocratic Maga party, aka the GOP.
In this morning’s opinion piece, Greg Sargent writes about West Virginia coal miners pressuring the show yacht Senator to act like a Democrat by supporting BBB, instead of spewing Republican talking points. In short, Manchin is caught between his donors and his voters conflicting positions on BBB.
Phil Smith, the United Mine Workers’ chief lobbyist, responded, “We’re still swinging, but we’re swinging in a smart way and in a way that will provide a real future for fossil energy workers in West Virginia and throughout the country.”
Union officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering mine owners, said Mr. Manchin should not be listening to the West Virginia Coal Association, which includes some of Mr. Trump’s staunchest supporters.
If Manchin’s reactions.over the past year are an indicator, he is more likely to continue his role as an emissary for the Republican Party. As much as I would love to believe he will be moved by the plight of coal miners, given his attitude about democracy, I don’t see the Senator suddenly finding his Democratic cajones.
I urge the Senator to prove me wrong for democracy’s sake.
The only real way BBB has a shot at passing is piecemeal and that is if the filibuster is, at minimum, changed back to a talking filibuster, or the unlikely ideal of it being eliminated.
The idea of forcing Republicans and their emissaries to stand up and explain their obstruction to the public and on the record seems like very little at this point. But, we have to work with the tools we have and use them to the max.
All this said, the reality we’re in makes saving voting rights more important than policy even policy that benefits so many people. Republicans are busy establishing rules to break our democratic system and replace it with a version of elections that result in autocracies. In countries like Russia and several of its allies, elections provide an illusion of people having choices. But it’s a show. Everything from physically dumping ballots (as in Russia) or the more sophisticated version of voter nullification that’s in vogue in red states are guaranteed to give an outcome wanted by autocrats - vetoing the people’s will.
We are running out of time. We need Congress to pass voting rights bills NOW. And our Congress is severely damaged by the assorted whackos, racists and fascists in the Republican caucus.
We also have to find a way to move Manchin and Sinema. And I’m not seeing much hope there. Still, things happen behind the scenes and combining that with public pressure, there is a chance Senators Manchin and Sinema will get off the GOP unicorn of white supremacy long enough to remember the people who put them in the Senate.
Image is by Amber and Frankie of Resistance United.