Joe Manchin pretends to be brain-dead rube to defend Jim Crow anachronism
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Joe Manchin has an oped in the WaPo, and let’s just say that Gutfeld! could really use comic writing of this level:
The filibuster is a critical tool to protecting that input and our democratic form of government. That is why I have said it before and will say it again to remove any shred of doubt: There is no circumstance in which I will vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster. The time has come to end these political games, and to usher a new era of bipartisanship where we find common ground on the major policy debates facing our nation.
[…]
I simply do not believe budget reconciliation should replace regular order in the Senate. How is that good for the future of this nation? Senate Democrats must avoid the temptation to abandon our Republican colleagues on important national issues. Republicans, however, have a responsibility to stop saying no, and participate in finding real compromise with Democrats.
[…]
There is also bipartisan support for voting reform and many of the initiatives outlined in the For the People Act.
The most natural reading of the op-ed is that Joe Manchin is an abject moron who has never paid attention to anything that’s happened in the Senate during his entire tenure there, but I don’t believe this is accurate. Essentially, there are two major possibilities:
- Manchin is setting up a more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger defense when Republicans refuse to compromise on anything and Dems agree to some kind of filbuster reform Manchin can sell as technically maintaining his pledge.
- Manchin is perfectly fine with total gridlock, and is happy not to accomplish much of anything as long as people have to continually kiss his ass to even get judges and cabinet officials approved.
Alas, while I used to have optimism about door #1 at this point it seems like the latter is much more likely.
Manchin is setting himself up to be Mr. Gridlock. He's putting himself on the hook to deliver 10 GOP votes on everything. When he fails, as he will, he'll be the one blocking broadly popular policies that improve people's lives & which Dems must pass to hold the majority in 2022.— Adam Jentleson 🎈 (@AJentleson) April 8, 2021
In related news, every FIERCELY INDEPENDENT Maine voter who split their tickets to keep one of the few divas to rival Manchin in office and therefore ensure that Manchin had a unilateral veto over everything should be traded to Newfoundland for some turbot filets to be named later.