(I wrote this back in June and never used it and now it’s become current again, so just hang on and we’ll eventually get up to speed with what’s happening right now.)
There’s an old political joke (which would also describe a number of our more prominent politicians) and it goes like this:
“I’m not a member of any organized political party…I’m a Democrat.”
A joke that came to mind back when I read that Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said he wouldn’t vote for legislation that would overhaul U.S. election law (legislation supported by the White House and his party) because it was too partisan and he wanted to work with Republicans.
Note of interest: the Democrats want this legislation because the highly-reasonable Republicans Manchin wants to work with have been busy trying to make it harder for people they don’t like (which pretty much means Black people) to vote.
According to a story in the Kansas City Star, the Democrats’ legislation would restrict partisan gerrymandering (manipulating political boundaries to make sure you get the result you want), strike down hurdles to voting and bring transparency to a campaign financing system that allows donors to remain anonymous. The legislation also requires states to offer 15 days of early voting, allow no-excuse absentee voting and buy the world a Coke while singing in perfect harmony and the only thing I made up is that last one.
All in all, it sounds like pretty good stuff.
But Manchin didn’t support it because he believes Republicans will eventually see the need for a bipartisan deal and immediately after that, monkeys will fly out his butt.
Manchin and Senator Kyrsten Sinema (who appears to have a fairly vague idea of how you spell “Kirsten”) also oppose weakening or limiting the filibuster and just in case you haven’t been following that, here’s why it’s a big deal.
The Senate is evenly divided with Vice President Kamala Harris able to break a tie, so you’d think Democrats could do whatever they want, but Democrats are afraid of the filibuster (a parliamentary procedure that allows you to talk until your opponents commit suicide) and it requires 60 votes to make someone shut the hell up so Democrats don’t do anything because they don’t want to listen to a Republican speak for nine hours.
(If it were me – and it’s not – I’d pass whatever I wanted and let the Republicans filibuster and then say look at all the great stuff I wanted to do for America, but the Republicans are standing in the way.)
Meanwhile…
The ever-congenial Mitch McConnell has promised to block the Democrats’ elections bill because he thinks its “undue government overreach into state election systems” which is pretty much the same argument that was made for allowing slavery.
I mean, what business do the rest of us have telling the Great State of Kentucky how to deal with the shortage of low-wage workers?
So the Democrats don’t do jack shit because they’re overly worried about what everybody else thinks about them, even the Republicans who wouldn’t mind seeing the Democrats take a long walk off a short pier or burst into flames or turn in to a pillar of salt which, when you think about it (and I have) is a pretty weird punishment for looking back at the city of Sodom.
Barely-related Sodom and Gomorrah story alert
The Bible is filled with lots of weird shit and some of that weird shit includes Lot’s daughters trying to cheer him up after God gave him a Lifetime Supply of Salt, by getting him drunk and having sex with him.
And you think the Kardashians are a mess?
Moving on and not a moment too soon…
So the Democrats are naïve and disorganized and that’s if you give them the benefit of the doubt, but there is a more cynical explanation for their behavior and what am I here for if it’s not to give you a Darker View of Humanity?
There is a theory that the Democrats don’t really want to do anything that will piss off the people that give them money, so they talk a good game to get our votes and then when it’s time to get down and dirty, say they’d really love to fight, but they’re wearing their nice clothes and they promised their mother they wouldn’t, plus Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema won’t let them and I imagine a number of Democrats are very grateful for that.
Which brings us up to date
Say what you will about the Republicans (and I’ve said plenty), but they tend to stick together and if they have a president with the morality of a shark, but a somewhat lower IQ, they’ll still support him like a bunch of mind-controlled zombies and I probably ought to stop writing this sentence now because I’m running out of mixed metaphors.
Meanwhile…
Congress just passed legislation that would fund the government through December 3rd, but over the long haul the Democrats want to raise the government’s debt limit and before you say, “Isn’t that just like the Democrats?” the debt limit was raised three times during the Trump presidency and the Democrats went along with the Republican majority on that, but this time Republicans want Democrats to do it all on their own and being cynical I suspect it’s because they plan to use it against the Democrats, even though Republicans did the exact same thing when they were in charge.
So as the cartoon at the top of this post points out, when the Republicans want bipartisan help the Democrats will sometimes pitch right in to show what good guys they are and when the Democrats want help the Republicans tell the Democrats to go fuck themselves.
And in conclusion…
All this assumes the battle for the Hearts and Minds of America is real and not just a pro-wrestling inspired feud designed to keep us distracted while politicians of both parties protect their donors and make sure they get re-elected.
Just ask yourself what happens to people who actually try to change things and they tend to get shot or marginalized or caught up in some scandal and meanwhile the politicians who pay lip service to change, but don’t actually do anything (minimum wage anybody?) keep returning to office and talking about all the great stuff they’re going to do at some unspecified point in the future.
Which is why I say the Democrats are chumps and that’s if you give them the benefit of the doubt and if you don’t, they’re actually something worse.
Now have a nice day.
You have had the best Bible stories lately!