This afternoon, Republicans in the Senate killed the bill to establish a bipartisan independent commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection. The vote was 54 to 35, and yet the thirty-five “no” votes won because of the current shape of the Senate filibuster, which requires 60 votes to break, even if the minority doesn’t show up to vote.
I hope it is now clear to the Democrats that there is simply no working with the current Republican party. They have withdrawn from the compact to share governance. They are mutinous. It's time for Democrats to seize the day and get on with saving our democracy. The Republicans are a clear and present danger.
Why are Matt Gaetz's comments not considered incitement to insurrection? Surely if Trump told a bunch of people to be patriots and march on the Capitol was incitement, telling a bunch of people that they have the constitutional right to take arms up against their government should be on an equal or worse footing. That rhetoric seems so incredibly dangerous. It's basically saying that voting is no longer a relevant remedy in the era of the Big Lie, so the only logical next step is armed revolt. Am I missing something? Granted we're a bit naive here north of the border, but holy cow!
Today's vote convinced me that it's time to exercise our Democratic majority.
I wrote my Senators and House Rep saying I fully support revising the filibuster rules. I also stressed that since the Republican blockage of the bipartisan effort was itself partisan, we had no reason to continue to treat GOP desires as special. A "partisan" House Select Committee investigation was the result of THEIR failure to participate. That the results are likely to identify guilt among their ranks is unfortunate. I'm prepared to face that possibility.
Repubs have showed us they won't negotiate in good faith and no longer share once common American values. It's time to flex our muscle and go forth without them.
"People like me," said Susan Collins. What does she actually mean by that?
For the past couple of decades, I have observed the GOP degenerating into what more closely resembles an organized criminal syndicate. Republican refusal to accept a bipartisan independent commission to investigate the January insurrection is an obstruction of justice, not a political act.
“'I never thought I’d see it up close and personal that politics could trump our country. I’m going to fight to save this country.'' [Sen. Joe Manchin]
Excuse me, Sen. Manchin?!!! You've been a senator since 2010, lived through 45's reign of terror, and "you never thought ..."? Well, color me scarlet and blue, but you haven't been thinking at all, of late; now, have you?!!!!!! For shame! And you even used the verb "to trump" ... a Freudian slip, perchance?
Today's vote was the expected disappointment that I assumed it would be. Schumer says that he'll try again in June ... Do we need more failures? Perhaps, President Biden should simply appoint a commission -- at least, that would be a start.
The GOP are nothing but a rogue mish-mash of undemocratic cads (bar a few), who prefer totalitarianism to a democratic republic, a lost cause, to say the least.
I loved your focus on Pres. Biden's budget, Prof. HCR -- there is so much to look forward to, if only the sewage tributaries of the Republican Cloaca Maxima can keep their ethical mire away from Biden's goals. We mustn't let down our guard -- not for one moment! And may the Force be with us!
Yes, Biden has performed beyond out highest expectation. But now is the time to learn from Obama and the ACA. Biden needs to go around the country and point out the benefits his administration has brought to communities and states! Mr. President, don't expect your accomplishments to speak for themselves - they won't!!!
As for Manchin, I'm watching him twist his large frame into a pretzel! He's looking every which way to avoid angering the Trumpists who form the bulk of his support. Put up or shut up Senator Manchin. Acting like Hamlet is not a good look right now!
Piketty’s careful, data-driven analysis (in his treatise, Capital in the 21st Century, and its sequel) shows that capitalist systems are strengthened and stabilized by a combination of steeply progressive income taxes and modest taxes on the net worth of the top 0.1%. His analysis applies to capitalist economies, not socialist economies, and the revenue makes it possible for a government that understands his results to serve its citizens well by providing a social safety net that makes it possible for the entire population to benefit from technological advances like machine learning and robotics while bolstering the positive effects of competition in business and industry. Republicans still cling to the trickle-down mythology, which was always based on ideological conjectures and never on data-driven economic analysis. Unfortunately, they have managed to sell this mythology to 40% of the electorate (namely, the white working class and almost nobody else) by promising to do everything they can to preserve the advantages that white Americans have always held over people with non-European ancestors. Republicans have used this grievance-based approach to retain power far beyond their numbers, and that is what has brought the US to the current impasse. There are just barely enough votes to break the impasse, but it will take a mighty effort to get those votes to the polls, especially since the Republicans are using their power to suppress them. People who want stop Republicans in their efforts to block rational governance must step up NOW with effort and/or money supporting effective get-out-the-vote projects nationwide.
"Today, after the vote, he said, “I never thought I’d see it up close and personal that politics could trump our country. I’m going to fight to save this country.” "
All I can say to Senator Manchin is, you have been in the Senate the last 11 years and you never saw this behavior before? and the same to Senator Collins - who has been in the Senate even longer. Quit hoping for change, get to work and find a way to make Biden's plan happen. I feel we are running out of time and maybe already have.
I won't even try to address Senator Sinema and her not voting today.
I’m encouraged by President Biden’s budget proposal, but really sad about the outcome of the vote about the January 6 Commission. I called and left a message for my senator, Majority Leader Schumer. I almost wish Senator Amy Klobuchar could take over as the new Majority Leader.
This nightmare started on Nov 8, 2016 when the unthinkable happened and the idiots elected an unqualified, mentally ill, despotic wannabe as POTUS. (It happened to be my and my great-grandson’s birthdays – so what should have been a happy day turned out to be devastating).
So, for 4 years we struggled to instill sanity in the dark depths of this insane nightmare and finally climbed to the edge of the hole, but not quite out of it. With an equal voice instead of being a minority, we still cannot stop the obstruction of the traitorous Repugnant Party. As John Pavlovitz observed yesterday, “The Republicans have no heart and the Democrats have no teeth.” It is so frustrating that we seem unable to stop the minority Repugnant Party from its obstruction that they no longer even try to hide when Moscow Mitch openly brags that is all that party will do. AND YET, the Dems still seem naively fixated on the proven fallacy that you can negotiate with this evil party with its intent to gain authoritarian control of our flailing “democracy.”
They have put in place outright racist voter suppression in the Old South since the Supreme Court said the voting rights act was unconstitutional in 2013 because of disparate treatment of the states "based on 40 year-old facts having no logical relationship to the present day," which makes the formula unresponsive to current needs. Did they really think that racism had left the Deep South? It was tenuously driven underground until this surge of idiot Repugnant Party Cultists took over. If you do not keep fascists tied up, they will continue to suppress ppl.
I really fear that the ignorant rabble of the Repugnant Party will take over again in 2022, as we watch helplessly. And, unless he is in prison that insane despot will be elected again and that Nazi/Hitler analogy that we’ve witnessed before will come to pass. It can happen here – it is happening here. I fear for my grandsons.
Morning, all!! Morning, Dr. R!! IMHO here is what needs to happen: The press, all of them, need to keep this flame going. No matter the "urgent issue" of the day, they need to keep asking lawmakers (Republicans and Democrats) at their press briefings about January 6, 2021 to keep it in the news.
The traditional filibuster has some merit so long as passionate advocates for an unpopular bill are willing to stand an their hind feet and argue in front of the chamber. The present no-effort filibuster-lite has proven to be poisonous.
From a certain perspective human behavior is not actually complicated. When apartheid was challenged in South Africa Nelson Mandela stood center stage and did deserve credit but there was also something else that happened. A negotiating group was consulted to help the parties come to agreement. I’m sorry but I do not remember their name but I was very impressed with their method. It was tied to a philosophy of meme’s. A meme is a thought form and their operative theory was that each individual human is at a certain stage in his or her development where a particular type of thought form is dominate for them. These were color coded for ease of explanation.
Red thought forms or meme’s are typified by the notion that right makes right. ‘my way or the highway’. Blue’s are typified by the notion of boy scouts. ‘There are rules and if we all follow them we will all be ok”. Then there are the Oranges working with scientific thoughts, “there are rules but they are the rules of the universe and we simply have to discover them”. And then there are the Green’s. To a green meme-er there is nothing as important as consensus. ‘We all just have to come to an agreement then we will be Ok.’
The negotiation facilitation team simply translated the discussion from one meme to another so that each group could understand in their own language. That is Mandela’s group were greens and the whites were reds. The negotiation group would take the message ‘We have to compromise’ and translated it to a “Do this or else” tone. And vice versa.
Apartheid was done but this was the process that ushered it out. We are having the same problem. Biden, Obama, perhaps Harris are all greens. They will never give up the notion that compromise can work. McConnell, is a red as are most of the other loud republicans we hear from. To them the notion of compromise is simply a bulling tactic and is never taken seriously.
The majority of American voters are orange or green. A significant and now very well defined minority are red. Red’s only respond to confrontation. That is just the way it works.
Frankly, I didn’t make this up. But I’m always amazed when simple truths like this are discovered and then forgotten.
The interesting caveat to this meme theory is that while a typical red or green simply cannot convert or use a different approach without coaching because it is simply too uncomfortable instead they will persist in their own meme despite clear evidence that their method has failed. Only violet meme-ers are able to pick the meme that is needed in any given circumstance according to whom they are dealing with. There are only one percent of violet meme-ers around. And since this theory has faded from our focus they are not empowered.
Obama was simply incapable of demanding the Senate do its job. Is Biden like wise incapable? The evidence would suggest this is true.
I still like the filibuster solution that it takes 40 votes to keep the filibuster going rather than 60 to stop it. Then they have to sit there to make sure there isn't a vote on keeping it going called while they take a break.
I hope it is now clear to the Democrats that there is simply no working with the current Republican party. They have withdrawn from the compact to share governance. They are mutinous. It's time for Democrats to seize the day and get on with saving our democracy. The Republicans are a clear and present danger.
Mystified Canadian here.
Why are Matt Gaetz's comments not considered incitement to insurrection? Surely if Trump told a bunch of people to be patriots and march on the Capitol was incitement, telling a bunch of people that they have the constitutional right to take arms up against their government should be on an equal or worse footing. That rhetoric seems so incredibly dangerous. It's basically saying that voting is no longer a relevant remedy in the era of the Big Lie, so the only logical next step is armed revolt. Am I missing something? Granted we're a bit naive here north of the border, but holy cow!
Today's vote convinced me that it's time to exercise our Democratic majority.
I wrote my Senators and House Rep saying I fully support revising the filibuster rules. I also stressed that since the Republican blockage of the bipartisan effort was itself partisan, we had no reason to continue to treat GOP desires as special. A "partisan" House Select Committee investigation was the result of THEIR failure to participate. That the results are likely to identify guilt among their ranks is unfortunate. I'm prepared to face that possibility.
Repubs have showed us they won't negotiate in good faith and no longer share once common American values. It's time to flex our muscle and go forth without them.
There's work that needs to be done.
"People like me," said Susan Collins. What does she actually mean by that?
For the past couple of decades, I have observed the GOP degenerating into what more closely resembles an organized criminal syndicate. Republican refusal to accept a bipartisan independent commission to investigate the January insurrection is an obstruction of justice, not a political act.
“'I never thought I’d see it up close and personal that politics could trump our country. I’m going to fight to save this country.'' [Sen. Joe Manchin]
Excuse me, Sen. Manchin?!!! You've been a senator since 2010, lived through 45's reign of terror, and "you never thought ..."? Well, color me scarlet and blue, but you haven't been thinking at all, of late; now, have you?!!!!!! For shame! And you even used the verb "to trump" ... a Freudian slip, perchance?
Today's vote was the expected disappointment that I assumed it would be. Schumer says that he'll try again in June ... Do we need more failures? Perhaps, President Biden should simply appoint a commission -- at least, that would be a start.
The GOP are nothing but a rogue mish-mash of undemocratic cads (bar a few), who prefer totalitarianism to a democratic republic, a lost cause, to say the least.
I loved your focus on Pres. Biden's budget, Prof. HCR -- there is so much to look forward to, if only the sewage tributaries of the Republican Cloaca Maxima can keep their ethical mire away from Biden's goals. We mustn't let down our guard -- not for one moment! And may the Force be with us!
Yes, Biden has performed beyond out highest expectation. But now is the time to learn from Obama and the ACA. Biden needs to go around the country and point out the benefits his administration has brought to communities and states! Mr. President, don't expect your accomplishments to speak for themselves - they won't!!!
As for Manchin, I'm watching him twist his large frame into a pretzel! He's looking every which way to avoid angering the Trumpists who form the bulk of his support. Put up or shut up Senator Manchin. Acting like Hamlet is not a good look right now!
Susan Collins - “It won’t have credibility with people like me, but the press will cover it because that’s what’s going on.”
Sorry, Sen. Collins, you lost credibility long ago. Are you concerned?
Piketty’s careful, data-driven analysis (in his treatise, Capital in the 21st Century, and its sequel) shows that capitalist systems are strengthened and stabilized by a combination of steeply progressive income taxes and modest taxes on the net worth of the top 0.1%. His analysis applies to capitalist economies, not socialist economies, and the revenue makes it possible for a government that understands his results to serve its citizens well by providing a social safety net that makes it possible for the entire population to benefit from technological advances like machine learning and robotics while bolstering the positive effects of competition in business and industry. Republicans still cling to the trickle-down mythology, which was always based on ideological conjectures and never on data-driven economic analysis. Unfortunately, they have managed to sell this mythology to 40% of the electorate (namely, the white working class and almost nobody else) by promising to do everything they can to preserve the advantages that white Americans have always held over people with non-European ancestors. Republicans have used this grievance-based approach to retain power far beyond their numbers, and that is what has brought the US to the current impasse. There are just barely enough votes to break the impasse, but it will take a mighty effort to get those votes to the polls, especially since the Republicans are using their power to suppress them. People who want stop Republicans in their efforts to block rational governance must step up NOW with effort and/or money supporting effective get-out-the-vote projects nationwide.
Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, wrote a scathing piece on the current state of the GOP. He pulled no punches:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/05/republicans-stand-for-nothing-january-6-commission/619036/
"Today, after the vote, he said, “I never thought I’d see it up close and personal that politics could trump our country. I’m going to fight to save this country.” "
All I can say to Senator Manchin is, you have been in the Senate the last 11 years and you never saw this behavior before? and the same to Senator Collins - who has been in the Senate even longer. Quit hoping for change, get to work and find a way to make Biden's plan happen. I feel we are running out of time and maybe already have.
I won't even try to address Senator Sinema and her not voting today.
I’m encouraged by President Biden’s budget proposal, but really sad about the outcome of the vote about the January 6 Commission. I called and left a message for my senator, Majority Leader Schumer. I almost wish Senator Amy Klobuchar could take over as the new Majority Leader.
This nightmare started on Nov 8, 2016 when the unthinkable happened and the idiots elected an unqualified, mentally ill, despotic wannabe as POTUS. (It happened to be my and my great-grandson’s birthdays – so what should have been a happy day turned out to be devastating).
So, for 4 years we struggled to instill sanity in the dark depths of this insane nightmare and finally climbed to the edge of the hole, but not quite out of it. With an equal voice instead of being a minority, we still cannot stop the obstruction of the traitorous Repugnant Party. As John Pavlovitz observed yesterday, “The Republicans have no heart and the Democrats have no teeth.” It is so frustrating that we seem unable to stop the minority Repugnant Party from its obstruction that they no longer even try to hide when Moscow Mitch openly brags that is all that party will do. AND YET, the Dems still seem naively fixated on the proven fallacy that you can negotiate with this evil party with its intent to gain authoritarian control of our flailing “democracy.”
They have put in place outright racist voter suppression in the Old South since the Supreme Court said the voting rights act was unconstitutional in 2013 because of disparate treatment of the states "based on 40 year-old facts having no logical relationship to the present day," which makes the formula unresponsive to current needs. Did they really think that racism had left the Deep South? It was tenuously driven underground until this surge of idiot Repugnant Party Cultists took over. If you do not keep fascists tied up, they will continue to suppress ppl.
I really fear that the ignorant rabble of the Repugnant Party will take over again in 2022, as we watch helplessly. And, unless he is in prison that insane despot will be elected again and that Nazi/Hitler analogy that we’ve witnessed before will come to pass. It can happen here – it is happening here. I fear for my grandsons.
Morning, all!! Morning, Dr. R!! IMHO here is what needs to happen: The press, all of them, need to keep this flame going. No matter the "urgent issue" of the day, they need to keep asking lawmakers (Republicans and Democrats) at their press briefings about January 6, 2021 to keep it in the news.
The traditional filibuster has some merit so long as passionate advocates for an unpopular bill are willing to stand an their hind feet and argue in front of the chamber. The present no-effort filibuster-lite has proven to be poisonous.
From a certain perspective human behavior is not actually complicated. When apartheid was challenged in South Africa Nelson Mandela stood center stage and did deserve credit but there was also something else that happened. A negotiating group was consulted to help the parties come to agreement. I’m sorry but I do not remember their name but I was very impressed with their method. It was tied to a philosophy of meme’s. A meme is a thought form and their operative theory was that each individual human is at a certain stage in his or her development where a particular type of thought form is dominate for them. These were color coded for ease of explanation.
Red thought forms or meme’s are typified by the notion that right makes right. ‘my way or the highway’. Blue’s are typified by the notion of boy scouts. ‘There are rules and if we all follow them we will all be ok”. Then there are the Oranges working with scientific thoughts, “there are rules but they are the rules of the universe and we simply have to discover them”. And then there are the Green’s. To a green meme-er there is nothing as important as consensus. ‘We all just have to come to an agreement then we will be Ok.’
The negotiation facilitation team simply translated the discussion from one meme to another so that each group could understand in their own language. That is Mandela’s group were greens and the whites were reds. The negotiation group would take the message ‘We have to compromise’ and translated it to a “Do this or else” tone. And vice versa.
Apartheid was done but this was the process that ushered it out. We are having the same problem. Biden, Obama, perhaps Harris are all greens. They will never give up the notion that compromise can work. McConnell, is a red as are most of the other loud republicans we hear from. To them the notion of compromise is simply a bulling tactic and is never taken seriously.
The majority of American voters are orange or green. A significant and now very well defined minority are red. Red’s only respond to confrontation. That is just the way it works.
Frankly, I didn’t make this up. But I’m always amazed when simple truths like this are discovered and then forgotten.
The interesting caveat to this meme theory is that while a typical red or green simply cannot convert or use a different approach without coaching because it is simply too uncomfortable instead they will persist in their own meme despite clear evidence that their method has failed. Only violet meme-ers are able to pick the meme that is needed in any given circumstance according to whom they are dealing with. There are only one percent of violet meme-ers around. And since this theory has faded from our focus they are not empowered.
Obama was simply incapable of demanding the Senate do its job. Is Biden like wise incapable? The evidence would suggest this is true.
I still like the filibuster solution that it takes 40 votes to keep the filibuster going rather than 60 to stop it. Then they have to sit there to make sure there isn't a vote on keeping it going called while they take a break.