Personally, I think Chuck Schumer acted like an ass. After all, you don’t rub somebody’s nose in a publicly humiliating loss, especially when you need to work with them again in another 60 days. But boy, oh boy!, can I understand why Manchin put his head in his hands and rubbed his face. He’s boned, and he knows it.
Sixty days. That’s about how long I figure that the current iteration of the filibuster has left to live. And by the slumped shoulders and facial expressions of the primary characters involved, I think that most of them know it too. If you like those twisted psychological thrillers, you’ll love this shit, so just stick with me.
It has already been reported that McConnell met with Manchin and Sinema behind closed doors hours before he offered Schumer the compromise deal. There could only be one reason, mainly that he wanted to hear it directly from the horses mouths that they would nuke the filibuster rather than go over the fiscal cliff. That is McConnell’s worst nightmare, and the deal was his only way to avoid it. But McConnell is now a man shipwrecked on an island.
The only deal that could have saved McConnell would have been to suspend the debt limit until after the 2024 but his caucus would never agree to that. In fact, they sent a loud and clear political message to McConnell that he was now officially up shit’s creek.
In the hours following the announcement of the deal, both Calgary Teddy Cruz as well as Leningrad Lindsey Graham took to the well of the Senate to lambaste McConnell for his cowardice. But then they put a bloody exclamation point on it. McConnell had promised to provide 10 GOP votes for cloture so the Democrats could pass the final bill on their own. But when Schumer called the vote to the floor, there were only 9 GOP yea votes. Schumer had to hold the vote open on the floor while McConnell scrambled around the floor humiliating himself trying to whip up one more vote. The message from the GOP caucus was crystal clear, No more of this shit.
It also led McConnell to take the step of sending a publicly released letter to President Biden, telling him that the GOP was through. The Democrats now had plenty of time to pass the debt limit increase through reconciliation, or take responsibility for driving the economy off of the cliff. Period. And that is what lit the fuse under the filibuster.
Schumer’s post vote speech in the Senate was gauche political brinksmanship, but it also sealed McConnell’s fate. And Manchin dropped his head in his hands because he knows full well that it also sealed both his as well as Sinema’s fates. Because both of them are now on record with the caucus that they would vote for filibuster reform before letting the economy drive into the ditch. Which Chuck Schumer just ensured will happen in about 55 days.
The sword of Damocles is now hanging over their heads. The pressure is going to be enormous, and the only question will be how long do they sit around and play pouty kiddie games before bowing to the inevitable? Obviously the sooner the better. But whenever they finally cave, the fun is just starting. Because then the carve-out-o-rama kicks into high gear.
Once you take care of the debt ceiling once and for all, how do you go back home and tell African Americans that they and George Floyd aren’t entitled to justice and reform. How do you go back to minorities, and tell than that their hard fought voting rights aren’t worth an exemption. How do you go back to all of the women in your states, especially suburban white women you’re trying to woo, and tell them to relax, another Roe v Wade will come along eventually, there’s no need to codify it into law. You can’t, and they know it. One nice thing though. Once you “borrow” that $20 from the register the first time, it gets easier every time you do it.
Here’s how I see it going down. Neither Manchin nor Sinema wants to completely capitulate the way McConnell did and suffer the humiliation. I’m betting that we end with some form of the talking filibuster, hopefully one that requires a minimum of 40 minority asses in chairs in the chamber to continue the filibuster. Once it’s done the vote can take place. The one thing I can’t see is Manchin and Sinema nuking the economy instead of the filibuster. Now you know why Manchin had his head in his hands. His days as a petty kingmaker are nearly at an end.
Follow me on Twitter at @RealMurfster35
I disagree about Shumer. Dems play nice way too often and for once, the knives came out and the cuts were deserved. Whining, hypocritical repukes getting a taste of their own BS? Boo frikin’ hoo.
I agree with you. Manchin has the nerve to tell Schumer his speech was “fucking stupid” when practically everything Manchin has said for months about why he can’t vote against the filibuster has been fucking stupid. I say that not because I disagree with him, but because he hasn’t said anything remotely credible, nothing but horseshit that nobody actually believes.
And it’s about time the knives came out. Long overdue, in my opinion!
Grest read.. Thank you for your hard work
and insight
It would be one thing if the Democrats acted like they were all Democrats and would come together and vote en masse, particularly for the important stuff. They don’t. Unlike the republicans, the democrats are all over the place. At a time when some real progress COULD be taking place, we have DINO’s like Manchin, Sinema, and Tester. Until the Democrats become an actual party that everyone who has a (D) by their name belongs to and votes accordingly, they will never get anything of consequence passed and they will likely never be in power across the board for more than one election cycle.
We might disagree ’til the cows come home about whether the G.Q.P. is representational of our society-certainly republican voters think they are-but until all dem pols vote together and stick together, they will always have their asses handed to them by the ‘pubes.
As far as I can see, the Democrats ARE pretty much all sticking together, with the exception of a few well-known extreme narcissists. (And I’m not sure that Tester should be included in that category.) So don’t blame “The Democrats”; as for the GQP, sure they vote together, not because they’re such sterling example of a political party but because they are a mindless cult. Their only goal is to obstruct the Democratic program. That’s not the fault of the Democrats or their program. So I think it’s a bit too early to start hanging crepe for the Democrats; the GQP could be the ones that get their asses handed to them.
I totaly agree with the idea of a “talking filibuster” – way too easy the way it is now.
Manchin is an attention hungry grandstanding prick!
McC and the GDP are total obstructionists – will never change.
AJ,
Yes, Sinema and Manchin are obstructionists, pure and simple!
Am I missing something here?
It is pure fantasy to think that these 2 DINOs will somehow give an inch on the filibuster, ever.
They have the Dems in a corner and will continue to use the threat of default on the debt ceiling as a back-up torture device to add pain and humiliation to our defeat.
Like the sorry characters in the play, No Exit, the Dems are stuck in hell forever alone in a room with these two 4-year-olds on a sugar high. “Hell is other people.”
We are HAD.
So Chuck put the boot into Moscow Mitch at last … GOOD! BRAVO! That boot’s been on the other foot for far too long, with Repugnicans acting the hooligan at every oppportunity. About time some of it started coming back at them.