Originally published at: In op-ed Manchin says he will vote against the For the People Act because it doesn't please the same GOP that supported the attempted coup in January | Boing Boing
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With “friends” like this…
I know some people make excuses for the Dems tolerating this creep, but at a certain point they’re going to have to acknowledge that all he’s doing is carrying water for the GOP while enjoying a “kingmaker” status by staying in the Democratic party.
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Joe Manchin has become the human equivalent of a rogue ransomware attack, holding the entire country hostage for no apparent purpose and with no resolution possible.
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He’s Joe Lieberman without the Droopy Dog impression.
If CT had elected an actual Democrat, we would have had universal health care. But no.
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The right to vote is generic, having that right doesn’t favor one party over the other, everyone has access to the same voting booths or mail-in ballots. It can only be seen as “partisan” if you admit that allowing full access to all favors one party because they are in the majority.
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i’m with Dante, traitors belong in the lowest ring of hell. republicans who admit to being republicans at least get the scorpion on the frog’s back ‘excuse’.
(link to excellent rings-o-hell graphic)
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I truly hope that his joy at being the power keystone comes back to bite him personally even harder than he’s hurting the nation.
He could easily, happily, take credit for being the swing vote and part of fixing stuff, but instead is enjoying keeping it broken.
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So you pass something, you do it through reconciliation (because that’s the only case in which Manchin is the deciding vote). Now state level GOP legislators still have plenty of ways to screw with the vote, and twice the motivation, not to mention the GOP super-majority on the SCOTUS and the potential in 4-8 years for Trump 2.0 to get in office with support from his base to “fix” Biden’s voting bill.
You can’t legislate a respect for Democracy through a party-line vote, and election bills don’t matter if the GOP doesn’t respect Democracy.
If you find some kind of bill that can pull at least 10 GOP senators on board then it’s bi-partisan, itsurvives the SCOTUS, and takes the wind out of the current GOP voter suppression legislation drive.
The GOP moderates (RINOs) were the ones who saved the ACA and made the 2020 election as close at it was. I’m not sure taking out the Democratic moderates is a good idea.
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He’s a transphobe, he has directly worked against my interests and wellbeing. He can fuck right off.
I’ll say the same about anyone who will sell me out in the name of bipartisanship. With “friends” like that, who needs enemies?
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Surely SOMEONE in the Democratic machine has dirt on him that they can use to apply pressure? This asshole and Sinema are currently bigger threats to democracy than McConnell.
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Sure. Better to continue the slide into authoritarianism. /s
But if we don’t him and the bigots all that they want, they won’t… checks notes continue to be bigots… /s
Honestly, the only reason some people find the promotion of bigotry acceptable is because they are not directly impacted by it. Much like Manchin or Sinema, they don’t care about anyone that isn’t themselves. Giving away civil rights for others is perfectly acceptable, as long as people are paying attention to them.
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“So rather than the support the partisan effort of democrats to protect the right to vote, I will instead support the partisan effort of republicans to subvert the right to vote.”
If protecting something is good, choosing not to protect it because some people are attacking it is the dumbest argument imaginable
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that’s overly precise. you can’t legislate respect for democracy. full stop. you can however protect democracy through legislation - and that’s the goal here.
what’s ridiculous imo about bi-partisanship is that it’s not a real goal. neither is just plain partisanship.
you’re supposed to have principles first, and then work out legislation second.
he’s not offering anything different to protect democracy in his statement. so it seems that’s not his goal.
his primary goal seems to be to stay in office, and that’s a terrible deal for any voter.
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Is his seat vulnerable to primarying by someone who is much more progressive? Or would it need to be some Biden like candidate to win the primary and retain the seat?
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Not in the least. Manchin was a registered republican most of his career, and trump beat Biden in WV 69-30%. Trump won every single county in WV. Manchin’s only political fear is losing to a further right candidate
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How well did the Hatch act and other anti-corruption measures prevent Trump from doing what he did?
The problem isn’t the rules of the game, the problem is that the GOP is no longer playing the game. And passing a voting bill through budget reconciliation, if it’s even possible, isn’t a good way to bring them back to the table.
Possibly, he could have been a more mainstream Democrat, voted against Kavanaugh, and opposed more of Trumps policies, in which case we wouldn’t be having this conversation because he would have been voted out in 2018.
He’s a Democrat who comes from a very Conservative state, he probably reflects the views of his constituents far better than most.
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