Don’t Be Fooled, Gullible Senate Democrats

Republicans are playing you with that infrastructure vote

It was astonishing that 19 Republicans “crossed over” and voted to support the $1 trillion infrastructure bill on August 10. Any unbiased person who is familiar with American politics knows that Republicans act in bad faith on the regular. So why did they, including the infamously nefarious Mitch McConnell, vote to support a major item of President Joe Biden’s agenda? As always, to protect their own best interests.

By voting for this bill, they can say “See, silly Democrats, you don’t have to get rid of the filibuster!… If you work really really hard, you can convince us to work with you! Just a little begging on your part, and a little fawning recognition of our stolen level of importance… and we’re not so bad to work with!”

This dubious act of bipartisanship was focused squarely on Democratic Senators Manchin and Sinema. Not that they needed much convincing… they are already brazenly intransigent about considering the option of eliminating — or even modifying the filibuster. But the Republicans’ affirmative vote on this one bill could further fortify the two Democratic senators’ weak arguments that the filibuster should be maintained… in their minds at least.

Theories abound as to why Manchin and Sinema are such steadfast endorsers of the filibuster in its current state.

With Manchin there is some logic… he represents a ruby-red state. But I still think that’s a morally weak, lily-livered excuse. If he is a truly loyal Democrat, he should aspire to modify the filibuster so that voting rights legislation can be passed, thus effecting Democratic control for generations to come. After all, there are more Democrats in the country, and more people who agree with the main tenets of the Democratic Party. Voting rights legislation would begin to eliminate many of the systemic electoral advantages that Republicans greedily take advantage of to stay in power, such as gerrymandering, overly restrictive voting laws, and the ability of partisan election boards to overturn elections.

For Sinema, it’s even more bewildering. Her state, my state, of Arizona is a bright shade of purple, leaning more and more blue. According to a recent Data For Progress survey in March, a majority (61%) of Arizonans say that passing major legislation is more important than preserving the filibuster. So in that regard, she is fully dissing her own overall constituency, and most assuredly she is thumbing her nose at her Democratic base. According to the same poll, 76% of Democrats agreed to the aforementioned statement. Not to say that politicians should always vote for any hare-brained idea that their constituents cough up…. Sometimes you must vote the morally right way, but…

Is allowing Republicans to steal/overturn elections the right way?…

Is maintaining an antiquated Senate rule that allows a fascistic party to obstruct forward progress the right thing?

I think not. So what is her excuse?

Hell, maybe she likes the relevance it gives her. After all she, along with Ohio’s Rob Portman, led the negotiations for the infrastructure bill. But hopefully her reasoning is not that shallow. Maybe she wants to prolong the maverick reputation of Arizona senators in the same vein as John McCain. Perhaps she has a huge conspiratorial reason to hold on to the filibuster… Maybe she knows that many Republicans will be jettisoned from their seats of power due to the findings of a gargantuan, clandestine, not-yet-public investigation that will reveal Republicans’ complicity in aiding and abetting the 1/6 insurrection while trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election. — You know, like QAnon — but for good.

But that’s probably not the reason.

Here is my message: Don’t be fooled, dear gullible Democrats Manchin and Sinema because…

Republicans won’t support you on anything else. You can look no further than the very next vote in which Republicans voted against the 3.5 trillion “human infrastructure” bill. All fifty of them voted nay on that one.

And for sure, they have and will continue to form a unified front to vote against voting rights legislation. Every single one. From Murkowski and Collins in the center to McConnell and Hawley on the right. They are all in lockstep to allow laws to be codified in every state to provide them unfair electoral advantages…to make certain that they win when they shouldn’t.

But I must admit their bipartisan infrastructure vote was still rather surprising. I didn’t think I’d ever see the day when a large bloc of Republican senators would, for once, make the calculation that supporting a Democratic bill was more advantageous to them than their normal motivations for voting: covert racism, protecting Trump, filling the coffers of the already rich, and most importantly voting against anything proposed by Democrats.

However, let’s not praise them too much… a firm majority of Republican senators (thirty) still stayed true to form and voted against the bipartisan legislation.

In addition to fending off an annihilation of the filibuster by Democrats (which seems unlikely anyway), the Republicans might also be thinking that they don’t want to be caught flat-footed again. They all voted against the COVID economic relief bill, but then many of them tried to claim credit for the myriad benefits that their constituents are beginning to reap from it.

As former President Obama once said: They want to “have their cake and vote against it too”.

To be as positive-minded as I can be, I hope that Biden, Manchin, and Sinema are secretly colluding together to rack up as many bipartisan wins as possible — to keep up bipartisan appearances — and then will drop the hammer on ‘em… and go in for the attack.

Maybe at some point, after a few more disingenuous Republican filibusters of good legislation, Democrats will boldly threaten them with eliminating the filibuster… and then actually follow through with their threat!

One can always hope, right?

But in case there exists no grand victorious Democratic master plan… I’m here to tell you, Senate Democrats:

Don’t be gullible… Don’t fall for any Republican faux-bipartisan strategery and machinations.