McConnell’s Secret Weapons

Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Krysten Sinema (D-AZ)

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has continued to work hard in derailing any attempts by Democrats to get bills passed in the U.S. Senate. When he was majority leader he could just simply refuse to allow bills to be brought before the Senate and with a solid majority prevent passage of those that did make it to the floor for a vote.

But, now McConnell has to use other means to stop Democrats and he has the perfect secret weapons to do it.

Senators Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema are two undercover Republicans in the Democratic Party. Described as Democratic centrists, these two politicians are thwarting efforts by Democrats.

Joe Manchin is the most public about his support of the Republicans in the Senate. He opposes doing away with the filibuster, which pleases McConnell, as well as standing in opposition to Senate Bill S.1, the For the People Act, that would set federal law protecting the rights of voters in America.

It seems that Manchin had an epiphany after the January 6th insurrection. In his “come to Jesus” moment he contends that he believed in bipartisanship to advance legislation in the Senate. He came to think that blocking out Republicans input on bills was not the way to bring healing to American politics. So, now he pushes for Democrats to include those poor Republicans and find value in what they espouse.

Never mind that those very same Republicans Manchin suddenly loves never cared about bipartisanship when they controlled the Senate and Trump was president. Never mind that Manchin sat in the Senate and watched Mitch McConnell rule over the chamber like he was some kind of god and treated the opposition like they were cockroaches infecting the Senate. Never mind that they backed every bit of Trump’s authoritarian rule and supported (and still support) Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.

Nope, Manchin doesn’t see any problem with overlooking the transgressions of the Republicans. He doesn’t need to since he sits in McConnell’s back pocket, bought and paid for. I can easily imagine McConnell dancing in his office at the good fortune of the Republicans to have Manchin as one of the roadblocks in the Senate.

The other roadblock, Krysten Sinema is just as bad, though she seems to keep a lower profile in her opposition to her own party. She, like Manchin, opposes doing away with the Senate filibuster rule. Again, like Manchin, the answer to the Senate’s problems is bipartisanship. Apparently she believes that’s what the country wants (Huffpo article).

Has Sinema paid any attention to what’s going on outside the ivory tower of the Senate? Has she not seen the white supremacist groups like the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and such raising hell? Has she not seen right wingers blasting America about the southern border being overrun by those pesky “illegal” immigrants? Has she not seen the huge number of bills in Republican controlled states that are instituting laws to suppress voting in their states to insure Republicans maintain control of government. Has she not seen how the Republicans in her own state are carrying out an insane ballot audit to “prove” that the election was stolen from Trump?

She must spend her time watching reruns of Sesame Street while wearing rose colored glasses.

It’s clear that these two are Republicans in sheep’s clothing. Neither one of them has the courage to just come out and officially join the Republican Party. It’s clear to anyone with a brain that these two are more interested in obstructionism that bipartisanship. They’re as out of touch as the Republicans are in America.

There won’t be any healing currently or in the foreseeable future. Not as long as we have uncontrolled racism, cops murdering minorities, politicians suppressing minorities, hate towards any immigrants, propaganda masquerading as news, etc., there will be no healed America.

Until next time