Ian Millhiser at Vox reminds us that there must be 50 ways to fix the filibuster. (No, I won't keep that going.) He also reminds us that the filibuster gets changed all the time -- a Brookings Institution scholar counts 161 "provisions of law" that protect a bill from a Senate filibuster, and we didn't pass all 161 of them yesterday -- and proposes a number of reforms that would do us a lot of good, although "making Senators actually talk through their filibuster instead of just signaling a filibuster and then going off to dinner or the theatre" comes a little late in the discussion for my taste.
After Sen. Ron Johnson (A-WI) says that January 6 "didn't seem like an armed insurrection," the normally fair-to-middling fact-checking website Politifact takes the time to remind us that, yes, January 6 was, in point of fact, an armed insurrection. I guess I could be generous and say that Mr. Johnson hasn't been through too many armed insurrections and thus wouldn't know ha ha ha ha ha I kid of course -- Ron Johnson is gaslighting, and "only one shot fired" hides all the other weapons the seditionists brought, or, in the case of the one who attacked a police officer with an American flag, repurposed.
When you confront an article entitled "How to Live With Authoritarians," you may be tempted to respond "rule number one is don't coddle them." But authors Karen Stenner and Jessica Stern have a profound insight (or ten) to share. For example, "(a)uthoritarians’ fundamental aversion to diversity -- complexity and variety -- is distinct from traditional conservatives’ aversion to change -- which is more about novelty and uncertainty," and "those who are predisposed to favor freedom and diversity over authority and conformity must recognize that the authoritarian preference for oneness and sameness is largely innate and unlikely to change." Hence "(t)he new U.S. administration should promote equity and justice while avoiding a loud and provocative display of stances and messaging that unnecessarily aggravates authoritarians," which sure sounds like typical Democrat weakness, but really isn't, if you attend closely the word "unnecessarily" and if you're the kind of person who prefers getting things done to creating big dramas about them (which is to say, if you're the opposite of the kind of person Donald Trump is).
Folks are concentrating on the Washington County (PA) GOP Chair criticizing Sen. Toomey's vote to convict Donald Trump on impeachment charges because "we did not send him there to do the right thing," but of course it's far worse than that. Silly little Washington County GOP Chair, trying to convince us that Pat Toomey really only represents the Washington County GOP in the Senate -- or even Pennsylvania's Republicans -- and not all Pennsylvanians! I do get tired of right-wingers whining that they're not "represented" on those rare occasions Republican politicians don't march in jackboot lockstep with their urges. I've never agreed very much with our state's junior Senator, but I'm pretty sure this kind of thing is why Mr. Toomey decided to retire in 2022.
Finally, when I note that Rep. Jim Jordan (A-OH) thinks "cancel culture" is "the most dangerous thing happening in the country today," all I really hear is WAAAAAAAAH TEH LIBRULZ AREZ MEANZ TO MEZ!!!!! But you know, the whining isn't the worst thing about what he said. The slippery slope argument isn't the worst thing about what he said. Even calling "cancel culture" the "most dangerous thing" in America while a pandemic slashes its scythe through America isn't the worst thing about that. You know what's the worst thing about that? Jim Jordan literally enabled child molestation at a high school before getting elected to the House, but because he represents a deformed Tetris piece of a district, the voters can't cancel his sorry ass.
Comments