Ask Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema if Democrats were really “in power.” Republicans have been willing to shred the Constitution in order to get what they want, but it works primarily because they operate virtually in lock step with one another, even if they sometimes allow one member or another to vote No on some horrifying bill or another, so long as that No vote won’t change the end result.
Democrats have the opposite problem: in recent memory they’ve only ever had the narrowest of majorities in Congress, and they’re a bunch of cats on a good day, so there’s always a few Democrats in vulnerable seats that will break with the party in order to maintain their “outsider” image with their purple district voters. Add on that Democrats for the most part don’t want to shred the Constitution, and it’s very difficult for them to achieve their goals.
And add on that most media in this country is owned and operated by billionaires and it constantly pushes the narrative that anything to the left of Ronald Reagan is basically Karl Marx, and you’ve got an electorate that is on balance very suspicious of things that, to a reasonable person, would obviously make the world a better place, like universal healthcare, free pre-K education, police reform, immigration reform, and so on.
The Democrats that do want to make the world a better place are essentially trying to play honest baseball with unreliable teammates, shitty coaches and managers, opponents who are 'roided out of their minds, and umpires who won’t call objective balls and strikes. Even for the ones who are trying to improve things (and they do exist!) it’s an appalling situation.
Ask Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema if Democrats were really “in power.”
They were. They wielded power through people like Manchin and Sinema.
Democrats have the opposite problem: in recent memory they’ve only ever had the narrowest of majorities in Congress, and they’re a bunch of cats on a good day, so there’s always a few Democrats in vulnerable seats that will break with the party in order to maintain their “outsider” image with their purple district voters.
Well, that’s all the party needs to do the only thing the party is for. Being the pawl on the ratchet.
Ask Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema if Democrats were really “in power.” Republicans have been willing to shred the Constitution in order to get what they want, but it works primarily because they operate virtually in lock step with one another, even if they sometimes allow one member or another to vote No on some horrifying bill or another, so long as that No vote won’t change the end result.
Democrats have the opposite problem: in recent memory they’ve only ever had the narrowest of majorities in Congress, and they’re a bunch of cats on a good day, so there’s always a few Democrats in vulnerable seats that will break with the party in order to maintain their “outsider” image with their purple district voters. Add on that Democrats for the most part don’t want to shred the Constitution, and it’s very difficult for them to achieve their goals.
And add on that most media in this country is owned and operated by billionaires and it constantly pushes the narrative that anything to the left of Ronald Reagan is basically Karl Marx, and you’ve got an electorate that is on balance very suspicious of things that, to a reasonable person, would obviously make the world a better place, like universal healthcare, free pre-K education, police reform, immigration reform, and so on.
The Democrats that do want to make the world a better place are essentially trying to play honest baseball with unreliable teammates, shitty coaches and managers, opponents who are 'roided out of their minds, and umpires who won’t call objective balls and strikes. Even for the ones who are trying to improve things (and they do exist!) it’s an appalling situation.
They were. They wielded power through people like Manchin and Sinema.
Well, that’s all the party needs to do the only thing the party is for. Being the pawl on the ratchet.