Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema Are Right: Preserve the Fillibuster

"Democracy is where 51% of the population can vote the other 49% on to boxcars." The person who originally said this grew up during WWII. We have never had a democracy the U.S. That's a good thing. Our representative republic protects minority rights.

The fillibuster protects minority rights. The progressive narrative that it's a remnant of Jim Crow is unadulterated bulls***. it actually dates from the Senate doing away with the "previous question" rule in 1806. We had slavery in 1806, not Jim Crow, and Vice President Aaron Burr's advice to do away with the rule had nothing to do with slavery.

The fillibuster was misused to protect Jim Crow, primarily by Democrats, just as it is being misused now by Republicans. Fix it. Don't destroy it. I'm with Joe Mancini and Kyrsten Sinema on this one.

Let's put it another way. Imagine what the GOP and Trump would have done without the fillibuster.