McConnell's Use Of The Filibuster Is The Real Story

 

The story that is getting all of the coverage on cable news is that of Joe Manchin. Manchin seems to believe that bipartisanship is still a possibility in the current Senate. But recent history has shown he is wrong. The real story is how Mitch McConnell has used the Senate filibuster to make Congress an unworkable institution.

Here is just a part of what Dan Rather says about it:

I will avoid going into too great detail about the filibuster. Many have written about it with far more scholarship and acumen than I can muster. But we must remember that it is not in the Constitution and that it was often a tool for segregationists. It was used with relative rarity until our modern political times. And it has been wielded by Senator McConnell to basically make Congress unworkable.

To me, that is the biggest story. We are struggling with a government that systematically cannot legislate. The filibuster is the tool for suppressing majority rule but the reason it has become so powerful and ubiquitous has a lot more to do with the Republicans wielding it than with Manchin who won’t get rid of it.  We have more and more members of the Republican caucus who want to be elected, not to solve the nation’s problems, but to get a launch pad for Fox News glory and the power and money they can get from building personal brands of outrage. So yes the press should cover Manchin, but they should also ask each of the Republican senators why they support the Big Lie, why most of them won’t investigate 1/6, what they want to do about our failing infrastructure, our worsening climate, the pandemic, or any of the serious issues that we are not confronting. 

We have a political party that is being radicalized against democracy, and the truth. They would rather talk about Dr. Seuss or the latest utterance of some Democratic lawmaker taken out of context and weaponized for countless segments on right-wing media than talk about bills. The old question of “how does a bill become a law” might as well be sent to a museum. Does Manchin play a role in this? Yes. But again, he is not the major actor. 

By focusing so much attention on Manchin we are not presenting the full narrative to the American people. The press is framing this as a fight within the Democratic Party. That lets Republicans waltz by the microphones and cameras without paying nearly enough of a political price for their cynicism and obstructionism. 

I have said many times that I believe our national government has been based on two strong political parties competing for votes in the marketplace of ideas. I still believe that is the strongest manifestation of our political system. But I recognize that is not what we have now. The only way we can restore that order is to figure out how to foster action in government. And for now, the desire for action rests within the Democratic Party. The Republicans want power, to be sure, but to what end? It doesn’t seem in service to the needs of the nation. 

I know to paint it in such stark terms is to risk being branded as biased. And I certainly have the scars to show that. But I do not see this as a matter of politics. Because politics without policy is a form of tyranny. It’s the abuse of power in service to the benefit of the few over the needs of the nation. It is privilege over justice. 

This is how our democracy is being eaten away from within. It amplifies a suite of injustices, such as tax laws heavily weighted in favor of the super wealthy, and the dramatic income inequality that produces, as well as a campaign finance system fueled by opaque dark money that corrupts many office holders in both parties. These forces are heavily invested in maintaining a broken status quo. Until and unless these realities are reversed, the survival of our country as we have known and loved it will remain in peril.