General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIf Democracy Is Dying, Why Are Democrats So Complacent?
Link to tweet
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/05/democrats-voting-rights-filibuster/618964/
If youve followed recent Democratic messaging, youll have heard that American democracy is under serious attack by the Republican Party, representing an existential threat to the country. If youve followed Democratic lawmaking, youd be forgiven for thinking that the threat is actually a rather piddling one. The disconnect, in this case, isnt attributable to Democratic embellishment, but to inexcusable complacency.
In his first address to Congress, last month, President Joe Biden established three basic themeseach one invoked in a language of crisis and political urgency: The worst pandemic in a century. The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War. When it came to the third, Biden was both pointed and emphatic, tying the events of January 6 and the broader effort to delegitimize Novembers election to a wider crisis of democracy. Congress, he declared, should pass H.R. 1 and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and send them to my desk right away.
Biden is far from the only Democratic leader to have made the connection. In urging the Senate to pass H.R. 1, which would improve voter access and election security, Senator Chuck Schumer (hardly anyones idea of a firebrand) said in March that state voter-restriction laws smack of Jim Crow rearing its ugly head once again. He went as far as warning that if we dont stop these vicious and often racist actions, Third World autocracy will be on its way. Schumer hasnt been shy about naming an antagonist, either, citing a concerted, nationwide effort to limit the rights of citizens to vote and even declaring that we wont let [Republican-controlled legislatures] create a dictatorship in America.
Granting some room for hyperbole, these dire pronouncements arent entirely misplaced. As of March 24, researchers at the Brennan Center for Justice had logged some 361 bills containing provisions that seek to restrict votinga 43 percent increase from about the same time in February. Many involve the usual suite of suppression methods introduced under the auspices of fairness and transparency (expanded ID requirements, banning same-day voter registration, limiting the use of mail-in ballots, etc.), and one in Arizona even aspires to give the state legislature the authority to override the certification of future presidential-election results by simple majority vote. A recording recently released by The New Yorkers Jane Mayer, meanwhile, makes more or less explicit that Republican operatives plan to use every tool at their disposal to defeat the renewed push for expanded voting rights, despite its widespread popularity.
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Response to Nevilledog (Original post)
Post removed
FoxNewsSucks
(10,435 posts)If we end up living under fascist rule within a few years, we can blame them. Fascist corporate republiqons can thank them.
Making sure everyone can vote, that everyone's vote will be counted accurately, and that everyone's vote is meaningful (end gerrymandering) is the #1 most important thing to accomplish right now to ensure a democratic future in this country.
I hope all the people here and elsewhere who condemned the likes of Sarandon, Gabbard and their supporters for helping give us MF45 will also aim that same condemnation at Manchin, Sinema and their supporters.
Efilroft Sul
(3,586 posts)lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)... do their DAMNED JOBS!
I don't care if it takes Kompromat, bribery, extortion, campaigning all over their states, they have to be brought into line or we are all doomed.
triron
(22,029 posts)proactive I believe. If not democracy fails.
SYFROYH
(34,186 posts)dalton99a
(81,683 posts)brooklynite
(94,929 posts)friendly_iconoclast
(15,333 posts)Boomerproud
(7,976 posts)LymphocyteLover
(5,662 posts)lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)It's not casting any aspersions on us little people.
LymphocyteLover
(5,662 posts)ananda
(28,893 posts)Complacency apprears to be a thing.
jalan48
(13,908 posts)system in order to stay in power even if it means it's breaking our democracy. I don't think our leaders or anyone else knows how to deal with this.
CrispyQ
(36,556 posts)There's really no way around senators like Manchin & Sinema if they don't want to cooperate. It's infuriating that two people can keep the entire party from responding to the threat at hand.
That said, isn't there something more we can do about that shit show down in AZ? The DOJ issued a warning over two weeks ago & as far as I know, nothing since. WTF?
jalan48
(13,908 posts)of the other party? We're seeing an authoritarian takeover of our government playing out in real time. Democracy depends on competing interests playing by a set of agreed upon rules. When that no longer happens it leads to instability and the toppling of the existing system which is what the Republican goal has been for awhile. I think many on our side still haven't become woke to what is going on and continue to believe that Trump, Green, Cruz, etc. are anomalies that will simply disappear along with their supporters if
we win the next election. The Republican's are actively putting in place new rules that will allow them to steal these elections. I think prison sentences for Trump and those who orchestrated the 1/6 coup attempt must happen before the next election if we are to have any chance of saving our democracy.
CrispyQ
(36,556 posts)We're still playing by the same rule book that the repubs have thrown in the trash. If McConnell ever gets the Senate back, the filibuster will be gone before you can snap your fingers.
Steelrolled
(2,022 posts)It just plays well with cable news and social media.
spanone
(135,921 posts)uponit7771
(90,370 posts)TomCADem
(17,390 posts)...it is sort of like Republicans and the media blaming President Obama for Republicans continuing to be racist. Likewise, the article conveniently ignores the efforts of Democrats and activists to oppose such efforts while giving a free pass for Republicans to actively undermine Democracy, because after all, they are expected to act like that.
Ultimately, it is not up to Democrats to fix it, but it is up to voters to protest and vote out Republicans.
friendly_iconoclast
(15,333 posts)...and pointing out that the Republicans are naturally taking advantage of that complacency.
Republicans are largely fascists (or fascist-adjacent) these days- lying and backstabbing is what they do
Expecting Republicans to not act like what they truly are is dangerously naive.
There is a historical example that should guide us:
Neville Chamberlain not only got conned at Munich in 1938, but in 1939-40 allowed the British Expeditionary Force
to largely sit idly watching as the Nazis invaded and conquered Poland, rearmed, and then turned west to conquer
France
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoney_War
uponit7771
(90,370 posts)Politicub
(12,165 posts)Its always the same story. Weve seen this before and it doesnt end well.
leftstreet
(36,118 posts)betsuni
(25,765 posts)The myth that if Democrats just had the right leadership that "fight" "take on" yell and wave their arms around and say "working class" enough, have the right slogans (messaging), everything would be different.
Media, a hell of a lot of Americans who think Both Sides, that's who's complacent.