True... what do you think they may come up with?

@AnonySchmoose I'm content to be patient and see their ultimate brilliance. hahaha

@rainmanjr
Hmmm....

Mod Dems get me hopping mad too.
What a waste of space they are.

@phoenixone1
The filibuster has become a weapon to keep anything substantial from getting done. When it became a weapon to serve abuse of power, politicians should have eliminated it long ago.

@AnonySchmoose that "weapon" may be the only thing WE have left after 2022...if it can be used to stop the Democrats it can ALSO be used to stop the RETRUMPLIKKKANS...without the Filibuster we will have NOTHING to stop an Autocratic Capitalist Theocratic takeover.

@phoenixone1
Why didn't the Dems use it to stop RETRUMPLIKKKANS while Trump was doing so much damage? Surely the Dems could have done something to stop all the damage Republicans did even before Trump was Pres. But what were they doing... they were busy being moderate.

@AnonySchmoose [news.yahoo.com]

@rainmanjr
Wow, thanks.
Interesting to read re: the back and forth
on both sides of the aisle re: the filibuster.

@AnonySchmoose Through most of Trump's term the Dems did not have the majority in the Senate. Moscow Mitch really had all the power through most of it. I agree that the Dems are not aggressive enough and do not stand their ground (so to speak) but the voters need to get with it and also there are a couple of DINOs (Democrats in name only) that muck up the works.

@MyTVC15
A few Dems are cowards and traitors who rationalize why they won't support important legislation which could help citizens who suffer. A few examples: carbon fee and dividend, raising minimum wage, universal healthcare, student loan forgiveness.

@AnonySchmoose Totally agree with what you have said. I am not sure that the Dems ever used the filibusterer the way Moscow Mitch has, and they probably never will. As I understand it, the filibuster was designed to "keep the black man down", so let's just get rid of it all together and let the simple majority win.

@MyTVC15
That reason and motive to get rid
of filibuster sound ethical to me.

@MyTVC15 and again...I ask...What if we lose the Majority?...we would have ZERO options at our disposal without the Filibuster...NET ZERO...we would lose EVERYTHING.

@phoenixone1 I would rather see a carve out for constitutional "issues" or a talking filibuster. Dem's have more young people who can sustain doing that.

@rainmanjr expand on that if you would please?

@phoenixone1 "We" have the majority now and we cannot do anything now because of the filibuster and we risk losing everything right now if the voter suppression laws are not dealt with. That is what is making '22 so scary looking right now. We think we have seen some nasty tricks up until now, but I am afraid they are just getting warmed up. We need swift justice for the insurrectionists and we need to end the filibuster and the voter suppression.

@MyTVC15 that is my point...we really don't hold the majority because of Manchin and Sinema...and it will only get WORSE in 2022...if we don't have the ability to Filibuster then the GOP will DICTATE and we are OVER as a FREE COUNTRY...the Filibuster is needed to counter what YOU KNOW is coming...the Democrats are going to need EVERYTHING to stop this onslaught against the Constitution.

@phoenixone1 Voting is a constitutional issue (which clearly says that Congress has authority over states to amend) so exempting a filibuster for such issues would leave the filibuster over legislative issues (as we now have for SCOTUS nominees and budget issues). That might come in useful if we lose Congress (though I doubt it). Young people could physically stand and talk for a day much better than older folks can. That better?

@rainmanjr we hold the lead in Congress by 11 seats...less than 5% ... And let's face it, the Democrats we elected are spineless...the Republicans are rigging the system DAILY against Democratic Voters...do we really think we can hold that majority long enough to counter the effects of 2022? Are the Elected officials we need to hold the line going to get a spine?... We have watched day after day, week after week, month after month and all we hear from the Democrats are crickets. I am just sick to death of the same old response to our crisis...NOTHING. You have good points...but I just don't see it happening the way you believe it will...no disrespect to you...I have pretty much lost all faith in the system.

@phoenixone1 The reason it is coming, as you say, is because the filibuster (and the DINOs) are keeping the voter suppression laws in place. If those laws can be reversed in time we could stop the orange nightmare from becoming king for life. Sorry, I just had to share this wonderful pic of the DINO from AZ.

@rainmanjr Correct me if I am wrong, but the 2/3 majority for SCOTUS is something McConnell put into to place and that is the reason Trump got three when he should have only got one at the most.

@MyTVC15 You are right. Mitch exempted SCOTUS nominees from filibuster (I believe it was for Gorsuch, or suchGor). About Cinema I think that we are being too harsh on her. She began by working for Nader, whom I greatly admire, so that makes me acknowledge her precarious job safety. Everyone likes to keep their job so I don't fault her, or anyone, for that. She's not pulling something illegal or claiming the planet's flat.
@phoenixone1 Since the only alternative to holding faith in our voting public is to hope we're all better shots then I would imagine I will hold out that faith. Do I have a conviction for it? To quote Shakespeare, "No." Even if Dems pull this off and we get to work on climate change I don't expect we have time for it. Besides, I also think Putin is hitting us while we're down and completely plans to invade Ukraine. Just today I got that impression and think it makes sense, from his perspective. Tao says the strongest action is no action. I work with a Veteran activist group, Common Defense, and do what's easy but I put in my 50 years of service to this nation. I've said since 2004 that it's time for America to show me something and, so far, I'm not seeing a very big effort by them. The 2020 total vote count was historic, however, so maybe....

Unfortunately true. I'm tired and bored with
what most American politicians do. Few
really care about us.

I am not sure that that is entirely true. At lot of people are actually happy with what they got with Trump, as hard is that is to comprehend.

@MyTVC15 I can find some things that Trump did that I like, for sure. He legalized Hemp while the Dems have spent 4 generations huddled in a corner crying that the sky is gonna fall.
Turns out it was simple and no big deal.

I like that he called up the North Korean God Dude. Simple. He's the president, get the job done. No Big Fucking deal. However, I don't like that he was clueless as to what came next........Anyway, better than the Dems spending 2 generations sitting in a corner crying that the sky is gonna fall

@twill so his recognizing the Imperialist demagogue in North Korea was a good thing? Oh, your right they sent love letters to each other, I forgot about the Bromance, an d I guess him licking Putins ass On International TV was wonderful too. I mean what's the big deal about invading Ukrainian territory to steal the Crimea peninsula. Oh,and let's not forget his Insurrection on January 6th, that was so Amurikan, wannit?, yeah a good ol' Amurrikan White prez..and Hitler made the trains run on time, especially to the Extermination Camps,eh?.

@Charlene Sounds like your sky is falling

@twill nah, Just the Republic, nothing to be concerned about..

@twill I am a huge fan of legalizing hemp however when you put it up against kids in cages, forced sterilization, escalating racial tension, pandemic mishandling (RIP Mother) and insurrection, not to mention 2 impeachments, I think I can live without hemp a little longer.

@MyTVC15 I only gave a couple of positive examples. It hardly means I like the guy.
WTF is up with you and Charlene?

Just because I like one Michael Jackson song....I'm a big fan Pedophilia, right?

@twill My point is, his failings far out weigh any thing that might be considered "good". The examples you gave me are not "good" enough to even say he did a partly good job. I used to work with a couple of people that said (even after Charlottesville) that they were pleased that Trump was doing what he promised to do. I kept asking them to explain because I really wanted to understand their perspective, but they would just giggle when I asked that. I finally came to the conclusion that they were happy that he was giving the minorities a hard time. And it is that fact that brings us to what this post was originally about. We would not even be having this discussion if Trump had not inflamed the racial hatred that exists in this country. The voter suppression laws are a direct result of the "stop the steal" campaign. Don't even get me started on MJ.

@twill I give you a high mark for thinking more broadly, nothing is all bad or all good after all, but I have to side with @MyTVC15 on the bad outweighing the good. In this case, it wasn't just a bush and dick bad. It was monumental and might yet be even more monumental. The American voter did not elect him, ever, or Bush in 2000 so I don't blame the vote. If all Dems get is the EC reform then, who knows? Just because I don't think so doesn't mean it won't be. Packing a lot into this reply but my main point is that 2016 was a bad year for this nation. Not so much for the Oligarchies.

True... We may have come pretty far in the past, but we've regressed to where we were, which doesn't say a lot for so-called democracy. I'm pissed there is no ERA yet.

@AnonySchmoose When I was 16 I was positive that it would not be long before we had an ERA. I heard the argument that we do not need it. Some say that we are all already covered under the constitution, but I am 59 now and I assure you, we are not.

@MyTVC15
My mom and aunt were all for it, as were all their friends. Some women in my family didn't seem to care much.

@AnonySchmoose RBG killed it after being ratified by enough states but past deadline. She was the deciding vote and went with past due. Kind of funny in a non-funny way, I think.

@rainmanjr
I wonder why she was late to vote.

@AnonySchmoose IIRC, RBG was not 'late to vote', she based her decision on not enough states had legitimately ratified the amendment before the deadline(s) passed.

@FearlessFly
Thanks... I remember reading about the states that rescinded their ratification ( Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Tennessee ) and some did not ratify on time by 1982. In 2020 the House passed a bill "to declare inoperative any deadline on the ERA’s ratification." But the Senate prevented the companion bill from being brought to a vote.

C'est la verité.

I hope consequences come around to
racist tyrants sooner rather than later.