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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe GOPs silencing of Elizabeth Warren is a brutal reality check for Democrats
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/02/08/gops-silencing-of-elizabeth-warren-is-a-brutal-reality-check-for-democrats/?utm_term=.c9ccf64891d1But the point is, Republicans dont care what message this sends. And herein lies the way in which this whole episode symbolizes the unsettling broader reality that Democrats face right now. Warren was shut down from speaking by Republicans who employed an arcane Senate rule; Democrats are shut out of power, and Republicans will use any and all procedural means at their disposal to render them as powerless and irrelevant as possible. And Republicans see no reason to fear any political repercussions from whatever message any of it sends.
Republicans pocketed a Supreme Court seat that was President Obamas to fill and will now likely get their choice of justice installed in it. If Democrats filibuster that choice, or filibuster the next justice Trump picks, Republicans will likely nuke the Senate rules and blow past Democratic opposition. Republicans are totally abdicating any meaningful oversight role toward Trump, despite his unprecedented conflicts of interest and possible corruption, and they are unlikely to pursue independent probes into Russian meddling in our election, making it less substantially likely that the public will ever be fully informed about these things. Republicans have clearly signaled they will do everything they can to prevent other institutional watchdogs from exercising any oversight of their own. This will only get worse...
But Democrats are going to be shut up. They are going to be shut out. They are going to lose. A lot. And its going to be dispiriting and difficult. The response to this particular Warren episode has thus far been innovative and energetic. The question is whether this kind of energy can be sustained.
RadiationTherapy
(5,818 posts)I think the act is the message and clearly communicated.
malaise
(269,157 posts)Udall read it earlier - they are waking up
mcar
(42,372 posts)but not Sen Warren?
I'm glad they are doing it but I hope the sexism is being pointed out.
Bettie
(16,124 posts)don't like "uppity" women who dare to speak up.
The menfolk they can deal with, but those damned women who don't know their place are a problem.
zentrum
(9,865 posts)Why isn't Schumer leading this charge?
randome
(34,845 posts)Here. Have a heart.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Donald Trump's scorecard:
Muslim ban = failed. Yemen raid = failed. Approval ratings = failed.
Mexican wall = failed. Economic utopia = failed. Grade point average = 0.[/center][/font][hr]
dubyadiprecession
(5,722 posts)That letter is getting read again and again today by other senators with no consequence.
This is embarrassing to Turtle McConnell !
It can be sustained. We will lose, but we will also hang their actions around their necks and let them drown in upcoming elections. What cannot be sustained is the muzzling of the MAJORITY of Americans who did not vote for this mess. They can gerrymander and strip voting rights, but eventually there will be a day of reckoning for them. It is inevitable. Plus Trump is clearly unstable and corrupt. Every day is a day that someone might find the smoking gun that will force him out of office. The game could completely change tomorrow.
dalton99a
(81,570 posts)old guy
(3,283 posts)This is only the beginning.
Cha
(297,655 posts)They silenced Elizabeth but then they let Jeff Merkley read Coretta's Letter... they don't care what kind of message this sends but Women do and Democrats and all fair minded people do.
Link to tweet
Thank you for this, mcar
So which repubs didn't vote to censor Senator Warren?
mcar
(42,372 posts)but sexist too!
bravenak
(34,648 posts)Cha
(297,655 posts)believe the women on there even if they were gop
There's 54 of them but I don't know them well enough to know who didn't vote to censor Elizabeth or if they were just out of chambers?
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)But only since, you know ... he knew he'd win w/o his own vote.
What I don't understand is why this rule can be invoked when 'Senator' is not the friggin' job he's asking to get? He's looking to LEAVE the Senate, IOW. That rule shouldn't be able to even be applied in this case, it should be null and void.
Cha
(297,655 posts)I'd like to know why?
IamFortunesFool
(348 posts)But that may be because he was feeling the Bern debating healthcare on CNN...not sure if the timing is correct, but that has to be why. That evil plague rat wouldn't have missed out on the chance to jump on the bandwagon.
MFM008
(19,818 posts)It was payback for Warren attacks on maggot during campaign.
flamingdem
(39,321 posts)and keep reading
malaise
(269,157 posts)flamingdem
(39,321 posts)C_U_L8R
(45,020 posts)In fact, I think they just helped us find our voice.
workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)This is our country under a republican tyranny and Trump is their Dear Leader.
They hold all the power in this country in their greedy fists. Only a Federal judge here and there are stopping this country from becoming the Fourth Reich tomorrow.
That's not hyperbole either.
FloridaBlues
(4,008 posts)They know time is on their side two years is a long time to keep up protest.
I hope we do continue for the next two years and for the millions of people who sat home will protest at the ballot box
Initech
(100,102 posts)90-percent
(6,829 posts)I think they can top this one on an almost daily basis. No morals and no inhibitions is a bad way to go through life, Republicans!
-90% Jimmy
zentrum
(9,865 posts)...the letter. Stop Complaining. Just read! Make the letter get more coverage than it ever would have.
Called Schumer's office this morning to say he must lead all Dems do this.
Please Dems---have some passionate leadership.
manicraven
(901 posts)Despite being the actual majority, the zealot minority controls everything, and no matter what we try, they're pushing through their regressive, horrendous agenda that will cause great harm to the planet, enrich the wealthy even more, harm minorities and women, blur the separation of church and state (if not destroy it), and on and on...
TygrBright
(20,763 posts)We already KNOW we can't win party-line votes, at all, even on critically important matters.
DUH.
Any maneuvering for leverage in the "scraps bin" of things the GOP doesn't care about enough to enforce party-line unity on, is pointless.
Here's the opportunity:
>>But the point is, Republicans dont care what message this sends.<<
We can't fight them on the votes, but we can fight them on the principles. We can fight them on the basis of how a legislative process SHOULD work in a democracy. We can fight them on the principles of transparency, ethics, and trustworthiness.
One thing Americans fear even more than ISIS, terrorism, and brown immigrants?
CORRUPT GOVERNMENT
Straight from the horse's ass-er-mouth.
We can win the principle, if we concede the reality: We have no power to stop the GOP doing what it wants to do.
But we can expose what they want to do, for what it is.
Racism
Cronyism
Misogyny
Greed
Pork-barrelling
Pandering
Lying
Vote-selling
Xenophobia
Sleaze
Corruption
We can win that fight IF we stay unified, if we don't flinch, if we invite every sling and arrow they can throw at us, by remaining clear, vocal, polite, unapologetic, honest, assertive, and above all, principled.
We can shine klieg lights into the sty, and spotlight them at the trough.
Take the victories where they are, and I think this one is a bigger potential victory than most of the pundits think, right now.
It's a long-haul tactic that requires us to absorb a lot of short-term punishment and pain.
But if we're a big enough, unified enough, snowbank, not even the GOP plow can sweep away the ultimate victory.
certainly,
Bright
Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,771 posts)going to reiterate my belief that we need leadership to organize the resistance. There is a lot of concern and anger out here, but most people are overworked, stressed, and not sure where to best put there anti-Trump energy.
People feel good signing petitions, but there's a lot of advice saying, don't waste your time on them. I suspect they are a fundraising tactic for the organizations creating them. Which, OK, if that works. But I would like to see the data.
Coordinated action judged worthwhile by those in a position to know, and to prove to me that they know, would be helpful.