The big news of course is two pronged. On the one hand the "nuclear option" was exercised by Senator Mitch McConnell in the US Senate to abolish the 60 vote threshold for the confirmation of a nominee to the Supreme Court.
On the other hand we have the attacks carried out first by Assad on his own people in Syria - bringing the world painful images of his cruelty. The attack sparked a response from Republican President Trump to respond with air strikes. This back and forth may well bring the civil war in Syria to other countries and begin to engulf the world in greater and greater conflict. Time will tell and in the meantime stress levels will rise.
I was listening to the NPR One player that cued up the NPR Weekly Roundup from Thursday, April 6th. Mara Liasson was on the podcast and spoke at length about the issues surrounding McConnell's choice to eliminate the 60 vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees.
I find myself driven to do whatever I can to call out this behavior. Writing a blog post, reading articles and reposting on Facebook, spreading the word and the outrage however I can is what I can do. It is not nearly enough.
Mara Liasson made the point, starting at minute 6:00 in the podcast, that at this point now the party of majority has control and should that party be opposite the party of the President we are not likely to see confirmations of nominations from that President. We are witnessing the end result of the "polarization of judicial fights" that as Senator Chuck Schumer is heard on the podcast outlining, started nearly a generation ago.
I was struck by how much this action of Senator McConnell is a clear indication of the rise of partisanship, really an indication of how far down that rabbit hole the Republicans have gone. Senators Cruz, Burr, and McCain apparently stated during the 2016 Presidential Campaign that if Hillary were elected they would not confirm a single Supreme Court nominee from her administration - even for eight years! The height of immaturity and blatant partisanship to make such a declaration. And yet, they said it.
Their power has blinded them and brought the United States a form of leadership that is slowly and thoroughly demolishing the core institutions of Democracy. Protection of the minority opinion is a central pillar of Democracy. The loss of the minority protection provided by the 60 vote threshold, as Liasson pointed out (minute 14:00), takes us further into tribal politics, as parties must band together for the power they have in the majority role. It's a scary and disappointing day for American Democracy.
Shame is a powerful emotion. Shaming is a powerful tool. The American public must loudly and clearly shame our elected leaders who are behaving so horribly. The Democratic party must speak up and speak loudly against this perversion of the Democratic process and vow to change the rule back if they are returned to power. Respect for and of the minority opinion in Democracy is vital to it's survival. Perhaps the Republicans don't want it to survive. They are certainly doing themselves a disservice. So what are we going to do to call them out?
On the other hand we have the attacks carried out first by Assad on his own people in Syria - bringing the world painful images of his cruelty. The attack sparked a response from Republican President Trump to respond with air strikes. This back and forth may well bring the civil war in Syria to other countries and begin to engulf the world in greater and greater conflict. Time will tell and in the meantime stress levels will rise.
I was listening to the NPR One player that cued up the NPR Weekly Roundup from Thursday, April 6th. Mara Liasson was on the podcast and spoke at length about the issues surrounding McConnell's choice to eliminate the 60 vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees.
I find myself driven to do whatever I can to call out this behavior. Writing a blog post, reading articles and reposting on Facebook, spreading the word and the outrage however I can is what I can do. It is not nearly enough.
Mara Liasson made the point, starting at minute 6:00 in the podcast, that at this point now the party of majority has control and should that party be opposite the party of the President we are not likely to see confirmations of nominations from that President. We are witnessing the end result of the "polarization of judicial fights" that as Senator Chuck Schumer is heard on the podcast outlining, started nearly a generation ago.
I was struck by how much this action of Senator McConnell is a clear indication of the rise of partisanship, really an indication of how far down that rabbit hole the Republicans have gone. Senators Cruz, Burr, and McCain apparently stated during the 2016 Presidential Campaign that if Hillary were elected they would not confirm a single Supreme Court nominee from her administration - even for eight years! The height of immaturity and blatant partisanship to make such a declaration. And yet, they said it.
Their power has blinded them and brought the United States a form of leadership that is slowly and thoroughly demolishing the core institutions of Democracy. Protection of the minority opinion is a central pillar of Democracy. The loss of the minority protection provided by the 60 vote threshold, as Liasson pointed out (minute 14:00), takes us further into tribal politics, as parties must band together for the power they have in the majority role. It's a scary and disappointing day for American Democracy.
Shame is a powerful emotion. Shaming is a powerful tool. The American public must loudly and clearly shame our elected leaders who are behaving so horribly. The Democratic party must speak up and speak loudly against this perversion of the Democratic process and vow to change the rule back if they are returned to power. Respect for and of the minority opinion in Democracy is vital to it's survival. Perhaps the Republicans don't want it to survive. They are certainly doing themselves a disservice. So what are we going to do to call them out?
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