OPINION
One of the great things about American politics at the federal level is the US Constitution. There are several components which are vaguely known as “checks and balances” which prevent – and have prevented – extremism from breaking out, which history shows has occurred in other countries from time to time. Boiled down, the Constitution requires the legislative and executive branches of government to work together. The system simply cannot function if they don’t, hence, despite election campaign rhetoric, Congress is reasonably collegial and relations with the White House are invariably better than people often imagine.
Another aspect of American politics is that whenever the dawn looks fairly dark, such as when 105,000 people killed in the civil war voted for Warnock the other day, such concerns are usually overstated. Just when we the good guys were despairing at the Democrats, the bad guys, having 51 votes in the Senate and the potential (however unlikely) to wreak havoc on 250 years of sanity, and when the bad guys were celebrating; it took a mere 48 hours for it all to come to a grinding halt.
Senator Sinema – (I bet you can’t say that 20 times quickly without getting tongue-tied) – has quit the Democrat party to sit in the Senate as an independent. What this means, along with the Republicans controlling the House of Representatives, is that a long list of ludicrous policies will simply never see the light of day. The Democrats have spent a great deal of money (much of it provided by FTX) and have disgraced themselves by conducting widespread voter fraud in three States, and it is very much a pyrrhic victory as they are in office but not in power.
Sinema has long been an advocate for the filibuster (a Senate rule which requires 60 votes in favour of ending debate on a bill), of mainstream ideas like the rule of law, the military, sensible government spending, and an opponent of much of the “Woke Agenda”. This has placed her at odds with her party, which no longer seems to be the organisation it once was. She also, intriguingly, has suggested there be a filibuster rule – 60 votes – for Senate confirmations of judges, ambassadors, and executive positions; something I also think would be a good idea because when it comes to ‘legitimacy’ or ‘credibility’ of an office holder there’s a big difference between being confirmed 51/49 by the Senate and, say, 81/19.
There is also a bit of talk about Senator Manchin also quitting the Democrats. Personally, I don’t see it; he’s a very weak man prone to hand wringing and dithering; under the thumb of Chuck Schumer and scared of his own shadow. Manchin, for instance, only opposed altering the filibuster because Sinema did so – giving him a safety valve: a skirt to hide behind. Manchin also feels (as do I, by the way) that the “woke” lunacy in the Democratic party is temporary and unlikely to last much beyond a disastrous election when the adults will take charge again.
So America has proved again that the system works. It acts as a ‘self-cleaning oven’, which means that extremism never gets much beyond the fiery stump speech stage. Senator Sinema is to be congratulated for her actions: a profile in courage whereby she simply refused to further countenance a lot of policies and ideas she doesn’t believe in, and who has stood up to be counted. Chuckie must be vomiting pure bile down the loo as we speak.