The administration of Joe Biden ended last night. In a CNN Town Hall, the President declared that he would not fight to end the filibuster. That fight, he said, would throw Congress into “chaos.” “Wouldn’t my friends on the other side,” he said, “love to have a debate about the filibuster instead of passing the Recovery Act?” And thus has the President handed the future of his administration over to Mitch McConnell. Thus has he yielded to a veto, wielded by 41 Senators, who in the extreme case, could represent just 21% of America.
Thus has Joe Biden given up the fight for democracy, in exchange for the breadcrumbs that the Dark Lord will allow.
No doubt this decision is driven by a sober read of political reality. It would take 50 Senators to end the extremists’ veto; Joe Biden does not believe he has those 50 Senators. And thus rather than fight for a principle as fundamental as this Republic —that the majority should rule—Joe Biden has given in to a principle that is alien to any Republic (in the sense of our framers, a “representative democracy”) — that a tiny fraction representing the most extreme get to rule.
Because that is the reality of the “modern filibuster,” now unhinged from its traditional norms restricting its use to the most important (to the minority) cases. Mitch McConnell is not reserving the filibuster for fundamental fights. Mitch McConnell is deploying the filibuster on every important fight. From the January 6 commission, to the For the People Act, to the infrastructure bill, and just you watch, to the debt ceiling, Mitch McConnell will use the filibuster to assure that nothing happens unless it pleases the Republican extremists.
This is the fact that everyone is ignoring: If just 41 Senators can stop even the debate on any bill, then the most extreme faction of American politics controls Congress.
Take the smallest 21 states who voted for Donald Trump by 10 points or more: Those 21 states, with 42 Senators represent just 21% of the American public. Yet the Senators representing that 21% of the most extreme of America have now been given carte blanche by the President to set the direction of America’s future.
The filibuster is a fraud. We must fight this fraud.
We on this side love to love this President. But what he needs now is not love, but tough love.
When his advisors told him that he could not pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act because of the filibuster, Lyndon Johnson didn’t cave to the mandarins. Instead, he yelled back, “What the hell is the presidency for?” And then he fought like hell to break the filibuster and pass the first substantial civil rights bill since 1875 (and don’t you even pretend that the 1957 bill was anything to remember).
This is the question we must be asking right now: What the hell is the presidency for?
The Democrats are facing a party led by politicians who do not believe in representative democracy. They do not believe in majority rule. The only question we should be asking in the face of that reality is this: How do we respond?
Everyone is so enamored of the parallels to the 1923 Munich putsch. Yet the parallel we should be drawing here is not to Hitler, but to Chamberlin.
The Republicans have declared war on representative democracy, Mr. President. Is this really your response to that declaration?
