I have to admit that I didn’t really realize just how badly broken an institution the United States Senate is until today.
Yes, I strongly suspected that the attempt to form a bipartisan commission to look into the January 6th insurrection would fail (as noted here). But now that it has, for what it’s worth, I’m more enraged than I thought I would be (and yes, I’m just a guy and my lone opinion in the scheme of things isn’t worth anything I’ll admit).
The vote was 54-35 as noted here, but of course, since we’re talking about the U.S. Senate, 60 is the only number that matters (unless you’re talking about reconciliation, which is another discussion).
To be fair, here are the six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission (though of course they’ll stab us in the back soon again to make sure their wingnut base is kept at “full froth”):
And here are the 9 Repugs and 2 Dems who were absent for the vote (here):Bill Cassidy Susan Collins Lisa Murkowski Rob Portman Mitt Romney Ben Sasse
Apparently, Patty Murray had to return home early because of a personal matter. And it seems that there was also some typical BS in “the world’s greatest deliberative body” on a vote over a technology bill related to China yesterday that pushed the 1/6 commission vote until today.
Aside from Murray, though, as far as I’m concerned, every one of these thoroughly compromised frauds who bailed on today’s vote should be forced to explain why on the Senate floor (including this beyond-useless life form from PA, as well as you-know-who).
There is now no excuse whatsoever to NOT abolish the filibuster. And I read a comment from someone on Twitter saying, “Oh, don’t pressure Manchin and Sinema too much, or they’ll flip to become Republican and we’ll lose our majority.”
To which I say – FUCK THEM! Knuckling under to blackmail is the worst thing we can do. Besides, unless they support utterly destroying the filibuster, they might as well be Republicans anyway.
And in case we needed a reminder about why all of this is so important, I offer the following...
...and also, in case anyone still has any doubts about what we’re up against on the other side, Farron Cousins tells us death threats against lawmakers have increased by over 100 percent (which, to me, is even MORE of a reason for the committee that just got voted down...and even though I think Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao is the most contemptible life form on two legs, as much as I despise him, I know it’s wrong to incite violence against him – again, I’m just one guy and definitely not a big deal, but I feel I should say that)...
...and also, in case yet again you thought the other side would somehow find a spine and stand up to the Trumpist insanity that spawned what happened on 1/6...well, you won’t get it from FL guv Ron #DeathSantis for sure, as Francesca and Jayar tell us (and OF COURSE there are "carve outs" in this insane "de-platforming" bill for some, including a certain entertainment company that has a rodent for a logo)...
...and to present an example of the U.S. Senate actually doing something good, I give you this video of Dem Elizabeth Warren (mentioned in the prior clip) grilling JP Morgan Chase chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon on why his bank is still charging overdraft fees which a regulator recommended that they waive...which DImon says they did waive for people under COVID-related stress, or words to that effect, but personally I’d like more info on that because I don’t trust Dimon as far as I can pee...and yeah, as Ana says, “regulators” are supposed to FREAKING REGULATE! And when it comes to “QE,” this is what Ana is talking about (she's rocking it on these segments by herself IMO)...
...and returning to our regularly scheduled COVID plague, David Pakman tells us that our U.S. vaccination map is starting to look a lot like the 2020 electoral map, with the predictable indicators, you might say...
...and David Shuster of Rebel HQ tells us about the recent protests on the one-year anniversary of the death of George Floyd...
...and I’ll admit that I’m a little overdue on this one, but this New York Times clip tells us how the rest of the world views the U.S. on the issue of climate change (and yeah, it’s pretty damn bad, and we deserve all of the ridicule for this issue in particular)...
...and I need a mellow tune as a bit of a "palate cleanser" because, to be honest, I feel like I'm reaching the end of my rope with all of this, so the timing for JT here is perfect.
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