This page contains links to recent blogs by Lincoln Mitchell
Tagged with: Joe Manchin
We have treated the Constitution as a sacred text for so long that if we shatter that conceit, we are left with very little guidance for how to form a functioning, cohesive and democratic state, so we continue to accept the Constitution even as its democratic deficits directly immiserate so many of us. That is the American conundrum as we head into 2022. Happy New Year.
There are never any guarantees in politics. Sinema and Manchin could decide to sabotage any major spending bill. The Delta variant could regain strength, or a more deadly and infectious new variant could emerge. Despite those possibilities, there is a clear path forward for Joe Biden’s presidency and a clear roadmap for improving his fortunes that are now lower than at any point during his relatively young presidency.
Manchin’s fantasy world also extends to a belief that the US Senate is the world’s greatest deliberative body and a serious place where well-meaning and thoughtful people with honest but legitimate disagreements work together to craft compromises and bipartisan legislation. It is difficult to believe that in 2021 any sentient American still believes that, but being sentient is, apparently, not a prerequisite for serving in the US Senate.