State of the Senate, Part II
Its so complicated, I'm doing a Second -- and final -- examination of the joint
The contemporary US Senate is a very complicated place at present. The Democrats, technically, have control. But Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, at any point in time, can be wild cards on important pieces of legislation, thus siding with Republicans and causing all sorts of chaos. Especially now, as we are at the beginning of 2024 election season. Manchin and Sinema are even more advantaged than ever to trigger Democrats and thus advantage themselves in the process with Republicans in their respective states. There is nothing that furthers Joe Manchin’s prospects at re-election better than triggering MSNBC prime time. Every time Joe Manchin’s name is conjured on MSNBC from the hours of 8 until 11pm, through clenched teeth, he gains two percentage points in Appalachia.
In fine, the more the prime time lineup on MSNBC spends time hating on Joe Manchin of West Virginia, the better for his re-election campaign. It is a strange inverse of Republicans, who strive above all else to get somewhere on the Fox primetime lineup. Manchin, of course, is smart enough a politician to know that there are limits to triggering Progressives, so he instead has this intriguing formula of proving to his red-state constituents that he is “one of them” by infuriating MSNBC prime time as evidence of his true grit.
Further complicating things, Senator Dianne Feinstein has been sidelined since February with a bad case of the shingles. That is, if you are counting, three Democrats that are not sure votes — Sinema, Manchin and Feinstein. And Democrats only have a single vote majority, we cannot fail to note. Send your thoughts and prayers by way of Chuck Schumer, who has to somehow use this challenging math to get Judges through his Judiciary Committee. A task that he is having a lot of trouble doing, to be quite frank. From TheHill:
Feinstein’s situation has prompted many Democrats, led by California Rep. Ro Khanna, to accuse the senator of single-handedly blocking confirmation of any Biden-appointed judges and passage of any major legislation — and to demand that she immediately resign.
The truth is more complicated.
True, last week, without her vote (and because Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia changed his vote) the Senate voted 50-49 to overrule a tough new EPA measure on truck emissions. Had Feinstein been present, the vote would have been 50-50, enabling Vice President Harris to break the tie.
But that bill will be vetoed by the president. So, in effect, nothing has changed.
Duly noted. It did not change anything, per se. But it highlights, still, the precarious nature of Democrat control of the Senate. Many — if not most Americans — are not paying attention to the Senate and just how flummoxed Democrats are in getting Judges though, especially with Feinstein essentially on sick leave. And then there is the whole question of how does one gently go about explaining to the Senator — a feminist icon — that maybe she’s no longer up to the task of legislating, without sounding like a sexist chauvinist pig. Because, you know, confirming Judges is important.
This is not the first time that a Senator has been thoroughly incapacitated, yet allowed to continue on “working.” The US Senate — often called the most aristocratic body in the world — doesn’t, like most aristocratic institutions, really have any rules regarding forced retirement. “Duke” Short, the Chief of Staff of former segregationist Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina (above), essentially was the senior Senator of South Carolina in the 90s. Strom Thurmond was probably unaware on what year he was living around the end. We know this not merely by speculation, but because we have this report from Linda Wheeler of the Washington Post, dated November 1995:
Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell helped a U.S. Capitol Police officer wrestle down a homeless man whom the officer saw jostle Sen. Strom Thurmond yesterday in a Senate office building.
… Campbell said he was able to get the officer's handcuffs and shackle one of (the homeless man’s) arms. By that time, two other people had joined in to help and other officers were arriving.
Neither senator was injured. Moore, who Nichols said is under a restraining order to stay out of the Capitol, also was not injured. But the officer, who was not identified, was treated for a hand injury, Nichols said.
A spokeswoman for Thurmond said the 92-year-old senator was unaware of what happened after he was jostled.
This is what we’re dealing with.
There is also the question of Kirsten Gillibrand. New York is a solid blue state, but in the 2022 midterms there were significant signs of red. The Long Island seats that the Republican Party won in the state — largely on the distorting crime statistics — essentially gave the House to the Republican Party. Further, former Long Island Congressman Lee Zeldin got an astonishing 47 percent of the vote in a close Governor’s race against Kathy Hochul. And Zeldin is considering a run against Senator Gillibrand, which could make it another close race thus forcing Democrat resources into the race. In a bit of good news, AOC decided not to run for Gillibrand’s seat and is also calling on Feinstein to step down so Governor Newsom can appoint a woman of color to take her place.
Finally, my favorite US Senator, Sherrod Brown, whose Progressivism is mighty. His most recent initiatives are protecting Ohio’s waterways, increasing jobs and curbing the destructive powers of fentanyl. The problem is that Trump won 3.1 million votes in Ohio, which is decidedly red. That is a new record, up from Barack Obama’s 2.9 million votes in 2008. Will Ohio re-elect Sherrod Brown, or pick another JD Vance type? Another Hyperion, like Brown, or another satyr?
The verdict is till out.
The Hollywood Writer’s Strike is On. (VF)
“Writers in other fields should be paying attention to the WGA negotiations.” (Hari Kuzru/Thread)
Vice, Tucker, Disney v DeSantis, WGA strike (Reliable Sources)
On “Succession,” Logan Roy is Living. (TNY)
“(Jonah Peretti’s) interviewer was Cliff Levy, an ambitious editor who had won two Pulitzers and returned to oversee the creation of a news app. That always made Jonah laugh — that the only way you could build a new app at the Times was if you had not one, but two, Pulitzers.” (semafor)
Democrats unveil plan to bypass McCarthy on debt ceiling increase (Axios)
How Does China Engage With Russia’s Media Market? (The Diplomat)