The title of this blog is an expansion of this:
One of the greatest threat to America today does not come from the outside, it comes from the inside and it comes directly from an authoritarian cult known as the Republican party. From their giant propaganda network that spreads lies and misinformation, to their attack on voters, to their corruption of our democratic institutions, the Republicans have been attacking our democracy for decades.
McConnell didn’t break the Senate this week, it was a long orchestrated attack that started long ago. Dana Milbank has a very good take on just how much damage McConnell has done.
“No majority leader wants written on his tombstone that he presided over the end of the Senate,” the minority leader said.
He continued: “Breaking the rules to change the rules is un-American. I just hope the majority leader thinks about his legacy, the future of his party, and, most importantly, the future of our country before he acts.”
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they were uttered in 2013, by then-Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), when Democrats pushed through a similar filibuster change for lesser nominations.
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By rights, McConnell’s tombstone should say that he presided over the end of the Senate. And I’d add a second line: “He broke America.” No man has done more in recent years to undermine the functioning of U.S. government. His has been the epitome of unprincipled leadership, the triumph of tactics in service of short-term power.
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And that’s what he did. By 2013, for example, 79 of Obama’s nominees had been blocked by filibusters, compared with 68 in the entire previous history of the Republic.
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He called keeping Obama’s nominee off the court “one of my proudest moments.”
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it’s only a matter of time before the filibuster is abolished for all legislation, killing the tradition of unlimited debate in the Senate dating back to 1789. The Founders did this so minority rights would be respected and consensus could be formed — and McConnell is undoing it.
The Republicans have attacked and severely broken our democracy, and now they have stolen a SCOTUS seat using authoritarian means. The Supreme Court could be corrupted for decades. We can not let this stand. We progressives had better be ready to do some very, what a few years ago would be considered, undemocratic actions when we regain power. We had better be prepared to pack the Supreme Court to 11 justices, or something similar to regain control of the court from the activists that will enable the GOP authoritarians who will continue their attacks on our democracy.
The Democrats will need to enact extremely strong laws that will prevent the fascist Republicans from ignoring democratic rules and norms while demanding Democrats play by the rules.
We must never forget what they have done to America, and we have to fight with every means possible to restore our democracy and to prevent them from attacking us again.
RESIST!