Saving the Filibuster

For John, BLUF:  Republican Senator Mitch McConnell has struck a bargin with Senator Chuck Schumer to save the filibuster.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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McConnell Warns Dems:  I Will Go Scorched Earth [ j If You Nuke The Filibuster

From Hot Air, by Allah Pundit, 26 January 2021, 4:13 PM.

Here is the lede plus two:

The funniest thing on social media over the past 48 hours has been liberals complaining that McConnell may love the filibuster now but if he were back in charge of the Senate he’d nuke it ruthlessly to clear a path for Republican policies.

As if we didn’t just spend six years watching Cocaine Mitch steadfastly refusing to nuke the filibuster as majority leader, even when Republicans had total control of government in 2017 and 2018, even when the leader of his party was barking at him to do it.

I know political attention spans post-Trump have atrophied almost completely but McConnell was in charge of the Senate as recently as 24 days ago.  You don’t even have to look back past this calendar month to remember a time when he was in position to go nuclear!

Senator McConnell has not been one of my favorite people of late, although he did a lot to redeem himself with his vote on the Senator Ron Paul Point of Order to declare an Impeachment Trial, after an office holder leaves office, unconstitutional.♠  Here he is again on the side of the Angels.

The filibuster is an anti-democratic institution, but yet it is something that has, apparently, helped our Republic to not just survve, but thrive.  I expect the unintended consequences would not be pretty, would damage what comity remains in the Senate, and in Congress as a whole.  Thank you, Senator McConnell.

I am so old I can remember when Democratic Party Senators cherished the filibuster.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Here are the five Republican Senators who voted for a trial:  Sasse, Collins, Romney, Murkowski, and Toomey.