Last Chance to Save American Democracy

This column was written on Sunday the 17th. The last chance Charles Blow writes about was yesterday when Grand Old Phascists filibustered a voting rights bill that Joe. Manchin. helped write. The Last Chance ended. 

Now, unless Senate Majority Leader Schumer can get Manchin to change his written "never" opposition to end the filibuster, the very survival of the country as we know it is dealt a death blow. 

Let's pause on that for a moment. Do you notice how the threat has metastasized from a return to Jim Crow--bad enough hooo doggie--to the end of Democracy in America? David Brock reminds us in a piece today:

More alarmingly, Republicans in swing states are purging election officials, allowing pro-Trump partisans to sabotage vote counts. In January, an Arizona lawmaker introduced a bill that would permit Republican legislators to overrule the certification of elections that don’t go their way. In Georgia, the legislature has given partisan election boards the power to “slow down or block” election certifications. Why bother with elections?

Why was this ever legislative priority number three? I agree with everything Charles Blow writes here, I don't think I've ever disagreed fundamentally with anything Charles has written. On this issue, I disagree "only" (which, unfortunately, in this instance is fundamentally) with Charles'--and the Bidens--priorities. In the words of The Internationale, "this is the final struggle" and I think we have lost it to make the trains run on time. This should have been THE first bill Biden and Democrats took up in the first 100 days. Now, the president and Democrats have suffered defeat after defeat and have lost momentum completely. All else paled before this. Charles:

For Democrats, this voting rights bill is a top priority, but from now until something is passed, it should be the only priority. In another time, I would think that the infrastructure and reconciliation bills should take precedence. It’s impossible to argue that we don’t need those things. It is also impossible to argue that many of the provisions would not disproportionately benefit poor people and Black and Hispanic people.

But even if you have glistening infrastructure in a fascist state, you are still in a fascist state. If you get two years of community college free in a fascist state, you are still in a fascist state. If more people get broadband access, more people will be able to search for what it means to live in a fascist state.

Protecting ballot access is the only thing that matters right now.

That train was on time, it was we who were late, and it has now left the platform.