Earlier today I sent around a piece arguing that scrapping the filibuster is a slam dunk move for Democrats, but I omitted one key argument. What if Democrats don’t get rid of or don’t reform the filibuster? Maintaining the status quo in the Senate means allowing Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans to block Joe Biden’s legislative agenda. That would be a political disaster. It would dampen Democratic enthusiasm and represent failure to follow-through on Biden’s campaign promises. Democrats would surely pay for that in the 2022 midterm elections.
The party that controls the White House traditionally loses seats in midterms and Democrats may follow that historical trend. But they will have a much better chance at defying the odds if they can go to the voters with tangible policy results. Those results will likely only be possible if they change the rules on using the filibuster. Democrats face a black and white choice: reform the filibuster or pay a major political price. There is no middle ground.
This week I talked to Alec MacGillis about his recent essay reviewing the videos from the Capitol Hill riots posted to the far-right social media site Parler. Alec argues that those who broke into the Capitol were far more ordinary - and a lot less strategic - than many have assumed.
In our conversation we talked about the petit bourgeois characteristics of the Capitol insurrectionists; the extent to which they were empowered by the experience and felt entitled to do it; the ignoring of the Stringer Bell rule about recording ones participation in a criminal conspiracy; the reasons why the rioters didn’t do more damage; and the dangers of overlearning the lessons of January 6. We also talked about the nihilism of Mitch McConnell and Alec’s forthcoming book “Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America.”
This week, my friend Christopher Preble penned a smart column arguing that if Joe Biden wants to create a new better national security strategy he needs to focus his energies at home.
On Wednesday I wrote that Mitch McConnell looks to be increasingly leaning toward voting to convict Donald Trump in his upcoming Senate impeachment trial. I also posted a video and pictorial history of the Trump Administration and talked to Fred Logevall about his new biography of John F. Kennedy.
As you can see, I rather enjoyed the Bernie Sanders inauguration meme.
Finally, Hank Aaron, one of the greatest baseball players who ever lived passed away today. This video of him hitting his 715th career round tripper to pass Babe Ruth on the all-time home run list is wonderful, but for me the moment that jumped out is when his mother ran up to him and gave him the hug to end all hugs! It reminded me that when this pandemic is over I’m going to really enjoy hugging my mom again.