The Quiet Part

January 21, 2022 By: Nick Carraway Category: Uncategorized

Occasionally, politicians (particularly conservative politicians) get caught saying the quiet part out loud. That’s an expression we like to use when someone says what everyone is thinking, but sounds absolutely horrific when it is said out loud in mixed company. Mitch McConnell was just the latest in a long line of horrible moments.

Of course, McConnell’s legacy in Washington will largely depend on which side of the fence you sit. If you are conservative then he will go down as one of the greatest legislators in the history of mankind. No one has been more effective in getting the conservative agenda through and no one has been more effective at blocking the progressive agenda. He’s done more to tip the balance of power in the judicial branch than any three other legislators combined.

If you are a liberal, progressive, or even just a moderate you obviously can’t see Mitch McConnell as anything but cravenly evil. As much as people will blame Joe Mancin and Kyrsten Sinema for the failure of voting rights legislation, Mitch McConnell is the architect of everything the conservative caucus is able to accomplish.

They don’t accomplish much these days. In fact, the only thing they’ve really accomplished in the last five years is a major tax cut for the rich. That’s the extent of their legislative agenda. That’s the extent of their intellectual pursuit. Otherwise, they are the adult embodiment of a two-year old. The only word they know is no.

Whether McConnell’s utterance is a mere gaffe or a Freudian slip is in the eye of the beholder I guess. Someone so jaded and manipulative can’t be given the benefit of the doubt. McConnell’s legislative tactics are the perfect reflection of what conservative state legislatures have been doing across the country. The two in concert have managed to take common sense planks and make them disappear.

For McConnell and other conservatives, African Americans really aren’t Americans. Latino Americans really aren’t Americans. LGTBQ+ Americans really aren’t Americans. Poor Americans really aren’t Americans. Anyone that might cast a vote for Democrats really aren’t Americans. They’ll concede a few of us that might look conservative on the outside, but it would never be enough to win an election. So, then it is okay.

Power is theirs from birth. Power is theirs to do with what they want. Sadly, they’ve had it for over a generation and we’re living in the aftermath. Wealth disparity is higher than its ever been. There are more billionaires than ever before. This has all happened when the GOP has won exactly four presidential elections according to the popular vote since 1980. That’s four out of ten elections.

Ultimately, that’s the legacy of Mitch McConnell. He has been in national politics for nearly that entire period. Somehow he has taken a world where Democrats won majorities more often than not and created a powerful conservative coalition. They have the courts. They have a majority of states. Their will is done in Washington even without majorities. Only Americans that vote with them count in his eyes.

The Actual Problem

August 08, 2017 By: El Jefe Category: 2016 Election

As much as I despise Donald Trump and his infestation of the White House, he’s actually not the problem.  As much as I opposed Hillary Clinton’s candidacy (twice), she’s actually not the problem.  Barack Obama’s presidency being blocked from greater accomplishments is actually not the problem.  All of the screaming heads on cable TeeVee are not actually the problem.  The idiots in state houses all over the country trying to strip people of their rights and places to go to the restroom are not actually the problem.  All the other nonsense going on in politics around the US is not actually the problem.

The actual problem?  It’s the Did Not Vote vote.  Did Not Vote wins most every election.  Have a look at this map:

Of eligible votes in 2016, Clinton received 28.43% (65,845,063) of all votes compared to Trump’s 27.20% (62,980,160) and Did Not Vote received 44.37%(102,731,399).  Did not vote won, and the American people lost.  Again.  This is how you get nut jobs like Dan Patrick, Sid Miller, Greg Abbott, and Rick Perry elected to statewide office.  When half of eligible voters can’t be bothered, this is what you get.  If voters actually voted, Russian hacking wouldn’t matter.  Gerrymandering would have much less effect.  Politicians would be driven toward compromise and making government work, rather than barricading themselves in their extreme corners heaving molotov cocktails at the opposition.  They would stop holding Americans hostage over budget squabbles, healthcare, Social Security, and energy policy.

If the majority of Americans actually voted, we would have a government that actually worked.  As it is today, while people sit around watching America’s Got Talent eating their Cheetos and drinking their Diet Coke, evil and/or crazy people make decisions that damage our democracy, threaten Americans’ lives, and make us the laughing stock of the world.

This is the actual problem.  This is what actually needs to get fixed.