https://twitter.com/NoahShachtman/status/1513308038622494725

LMAO

When Biden, who had vowed to run an “FDR-sized presidency,” did inject himself into the negotiations late in the fight, his contributions did more harm than good.

LETS GO BRANDON

Soon after Sinema finished speaking, Biden arrived at the closed-door Senate Democratic caucus meeting. Anyone hoping for a rousing call to action or LBJ-style browbeating was disappointed. Biden drifted from one side of the room to the other, at times speaking so softly that senators struggled to hear him, according to one source in the room. “His style was very much ‘I’m here among friends,’ ” the source says. “He decided not to give the stump speech of someone who stands up and says, ‘This is the moment that history changes in America and you all decide which way it goes.’ ” When Manchin asked Biden a question about the history of the filibuster, Biden’s answer was so unconvincing that Schumer motioned to Sen. Jeff Merkley to intervene and give a more substantive response, according to multiple witnesses.

Once the meeting was over, Biden walked to the crowd of reporters gathered outside the room and did something inexplicable: With the final vote still days away, he declared defeat. “I hope we can get this done, but I’m not sure,” he told the press. “Like every other major civil-rights bill that came along, if we miss the first time, we can come back and try it a second time. We missed this time.”

  • Thomas_Dankara [any,comrade/them]
    ·
    3 years ago

    manchin's job is to be a kayfabe scapegoat for a party that is no further left than he is. any time they fail to implement a campaign promise they made to the public, or an item on their "party platform", he alone can be blamed so the vooters can continue to believe in the good intentions of the rest of the party, while they go on serving their corporate donors quietly. Lieberman played a similar role in the 90s and 00s

    • Lovely_sombrero [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Wrong, Dems only need 2 more votes in the Senate and they will pass the most progressive legislation since FDR. Just imagine what the Obama administration would be able to achieve if it ever had 52 Dem Senators in the Senate and controlled the House at the same time.

    • ClathrateG [none/use name]
      ·
      3 years ago

      rotating villain

      In American democracy, when the majority party has enough votes to pass populist legislation, party leaders designate a scapegoat who will refuse to vote with the party thereby killing the legislation. The opposition is otherwise inexplicable and typically comes from someone who is safe or not up for re-election. This allows for maximum diffusion of responsibility.

      WTF??? Senator Lieberman now opposes the same health care compromise he himself suggested. Just when everyone thought Democrats had enough votes to get this done. Guess they made Lieberman the rotating villain... by brmull March 19, 2011

      https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=rotating%20villain&amp=true