You can take this article as a “hostile source.” I’ve seen a lot of people here state that Biden wasn’t their first choice in the primary, and I’ll flat out say that he was NEVER a choice for me.* I digress. Nevertheless, I still root for him to do the right thing and still hope he can accomplish a lot (and a lot needs to be done).
Since it seems that very little will be done from this time until the midterms,** I guess we are left with the hope that the Republicans have overstepped in their punch-drunk, unabashed cruelty, and that this will lead to at least a larger surplus of Senate seats. Maybe the Democrats will even keep the House (wouldn’t it be horrifying if they had only a one-vote majority? What was that about not needing Cueller’s vote, Nancy?).
One likely scenario: we do add seats to the Senate but not the House.
If so, make that lame-duck session in November and December a really productive one. That means Biden should let the two senators (P.O.S-WV and P.O.S.-AZ) know that they are now rendered powerless. Threaten them with the stripping of committee assignments, and let them know that the next two years will be a living hell for them along with DNC money going to their primary opponents—that is, if they do not kill the filibuster and vote “aye” on much-needed legislation. At least get one of the voting rights bills to Biden’s desk before January comes around and this legislation turns back into a pumpkin—or whatever the *$&# happens to it when the session officially ends.
I suspect the reason why Biden has used a “kid gloves” approach to Thing 1 and Thing 2 is that they are at least good for confirming cabinet members and judges. Even someone as cantankerous and hard to please as I am have nothing but praise for Biden’s judicial selections. Having a strong Labor Relations Board is another plus.
2023: Balls to the wall. Executive order after executive order. Including the declaration of a climate emergency along with the adding of seats to the court with the intent to nominate jurists to reinstate Roe v. Wade.
The worst-case scenario? Oh dear, let’s just hope we never cross that bridge.
So, yes: vote blue no matter who in the general election (and make sure we elect some more progressives—because moderates need someone to blame when things eventually go wrong). Who knows? Maybe we hold and even add seats to the House and Senate, and thus much-needed legislative action arrives on the president’s desk. Do I have my doubts as to whether this will happen? Sure. But I can be optimistic and hope for the best, and hope that the next two years of Biden’s presidency will be a dramatic 180 from what it has been so far.
*I should point out that I came across an FN headline, “Biden Voters Regret Their 2020 Choice […]” (blah, blah, fascism rules and all their other b.s.). I assure you that I am not one of these “voters.”
**but could you actually fight and try to do something other than the bare minimum? —again, another digression