Sinema and Manchin are tools. That’s not me saying it. That’s what Rick Santorum, Andy Biggs, and other white supremacists were saying to a room full of right-wing extremists. They explain that the Constitution was designed to protect the GOP minority, not the majority. They beg them to flood Sinema and Manchin with calls thanking them for saving the filibuster. Rep. Byron Donalds, right at the :40 second mark, literally mocks Sinema and Manchin—to uproarious laughter--by actually running through an over-the-top performance he said gives them when AOC complains about their stance on the filibuster:
There is no filibuster, and no calls for bi-partisanship, at the state level where Republican legislatures are passing laws to blatantly suppress votes, give themselves the ability to overturn legal elections, or gerrymander the hell out of their states to keep their minority rule permanent. There were no calls for bi-partisanship when the GOP had full control of the federal government, or when they packed our courts.
We are in a war for survival of our democracy. The rightwing has moved beyond voter suppression and are now open about not certifying elections where they don’t like the outcome. Manchin and Sinema are either incredibly naïve or truly don’t care about the people who are suffering and will continue to suffer under GOP rule.
Americans gave Democrats the power to rule with both houses of Congress and the Presidency, so why is Mitch McConnell still calling the shots? Why is it 50+1 on the things he cares about (tax cuts and judges), while it’s 60 for the things Democrats and America cares about (voting rights, healthcare, infrastructure, racial equality, climate).
You can have democracy or the filibuster, but not both.