I never thought it would come down to this. Who would have ever dreamed that the economic fate of millions of low income and working Americans, the climate and--oh yeah--the future of democracy would come down to one vote in the US Senate. And that vote happens to be from a certain West Virginian at a time when West Virginia is at its political nadir (please God don't let us sink any lower!).
I guess it's proof that God, the gods, Lady Fortuna, and/or world history has a sense of humor.
In fairness, as the senator in question has pointed out, if an election or two somewhere else had gone just a little differently, we wouldn't be in this situation. And, believe it or not, the situation could be worse. A lot worse.
In the last year, it seems that many groups and individuals around the country have discovered West Virginia again. I was hoping those days would pass since the torrent of journalistic "Trump country safaris" tapered off.
In my experience, and taking a long view of history, it's almost never a good thing when the larger world discovers West Virginia.
Apparently, some from out of state think this senator sprang into existence out of nowhere sometime around last February and have tried to inform us of that fact. Some have even suggested we might consider contacting the senator in question...like it never would have occurred to us and as if we had no knowledge or experience of this person.
What I do know is that a lot of people here are working hard to get the best possible Build Back Better through and to do all we can to push for voting rights--and that no fight before or after will ever be as important as this one. Some are focused mostly on climate, others on voting, others on economic issues, and many care deeply about all the above.
As you can probably imagine, this kind of pressure raises lots of interesting questions and tensions about tactics and strategies. As in soft or hard, inside and/or outside, calling in versus calling out, how hard to push without crossing a line, what works and what backfires, and more. And the situation changes every day.
All this would be an interesting intellectual exercise if there wasn't so much at stake.
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1 comment:
Joe certainly is getting a lot of press for his recent strategies in the senate, but let us never forget nor forgive him for being the lone tie breaking vote that confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Now that chicken is coming home to roost, as he leads the push this week to finally sink the last coffin nail into Roe v. Wade. If ol' Joe had lost his elections certainly his Republican opponents in that senate seat would be worse, but at the end of the day their kind of awful is honest about what it is and ultimately the confirmation votes and tie-ups all shake out with the same result as if he wasn't in there... a rightward shift. A tightening of the ratchet that only increases one direction.
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