Joe Manchin: A weak Democrat is now the Republican party’s strongest weapon

 

Photo of protest outside Manchin’s boat - Yahoo News

Joe Manchin should be kicked out of the Democratic party for aligning with Republicans to obstruct the agenda of the Democratic president. (I don’t know if that’s a thing, but if it isn’t, it should be.)

He damn sure shouldn’t be allowed to be part of any strategy meetings held by Democrats.

Manchin voted with Republicans during the Trump administration 74% of the time.

His record of bailing on his constituents is so bad protests took place today on the waters surrounding his boat, the Almost Heaven.

West Virginians have been trying to reach Sen. Manchin every way we know how to tell him we need this bill,” Loretta Young, the executive director of Race Matters WV, said in a statement. “79% of West Virginians want this bill! And yet, Sen. Manchin is still blocking it. He’s not listening to us, he’s listening to Big Money. That’s why we’re here at his yacht in D.C. today. Yahoo News

This is the same boat Manchin uses to entertain his Republican friends and carry-on private conversations about everything going on in DC. The key is the secrecy. It’s the men’s club all over again, though on occasion, women are invited.

“Generally speaking, the first rule of visiting Joe Manchin III’s houseboat is don’t talk about Joe Manchin’s houseboat.” The Washington Post

It’s not open to everybody in Congress, Joe picks and chooses who gets to participate in these unofficial discussions. It’s his way of conducting secretive talks he’ll never be held accountable for and which only his chosen few can partake in.

It’s old-school politics—the kind that got us where we are today. We are a democracy in name only, run by the political elite, whose main concern is keeping power and extorting money from any business they can scare into thinking if they make a big enough donation legislation will move in their favor.

He’s given his offspring lessons in the same dirty politics and she’s a quick study. Earlier this month, his daughter, Heather Bresch, was implicated in the EpiPen scandal—as court documents from a federal lawsuit reveal.

Among the documents is an email sent on behalf of Bresch, who is the daughter of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to her counterpart at Pfizer, then-CEO Ian Read. In the email, sent in January 2011, Bresch confirms a previous discussion with Read in which she says that the two agreed that as part of a deal, Pfizer would disinvest from its EpiPen competitor, Adrenaclick. Eliminating its main competitor would then allow Mylan to continue raising its prices. The Intercept, 9/7/21.

Joe is also the only Democrat who voted for all three of Trump’s Supreme Court nominees:

Neil Gorsuch (I vote to punish the trucker for saving his own life by abandoning his truck in freezing weather),

Brett Kavanaugh (I like beer and I got drunk enough to pass out on several occasions in high school, but I know I never assaulted Christine Blasi Ford), and

Amy Coney Barrett (I’m a cult member and I’m proud to do what I’m told, but don’t accuse me of being partisan because that might give me away).

Democrats need to show some balls for a change. It’s not like Manchin does anything to support their party. Instead, by voting with Republicans to block the Biden agenda, the only thing Manchin does for the Dems is prove that Dems can’t convince their own people to vote for their bills. It’s embarrassing.

It’s not like he’s negotiating in good faith, either. While he’s been adamant about not voting for Biden’s infrastructure deal, he’s not telling Dems anything about what they need before he’ll agree to it. He’s just using the moment to position himself as a “moderate.”

In other words, he is brand building while Rome is burning.

Kick him out, I say. He’s nothing but dead weight. At least force him to be honest about his allegiance and face the consequences of his obstructive behavior. It’s time for Democrats to act like winners instead of losers. They need to stop whining about how bad the Republicans are and do something about it. Even if that means they have one less Senator in their ranks.

Joe has way too much power as a Democrat. As a Republican, he’ll just be one more obstructionist. Dems can get a real Democrat to replace him in 2022. That’s where their focus should be.

Of course, we can't really kick Joe out. And even if we could, we'd have to wait until after 2022 so we'd have enough Dems in the Senate to prevent McConnell from resurrecting his Grim Reaper status. Still, it's nice to contemplate, isn't it?