The Democratic Party divide. Which side are you on?
Because I wouldn’t watch the State of the Union speech by Trump to Congress on Tuesday night (we are in the middle of a UK procedural on Brit Box called Shetland) I missed watching live when Texas Congressman Al Green got tossed from the hall for his “lack of decorum”.
If ever there was a time when we needed decorum less in Congress, it is now.
But the MAGAs weren’t done with just ejecting Congressman Green from the chamber. They thought they could humiliate Congressman Green by censuring him.
I doubt the Congressman was humiliated by that.
The bunch that should be humiliated are the ten Democrats who joined the MAGAs in the vote of censure.
The ten Democrats joined in to censure the 77-year-old Black man for defending America’s 79 million Medicaid recipients.
“You don’t have a mandate,” said the Texas Congressman as he waved his cane at Trump.
The ten Democrats were:
Ami Bera (CA)
Jim Costa (CA)
Ed Case (HI)
Laura Gillen (NY)
Jim Himes (CT)
Chrissy Houlahan (PA)
Marcy Kaptur (OH)
Jared Moskowitz (FL)
Tom Suozzi (NY)
But these ten Democrats were not alone in the wake of a response to Trump’s 90 minute recitation of lies.
House Democratic leadership is privately confronting members who disrupted President Trump's speech to Congress, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Many progressives defied House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' (D-N.Y.) request to avoid making themselves the story.
Jeffries, in a dear colleague letter ahead of the speech, urged a "strong, determined and dignified Democratic presence in the chamber."
Trump's speech was instead rocked by constant heckling. Democrats held up signs and other props, and Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) was ejected.
In meetings and discussions with leadership this week, Democrats who heckled, walked out in protest or were otherwise disruptive were given a talking to about their tactics, sources said.
What we're hearing: Leadership is "very unhappy" with those who went beyond traditional protest tactics like outfit coordination and refusal to clap, a senior House Democrat told Axios.
This was in line with senior Democratic Party strategist James Carville who told the Democrats to “roll over and play dead” for the next two years.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders responded on behalf of the Democrats with spine:
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday sharply rejected veteran Democratic strategist James Carville’s suggestions for the Democratic Party to make a “strategic political retreat,” asserting that Democrats have spent too long in a passive political stance.
“Democrats have been playing dead for too many years,” Sanders said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in response to Carville’s aggressive advice to Democrats, which was outlined in a New York Times guest essay published last week.
And then there was this.
Californians woke up this morning to discover the there Democratic Party Governor, Gavin Newsom, has joined with the MAGAs in attacking transgender athletes.
I only wish that guy would roll over and play dead.
The present Dem leadership of the so-called centrist element cannot roll over and play dead.
They died years ago - a long and extended death as each limb and organ failed along with the now nonexistent spine. They had half a century to codify Roe v Wade and swore support as they raised more and more money for non-performance of their duties. Every major western country has a form of universal healthcare except the USA. They failed to do so three quarters of a century ago and ignore the necessity for it even today. The list goes on.
I recently received a request for money from Chuck Schumer to "continue the fight" - whatever that means.
Which side am I on? The progressives inside and outside the Democratic Party. Since it is impossible to even get a third party on the ballot in several states, this is not a very realistic goal either. Needless to say, even the status quo is dead.