White supremacy is bipartisan

I’m rather glad I didn’t have time to write about general news last evening. And that I was busy with rehearsals Monday evening. And (trying to) watch TV on Sunday evening. I’ve been getting annoyed and frustrated with what my news sources are saying and didn’t want to face writing about the same things again. Such as... Sen. Joe Manchin, at the center of all things Democratic in the Senate, wrote an op-ed for the Charleston, WV Gazette-Mail saying he does not support the For the People Act (also known as SB1), to protect voter rights. As Kerry Eleveld of Daily Kos put it:

Manchin designating a voting rights bill like For The People Act dead on arrival in the Senate is infuriating in and of itself. But his commitment to protecting the extra-constitutional Senate filibuster at any cost—including American democracy itself—and his insistence on bipartisan agreement is also effectively the death knell of President Joe Biden's domestic agenda.

Eleveld went on to say that we now need to turn our focus on the 2022 midterms to make sure we don’t lose both chambers of Congress. I believe if we rely on and wait for the midterms we’re already screwed. Georgia Logothetis, in her pundit roundup for Kos, quoted Jonathan Chait of the New Yorker Magazine:

Here we have two values in conflict: the right to vote, and the evil of partisan voting laws. Manchin claims the first to be “fundamental,” but if he is unwilling to violate the second value to secure it, then it clearly isn’t.

Logothetis also quoted Robert Reich in The Guardian:

I’m afraid history will show that, in this shameful era, Republican senators were more united in their opposition to voting rights than Democratic senators were in their support for them. The future of American democracy needs better odds.

Joan McCarter of Kos reported that prominent black leaders met with Manchin to tell him how important the For the People Act is. Manchin said it was a constructive conversation and his position did not change. McCarter also wrote the Koch organization, which has a huge family of think tanks and lobbying groups that push the strongly conservative agenda, is running ads in West Virginia praising Manchin’s conservative views and asking supporters to keep pushing Manchin in that direction. Bill in Portland, Maine, in his Cheers and Jeers column for Kos included a couple graphs from MSNBC. The first shows the For the People Act is favored by West Virginia voters 79% - 15%. The second broke that down by Democrats: 81% - 15%, Independents: 79% - 15%, and Republicans: 76% - 16%. Manchin is not listening to his constituents. Leah McElrath tweeted:

Thought exercise: Does what Manchin is saying make sense to you? Is it believable? If not, then why are you taking him at his word?

McElrath quoted Brian Schwartz:

Worth noting here that the Koch network (Americans for Prosperity) lobbied against the For the People Act in the first quarter of 2021. The report says they engaged with House and Senate lawmakers.

Then she quoted Jane Mayer:

The leaked Heritage Foundation tape specifically mentions how the right wing dark money groups “had a little fun” pressuring Manchin on SB1.

Then she quoted Thomas Fine, which includes a link to Buzzfeed:

It's stunning really. On October 1 2018, Trump basically says in public that he's blackmailing a Democratic Senator. And on October 5th and 6th Manchin is the sole Democrat who votes with Republicans to end debate, and to confirm Kavanaugh.

Stephen West, a historian of the Civil War and Reconstruction, tweeted:

Joe Manchin says no measure to expand or protect voting rights should pass without bipartisan support. If Reconstruction-era supporters of voting rights had followed his rule, there wouldn't be a 15th Amendment.

Sydette quoted Talia Lavin:

Manchin's savvy is taking all the heat for his demonstrably evil and stupid position and thus deflecting it from the like 50% of his conference who agree with him. imo

Sydette then tweeted:

If it was actually important Democrats would have been breathing FIRE about it and telling us what it meant for America from Day one. If pundits thought it mattered we’d be WALL TO WALL with stories from VOTERS and organizers specifically in targeted states.

JD Wenzel added:

If the Dems wanted it they could get it. They'd do what they did to Sinema or Manchin before they had won, which is politically strong arm them. The reason Manchin and Sinema can act this way is cause they're playing the roles that the Dems have cast them to play.

David Dennis tweeted:

“He’s a Republican” is trending because Joe Manchin won’t vote to secure voting rights. “He’s a Republican” is trending because it makes people feel better to equate white supremacy to republicanism as opposed to the actual truth that white supremacy is bipartisan. Funny how my mentions are proving this point.

After all that we need some good news. Marissa Higgins of Kos reported that sisters Dawn and Miranda own a bakery named Confections in Lufkin, Texas. For June they created heart shaped cookies with rainbow stripes. They posted on Facebook, “Happy Pride!” Many people unfollowed them. A customer included a hateful message as they canceled an order for 5 dozen cookies. Canceling that size order is hard on a struggling business. The bakery posted “My heart is heavy,” and explained what happened. The community responded. On two consecutive days Confections sold out. Not just cookies. Their entire inventory. Andrea Lucia tweeted photos. Click on the upper left image, then arrows to see the others. Love those bare shelves.