A comment at a conference... The past three months in the United States have been both shocking and hopeful. They have sen the end of a 220 year tradition: the end of an unbroken chain in which the transfer of political power at the national (although not the state: not in the South) level is _peaceful_—a tradition that began in 1800 when president John Adams acceded to Thomas Jefferson’s electoral college victory without choosing violence. We lost that on January 6th, 2021....
One lesson I've been hoping the Democrats take from Republican rewriting all the rules that used to undergird norms of political behavior is that if one side observes the norms and the other side doesn't, then the norms don't exist.
In that regard, I am cheered by Senate Judiciary Chairman Durbin's decision to honor the Republican-inspired tradition of ignoring blue slips and steamrolling over Senators' objections to judicial nominees from their own states.
Sauce for the goose, and all that. Good for you, Senator Durbin. Now, on to the legislative filibuster -- let's see what Joe Manchin would agree to about that.
One lesson I've been hoping the Democrats take from Republican rewriting all the rules that used to undergird norms of political behavior is that if one side observes the norms and the other side doesn't, then the norms don't exist.
In that regard, I am cheered by Senate Judiciary Chairman Durbin's decision to honor the Republican-inspired tradition of ignoring blue slips and steamrolling over Senators' objections to judicial nominees from their own states.
Sauce for the goose, and all that. Good for you, Senator Durbin. Now, on to the legislative filibuster -- let's see what Joe Manchin would agree to about that.