{"id":180871,"date":"2016-12-06T18:56:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-06T23:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/2016\/12\/06\/we-dont-need-more-democrats-we-need-better-ones\/"},"modified":"2016-12-06T18:56:00","modified_gmt":"2016-12-06T23:56:00","slug":"we-dont-need-more-democrats-we-need-better-ones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/2016\/12\/06\/we-dont-need-more-democrats-we-need-better-ones\/","title":{"rendered":"We Don’t Need More Democrats, We Need Better Ones"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>In response to strategies to deal with Donald Trump and his nefarious agenda, Blue Dog\/New Dem type Democratic members of the Senate are capitulating in advance<\/a>:<\/p>\n

While congressional Democrats were certainly slow to come to grips with Donald Trump\u2019s election and therefore appeared hesitant to back the calls for resistance that flooded the streets in major American cities in the immediate aftermath, they\u2019ve since embraced their role as the loyal opposition. But even as most Senate Democrats gear up for confirmation battles with a whole host of questionable Trump Cabinet picks, some of their Democratic colleagues are already willing to kowtow to the president-elect\u2019s most fundamental decisions.<\/p>\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/span>

<\/span> Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown argued for a strategy of Democratic obstruction to a Trump agenda by pointing to Republicans\u2019 past intransigence. \u201cWe\u2019re going to help them confirm their nominees, many of whom are disqualified? It\u2019s not obstruction, it\u2019s not partisan, it\u2019s just a duty to find out what they\u2019d do in these jobs,\u201d he said. Brown pointed out that Republicans have \u201cbeen rewarded for stealing a Supreme Court justice,\u201d referring to the nearly yearlong delay of hearings on President Obama\u2019s nominee to succeed deceased Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia.<\/span>

<\/span> Still, nearly all the five Democratic senators facing re-election in 2018 in states that strongly supported Trump \u2014 by 19 percentage points or more \u2014 apparently disagree with their more progressive colleagues and have rushed to signal their willingness to cooperate with the new regime.<\/span>

<\/span> \u201cThat\u2019s just bullsh%$,\u201d West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, [Whose daughter was (until it became public0 given a phoney degree and also runs Mylan which gouges people on EpiPens]<\/span> whose state supported Trump by 42 percent<\/a>, said of his fellow Democrats\u2019 strategy of opposition. \u201cI\u2019m going to help [Trump] when I can. But I\u2019m going to be holding him accountable when I need to,\u201d he added<\/a>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 “When I need to,” means “I will never hold him accountable.”<\/p>\n

North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp was quick to suggest that she is ready to work with Republicans on legislation to invest in \u201cclean coal\u201d technologies, as she praised a decision to boot oil pipeline protesters from Standing Rock. Heitkamp was one of the first Democrats to meet with the president-elect and his transition team at Trump Tower last week. Trump won North Dakota by more than 36 points and there\u2019s speculation he is considering Heitkamp for secretary of agriculture or energy.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Supporting police brutality against Indian protestors forever. Gotta love it.<\/p>\n

Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly, who is also up for re-election in 2018 and who represents a state that went for Trump by 19.3 percentage points, has already said he is ready to work with the incoming Trump administration on military mental health care issues, curbing the exodus of U.S. jobs to foreign countries and combating the opioid epidemic.<\/span>

<\/span> \u201cWe can\u2019t just say \u2018no\u2019 because the idea comes from the other side of the aisle,\u201d argued Montana Sen. Jon Tester last week. Tesler has long signaled a willingness to work with Trump. He chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee that failed to orchestrate his party\u2019s wresting control of the upper chamber from the GOP.<\/span>

<\/span> In May, Tesler said about Trump that \u201che\u2019s got some pretty goofy opinions, but hopefully we\u2019ve got some stuff we can work on,\u201d Tesler is now up for re-election in a state that preferred Trump by 20 points.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I have identified the differences between conservative Democrats and liberal (moderate)  Republicans:<\/p>\n

A liberal (moderate) Republican will:<\/p>\n