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When senators like Manchin defend the filibuster by invoking Senate tradition, they should be pressed on what they mean. The filibuster was not created by the Framers, it was forged later for the "tradition" of preserving slavery & blocking civil rights... https://news.yahoo.com/manchin-counters-obama-on-eliminating-filibuster-i-will-do-everything-i-can-to-prevent-it-224820099.html
Today the filibuster blocks progress on every issue under the sun including civil rights. While it blocks some conservative bills, it disadvantages progressives far more, in keeping with its tradition of empowering a minority of reactionary whites to impose their will on America.
The filibuster is the tradition of reactionaries. The Framers favored limited minority protections but at every decision point, the majority was to rule. Henry Clay railed against the filibuster in the 1840s. It's the "tradition" of Calhoun, Russell & McConnell, not the Framers.
For the first half of the 20th century, the only issue the filibuster stopped was civil rights. The small handful of other bills that ever encountered filibusters eventually passed. That is its âtraditionâ and any senator who defends it on that basis should have to answer for it.
The filibuster debate is going to be one of the most consequential of the next year and could determine whether bills on every other issue can pass or will be stopped by a minority of Republican senators. If you want to know more, I wrote a book about it: https://analytics.twitter.com/mob_idsync_click?slug=kZhU37XO6A&idb=AAAAEIBMeNW-LlWqE6GP0gJTevhGEx6QQKaNsHLqL3HN4JIDNOoerIfByKu3btsKYQmictgdlN1_TMeUB-2gd2NsrOrnb-G2QdApySfUG1CzZ7bmFQNuvdG2omuvUUOa87F17pwWdNRgrLThdTTxc-FlHNcXC0LLYXMcCTYX-dZuYoLUzcfocHWi1S11OPzN4whqMQJ9Ql_wpqsck0h3Vrx4bvsS4zTKSIKqbTBLiV_LYj9lsCAcS_KYWQL64MvbHAl6ptokEoPlUYs3phtznJJwCg&ad_tracking=true&tailored_ads=true
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