Monroe Dispatch - No Struggle, No Progress

Some moderate Republican Senators suddenly want to come to the negotiating table to discuss President Joe Biden's COVID-19 Relief Plan, not with Democratic Senators, but with the president. Two are them are Utah Senator Mitt Romney and Maine Senator Susan Collins. LA. Senator Bill Cassidy is also one of the senators mentioned, but he is not seen as being moderate. When it seems as if President Joe Biden and Democrats in the House and Senate are prepared to introduce COVID-19 legislation in the House and pass it in the Senate, all without Republican bi-partisanship which is possible, sensible minded Republicans had to do something. Republicans seem to realize that Biden was serious about his campaign promises and he with his fellow Democrats were prepared to carry them out. That was illustrated the first day in office when Biden signed numerous executive orders undoing much of what Trump had done when he signed executive orders overturning much of what former President Barack Obama had done. All Republicans could do was sit on the sidelines and complain. Though Republicans talked about unifying the nation in the wake of the January 6 riot/insurrection, something which Trump encouraged, Biden has since signed dozens more executive orders. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer played more than hardball with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, not giving an inch on the filibuster issue to why McConnell had to capitulate. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi held firm to her members as Democrats are showing their House colleagues(I use that loosely), that it is no longer business as usual.

When Georgia sent Ossof and Warnock to the Senate, it was more than a wake up call to Republicans. It showed the rest of the nation that some states in the South are ready for change. This happened before the January 6 insurrection which ensured that Democrats would control the Senate. Now Republicans can’t dictate how the federal government will operate, which is why some Republicans in the Senate may be waving the white flag in an effort to show that at least some of them want to appear as being bi-partisan. At least five of them are on board to vote to convict Trump in an impeachment trial that is scheduled to start in a few weeks. Biden is also in the unique position to nominate and for the Senate to pass numerous vacant federal judges’ positions across the nation, something that Republicans are not happy to see. And finally, there will be a competent cabinet in place to function with President Biden, unlike the revolving door cabinet that we saw in the Trump administration. No more incompetence in Cabinet positions such as in HUD and the Education Department and even appointments in the Postal Service.

But make no mistake. Two seconds after all of the states election results were certified, Republicans were all ready looking to 2022, the year of the midterms. By that time, if Democrat’s stay united and get meaningful legislation signed into law, it should make it things difficult for Republicans to cast Democrats as socialists who are doing what they can to keep the nation from falling into an abyss caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic. But Democrats have an ace up their sleeves that they can play anytime. It is the endless volume of video/audio of the Jan. 6 insurrection. All Democrats have to ask voters is, whether they want a government ran by people who would allow an act of violence that tried to end democracy. Play the videos and comments from Republicans who spread right wing conspiracies, who want to walk around the Halls of Congress proudly showing off their AK-47s. No other Democratic nation would allow this. Play the videos of Trump bragging about what he could do and not be held accountable. Don’t leave out Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Lindsey Graham, Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene who hasn’t met a right wing conspiracy that she didn’t like. They may try to re-talk history, but they can’t re-write it. Too many people in the nation and around the world were witnesses to what exactly happened on the Capitol steps and in the hallways and offices. They can’t change the facts of the lives that were lost, something that they don’t talk about. All Democrats have to do is press the replay button. Remember, the world is watching. So is God.