General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I'm totally fed up with the way things are going... [View all]StarfishSaver
(18,486 posts)You seen to have forgotten that the Democrats did not have the votes to get rid of the filibuster early in Obama's term.
You also may have forgotten that the Dems got rid of the filibuster for lower court judges - but only over the strong objection of many in the progressive community who were afraid that this would come back to bite us if Republicans took power again. And then when the GOP came in and got rid of the filibuster for Supreme Court justices, lots of progressives blamed Harry Reid for "opening the door" - as if Mitch McConnell needed the Democrats to do something before he tried it.
And you probably don't remember how in 2005 and 2006, Republicans were threatening to blow up the filibuster (the "nuclear option" and progressive groups - particularly civil rights groups - and the Democrats fought like hell to keep that from happening since, at the time, the filibuster was the only thing we had to stop Bush's judges from being rammed through.
So you can talk about what the Democrats SHOULD have done or repeat that tired, ahistorical claim that Democrats "squandered the majorities we had," but you can't change what actually happened.