Sen Manchin won't endorse VP Harris over the filibuster (who cares... he's gone anyway)

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4. Anti-democratic procedure is the "holy grail of democracy"? That's idiotic

Whatever the virtues of the filibuster, and it can and has been used to positive effect at times, you can't say it's the holy grail of democracy or really anything on the side of democracy.

It's a specifically anti-democratic provision that under the best circumstances can protect a minority from the abuses of a callous or wrong-headed majority. Which can certainly be a good thing, even if it has been used much more abusively of late thanks to a callous and wrong-headed Republican *minority*.

Manchin likes the filibuster for one reason only -- it has given him outsized influence by ensuring that his vote is likely needed for any remotely controversial measure.