President Biden said he won’t expand the Supreme Court because doing so would “politicize” the court in an unhealthy way. But it’s a political institution by its nature — and a disturbingly undemocratic one.
The problem with the bully pulpit is that it only works on people who feel shame, and the Republicans gave up all pretense of that in 2016. Any strong arming Biden tries to do will only be met with further obstruction, fantasy “investigations” and impeachment proceedings, and more thinly veiled attempts to stoke anger and inspire acts of violence among the most radical conservatives. We’re well beyond the point of looking to the past for viable political tools when the rules are so different now. What we need is for voters to get Republicans out of power and give Democrats decisive majorities in both houses of Congress and more state legislatures. And we need more people to participate in the primaries so those Democrats aren’t just milquetoasts too. Then and only then can the gloves come off.
The problem with the bully pulpit is that it only works on people who feel shame,
I don’t know that I agree.
The president has the power to call special sessions of Congress under the Constitution. If he started making these legislators cancel vacations they’d be a whole lot more pliable. The problem with the bully pulpit is Biden doesn’t have any intention of using it, and Republicans know this because they’re all owned by the same donors. Just once in my life I’d like to see a president fight just as hard to raise the minimum wage as Trump did to ban Muslims.
Hell, when people told Bernie it was impossible to get a minimum wage increase through congress he gave speeches outside Amazon and Disney, and that act led to a living wage increase (at the time) for more than 200,000 people.
If he started making these legislators cancel vacations they’d be a whole lot more pliable.
Would they? I have seen zero evidence to suggest that.
Hell, when people told Bernie it was impossible to get a minimum wage increase through congress he gave speeches outside Amazon and Disney, and that act led to a living wage increase (at the time) for more than 200,000 people.
That’s an apples-to-oranges comparison. You’re talking about a legislator putting enough attention on private companies that they chose to raise their minimum wage because it became good PR. That’s completely different than an executive trying to pressure legislators into doing something when their voters elected them specifically to always do the opposite of what said executive wants.
That’s an apples-to-oranges comparison. You’re talking about a legislator putting enough attention on private companies that they chose to raise their minimum wage because it became good PR. That’s completely different than an executive trying to pressure legislators into doing something when their voters elected them specifically to always do the opposite of what said executive wants.
100% why I wish people would have voted Bernie. His EO’s alone would have moved us further forward than any president since LBJ. Instead we got another corrupt, incoherent old man who doesn’t care about much of anything beyond keeping his son out of prison and finding shiny new ways to funnel public money to warmongers.
But, the real point here is: it doesn’t matter that you have a bully pulpit if you have no intention of using it.
I know republicans won’t care–it’s more about motivating Democrats and independents. We need someone who at least speaks the truth about what’s going on here. The Supreme Court is becoming dictatorial.
The problem with the bully pulpit is that it only works on people who feel shame, and the Republicans gave up all pretense of that in 2016. Any strong arming Biden tries to do will only be met with further obstruction, fantasy “investigations” and impeachment proceedings, and more thinly veiled attempts to stoke anger and inspire acts of violence among the most radical conservatives. We’re well beyond the point of looking to the past for viable political tools when the rules are so different now. What we need is for voters to get Republicans out of power and give Democrats decisive majorities in both houses of Congress and more state legislatures. And we need more people to participate in the primaries so those Democrats aren’t just milquetoasts too. Then and only then can the gloves come off.
I don’t know that I agree.
The president has the power to call special sessions of Congress under the Constitution. If he started making these legislators cancel vacations they’d be a whole lot more pliable. The problem with the bully pulpit is Biden doesn’t have any intention of using it, and Republicans know this because they’re all owned by the same donors. Just once in my life I’d like to see a president fight just as hard to raise the minimum wage as Trump did to ban Muslims.
Hell, when people told Bernie it was impossible to get a minimum wage increase through congress he gave speeches outside Amazon and Disney, and that act led to a living wage increase (at the time) for more than 200,000 people.
Would they? I have seen zero evidence to suggest that.
That’s an apples-to-oranges comparison. You’re talking about a legislator putting enough attention on private companies that they chose to raise their minimum wage because it became good PR. That’s completely different than an executive trying to pressure legislators into doing something when their voters elected them specifically to always do the opposite of what said executive wants.
100% why I wish people would have voted Bernie. His EO’s alone would have moved us further forward than any president since LBJ. Instead we got another corrupt, incoherent old man who doesn’t care about much of anything beyond keeping his son out of prison and finding shiny new ways to funnel public money to warmongers.
But, the real point here is: it doesn’t matter that you have a bully pulpit if you have no intention of using it.
I know republicans won’t care–it’s more about motivating Democrats and independents. We need someone who at least speaks the truth about what’s going on here. The Supreme Court is becoming dictatorial.