Monday Reading

As always, please go to the links for the full articles/ op eds.

E.J. Dionne, Jr., goes once more into the breach:  Reform the filibuster and pass voting rights!

There are two big reasons why senators should vote to reform the filibuster, no matter their past views. The first is institutional: What started out as an unusual practice to extend debate has become a routine method for blocking the will of the majority. To put it starkly: Abuse of the filibuster is wrecking the Senate. [snip]

But the core reason the filibuster must be reformed is the moral imperative of passing bills to defend democracy. It confronts multiple challenges: to the right to vote; the right to have votes counted without political interference; and the right of voters to select their representatives — and not have politicians do it by drawing wildly partisan district boundaries.

Should Democrats, including President Biden, allow these things to happen by claiming that the filibuster renders them powerless, they will be guilty of a more profound hypocrisy.

If it fails to act, the party that won power in 2020 as the bulwark of democracy and civil rights will be saying that these commitments matter less than fealty to an outdated, dysfunctional practice that has been altered repeatedly in pursuit of far less noble goals.

To what extent is membership in the Cult of the Malignant Loser reinforced by conservative media?  Duh, a lot:

A large 53% of Republican voters who get their news from the conservative media say supporting Trump is very important to being a Republican. It's just 21% among those who get their media from other television or digital sources.

 

Another way to gauge this is by examining those who argue that backing Trump is not at all important to their Republican identity. It can be argued that these are some of the most ardent anti-Trump Republicans.

Just 8% of Republican voters who prefer conservative media think it's not important at all to support Trump. Among those who prefer to get their news from other sources, it's 35%.

 

The anti-Trump resistance within the GOP is low no matter where you go, but it's far lower among those who like conservative media.

 

Looking ahead to the 2024 presidential primary, any Republican looking to beat Trump (assuming he runs) will likely need to dominate among those who don't prefer conservative media. It probably won't be enough to win. This lane is likely a minority of Republicans (20% to 40% under the most generous definition). Without it, though, any challenge to Trump will have a very hard time succeeding. 

 

The new COVID variant "Omicron" has people all over the world rightly concerned.  The Washington Post looks at these questions and what we know at this point:

• Where has omicron been confirmed?
• What do we know about the new variant?
• Why is it called omicron?
• What’s being done to halt the spread of omicron?
• Do we know whether vaccines are effective against omicron?
• Will omicron cause severe illness, and will existing treatments work?
• How far might omicron have already spread?
• Will omicron upend plans to return to ‘normal’?

Finally, a trip over to Infidel 753's link round-up is highly recommended for inquiring minds (all of you, of course).  He's got another award- winning collection of links to posts from around the Internet that are bound to engage you.