The Power of No
No Me Digas. Op-Ed: Keith Price
As Sen. Chuck Schumer finally takes the reins of power and the Republican minority party stops playing the Charlie Brown and Lucy football game, we are finally over an impasse that really should have not required negotiating. The country has been awaiting a desperately needed stimulus package that had been stalled by the need to negotiate across the aisle with people who, when the package was presented to their crew MONTHS ago, couldn’t be bothered for a conversation. Now some of these same Republican figures like Senator Susan “Get Me a Lozenge” Collins, are chiming in for compromise? Luckily for us, the Dems decided to just forge ahead.
The idea of bullying your legislation through is probably not what President Biden thought would be necessary, because he just reeks of wanton bipartisanship. But let’s face it, IT AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN. I know that I am not the only one who sees this. The Republicans are pretending as if they have some real say in how things are supposed to be, and last time that I checked they are in the minority, albeit a slim one. Senators Kristen Sinema and Joe Manchin, by showing their flexible spines, take power away from any move that Sen. Schumer wants to make from this day forward. The enemy now knows the Achilles Heel of the majority. Sen. Schumer may have to exercise some punitive Majority Leader energy to get his ship together.
Many of us watched when President Obama walked into 2009 with everything on his side. His preoccupation with bipartisanship, the fear of being seen as that angry black guy, and making those hateful white people feel validated, cost him the majority in 2010, and subsequently caused the slow descent into Hell in which this country has spiraled. In order for President Obama to have had any success, he felt like he needed approval from the Man, disguised as bipartisanship. I am not blaming him per se, but his behavior is the product of this country’s systemic racism and Mitch McConnell. Well, President Joe Biden is the Man, which means that he doesn’t have to answer to anyone. Not that he wants to be that guy, but we elected him to be that guy.
An undeniable observation of the problem that we have in this country is that good and bad white people look the same to the rest of us. It is only when the evil is revealed that we see who we can trust. President Joe Biden spent nearly a year reminding us that he is a moral man, a friend to the downtrodden, and the go-to guy who knows how to lead compassionately. The fact that we still have to haggle over getting relief to us all is still shameful.
The time for compromise on this and other issues is over. The chance for discussions was months ago when the Republicans were in power and the House presented the follow-up relief package. There were no good faith discussions then, so why now? While people died, businesses went under, food lines formed and filled up nationwide, they found time to push through judges and Supreme Court Justices, yet they had no time to talk compromise about COVID relief. Senator Scratchy Throat thinks that she is fooling a nation, but we all see it for the posturing that it is.
For some reason when it comes to helping actual Americans, the instantaneous bureaucracy generated is overwhelming and useless. I have enjoyed the days of Executive Orders being signed, and the days carved out for specific types of legislation, and all of the pageantry that ensues.
If the majority represented in the House and Senate would like to remain a majority, then they better start embracing phrases like “I hear you, but NO” or “we will gladly take your suggestions, but in the end, it will probably be a ‘NO’”. If the Democrats want to see more folks return to the polls in addition to bringing more to the electorate in 2022, or possibly increase the majority, then they need to show the nation that they have might and right, and they are not afraid to use it. Not to mention, it’s kind of hot.
WASH YOUR HANDS. DOUBLE MASK. SOCIALLY DISTANCE.
