I read several articles bemoaning the demise of bipartisanship. In my view, this is not a “both sides are at fault” problem. The poisoned political atmosphere has been caused almost entirely by Republicans.
- Republicans stole a Supreme Court seat
Do they expect Democrats to just forget about this and move on? It will affect the Supreme Court for decades. Since Trump has appointed extreme conservatives, what do you expect the Democrats to do the next time a Democrat picks a justice? The base will clamor for an extreme liberal to balance out the Republican picks. The only way we will get this done is if Democrats control the Senate, too.Remember that several Republicans said in 2016 that they were willing to hold the seat open for four years in Clinton won. Thanks to the the Republicans, there will be no more moderate ustices. Merrick Garland would have been the last one. In 20 or 30 years, the justices might as well wear red robes or blue ones instead of black ones.
Let’s also not forget about the court’s 2000 block of the recount in Florida which handed the presidency to Bush. This was an obviously political decision. Then there were all of the nominations for lower courts blocked by McConnell and his current disregard for the long standing blue-slip tradition.
2. Republicans use gerrymandering and voter suppression as election strategies
Yes, there is Democratic gerrymandering in Maryland which has cost Republicans one congressional seat. However, Republicans have used gerrymandering much more often and fight efforts to get non-partisan maps. Then there’s Republican voter suppressions in numerous states as they try to prevent qualified people from voting. Republicans opposed the Democratic House bill that would make elections fairer because it would hurt their chances.
3. Republicans ignore the public will on universal background checks
They don’t care that polls show public support for universal background checks is as high as 97%. They won’t even bring it up for a vote in the Senate. It’s all that NRA money they got. The NRA spent about $30 million to get Trump elected so he owes them.
4. Republicans ignore facts and public opinion on climate change
Trump doesn’t even believe in it. This is pathetic and will cause permanent damage to our country.
5. Republicans led by Trump are into name-calling and lying about Democrats
They won’t even call it the Democratic Party. They show a lack of respect when they call it the Democrat Party. They know better but don’t care.
Trump said that members of Congress hate our country. I’m sure he meant Democrats. Democrats don’t talk like that about Republicans even though Trump’s the one who is cozy with our enemy Russia.
Trump says Democrats want crime and open borders. Trump says the Democrats are anti-Jews but he’s the one that said Neo-Nazis “included very fine people”. I don’t see any Republicans correcting these lies. How are we supposed to work with people who think like this about us. I don’t think Democrats have said similar things about Republicans. Sure, they have called Trump a liar and a bigot but those are facts, not opinions.
Forget it. I don’t see how Democrats can work with Republicans based on the current Republican behavior.
