First of all let me begin by wishing everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. Most of us have much to be thankful for no matter what else is going on in the world around us.

This morning I had another "Is it just me?" moment. It came while reading about what is suspected to be the next Republican tactic to thwart democracy and prevent the President from being able to put his nominees on the courts in this country. It deals with a practice known as "blue slip".
This practice began in 1917. Basically it works like this. When someone is nominated to fill a federal judgeship the Senate Judiciary Committee sends out two blue slips, one to each Senator from the state the nominee is from. The blue slip is used by each Senator to signify if they approve or object to the nominee. Traditionally if one of the Senator's objects, or fails to return the blue slip, the nomination does not proceed. 
You can see how this can easily become the next tactic of Republican obstructionism, simply have a Republican Senator withhold his or her blue slip. If the Democratic leadership decides to follow tradition the nomination will not even get past the Judiciary Committee let alone come to a vote. The Republicans will keep all these judgeships vacant, at least until such time as a Republican wins the White House. Then we'll see how often blue slips, or filibusters, are invoked to prevent the winning President from appointing his or her officials and judges. And if the Democrats ever tried the tactic you know the Republicans would scream about how nefarious and unpatriotic this was, and the traditional mainstream corporate media would bleat along with them. 

But that is not the part that struck me and made me ask "Is it just me?"

No, it was the date. 1917. The year the tradition of the blue slip was introduced into the rules of the Senate. That date rang a bell. And then it hit me. That was the same year the Senate introduced the filibuster into its rules as well.
So let me get this straight. There is no mention of filibuster in the Constitution. And for the first 128 years of the Republic (1789 - 1917) there was no filibuster in the Senate. Likewise there is no "blue slip" or requirement to consult and get approval from the Senators of a judicial nominees home state before proceeding with the nomination found in the Constitution either. And for the first 128 years there was no such practice either.
So what is so magical about 1917? It finally hit me. That was when the 17th Amendment to the Constitution went into effect allowing for members of the U.S. Senate to be elected by popular vote. The Constitution had given that power to state legislatures, so it was the state legislatures that elected the Senators. The "people" only directly elected the members of the House of Representatives. 
It would seem that all these rules adopted around the same time have the same thrust. Namely to put a brake on a majority elected by popular vote and protect the losers. It would seem the Senators in office already feared this new found power being given directly to the citizens and were busy putting up roadblocks to keep popular public opinion in check. 
And while there were times when it was frustrating and aggravating (as in the filibusters of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts), there was little visibility or evidence that the filibuster or blue slip rule had dramatic impact on the direction of the country or on the ability of the majority party, or the party who won the White House from being able to govern.
That is until 2007. That is when Democrats regained control of the Congress. The Republicans did not take kindly to their newfound minority status and began using the filibuster at a frequency never before seen. This only accelerated when they lost the White House as well in the 2008 election. There have now been almost as many filibusters by the Republicans from 2007 to present as there had been in the period from 1917 to 2006. Since 1917 there have been 168 filibusters of executive branch or judicial nominees. Over 80 of those 168 have occurred since Obama became President. Clearly the Republicans have abused the filibuster and are prepared to abuse the blue slip tradition as well. 
We now see how a party bent on partisan advantage and putting the good of the nation behind their own political ambitions and ideology can make a government dysfunctional. 
It is one thing to protect the rights of the minority. It is another thing entirely to allow them to abuse rules and protections to completely thwart the majority and attempt to nullify the will of the people as expressed at the ballot box.
And I believe this is also related to the movement among some Tea Party Republicans and their billionaire benefactors to undo the 17th Amendment and return election of U.S. Senators back to the state legislatures rather than letting people vote for them directly. It is much easier after all to control state legislatures and control local elections than it is to control state-wide elections. Costs a lot less money too. It all part of a pattern to allow corporations and the very rich and powerful to exert ever more control over the politics and economy of this country. 


 

I kept thinking after the Howard Dean / John Kerry campaigns that Democrats had learned they will only succeed if they develop backbones and stand up for something even in the face of criticism or attacks.
Wrong again.
We can face some facts. The Obamacare rollout has been botched. Given.
"You can keep your policy" should have had an asterisk attached. If you were sold a junk individual health insurance policy that doesn't cover very much and you bought it sometime after Obamacare was passed, then you can't keep your policy. You can go to the exchanges and likely find better policies for as much or less cost, but a small percentage of you will end up paying a lot more.
In the face of incessant Republican and now media attacks on these points though Democrats are pulling the usual "el-foldo". I agree they had to come up with something cosmetic for the people losing coverage. But lost in all this is that they are giving the upper hand to the critics who have done nothing to help the uninsured, the under-insured, and to protect the rest of us from the worst abuses of the system as it existed before the Affordable Care Act.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not a big fan of Obamacare. As with a lot of what we do in this country it's an inefficient, overly complex solution because we are still in the era of "government is the problem, the free market is always the solution".
Still, it's a huge improvement over what was in place before. Thanks to Obamacare there are no lifetime caps, you can't be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions, women can't be charged more than men for the same policy, you can't be dropped from your insurance after being covered, you can keep your children on your plan up to age 26, and there are no co-pays for preventative measures. And once working properly the web site will allow you to navigate the exchanges and shop for the best plan for you and your family. And we are already seeing progress and evidence that the web site is already working better.
So my complaint is, where is the Democrats marketing campaign on all this? How are they getting the information out to people? And the answer of course if that they aren't.
This lept into my mind as I saw headlines and posts on various sites complaining about the fact that the traditional, mainstream media, even supposedly liberal media outlets like the New York Times and Washington Post, were repeating Republican talking points, talking points that were often erroneous or inaccurate.
Still it got me to wondering. Why are there never Democratic talking points? Why can't the Democrats formulate a simple message and stick to it and repeat it and repeat it until it sinks into everyone's consciousness? And of course instead we are seeing the usual Democratic response: apologies, hand-wringing in the face of the slightest criticism or setbacks, abandonment of core principles, heading for the hills and retreating rather than standing up for a signature achievement while acknowledging flaws.
There are probably many factors involved in answering why this is the usual Democratic instinct, but for just once I wish the Democrats could adopt the message discipline that the conservatives and Republicans are able to. They don't seem to care if the facts or public opinion are against them, the Republicans stick to their message and repeat it over and over without shame. 
In the face of the botched rollout and the controversy over the individuals losing their substandard coverage the Democrats should take a page from the Republican playbook and just keep repeating:

• We are working on fixing the website and helping people who have to give up substandard policies, but in the meantime let us not lose sight of the following:
• Obamacare is attempting to provide health coverage for the uninsured and underinsured using a market-based approach allowing people to buy insurance from private companies; this saves everyone money in the long run
• Obamacare allows people with pre-existing conditions to get insurance
• Obamacare eliminates lifetime caps on benefits
• Obamacare allows you to keep your children on your plan until age 26
• Obamacare prevents insurance companies from denying your coverage or dropping your coverage once you have enrolled and paid premiums
• Obamacare eliminates co-pays for preventative services that save money in the long run
• The Republicans only answer to solving the problems Obamacare addresses is to repeal it, allow all the old abuses and put the insurance companies back in charge

Now was that so difficult? Just keep repeating all the positive benefits of Obamacare that individually poll very well and are more importantly good things, and keep pointing out that the Republicans have no interest in solving any of these issues, or any plan to do so.
You may say I'm a dreamer...

Occasionally I'll make a post when something strikes me as odd or funny. And it will be under the heading "Is It Just Me?" That's because I have found as I wend my way through this life that things strike me as funny or odd that don't seem to have that impact on anyone else.