After the Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of a law passed in Texas banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) once again finds herself on the hot seat, facing criticism from her own party.
“Every Dem who ever gave Kyrsten Sinema a dime should demand a refund,” far-left activist Pam Kieth said on Twitter.
Every Dem who ever gave Kyrsten Sinema a dime should demand a refund.
— Pam Keith, Esq. (@PamKeithFL) September 2, 2021
“Manchin & Sinema aren’t gonna budge,” lamented author Nell Scovell. “The only way to pivot from authoritarianism is to hold the house in 22 & pick up 2 more Senate seats. This means Dems need to team up &pick [sic] candidates who can win. The common good is tantamount. Learn from Klobuchar & Buttigieg.”
Manchin & Sinema aren't gonna budge. The only way to pivot from authoritarianism is to hold the house in 22 & pick up 2 more Senate seats. This means Dems need to team up &pick candidates who can win. The common good is tantamount. Learn from Klobuchar & Buttigieg.
— Nell Scovell (@NellSco) September 2, 2021
“It’s time to stop sitting back and thinking that the worst thing possible will never happen, because the worst things keep happening. Senators Manchin and Sinema need to be pressured DAILY to abolish the filibuster before it’s too late,” activist group Really American said.
It's time to stop sitting back and thinking that the worst thing possible will never happen, because the worst things keep happening.
Senators Manchin and Sinema need to be pressured DAILY to abolish the filibuster before it's too late.
— Really American 🇺🇸 (@ReallyAmerican1) September 1, 2021
Thousands of tweets bashing Sinema’s moderate position on the filibuster caused the Arizona senator to trend on Twitter.
Sinema, a Democrat senator in a traditionally-Republican state, has often been at odds with her own party over some of the progressive wing’s wish list items, like doing away with the filibuster.
That tension boiled over Thursday in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Texas’ abortion ban.
Sinema claims that her opposition to ending the filibuster stems from the fact that doing so would allow Republicans to ram their “extreme” agenda items through the Senate and into law.
Her critics are no longer buying that argument, pointing to the fact that Republicans in Texas just passed what they call an “extreme” law, despite the fact that the filibuster remains intact. This, they argue, means that Republicans will pass “extreme” laws with or without the filibuster, so Democrats might as well abolish it and pass their own “extreme” laws.
“Sinema keeps arguing that ending the filibuster would open the door for Republicans to pass, by simple majority, national voter ID and other restrictions on voting that would apply nationwide. But right now, in many states, this is already happening, and that campaign is quasi-national in scope,” Washington Post columnist Greg Sargent said. “As we speak, the GOP-controlled Texas state legislature is rushing through a new law that contains a host of onerous new restrictions and is targeted at Democratic voters. And Republicans in many states are gearing up to execute extreme gerrymanders to rig the playing field in advance of the 2022 battle for the House. Much of this is currently doable by simple legislative majority.”
Abolishing the filibuster would also allow Democrats to pack the Supreme Court, and give left-leaning judges a majority, along with the ability to strike down legislation like Texas’ new abortion law.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Kyrsten Sinema” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
