Now that the Arizona Senator Jeff Flake is out of office he feels he can finally speak his mind. He is doing everything he can to urge Republicans in congress not to support the current Oval Office occupant in 2020. Of course that has brought a Twitter rage to his doorstep but it now has no effect on him.
One of the things he mentioned in a recent article is that he has found that 23 Republican Senators would likely not support Trump if they were allowed to vote anonymously on the Senate floor. Given the vitriol atmosphere in that building it is almost impossible for anyone to cross party lines in any of their votes. If the Democrats are for it then they have to be against it. Of course, that logic is what has virtually stopped any progress inside the beltway.
My hero Will Rogers used to say that stifling action was a good thing and in some cases he is right. But there are some urgent matter that our country needs to deal with that it they aren’t handled will cause future agony. On top of that list is global warming. If there is any issue that demands bipartisan support that is the one.
I’m not one of those who think that the GOP has sold their souls to willful ignorance to stay in power. I think somewhere deep down every one of those 53 Senators has some level of apprehension when it comes to supporting the idiocy of the current administration.
Of course, nothing of any significance is going to happen in the Senate until McConnell loses the reigns and I think that will surely happen come January 2021. Getting him out would be a big plus for democracy but that won’t happen soon enough to prevent some permanent damage to our country and the world.
Being able to vote anonymously on certain bills will eventually be the most effective way to get critical legislation passed. It would allow each person in Congress to vote their conscience for things that really matter.
What do you think?
RJ's Corner 
Who would determine which are the “certain bills” or the “critical legislation”? I would think this would quickly devolve into political manipulation, on both sides of the aisle. How do we hold our politicians accountable if we don’t know how they voted?
Looking for moral leadership in congress is the equivalent of expecting fair disclosure from used car dealers. I apologize to the used car dealers for lumping them in with congress.
As I have stated before our elected representatives are a very accurate mirror of who we are as a nation. Until we change the caliber of our elected officials will stay the same.” We have met the enemy and he is us”.
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I guess I am just not as pessimistic as you are Fred. I’m sure that not all 535 representatives in congress are just corrupt power mongers. Yes, the situation is dire, especially with the Executive branch but I won’t paint everyone the the same brush as you seem to be doing. If what you say it true then maybe it is time for the USA to go down in ashes. Maybe something less terrible would replace it? Just how do you propose getting people of “Higher caliber” in our elected officials?
I still hold out hope that when we get #CO3 out of the Oval Office, things will get better.
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Until we change we will not get people of higher caliber in political office. I simply observe actions and make judgements based on what I see. We keep putting the same people into office over and over. They represent the majority of their voters or they would not get elected. Now we could break it down and say we have limited options. The parties have drawn jerrymandered district lines, big money has too much influence, there are only two viable parties, no term limits, except pres., etc. etc. The bottom line is we as a country do not care enough to make it change. Why don’t we see 5 million strong peaceful marches on some of these limiting factors? Why do significant numbers of people with strong opinions on birth control, gun rights, taxes, religion, gay rights etc. refuse to vote for anyone that does not agree with them on that one singular issue? A large number of voters have retreated to tribal positions and will not budge. When we do get a politician that tries to talk common sense they are totally ignored.
As to your comment on going down in ashes, it probably will happen at some point in the future. No country lasts forever. I don’t believe we are there yet. American history has seen many swings from one side to the other. We will swing back. I can’t tell you it won’t get worse before it happens. We will probably swing too far when it does.
Getting Trump out of office would make things better. Having all three branches be Democrat will only create different problems.
I would love to see many of the moderate Democrats and Republicans join together and form a third party. Announce to their voters you can either keep us as is or get rid of us in the next election. That party would then be power brokers. Vote with Rep. on some issues and Dem. on other. How many of our principled politicians do you think would sign up? How many do you think would survive the next election?
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Here is another vote for a new party. I do believe there are many more moderates out there. The funny thing is most of the current party people think they are moderate.
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