Thread by @CitizenCohn

Thread:

There's a lot going on this week, I know, but want to draw your attention to a pair of new books that are quite relevant to what's been happening in U.S. politics -- and where we could go in the next few years. (1)

One is Kill Switch, by @AJentleson nytimes.com/2021/01/04/boo…

It's a history of the filibuster and how it has contributed to gridlock and widespread disillusionment with politics. (2)

I especially liked the focus on John Calhoun, who promoted the idea of a "minority veto" to protect Southern slave states.

I'm a bit of a Calhoun obsessive and -- like @jbouie -- think it's a straight line from his arguments to the dynamics of today. (3) nytimes.com/interactive/20…

The intertwined history of race and the filibuster is one of the topics @AJentleson discussed on @nprfreshair this week npr.org/2021/01/12/955… (4)

More broadly, @AJentleson makes the case that the filibuster makes responsive governing nearly impossible, because the bar for most legislation has become impossibly high.

Very relevant as Biden prepares to take power, obviously. (5) wwnorton.com/books/97816314…

Which brings me to the other book -- Freedom From Market by @rortybomb

In many ways, this is a book about what Biden and a Democratic governing majority can do *if* it can pass legislation (6) thenewpress.com/books/freedom-…

There's a particularly good chapter on child care -- and how the failure to create a universal program, as European nations did, entrenched economic and gender inequalities.

Child care, as you may know, is high on the Biden/Dem agenda right now. huffpost.com/entry/joe-bide… (7)

But more broadly the book is a call to get past the reverence of markets that defined not just Republican but also Democratic Party politics for so much of the last half century -- something @rortybomb discusses in this @DissentMag interview (8) dissentmagazine.org/online_article…

I have no idea how much of the @rortybomb agenda Biden and the Dems will pursue, how much can pass. This @NRO review gives you a sense of the conservative critique (9) nationalreview.com/2021/01/americ…

But I think it's pretty easy to imagine that, going forward, the Democratic Party's orientation will be moving it this direction. thenewpress.com/books/freedom-… (10)