Thread by @MatthewStiegler

When McConnell does things like demand Ds honor R circuit blue slips in 2009 or demand Ds honor R filibusters in 2021, despite not doing those things for Ds when he was in power, the problem isn't hypocrisy. It's worse.

nytimes.com/2021/01/25/us/…

McConnell isn't failing to honor his own principles. McConnell's only guiding principle is "If the rules don't prevent it and it adds to GOP power, we'll do it." He's quite consistent about following it.

So when McConnell demands that Ds do this or that, he's simply try to keep Ds from using their power the way he uses his. And why not? It's always worked for him before.

In McConnell, the Ds face an opponent free of the customary limits on exercising power. Free of institutionalism, patriotism, or shame.

Responding to his demands with earnest debates about norms and history and fairness is for suckers.

McConnell didn't block Garland because of any neutral practice, and he didn't ram through Barrett based on any heretofore undiscussed exception to that neutral practice, either. He did it because no one could stop him.

Start fighting back on his terms or keep losing.

Democrats, you have power to do good things. American things, democracy things, keep-people-from-dying things. Use it.

Use all of it.

If using all of your power means that you go back on some promise, we'll forgive you. If it means doing something you said was bad last year, we'll forgive you. Break a norm, we'll forgive you.

But if you fail to use all your power, we won't forgive you.

Republicans will stop doing McConnell things when the price they pay for doing McConnell things becomes unacceptable, and not a minute sooner.

So far, the Republicans have paid no price for doing McConnell things. Quite the contrary. It got them a hammerlock on the Supreme Court for a generation and a staggering transformation of the federal circuit courts. What a hilarious romp it has been McConnell. Why would he stop?