Senator Joe Manchin is the opposite of Senator Everett Dirksen./1 In 1964, Dirksen, the Republican Senate Minority Leader, broke with fellow conservatives to stop the southern Democratic filibuster against civil rights. On June 10, he delivered a speech quoting Victor Hugo: “Stronger than all the armies is an idea whose time has come.”/2

Some interesting excerpts from a speech by Senator Hubert Humphrey in 1949:

"The rules of the Senate are inadequate to meet the needs of our day."/1 "Under the rules it has been possible for a determined and organized minority of Senators to keep this body from taking any action at all, by refusing to stop talking and thus preventing the Senate from voting. In most cases the talk is not even pertinent to the issues."/2

Gridlock, dysfunction, and obstruction benefits the GOP more than Democrats. The GOP has an interest in the status quo. For the origins story, see Reagan's inaugural address: "Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem." /1 Democrats, left and center, are a party that believes in government. This creates a permanent check on how far most members of the party are willing to go in undermining our ability to govern in pursuit of partisan power/2

The Republican backlash to @POTUS's stimulus bill will occur regardless of the substance or the overall amount. It will be a backlash against a Democratic president—not a backlash against the particulars of the bill./1 This is why @POTUS can’t make bipartisanship his main objective. The priority must be an effective stimulus that strengthens the economy and provides relief. Given how the House GOP has dealt with @mtgreenee, POTUS should realize how radicalized his opponents have become./2

In 1950, Senator Hubert Humphrey published a piece in the American Political Science Review about the filibuster, which he called "an evil." Even when it was not used nearly as much as today, Humphrey understood the high costs of this tradition. Here is some of the relevant text.

Before everyone raises glasses to make their “the system worked” toasts, let’s remember…./1 The racism, nativism, sexism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and vicious social hatred/2

11 days to go. If Democrats want to win, they need to treat the remaining time like a battle for their lives, not the latest binge show. Obsessing over @RealClearNews polling averages or staying up into the wee hours freaking out about the latest news won't do a thing./1 Republicans are energized. Fighting to win means getting people to canvas, phone banking, social media outreach, working through every social network to make sure friends and family have a voting plan. Social media needs to be a site of politics, not selfies and dances./2

A few days after two white right-wing extremists bombed a federal government building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, President Clinton warned about the danger of toxic rhetoric./1 "We hear so many loud and angry voices in America today whose sole goal seems to be to try to keep some people as paranoid as possible and the rest of us all torn up and upset with each other. They spread hate. They leave the impression that . . . that violence is acceptable."/2

In 1968, LBJ's Kerner Commission reported that police officers were not "merely a spark factor" in the 1967 riots, but that in the cities they had come to symbolize "white power, white racism, and white oppression."/1
amazon.com/Kerner-Madison… The commission, made up of high level establishment figures from the political center, warned of “ominous consequences” if nothing changed./2

Tonight, @BarackObama will speak to the High School Seniors who are graduating this year, the Great Class of 2020./1
vogue.com/article/barack… Everyone, Democrats and Republicans, should tune in. These young people have been doing an amazing job. Rather than pics of bad haircuts or videos complaining about their parents, most have been working, staying engaged, and figuring out life--while social distancing./2

Listening to @NYGovCuomo today made me think about my late grandfather, an immigrant from Eastern Europe who arrived to the U.S. in the early 20th century, survived the Great Depression, and then served in WWII before becoming a rabbi. I remember how he always used to make sure that his grandchildren ate every piece of food in front of them and he never wanted to spend too much. If the "early bird" special was offered, he would take it. He always warned that you can lose everything with the blink of an eye.

@realDonaldTrump is set to be the grand marshal at the Daytona 500. He’ll give the “start your engines” command, take a lap around the track in an armed limo, and tout his claim to be a populist president./1

thehill.com/homenews/campa… @realDonaldTrump Democrats need to work harder to respond to this claim, which contradicts his policy record of supply side tax cuts and deregulations./2

nytimes.com/2019/07/23/us/…

Correction to House Republicans. Democrats did not have a strong partisan interest in moving forward with impeachment. This is why it took @SpeakerPelosi so long to reach this decision. @SpeakerPelosi It was clear from the start that Democrats would go through this entire process with almost no chance of the Senate removing @realDonaldTrump from office./2

At least for now, polls suggest that the @realDonaldTrump impeachment is not playing out like the Clinton impeachment/1
washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-… @realDonaldTrump The predictions that the two would unfold the same way were based on several misleading comparisons/2

Several people have asked me about this smart @CNNOpinion piece by my esteemed colleagues. Years ago, I wrote a book on the history of politics and foreign policy, Arsenal of Democracy, which examined how politics rarely stops at the water’s edge./1 cnn.com/2019/10/02/opi… @CNNOpinion So how do we think of Trump’s scandal in historical context?/2
amazon.com/Arsenal-Democr…

Though the odds of Republicans breaking with POTUS remain low, I don’t think the cw about this being "impossible" is correct given the dramatic information being revealed on an hourly basis./1 Let’s remember, though party polarization was not as strong in 1973-1974, it took a long time before Republicans broke ranks with President Richard Nixon—and they eventually did./2
nytimes.com/2018/08/13/opi…

As the formal impeachment process gets underway, here are a few suggestions for journalists on all media platforms so that we obtain the best coverage that is possible in this atmosphere/1 Impeachment is the big story of the moment—treat it like that: Impeaching the President is a huge process. Give the investigation focused attention, cover the evidence in sustained fashion, and let the American people see and learn what is being presented/2

Based on Trump playbook during most important decision-making moments for Democrats, we can expect several things from POTUS/1 First, provocative tweets and statements intended to distract the news media and redirect the conversation away from impeachment and toward his latest outrageous act/2

The media needs to be cautious when using the term “culture wars.” This is a politically loaded concept that frames issues in very particular ways./1 The term became popular in the 1980s-1990s when the Right used this as a rallying cry. Here is Pat Buchanan at the 1992 Republican convention. @kevinkusatsu and I covered this history in #FaultLines./2
c-span.org/video/?c454042…

As Democrats ponder the benefits and risks of "going bold," it’s worth remembering that on July 30, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the law creating Medicare and Medicaid./1
With many Democrats still reeling from the AMA's devastating campaign to defeat President Truman’s national health care plan, some liberals started pushing for a narrower alternative, hospital insurance for the elderly, built into Social Security./2

Now that the Mueller hearings are over and everyone is having their take, it time to see whether there is any substantive political impact on Capitol Hill./1 Some concrete developments to look for./2