MSNBC Seems Pretty Upset That Joe Manchin Is Putting His State First

Prior to the 17th Amendment, which made senators directly elected instead of appointed by a state general assembly, senators did the business of the state as directed by the state general assembly. They weren’t there to represent their party, they weren’t there to represent, necessarily, the nation. They did the business of their state. That was their point. The House represented their districts (that doesn’t happen much anymore, either), the senators were essentially ambassadors to Washington for their state

Joe Manchin’s focus on West Virginia could doom voting rights
To placate his voters, Manchin doesn’t support H.R. 1 — but his Plan B for saving democracy can’t work.

I believe Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., when he says he believes in the institutions and traditions of the Senate. I believe him when he says he wants to find common ground with the Republicans he works with in the Senate chamber each day.

But I also believe Manchin operates with an eye firmly on West Virginia and its people, not the country as a whole. It’s an increasingly antiquated view that he brandishes in defense of an increasingly antiquated chamber. His myopia toward the needs of the United States versus his home state fuels his unwillingness to act in defense of democracy as we know it. As a result, Manchin’s love of a state born over 200 years ago during a struggle to preserve the Union could, in the end, be the Union’s ruin.

That’s not how Manchin sees it, though, as he explained Sunday in an op-ed announcing that he opposes the For the People Act. Manchin is the only member of the 50-senator Democratic caucus that is against the election overhaul bill, because, as he wrote, “partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening binds of our democracy.”

An “antiquated view.” Then who represents West Virginia? A little history/Political Theory 101 lesson: nations used to be called states. A visiting president, premier, etc, is called the “Chief Of State.” Most of the original 13 colonies were as big, at least in size, as the old world European nations. And were then called states. Bringing about a new term for countries: nation-states. U.S. states were meant to be mostly sovereign, with a limited federal government binding them all together. Los Federales were assigned specific duties, and everything else was reserved for the states and the People.

Should each state not be represented by their senators? That is their job, not to represent their party nor even the nation first. The wants of California are not the wants of West Virginia.

“If I can’t go home and explain it, I can’t vote for it,’” Manchin wrote. “And I cannot explain strictly partisan election reform or blowing up the Senate rules to expedite one party’s agenda.” Nor does he even really try. His essay doesn’t delve into the details of the For the People Act — there’s no “why” that even explains the parts that he’s against. He’s content to list its faults as being a “more than 800-page bill” that “has garnered zero Republican support.”

This has made MSDNC’s Hayes Brown very upset. Triggered, you might say. You’ve surely seen how Democrats and their pet media have been attacking Manchin as of late, because he refuses to Comply with the hardcore Leftist agenda. In this case, a takeover of all voting by the federal government, which I’m pretty sure violates the Constitution, and wanting to get rid of the filibuster. Joe surely realizes that Democrats will not always control the Senate.

Interestingly, we get this from the NY Post

Get this: a Democrat who puts nation’s needs before his party’s obsessions

At least one Democrat is putting the nation’s interests over his party’s obsessions: Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) went on record this weekend opposing the Dems’ top-priority legislation, the so-called “For the People Act.”

It passed the House as H.R.1 without a single Republican vote, and as S.1 faces the same united GOP opposition. It’s a naked bid to federalize nearly all election rules, in blatant violation of the Constitution.

It would strike down most voter-ID requirements and block states from purging ineligible voters, force automatic voter-registration, impose new campaign-finance rules and even deny states their rights to run their own redistricting. (snip)

Preserving the filibuster dooms not only S.1, but much of the rest of Biden’s much-hyped agenda. Maybe Manchin’s wake-up call will inspire the rest of his party to stop focusing on wild fantasies and get to work on measures that can command bipartisan support in a Congress that Democrats barely control.

Quit concentrating on offering red meat for partisans and put effort into bills that serve the nation’s actual needs.

Joe knows that the people of West Virginia are against these things, and that he would be voted out if he supported this stuff. If what’s best for West Virginia is best for the nation, that’s what Joe will do.