Schumer pulls a McConnell!

 As a general rule, the world would be a better place if people were honest and honorable, but people are neither honest nor honorable.  What does one do in the context of dishonest, dishonorable people?  There are many potential answers.  We can refer back to moral philosophy and debate consequentialism and deontology.  Immanuel Kant, the leading figure in deontological philosophy, would argue that one must act according to generalizable rules.  Remain honest and honorable, even when dealing with those who are dishonest and dishonorable.  Even those who elevate dishonesty and dishonor to their own form of twisted pseudo-morality.  Yet, is that merely unilateral disarmament?  Consequentialist philosophy could, in principle, justify violations of honesty and honor when dealing with... let's call him "Bitch McDonald," for the sake of a name.  Anyway, if one adheres to a consequentialist conception of moral philosophy, one might justify dishonesty and dishonor when dealing with Bitch McDonald on the grounds that Bitch McDonald is dishonest and dishonorable, and therefore, accomplishing positive ends requires dishonesty and dishonor to cancel out Bitch's dishonesty and dishonor.  And if Bitch whines about it, you say, "hey, Bitch.  Be honest and I wouldn't have to do this."  Boom.  Consequentialism, in Pliny's nutshell.  Philosophy, classical history, and bitch-jokes.  That's why people come to my blog.  Oh, wait.  Nobody reads my blog.

Anyway, the Republican Party has become so enamored of hostage-taking that political observers don't even notice anymore.  It is simply part of "normal" American politics, keeping in mind that the modern standards of normality in the GOP are what allowed a thing like Trump to become their god.  In 2011, the Republican Party nearly drove the country, and the world to financial crisis by holding the debt ceiling hostage for... honestly, they didn't fucking know.  They just knew that they were frothing at the mouth with racist conspiracy theories about Obama, and they were ranting nonsense about the debt ceiling, so they talked themselves into holding the debt ceiling hostage for something, but they couldn't come up with a list of demands.  Dumbasses.  (They demanded unspecified spending cuts, but couldn't say where the money should be cut.)  Everyone outside the Jim Jones-spiked Tea Party was aghast, but Obama was naive enough to give in, and the Republicans have been habitual hostage-takers ever since.  They just can't stop themselves.  They love taking hostages because it is a way to get something without normal political negotiation.

So that's the background, and it brings us to 2022, when somehow, we fell through a wormhole into an alternate and unstable universe Donnie Darko-style, and here, Chucky grew a spine and a brain.  Like, I'm seriously worried.  This universe cannot be stable.  I'm looking around for signs of collapse.  This is some freaky shit, right here.  Either Chucky is dead, and Nancy Pelosi stuck her hand up his ass to work him like a puppet, or this whole thing is comin' down because I don't see another Democrat who knows how plan ahead.

Anyway, so there was a "bipartisan" bill, called Chips.  No Ponch, no John, no speeding tickets.  Tech research and funding.  It is "bipartisan," but it is mainly Democrats with just enough Republicans to invoke cloture because the Republicans don't like anything that involves giving the Democrats a bipartisan win.  That's basically it.  Democrats have some of that, but the Republicans openly admit that they strategically oppose giving Democrats bipartisan wins.  But Bitch told Chucky to take a reconciliation bill off the table before he'd let Chips move forward.  Even though he likes Chips.  Theoretically.

Hostage.

So Chucky said fine.  No reconciliation bill.  Chips moves forward, and then Chucky puts reconciliation back on the agenda, with Manchin on board!  Holy shit!  He stuck Don Young's knife in Bitch's back!

And what's Bitch gonna do?  Complain about it being dishonorable?  This is Mitch McConnell we're talking about!  As I regularly write, when the epitaph for American democracy is written, it will read:  "Murdered in cold blood by Mitch McConnell."  He is at absolute zero for honesty and honor.  There is no rule he won't break, and no lie he won't tell if he thinks he has something to gain.  You can go through the history of the deterioration of the U.S. Senate, and the asshole who did it was Mitch McConnell.  The asshole who lied, cheated, stole and broke every fucking rule was Mitch McConnell.

And Chuck Schumer just fucked him!

In normal politics, your word is your bond.  Lose your word, and you are left with nothing.  But you know who took us in another direction?

Mitch McConnell.  Anyone who ever trusts that asshole is going to get exactly what Mitch just got, so what did Chucky lose by pulling a Mitch on Mitch?

He lost his ability to walk in polite company, because he just got his first teardrop face tattoo, and I think it looks badass.  To be sure, Mitch is so covered in gang tats you can't make out one from another, but it was time for Chucky to earn one.

Slap!  How'd that feel, Mitch?!

The Tedeschi Trucks Band, "You Get What You Deserve," live.  This is on a few of Derek's albums (Already Free, Already Live, and Roadsongs).  Mike is still on vocals, and you get Derek and Susan trading guitar lines.