Manchin Bashes a Hole below the Waterline in the Ship of State

In an Op-ed in last night’s online Washington Post, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia said he will not vote to circumvent the filibuster. Because of the 50-50 split in the senate, and united Republican opposition to all of Biden’s legislative initiatives, this looks likely to doom the rest of Biden’s progressive agenda. Manchin justified his position by claiming to be a champion of bipartisanship. But since the Republicans have rejected bipartisanship, and preserving the filibuster will only bring forth from them self-satisfied snickers, Manchin’s position makes no sense. Manchin has bashed a hole below the waterline in the ship of state, and it doesn’t look as if it can be plugged.