Mitch McConnell Threatens To Burn Down The Senate If Democrats Take Away His ‘Precious’

Not since John C. Calhoun, the fiercely pro-slavery senator states’ rights advocate for state interposition, nullification and secession (he nearly precipitated a civil war with the nullification crisis over tariffs in 1832-33, and his political doctrines did serve as the doctrinal foundation of the Confederacy in the Civl War almost 30 years later), has there been a senator as destructive and malevolent as Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

As Adam Jentleson explained about his new book “Kill Switch,” the filibuster “was shepherded into existence by John C. Calhoun, who was a father of the Confederacy and the leading advocate for the slave power in the Senate during his time there. And it has always existed and been wielded primarily by senators who were interested in overriding progress against slavery and then overriding progress on civil rights. The filibuster is inextricably linked to the drive to oppress Black Americans. And today, it continues to primarily empower reactionary, conservative and predominantly white minority in Congress who benefit far more from its use than anybody else.”

On Tuesday, Mitch McConnell threatened to burn down the Senate (figuratively one hopes, but who knows in light of recent events), if Democrats dare to take away “my precious,” his weapon of mass destruction, the Senate filibuster.

Jake Johnson reports, McConnell Threatens to Sabotage Senate If Democrats Scrap Filibuster:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell threatened Tuesday to grind the workings of the notoriously sluggish upper chamber to a complete halt if the Democratic majority attempts to scrap the legislative filibuster, a warning that was met with immediate derision given the Kentucky Republican’s elimination of the 60-vote rule for Supreme Court nominees less than four years ago.

In a speech on the Senate floor just hours after he dropped his demand that Democrats commit to leaving the legislative filibuster intact as part of a must-pass organizing resolution, McConnell cautioned that “destroying the filibuster would drain comity and consent from this body to a degree that would be unparalleled in living memory.”

He’s joking, right?

“Taking that plunge would not be some progressive dream. It would be a nightmare. I guarantee it,” added McConnell, who said Republicans could obstruct Senate business by denying a quorum, the number of senators required to be present for the chamber to operate.

Are you trying to threaten us, Septuagenarian Ninja Turtle? Your own crazy caucus was contemplating replacing you as Minority Leader after you defied your “Dear Leader,” and said:

The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people, McConnell said.

McConnell said there will be a safe transfer of power on Wednesday as President-Elect Joe Biden is sworn in.

“We’ll move forward. Our work for the American people will continue, as it has for more than 230 years,” McConnell continued. “Americans elected a closely divided senate, a closely divided house and a presidential candidate who said he’d represent everyone.”

Senator McConnell went on to say the “marching orders” from the American people are to now find bipartisan agreement and seek “common ground.”

That was three weeks ago. Mitch has since changed his tune. Holding onto his Minority Leader position is far more important to him than his country or his conscience.

As Daily Kos political director David Nir pointed out, “if Republican senators refuse to show up for a quorum call, Democrats can direct the Senate’s sergeant at arms to arrest them and compel their attendance.”

“That’s how radical a threat withholding quorum is — you can be arrested for doing so,” Nir noted.

So, pretty much an empty threat from the Septuagenarian Ninja Turtle.

The minority leader echoed the message of his floor speech in a tweetTuesday evening, declaring that nuking the filibuster “would drain the consent and comity out of the institution” and leave the Senate unable to function.

Still laughing.

Democratic lawmakers and commentators responded by pointing to McConnell’s refusal to allow a vote on former President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee and subsequent elimination of the judicial filibuster to confirm right-wing Justice Neil Gorsuch in April of 2017 — and clear the way for later confirmation of two additional Trump high court nominees.

“You lost all credibility when you stole a Supreme Court seat,” tweeted Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). “The filibuster is a Jim Crow relic. It represents everything wrong with Washington. Abolish it.”

“By the way,” the Minnesota Democrat added, “Senate Democrats represent 41.5 million more Americans than Mitch and his caucus. Blocking needed relief for Americans has nothing to do with ‘consent and comity’ and everything to do with destroying democracy.”

Ari Berman of Mother Jones said it is “truly maddening to hear Mitch McConnell warn of ‘nightmare’ if Dems abolish filibuster when he already killed it to put three Trump justices on the Supreme Court and confirmed Amy Coney Barrett eight days before an election.”

“No one has benefited more from minority rule—and done more to ensure it—than Mitch McConnell”

When history books are written he will be judged to have done as much damage to American democracy, if not more, than Donald Trump https://t.co/CJol4P47Np

— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) January 27, 2021

McConnell’s threat to gum up the works of the Senate even more than he already has came as the chamber’s new Democratic majority began taking steps to advance President Joe Biden’s proposed coronavirus relief package through the special budget reconciliation process, a move made necessary by vocal Republican opposition to the new aid measure.

The Washington Post reported late Tuesday that “Democratic leaders in both chambers are tentatively planning to introduce a budget resolution on Monday that could come to a vote later in the week.”

“The resolution would instruct committees to write legislation codifying Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic relief plan,” the Post reported. “Under special rules governing the budget resolution, the resolution could pass the Senate with a simple majority vote, and the subsequent Covid-19 relief bill could also pass with a simple majority — even without eliminating the filibuster.”

While a coronavirus relief package could clear the Senate with the filibuster intact, former Senate staffer Adam Jentleson said in an interview with The.Ink Tuesday that Democrats “will never be able to use reconciliation to pass things like civil rights, democracy reforms, statehood, gun control, or many climate change solutions” due to rules restricting the kind of legislation that can be passed through the expedited budget process — meaning the urgency of abolishing the archaic 60-vote rule remains.

“Pulling our punches now will mean that we fail to reform our democracy and get climate change under control, for starters,” Jentleson said. “Then, when McConnell is back in power, he will chuckle and nuke the filibuster himself the first time it serves his interests.”

In a series of tweets Tuesday, Jentleson argued that the minority leader’s threat to defend the filibuster by plunging the Senate into chaos “is the worst he can come up with and it’s vastly preferable to letting McConnell block Biden’s agenda.”

“Unintentionally,” Jentleson added, “McConnell is revealing how his power relies heavily on the filibuster.”

It’s time to take away “The Grim Reaper” of the Senate’s “precious,” his weapon of mass destruction, the Senate filibuster, and render him “Mr. Irrelevant” – just a bitter, evil old man going on about the “good old days” of Jim Crow obstructionism.  It’s time to retire McConnell to his “old Kentucky home.”