The Sharpton “Racist” Slander

by Joseph DeMaio, ©2021

(Mar. 28, 2021) — Well, well, well…, whatta ya know?  The Senate filibuster is now labeled by Democrats as a relic of the scurrilous “Jim Crow” era of the nation’s past.  Because of that, Democrats have declared that it must be killed.  Not only must it be killed, Senators who don’t toe the line and goose-step to the narrative – “der filibuster must go!…, der filibuster must go!” – will now be tossed under the bus and accused of supporting racism.  Ouch.

It is beyond comically ironic that now, in 2021, a race-baiter such as Al Sharpton would threaten to label Democrat Senators Joe Manchin (D. W.VA) and Kyrsten Sinema (D. AZ) as supporters of racism for not immediately disavowing the filibuster.  Sharpton’s threats being directed at Manchin and Sinema arise because both senators have stated publicly that they do not favor elimination of the filibuster.  The juicy hypocrisy of Sharpton’s threat blooms as he continues to reap the benefits (and largesse) coming his way via the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Yes, Virginia, do you not remember?  That was the act of Congress which, before it became law was subjected to… wait for it…, wait for it… a 54-day Democrat-sponsored and implemented filibuster.  That is correct, Virginia, the law which now protects the civil rights of all persons – black, white, brown, red, yellow, mauve and/or polka dot – was opposed by Democrat senators when it came to the floor for a vote on June 10, 1964.  Loathe as your servant is to link to “open source” sites like Wikipedia, the section captioned “Passage in the Senate” contains some interesting insight into how Democrat senators felt about guaranteeing civil rights to black Americans in the past.

Interestingly, the initiator and one of the most ardent supporters of the filibuster against the bill was Senator Richard Russell (D. GA).  Senator Russell commented on the bill: “We will resist to the bitter end any measure or any movement which would have a tendency to bring about social equality and intermingling and amalgamation of the races in our [Southern] states.”  Ummm…., so where are the cancel culture Neanderthals demanding that the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. – where scores of Democrat politicians now squat in opposition to the filibuster – be either renamed or razed?  Huh?

After 54 days of verbal (back then, verbal opposition was required) filibuster by Democrat senators, a bipartisan coalition of senators successfully invoked “cloture,” ending that filibuster, but not eliminating it.  The final “filibusterer” of the bill was the former “Exalted Cyclops” of the Sophia, West Virginia Chapter of the Ku Klux Klan and, oh yeah, “mentor” of the current Goofball-in-Chief, Senator Robert C. Byrd (D. W.VA).  Democrats, of course, have been serially reliant on the filibuster since 1964, when it suited their purpose as the minority party.

And now, Sharpton is threatening to slander two U.S. Senators with the greasy paintbrush of “racism?”  Seriously?  Has Sharpton forgotten about the grand tradition of Democrat support for the filibuster, particularly as it was wielded against the 1964 Civil Rights Act?  Oh…, wait…, my bad.  One cannot forget what one never knew, so Sharpton can be forgiven for that apparent oversight.

But back to text.  Sharpton’s idiocy blossoms when he threatens Senators Manchin and Sinema with the slur of “racism” unless they fall in line with the other goose-stepping automatons who demand that the filibuster be assassinated.  All his threat does is provide additional reasons why both Manchin and Sinema should consider doing – reader alert: not gonna happen! – that which is suggested here in the House Chamber: abandon the Democrat Party and become Republicans.  (Insert here a long break for prolonged laughter…).

Both Manchin and Sinema, not to mention a number of other Democrat senators who still consider themselves to be Americans first and Democrats a distant second, should do what Ronald Reagan, himself once a card-carrying Democrat, did: open their eyes; think for themselves; and put patriotism before political affiliation by joining the Republican Party.  Not only would that stop the lunatic proposals to stack the Supreme Court; grant statehood to D.C. and Puerto Rico, among other territories; and enact the “For the People Act,” H.R. 1, now introduced in the Senate as S. 1, it would go a long way to redirecting the Republic back to a form envisioned by the Founders.

In an interesting sidelight to the “For the People Act of 2021” – H.R. 1 in the House, S. 1 in the Senate – it is noteworthy that Senator Chuck Schumer (D. NY) produced at the Joint Session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021 (regarding the challenges posited by Republican Senators questioning the Electoral College votes) this nugget: “Mr. Vice President, as prescribed by the Constitution and the laws of the Nation, the purpose of this joint session is for tellers, appointed on a bipartisan basis by the two Houses, to read to the Congress the results of an election that has already happened. We are here to receive an announcement of a vote that has already been certified by every State in the Union and confirmed by the courts many times–many times over. We are here to watch the current Vice President open envelopes and receive the news of a verdict that has already been rendered. It is a solemn and august occasion, no doubt, but it is a formality.  The Congress does not determine the outcome of elections; the people do. The Congress is not endowed with the power to administer elections; our States are given that power.” (Emphasis added) See Jan. 6, 2021 Congressional Record, at S 14.

Hilarious: both H.R. 1 and S. 1 seek to do precisely that which Schumer confirmed last January the Congress “is not endowed with the power to do,” i.e., usurp the constitutional prerogatives of the states in the conduct of their elections.  But hey, the filibuster is racist, so what does a little more Democrat hypocrisy matter?

But again, I digress.  Repeat: on a scale of one to ten, the likelihood of either (or both) Manchin and/or Sinema experiencing the needed political epiphany is approximately 0.0001.  But 0.0001 is still bigger than zero.  Aristotle is credited with initiating the concepts later embodied in the observation that “what the nation needs is more statesmen and fewer politicians.” Wise words.

And, by the way, if Senators Manchin and Sinema wanted to permanently cement their places in the nation’s history as being two of the Republic’s greater statesmen (OK, OK…, and stateswomen) by abandoning a party which grows more despotic and totalitarian with each passing hour, the proposal starts looking a bit less implausible…. maybe 0.01 now.  It’s that “longest journey, first step” thing.

And hey, if they switched parties, they could blame Sharpton for it.  Sweet.

So…, your humble servant asks again: does anyone out there have any better ideas that don’t depend on waiting until 2022, when it likely will be too late?  Anyone?