People write me whenever newspapers publish my guest columns. Sometimes I get hate mail; other times I get thank you notes. When my most recent column ran (in six newspapers so far), I received a note from a man with a PhD who claimed to be a liberal. He said that he usually enjoyed my columns, but that my last one upset him because I poked fun at Republicans, and he thought the best way to deal with the Republicans was through peace, love and understanding.
Needless to say, I disagreed. Contemporary Republicans are not the Republicans of old. They are no longer the loyal opposition. None of them suddenly became Trumpers because Hillary Clinton called them “deplorable,” and being nice to them does not work. Republicans are bullies and they must be treated as such.
A case and point is Mitch McConnell, who didn’t even give America a single day to grieve over the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg before releasing a statement, “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”
McConnell has gotten away with being a bully because Democrats have played nice.
Therefore, I was thrilled when Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) tweeted, “Mitch McConnell set the precedent. No Supreme Court vacancies filled in an election year. If he violates it, when Democrats control the Senate in the next Congress, we must abolish the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court.”
Yes! Fuck being nice to people who refuse to respond in-kind. If McConnell and the Republicans force through a Trump-nominated Supreme Court Justice, the Democrats must humiliate the GOP on Election Day and then get rid of the filibuster and pack the court.
It’s the only way to stop bullies, who don’t have a single ethical bone in their bodies.