OPINION:
The Democratic Party’s fight to kill the filibuster in the U.S. Senate was officially defeated on Wednesday. They say the filibuster is “racist” (of course), yet they just used it themselves last week, killing Sen. Ted Cruz’s bill to implement sanctions against Russia over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The double-irony here is inescapable — exposed as either liars or racists themselves by implementing the filibuster, and they’re doing it to support Russia after all these years accusing their opponents of being toadies for the former Soviet Union.
But it’s the exposure of the Democrats as the sexist bullies in this process that’s even more revelatory. The Democrats want to kill the filibuster because they’re stymied by a nation that elected a 50-50 senate. They want to pass legislation with a simple majority of 51, but the rules require 60 votes to move legislation along.
If there’s one lesson that should be taken by that, it’s the American people who wanted the parties to compromise, work together, or at least stop marginal or extremist action. Like killing the filibuster to unconstitutionally federalize elections to make cheating easier.
Enter Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. She and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin III both made clear they will not vote to kill the filibuster because of its importance in the Senate’s deliberative process. And true to their word, the two Democrats voted with all Republicans to not eliminate the filibuster rule, condemning it as an option.
Days before the vote, Ms. Sinema gave a speech to that point on the Senate floor announcing that she remained against changing the process and explained why. Fox News reported, “‘This week’s harried discussions about Senate rules are but a poor substitute for what I believe could have and should have been a thoughtful public debate at any time over the past year,” Ms. Sinema said from the Senate floor.
In a statement emailed to Fox News, Ms. Sinema said, ‘While the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to end debate on legislation has been used repeatedly to protect against wild swings in federal policy, including in the area of protecting women’s health care, I said on the Senate floor last week that different people of good faith can have honest disagreements about policy and strategy.’”
When she gave the speech, however, her demeanor created news. It appears she was on the verge of crying, appeared to be shaking and was clearly emotional. Ms. Sinema has been unwavering about her position on this issue. She’s not a political neophyte and knows how hot things can get in a kitchen. Her demeanor conveyed a fear that had clearly been the goal of the Left and even Democrat leadership.
Forget about persuading. The nation has watched has the Democrats unleash on her what they’ve been doing to the country now for years — smears, harassment, intimidation, threats, and bullying. Who can forget the sight of “activists” stalking the senator into a bathroom at an Arizona college where she was teaching. She has been targeted relentlessly, not to convince her on the merits to change her position on the issue but to frighten her to the point where she will do whatever they want.
There was a disgusting excitement from the Left at the sight of Ms. Sinema’s fear during her statement. A woman named Sarah Michelsen, a “senior strategist” at the ACLU and reportedly a former state director for Sen. Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign, tweeted, “She sounds like she’s going to cry… We’re breaking her, keep going.”
Despite all this, the good news is that Ms. Sinema remains steadfast with her position on this issue. As we know, she is one of two Democrats who refuse to support the party’s frantic effort to smash the system to implement their disastrous Marxist wish-fantasies. Mr. Manchin also stated unequivocally that he is against this filibuster change. He, however, has not faced the same sort of tactics that the female senator from Arizona has. Having been on the left, I know the kind of misogyny that fills that pit, inviting a different sort of treatment of women in their own ranks.
True to form, after the filibuster vote ex-Labor Secretary and Democrat operative Robert Reich tweeted that Ms. Sinema deserves to be physically assaulted by Democrats due to her position on the issue. He certainly did not suggest Mr. Manchin should be assaulted. No, that’s reserved for the female senator. He eventually deleted that tweet but has yet to apologize.
Ms. Sinema works with these Democratic Party thugs every day and knows exactly what they’re capable of. With that understanding, she has strongly chosen to stand on her principles and values instead of giving in to the mob. That is laudable no matter what side of the aisle you’re on. She also knows who brought her to the Senate dance, and it wasn’t the leftists targeting her now.
Considering the harassment and abuse will not end, Ms. Sinema should take a page from Mr. Manchin’s playbook and approach these issues as an unafraid boss. By now, she has no doubt learned that displaying the fear the left was so desperate to instill in her will only prolong their abusive frenzy. It will also eventually destroy the Democratic Party as a whole.
• Tammy Bruce, the author, host at Fox Nation and contributor at Fox News, is a radio talk-show host.
