How could a rational person not be a bit worried about our nation's politics and our nation's direction when one man from West Virginia seems to have become the most important voice in the country.
Joe Manchin must be one of the most reviled people in America, particularly among progressives, as he continues to hold up multiple major bills and initiatives, all in the service of... ??? We aren't quite certain and he is not very transparent about his concerns.
Perhaps he is more forthcoming with President Biden or with Senate colleagues, but mostly we just see daily headlines about his inflation worries or his agonizing over child credits or his immense wealth, which mostly comes from oil and gas.
In any "normal" period of time, Manchin probably would switch parties. After all, West Virginia has become overwhelming red and most voters just vote for the party affiliation. He is an anomaly.
There is an old saying that people get the government they deserve. Americans have split so wildly and (maybe) fatalistically that our evenly divided Senate and nearly even House, and an approval rating for Biden at low levels, and a general feeling of "we are pissed and we want to toss whoever is in charge" are where we are stuck.
I read a story today where various political scientists discussed whether we had reached a tipping point in the nation, where we may have passed some threshold to the new reality of autocratic, minority rule. Some thought we were sort of like the frog in the beaker, with the temperature slowly rising until the frog is boiled alive.
There was probably a point where the frog could hop out and save itself but it is difficult to discern exactly where that point is.
I wonder how close we are to that tipping point right now.
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