I am suddenly horrified

[drray23]

thinking about what would have happened if we had not retaken the senate. This massive recovery bill which is going to lift many people out of poverty, end COVID , extend UI benefits, provide financial stimulus, help cities and states, shore up the ACA and much more would never have seen the light of day. Republicans like Ron Johnson would still be pushing bogus investigations and peddling disinformation via their commîtees, none of Joe Biden's nominees would have been appointed, etc.. etc..

We really dodged a bullet on that and should thank Georgians and especially african american Georgians for saving us.

[greyl]

1. Yes, it could have been unimaginably bad. Yes, it ended up rationally good. nt

[AllTooEasy]

42. White People...You're Welcome...Again

...not that we expect y’all to ever show us some fucking gratitude anytime this galactic year, while Republicans wipe away our voting rights.

[flying rabbit]

46. We don't all look the same.

Thanks.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. It is pretty scary when you consider what could have happened!

A great many people saw what we saw, and said Hell no! Thank goodness.

[greyl]

3. Right on, thank goodness.

[RockRaven]

4. Kind of puts all the "OMG, throw Manchin into a volcano!" rhetoric into perspective...

The alternative to Manchin seems to be a Repuke. A Repuke who wins a GrOPer primary in West Fucking Virginia. That's no Murkowski or Romney.... even as worthless as they are.

Yeah, I'm not happy about a lot of what Manchin does, but I'm very very happy that Schumer is Senate Majority Leader instead of Moscow Cocaine Mitch McTurtle. It's a tradeoff I'm completely at peace with.

[brewens]

7. Having Manchin as our big problem is a nice problem to have considering the alternative.

If we hadn't taken those seats in Georgia, no one would be talking about Manchin.

[electric_blue68]

8. So true

[JI7]

11. And the way to deal with the Manchin problem is win more democratic

Senate seats . If his vote didn't make a difference in outcome he probably wouldn't make much noise about it and just go along .

[Thekaspervote]

13. 22' looks like we just might possibly pick up 1-2 senate seats

Thing is we’ve GOT to hold on to the house

KEEP THE HOUSE ’22!! Pass it on

[quakerboy]

16. Passing this stimulus is a good start in that direction

The problem is that we need to keep bringing home the metaphorical bacon for the voters.. and making it 100% blatently obviously out front clear exactly who is blocking things when its not possible.

[soldierant]

27. All it would take would be for Mnchin to switch parties and we'd have McConnell

again.

I'm old enough to remember when Ben Nighthorse Campbell did it.

So when people ask why we are being held hostage by Manchin ... remember that.

And of course the same goes for Sinema.

[Quixote1818]

5. This message needs to be as loud as a sonic boom during the midterms. nt

[drray23]

31. Indeed. I was pleased to see that the white house understands it exactly

This afternoon I heard on one of the msnbc shows that one of the things that President Biden realized they did not do well enough after the passage of the ACA was to toot their horns and take credit to make the american people realize the magnitude of it.
It is reported that they are not going to be making that mistake twice. Pres Biden is scheduled for the next two days to go around talk about it, visiting various places.

[SunSeeker]

6. K & R

[betsuni]

9. +1

[Larissa]

10. No rest for the weary

The state Republicans across America are busy crafting legislation aimed at monkey-wrenching the ability of Americans to vote. Republican "leadership" in Washington has cost Americans dearly. We cannot go back to that.

[JohnSJ]

12. We are very lucky there were not mass casualties of our representative on January 6. I am convinced

that trump was hoping to declare martial law, and declare himself president for life

[Thekaspervote]

14. Declaring martial law would not have given him the power to declare himself president..just sayin'

[JohnSJ]

17. It would have been the first step. When Michael Flynn was floating that idea, and meeting with

trump days before, in my view, trump considered it a very real possibility, and if it succeeded it would have eliminated the Democratic leadership, and the first step to a junta.

Is this this a wild conspiracy theory? Perhaps, but reports of contacts between between a proud boy member and a trump associate should be a real concern, if not a smoking gun

https://news.yahoo.com/fbi-finds-contact-between-proud-150858120.html

https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-flynn-trump-military-martial-law-overturn-election-2020-12

[Irish_Dem]

19. Yes I am certain this was the plan. It connects all the other dots (facts).

[JohnSJ]

22. Yes, no doubt it was some nefarious plot

[Irish_Dem]

23. Just when I think they can't get any worse, they always do something more heinous.

[soldierant]

28. Since when did he ever need legitimate power to do anything before doing it?

If he had declared himself President for life and there was not enough opposition in Congress to defeat it, it would have happened.

[uponit7771]

18. That's why HR1 is so important, kGQP regains congress we're fucked

[Wounded Bear]

20. Indeed, the "what might have beens" are pretty dark, TBS...

Best to look forward with hope now.

[Sneederbunk]

21. Georgia was a gift considering we should have won Maine and NC.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

30. Without paper ballots to count, I'm convinced Collins, Graham, and McConnell actually lost.

[wally baby]

38. as a Georgian

knowing 5 family members voting Warnock/Ossof it was shocking. But, you're welcome. We all won!!

[dragonlady]

40. Welcome to DU!

Help keep us advised about what is happening in Georgia, a very important state now.

[peggysue2]

24. Yes. It's been said before but cannot be repeated enough

to Georgia voters who made this possible.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

25. That was the first Senate race for which we contributed money out of our state.

I like to think we were part of a tsunami of out-of-state grassroots money flowing to Georgia.

My little bit couldn't matter much by itself, but it felt very good when the results came in.

Maybe if I bet some money on the Lions ....

[Phentex]

26. I don't think it could have been done without your help...

and help from people around the country.

[Blue Owl]

29. The horror that could have been... The horror...

[bdamomma]

32. That is why

we must fight against voter suppression. Everyone has the right to VOTE.

[drray23]

33. Definitely. HR1 is the next big thing to pass.

There is hope there that Manchin might come around regarding the fillibuster. He said today he would be open to change the rules to make it harder to use. Its a move from his earlier stance of never means never.
Hopefully, we can use the nuclear option to even dispense with the fillibuster for civil right and voting rights legislation. That option is currently being considered by the leadership.

[bdamomma]

34. Manchin

has a lot of power, if he pushed to hard he could flip, don't ruffle his feathers.

[drray23]

35. I dont think he will move over to the gop

He has been a dem all his life. He enjoys his position, playing both sides of the aisle. Besides, I trust Biden and Schumer to know what to do and how far. I think, above all he loves to look like he is negotiating and holds power over the final product. If we can keep him in this "negotiating" mood, then we are good.

[uponit7771]

50. +1

[Evolve Dammit]

36. Amen.

[SOteric]

37. I have become an ardent fan of Stacey Abrams

She and those doing similar work on behalf of the entirety of left-thinking people of every ilk are the single most important weapon in our arsenal. Saving democracy by employing democracy. Who'd have thunk?

[yardwork]

39. Correct. The bill would never even have been considered.

The party with the majority controls all the committees. Many people don't understand this. All the committees are chaired by the majority party, and that party also holds the majority in each committee.

Under the Republicans, bills for the good of the people never even got a hearing, much less a vote.

It's about so much more than the votes. It's essential that Democrats retain control of both the House and Senate.

[Pobeka]

41. Protect voting rights! *Right now* GOP controlled states are making sure it doesn't happen again.

HR1!!!

Nothing else matters.

All political energy needs to focus on that or we may have won a battle, but lost the war. (Thank God we won in 2021).

[bucolic_frolic]

43. We outperformed in 2 elections

2018, and Georgia 2020. That's how close we came, and we're still not out of the woods by any measure.

[superpatriotman]

44. America is breaking

And it’s up to Democrats to build a big enough voter base to keep it together.

The Christo-fascists have abdicated their ability to effectively govern.

[Aussie105]

45. What horrors could have been?

Just look at Brazil and Jair Messias Bolsonaro's lack of caring.

https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/global/brazil-battling-worlds-worst-coronavirus-outbreak-as-mutant-strain-spreads/news-story/8aa1bd5699aa635ce6a71c3db115e834

Then scale that up a bit to US population.

Instead of Bolsonaro talking to the people saying 'I don't really care, but stop complaining, peasants!' we would have Trump doing that inhuman act.

[BobTheSubgenius]

47. I believe "horror" is always just around the corner when it comes to opponents like these.

At the moment, I'd say the left has some big, strong guys trying to hold the door closed against the ravening horde. When you come to a place where you think you can finally breathe easy, and they are on the run, it's only a temporary respite.

To paraphrase Twain "Any reports of their demise will have been greatly exaggerated."

[mountain grammy]

48. Every night I give thanks to all.

who voted to return my country to sanity.

[FlyingPiggy]

49. Amen to that! Thank you to the AA Georgians and Stacey Abrams!