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[ismnotwasm]

1. Charming.

[Prism]

3. You don't care

That's fine.

[ismnotwasm]

5. What don't I care about?

[tonyt53]

2. How about it all start with you. Vote straight ticket Democrat, and in every election

Actually, there is little the minority party can do at times.

[Prism]

6. I do more than that

I vote straight ticket Dem, I work with minority communities in social services, I actually have to wriggle into the city as fast as I can after work to man a fundraiser for Orlando victims, and I write to my Democratic representatives at great length about their shitty decisions.

Should i be doing more? You let me know.

[tonyt53]

9. Ahh, so the real reason is exposed. Every vote isn't exactly what you want.

That's the way a democracy is supposed to work. Should you do more? Absolutely, Stop complaining if everything doesn't go the way you want it to.

[MADem]

4. I think we've reached a new point that is more than a gesture.

When that guy Mateen went into a club and shot up a hundred people and killed half of them, he took on the entire nation. It was the tipping point.

We, as a party, feel like we are here to SERVE the people--not prevent their work from being done.

That's the framing.

[Koinos]

8. Agreed. This was a 9/11 sort of wake up call. It was a last straw or tipping point.

But the pot has been boiling in the House of Representatives for quite some time.

[MADem]

10. I am hoping Candidate Clinton has Colossal Coattails!!!!!

She is implementing a 50 State Strategy that is DESIGNED to work downticket. Every time you hear Donald Trump denigrate her and smirk about how many people she has on her "staff" you have to chuckle and tell yourself "Those are the people who are going to CLEAN THE HOUSE....and the SENATE!"

[Koinos]

16. Party unity is growing every day.

Democrats are going to have a very good year. There is a whole lot of Democratic talent in downticket races, and all the strong Democrats are on Hillary's side.

[lancer78]

14. And like 9/11

We lose freedoms due to fear.

[Koinos]

17. I don't think the freedom to own an assault weapon is a good thing.

[lancer78]

21. Sigh,

The Orlando shooter could have done the same damage with a 22 Long Rifle.

[Koinos]

22. Think about what you just said. Reflect on the capabilities of both weapons.

And have a good day.

[Prism]

11. This is a good post

I appreciate it and agree with all of it.

[Kentonio]

20. Do you really believe it was a tipping point?

I'm not asking sarcastically by the way, I just don't see how after those babies at Sandy Hook didn't change the national dialogue, that this is suddenly going to.

[AtomicKitten]

7. I agree it's kabuki theater, but it beats doing nothing at all ... barely.

The Democrats had a filibuster-proof majority for a couple months a few years back and did nothing. Two things - expiration of the assault weapon ban and failure to close gun show loophole - are unconscionable.

This follows along the same lines of nary a peep while the Republicans continue pro forma sessions in the Senate for the last 5+ years to prevent Pres Obama from making recess appointments. The Republicans do stuff like this because the Democrats don't fight back.

[brush]

13. They didn't really have a filibuster proof majority back then. Franken's delayed confirmation and K

Al Franken's delayed confirmation, Ted Kennedy's death and summer recess all were a factor.

The filibuster proof majority is a myth really, and a preferred repug talking point.

[AtomicKitten]

15. There was a window of some 59 +/- days.

[brush]

18. It wasn't really contiguous because of summer recesses and Kennedy's incapacitation

But what could have been accomplished in a non-contiguous time of 59 days?

[AtomicKitten]

23. It was contiguous. The time between Kirk being sworn in and Brown winning the seat.

<snip> Well, let's at least get our history straight. Until Al Franken was sworn in on July 7, the Democratic caucus in the Senate stood at 59. After that it was technically up to 60, but Ted Kennedy hadn't cast a vote in months and was housebound due to illness. He died a few weeks later and was replaced by Paul Kirk on September 24, finally bringing the Democratic majority up to 60 in practice as well as theory. After that the Senate was in session for 11 weeks before taking its winter recess, followed by three weeks until Scott Brown won Kennedy's seat in the Massachusetts special election.

So that means Democrats had an effective filibuster-proof majority for about 14 weeks. <snip>

link: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/09/about-filibuster-proof-majority

Other estimates are more in line with the 59 days I quoted above, but the timeline was contiguous.

[sufrommich]

19. Predictable garbage.nt

[Squinch]

24. That's nice, dear.