The calculus may have changed given the Democratic sweep of Tuesday’s elections, but according to a story published Monday by The Hill, a group of “at least eight moderate Senate Democrats” has been meeting to discuss surrendering to Trump, oops, sorry, my mistake, “finding a deal to end the monthlong government shutdown.”
And one of the eight is our very own Sen. Peter Welch.
Feeling proud? I know you are. I can hardly wait for the Vermont Democratic Party convention on November 15, where I’m sure Welch will deliver a stem-winder of a speech about resisting Trump’s authoritarianism. He’s good at those.
Who knows, if enough Vermont Democrats learn of his complicity in this surrender attempt, maybe some will greet Welch with boos instead of cheers. A man can dream.
Welch is capable of saying some inspiring stuff, but when push comes to shove he’s Pat Leahy Lite, yearning for the Good Old Days when a Democrat could share a hearty backslap with the likes of Strom Thurmond, knowing that the old racist would hold up his end of a bargain.
I understand the sentiment. Our system works better when both major parties are engaged in the project, not when one of them is actively trying to light it on fire. (Or, as on January 6, literally smearing shit on the walls.) But that ship has sailed. There is no point in trying to work across the aisle with people who fundamentally believe you’re the enemy.
The Hill reports that Welch and his fellow moderates are seeking “strong assurances from the GOP” that any agreement won’t be trashed as soon as the shutdown is over.
Yeah, right. Remember that story Trump likes to tell about the woman who rescues a snake, only to be rewarded with a fatal bite? Welch and his buddies are that woman, and Congressional Republicans are sharpening their fangs.
What is it in their record that offers any assurance that they will abide by the terms of a legislative bargain? Nothing. Glad I asked.
Maybe someday we’ll return to a time when both parties are equally invested in our democracy. Today is not that day. If Welch wants to represent the wishes of his strongly anti-Trump electorate — and if he wants to avoid being the patsy in a Trumpian shell game — then he should pull out of this “moderate” effort to rescue a venomous snake.
A venomous snake that just got its ass kicked at the polls. I say we let it keep on losing.
The Vermont Political Observer. 
Well, if you’re going to run cartoons on your estimable site, use something decent, like mine. My friend Ted Rall is good but hard to understand. Whereas, mine are impossible to understand. A little credit if you don’t mind. Ha!
It came up in a Google image search. Maybe Big Internet is suppressing the Danziger oeuvre.
How can we get him to pull out of this? Will he listen to us?
It was a short 15 years ago that weasel Welch joined his radical right wing, racist buddies in the House of Reps to attack, falsely vilify, and destroy the national level group ACORN who’s only offense was attempting to politically enfranchise the politically disenfranchised, (You can find my posts about this on the now defunct but still existent Green Mountain Daily web site.)
Welch hasn’t changed.
I saw that Welch was voting to confirm Trump judge appointments. So I set up a vote tracker so I can quickly Welch’s voting record. I’ll be one of the ones booing if he comes to my area!
thank you- you put my thoughts on the screen.
Nancy Braus
He sort of got by acting like a liberal superficially. But the sh*t has hit the fan and it’s going to take more than being nice. It’s a new world.
Are all of you condemning Welch for merely TALKING to Republicans? If he agrees to any nefarious compromise, then by all means condemn him. Talking to the devil himself does not mean that you agree with him. Admittedly, today’s Republicans come pretty close.
In the meantime, people are suffering thanks to the shutdown and nothing is lost by talking. Wasn’t Churchill’s phrase that “jaw jaw is always better than war war?”
At least Welch didn’t join Team Cave, along with King, Shaheen & Hassan last night…
Well, I think the caucus calculated which Dem senators could handle the heat and which ones maybe couldn’t. Welch probably would have voted “Yes” on this thing if his vote had been needed.
“Well, I think the caucus calculated which Dem senators could handle the heat and which ones maybe couldn’t.”
Good point. Thom Hartmann has a scathing critique of Schumer and how his hands were all over this one, but no one could see them:). I think at least three of the senators who caved — Durbin, Hassen, and Shaheen (both from across the river in NH) — are not running again so they don’t have to face angry voters anymore.
For the record, Shaheen and Durbin have announced their respective retirements at the end of this term. To my knowledge, the others are planning to run again, but are not up for re-election this year.
Whatever the logistics of this were, Schumer is the leader of the Democratic caucus, and it was his responsibility to insure nothing like this happened. He failed. Period. The logistics really don’t matter. He should withdraw as majority leader and let someone else who can keep the caucus together when push comes to shove do the job. Ideally, someone who is a far better and more articulate public face for the party.
Possibly so. Republicans pull that crap all the time to accommodate Murkowski and the ever-concerned Collins.