If there was ever any doubt that most members of Congress work for themselves and not the people, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia wants to dispel you of such hallucinations. Here’s a disturbing excerpt from a section of a recent post on his official website, Manchin Pledges to Return to Era of Bipartisan Cooperation and Agreement:
“Several years ago I took a personal pledge to not campaign against a sitting colleague,” Senator Manchin said. “I think the time has come for all Senators to make this pledge and commit ourselves to being Americans first – not Republicans or Democrats. I made this pledge because I simply don’t think you can build working relationships with your co-workers during the week if you are showing up in their backyard every weekend to run their name through the dirt. Now more than ever, it’s so important for the Senate to work together as opposed to against one another. I am proud to take this pledge and I encourage all of my Senate colleagues to join me.”
What utter garbage. The last thing the American people need is for 100 of our most compromised, corporate and foreign government-owned “public servants” to band together to protect each other as the general public suffers from the putrid environment their corrupt and idiotic policies have created.
Not that any level of idiocy and shadiness should ever shock us when it comes to the honorable Mr. Manchin. After all, he proves how awful he is on a regular basis. Just last week he was only one of five Democrats to vote in favor of selling more arms to the world’s leading sponsor of radical islamic terrorism, Saudi Arabia.
As Politico reported:
The Senate on Tuesday defeated a bipartisan bid to block about $500 million in President Donald Trump’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia, with four Republicans joining most Democrats to rein in the weapons deals.
The effort to stop the weapons sales, authored by Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), fell short on a 47-53 vote, with five Democrats voting to preserve deals that humanitarian groups have warned risk exacerbating the violent civil war in Yemen.
Five Democrats voted against the arms deal blockade, which fell four votes short of passing: Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly, and Virginia Sen. Mark Warner.
Why would these Senators split ranks with the rest of the party and vote in such a manner? Ben Norton of AlterNet went ahead and asked. Here’s what he heard back:
AlterNet contacted the offices of all five Democratic lawmakers with a request for comment as to why they voted in support of arming Saudi Arabia. None replied.
Entirely understandable that Sen. Manchin couldn’t be bothered, he was too busy cobbling together a coalition of Senators to pledge to protect each other from angry voters.
This isn’t the first time Senator Manchin came across my radar. Back in 2014 he launched a monumentally stupid campaign to ban Bitcoin. Nope, not a joke. Here’s an excerpt from the post I wrote at the time, U.S. Senator Wants to Ban Bitcoin – To be Followed by Book Burnings and Witch Hunts:
Before the U.S. gets too far behind the curve on this important topic, I urge the regulators to work together, act quickly, and prohibit this dangerous currency from harming hard-working Americans.
– Senator Joe Manchin, in his letter calling for a ban on Bitcoin
Seemingly frustrated that the cessation of actives at Mt. Gox hasn’t destroyed Bitcoin, Senator Joe Manchin III is taking matters into his own hands. You know, for your own good. His solution is to “ban” Bitcoin, and he outlined his rationale (if we can call it that) in a fear ridden, garbled letter to a diverse group of power players in D.C., which include Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen.
Bitcoin is bad, but apparently this is ok…
Thanks for playing America. This is your government (unfortunately).
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What makes this more astounding than anything is he obviously has no idea why this is even remotely misguided.
Dear Baby Jesus,
If you could send Washington D.C. Wall Street and all of the other perpetrators of greed, lust for power, and all non-ethical miscreants a large (lethal) does of fire and brimstone “We the People” would forever be in your debt. Please something rid us of these vermin.
Thank You & Amen
I’m sure that they good senator reads this differently but what I got out of his comment is that he wants neither Republican or Democrat to support any outsider who hasn’t been part of the establishment to be ratted out by one of them. Apparently the thieves need to stick together.