Is Mitch McConnell cracking?
After years of being the Grim Reaper and Obstructionist Numero Uno, has Moscow Mitch finally been backed into a corner he can’t escape from? It’s only a guess at this time; a conjecture based on scant evidence, but Mitch definitely blinked in the staring contest between the GOP and the Dems. Despite the own-goal assistance of Dem bugaboos, Manchin and Sinema, Mitch has blinked and kicked the Debt Ceiling Can down the road.
In prior years, Mitch would have gone to the mattresses with oleaginous dorks like Rafael Cruz and Rand Paul to force the hand of the Democrats to cave to his chelonian will. This time, however, the Old Turtle seems to have gotten flipped onto his back.
Conjecture is that Mitch is trying to play stall ball while the Dems steel themselves for a change in the Senate filibuster rule. It has been reported that the Dems were hammering out such a change in the filibuster and were close to making such a play work. It was also intimated that Mitch may have made his can-kicking move because the Dems were about to pull the filibuster rug out from under him.
At the same time, the proverbial rug would also be yanked from under the Bugbear Pair, Manchin and Sinema. Their faithless leverage would all but disappear.
Mitch blinked when he proposed offering a delaying tactic to put off a vote for raising the debt ceiling until December. All that it has done is gain Mitch some time. In that time, it is hoped that the Dems will amend or end the filibuster rule and take rightful control of the Senate, at long last. In that time, the Dems should be able to steel themselves, close ranks and bulldoze through Biden’s agenda. Mitch blinked and it was quite a ‘blink.’ Perhaps Mitch even nodded off briefly. Perhaps that’s hoping for too much.
