CNN's New Day went nuts this morning in reaction to the Republican filibuster of S1, the so-called "For the People Act," which would largely federalize elections. CNN New Day co-host John Berman fumed:
"Senate Republicans are afraid to even discuss voting rights . . . Of course Mitch McConnell likes the status quo because status quo is Republican-led states rigging the system."
CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, continuing his comeback tour after his Zoom-masturbation suspension, then claimed that the voting rights bill is nothing less than:
The voting rights is very different. This is life or death for the democracy. This is about whether the people are going to control their government, or the government is going to decide how the democracy works or doesn’t work. And I just think one of them is an existential crisis for the United States, and the other seems like it’s going to be worked out.
CNN's hyperbolic, apocalyptic, over-reaction to the filibuster is ludicrous. "Life or death for democracy?" Do Toobin et. al really believe that if the "For the People Act" isn't passed—which it won't be—democracy in the US is dead? And if it's an "existential" crisis, will the US cease to exist? Please. Don't be a whack job, Jeffrey!
Note: New Day ran a clip of Kamala Harris saying,
"The president and I are very clear: We support S1. We support the John Lewis Voting Rights Act."
The president and I? We support? It's not exactly breaking news that a Vice-president would support something the president supports. But Harris clearly wants to establish her own record, and make herself a virtual co-equal with Biden.
CNN's New Day going nuts over the Republican filibuster of the so-called "For the People Act" was sponsored in part by Subaru, Samsung, AT&T, and Trivago.
Here's the transcript.
CNN
New Day
6/23/21
6:03 am EDTJOHN BERMAN: So this morning it seems clear that Senate Republicans are afraid to even discuss voting rights. Overnight all 50 refused to debate a voting bill, and that’s despite the fact Joe Manchin gave Republicans what they demanded on key issues like voter ID. Minority leader Mitch McConnell insisted it’s up to individual states to sort it all out. He claims there’s just nothing to discuss.
. . .All right, This is what Vice-president Kamala Harris had to say about the failure of the voting rights bill, listen. Listen.
KAMALA HARRIS: The bottom line is that the president and I are very clear: we support S1. We support the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and the fight is not over.
BERMAN: It’s not over, she says.
. . .
LAUREN FOX: [Republicans] don't think anything is broken at this point. And a lot of Republicans I talked to said there is no piece of the bill that they would have voted on if they had gotten into the debate yesterday that they would have supported. So breaking this bill apart, trying smaller pieces of it, that's not really an option at this point. Expect Democrats to keep up the heat, though, because this is going to be a key issue for them going into the 2022 mid-term elections. John?
BERMAN: I mean, of course Mitch McConnell likes the status quo, because the status quo is Republican-led states rigging the election so Republicans can do better at this point.
BRIANNA KEILAR: So let’s bring in our CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. How do you put this into perspective?
JEFFREY TOOBIN: Well you know, what I think is interesting is that there are two big issues before Congress right now: there’s infrastructure, and there’s voting rights. And infrastructure is sort of the classic stuff of politics. How much do you spend on roads and bridges? How do you pay for it? And that should be the stuff of compromise.
The voting rights is very different. This is life or death for the democracy. This is about whether the people are going to control their government, or the government is going to decide how the democracy works or doesn’t work. And I just think one of them is an existential crisis for the United States, and the other seems like it’s going to be worked out.
