In 2017, republicans held a majority in both the House and the Senate under republican president Donald Trump. Their major agenda item was the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, a move that would have cut off millions from affordable healthcare coverage and gutted the Obama administration’s signature achievement. And they would have been successful, had it not been for the courageous actions of Arizona Senator John McCain. McCain, who was undergoing treatment for brain cancer, returned to the senate floor to give his thumbs down which, along with the no votes from Sens. Murkowski and Collins, saved Obamacare. It was a moment befitting McCain’s “Maverick” moniker, and his last major political act before his death in 2018.
Today, Americans find themselves once again on the precipice of losing a foundational right, as leaks revealed that the Supreme Court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, dialing back the clock on reproductive justice in this country. And just like in 2018, there’s a maverick senator from Arizona who has the power to change history.
Unfortunately, that person is Kyrsten Sinema: a morally bankrupt, corrupt politician who campaigned as a democrat but has since proven herself to be a republican in sheep’s clothing. Sinema, along with her partner in corporate corruption Joe Manchin, has proven to be a thorn in Biden and the democrat’s agenda. From gleefully voting down the $15 minimum wage to killing Build Back Better to voting against higher taxes for corporations to trampling voting rights to keep the filibuster intact, Sinema has made a joke out of the senate’s democratic majority and of herself. Sinema has become wildly unpopular in her home state and across the country, with veteran advisors resigning in protest and a massive primary challenge already underway.
But Sinema can turn this all around by taking a page from her idol John McCain and vote to codify Roe v. Wade into federal law. If Sinema voted to nuke the filibuster, she would literally become a reproductive rights hero overnight and her popularity would skyrocket. It would be a career-making moment that could change the course of not only American history, but of Sinema’s own embattled legacy. Kyrsten Sinema, the nation turns its lonely eyes to you!
Unfortunately for everyone, Sinema is unlikely to make any moves that would upset her conservative donors, and she’s made it clear several times over that she answers to the call of her own wallet. Sinema tweeted a mealy-mouthed defense of reproductive rights, where she wrote “I’ve always supported women’s access to healthcare, I’m a co-sponsor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, and I’ll continue working with anyone to protect women’s ability to make decisions about their futures.”
Nowhere in this statement is there any indication that Sinema would work to actually pass the bill she co-sponsors by removing the filibuster. Because senatorial norms are more important than democracy itself, I guess. The sad truth is that the only constituent Sinema gives a shit about is herself. If and when she loses her re-election campaign (if she even runs) she will have made enough money to support herself for the rest of her life. And if she doesn’t, there’s plenty of wealth to be accumulated with a tell-all book or a plum talking head gig on cable news. Because sadly in America, folks are just rushing to hire ethically bereft politicians.
Many took to social media to call out Sinema’s hypocrisy:
But what can we do? The only solution is to elect more progressive democrats to the Senate to make Sinema and Manchin’s chokehold irrelevant. We can also apply pressure by calling their offices, Manchin at (202) 224-3954 and Sinema at (202) 224-4521. And while we’re at it, let’s call Sens. Murkowski (202) 224-6665 and Collins (202) 224-2523, the two republicans who claim to support reproductive rights, to task.
(image: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
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