I don't think that "Democrats were cowards and couldn't stand up to McConnell" is the correct framing. Dems clearly made a political calculation. Plenty to potentially criticize about that calculation, but it was informed by factors unrelated to generalized "fear of republicans"

What we largely know now:
-There would never have been enough GOP votes to convict
-GOP had the power to hold up *all* Senate business & that means COVID relief (Dems would have been blamed for this hold up)
-Witnesses were uncooperative & would have had to have been subpoenaed
So I think the correct framing is that Democrats made a political calculation that the benefit of adding witnesses (who would not change the outcome) was not worth the political & moral cost of holding up COVID relief, as well as important confirmations. . . .
This calculation can be criticized on its own merits, but it's categorically different than just being scared of McConnell & the GOP.
For my own part, I think an error Democrats made w/r/t witnesses was not calling cooperative police officers who had been attacked that day. Just a few personal narratives from the police would have deeply embarrassed the GOP. That's a missed opportunity, in my view.
But is even that missed opportunity worth both the short term and long term costs of holding up COVID relief? Costs that have implications for millions of Americans, as well as Democrats' success in the midterms? That's a more complicated question w/ less clear answers.
Overall, I understand why some are angry w/ Dems. I think it's good that we are all willing to criticize our own side. However, I also think it will be unfortunate if we let the extent of this criticism obscure the real villainy here: the GOP's craven disregard for our democracy
I think this dynamic--Dems willingness to hold other Dems accountable, paired w/ the GOP's refusal to do any such thing--has somewhat shaped the nature of the W.Bush presidency & the Iraq War in our public discourse & consciousness. It would be a shame if this happened w/ Trump.
The media, of course, has also played a part here. And, again, I think it's *good* that we hold our own side accountable &, in the case of Iraq, I think it's commendable we have not let any Senators wave away their 2002 AUMF votes.
That said, the justifiable accountability applied to Dems is striking in contrast to the absolute lack of accountability applied to the GOP, given the war was *their* project in the 1st place.
We have to be willing to forcefully criticize our own party. But we also have to be cautious about balancing this criticism, such that the actions of the GOP are not minimized in public memory.

More from Politics

1/ Imagine that as soon as the referendum result the EU announced that it was looking forward to the end of free movement of UK citizens in the EU


2/ Imagine if the EU said finally all those retired Brits in the EU27 could go home

3/ Imagine if the EU said finally all those Brits in the EU could stop driving down wages, taking jobs and stop sending benefits back to the UK

4/ Imagine if the EU said it was looking to use UK citizens as “bargaining chips” to get a better trade deal

5/ Imagine if the EU told UK citizens in the EU27 that they could no longer rely on established legal rights and they would have to apply for a new status which they have to pay for for less rights
Handy guide for Dominic Raab and other Brexiteers, and for anyone keen to replace our EU trade with trade with the rest of the world on WTO terms...


You can't magic away the vast distances involved. Clue: we fly in only 1/192th of our trade compared to the amount that arrives via sea


But even if you invented a teleporter tomorrow, WTO terms are so bad, so stacked against us, that a no-deal Brexit will be a total economic disaster


And while the Brexiteers fantasise, real jobs are being lost, investments are drying up, companies are moving assets to the EU27 or redomiciling. All already happened and happening right now, not in some mythical


Of course, there are many, many myths that Brexiteers perpetuate that are total fiction. You've seen a couple of them already. The thread below busts a whole lot

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