Kamala Harris' abortion plan just made West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin lose his mind.

That is Completely normal quote of the daya post highlighting a statement from the news that exemplifies how extremely normal everything has become.

“Shame on her. She knows the filibuster tactic is the holy grail of democracy.” — West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin responded on CNN on Tuesday to Vice President Kamala Harris' support for limiting the legislative filibuster tactic

In an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio on Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris expressed support for eliminating the Senate filibuster tactic when it comes to abortion rights, a maneuver that requires 60 votes in the Senate instead of a simple majority as a hurdle for passing legislation.

“I think we should abolish the filibuster tactic for roe,” she said in the interview, “and to get us to the point where 51 votes are enough to actually put back into law the protection of reproductive freedom and the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own bodies without having the government tell them what to do.”

At first, this did not seem particularly newsworthy to me. Embedded in their central political promise of restoration roe protections is the understanding that she would support the filibuster exception necessary to make it happen. This is not an issue where there are 10 Republicans willing to take on it, and it is not the kind of legislation that can be passed by a vote. Nor does it meet the important newsworthiness benchmark of being “new.” Harris said in September 2022 that she “can’t wait to cast the deciding vote to break the filibuster on voting rights and reproductive rights.” The Was a new position in 2022. In 2017, she signed a letter with 60 of her fellow senators pledging to “make every effort to curb” the legislative filibuster tactic. She and several other Senate Democrats who signed the letter did indeed change their minds when circumstances changed and have been criticized for doing so. But that's not a stance she took yesterday on a show with the good people of Wisconsin.

But since Harris gives very few interviews, this is probably the most exciting thing there is. And so there was a real dress-ripping match. For example, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a staunch supporter of the legislative filibuster, said in a speech on Wednesday: “To jeopardize the guardrails that make the Senate what it is and to circumvent the process by which dissenting views are heard should in itself be grounds for disqualification.”

The most delicious and exaggerated depiction of his torment, however, came from West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin.

I don't know how to describe Manchin anymore. He was a conservative Democrat who changed his registration to independent earlier this year, but he's still a member of the Senate Democratic caucus. There was a brief moment, hours after President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the presidential race in July, that Manchin was considering re-registering as a Democrat to run for the Democratic presidential nomination. He didn't. I've spent little to no time thinking about who Manchin would support in the presidential race because I don't have to think about Manchin anymore. He's retiring at the end of the year.

Unfortunately, however, Manchin made it clear on Tuesday that his support certainly won't go to Harris after she reiterated her 2022 support for abolishing the filibuster. Manchin has devoted much of his time during Biden's presidency to protecting the filibuster, so we understand why he jumps into action when a presidential candidate raises the issue.

But these quotes to CNN are so hilarious!

“Shame on her,” he lamented. “She knows the filibuster tactic is the Holy Grail of democracy.” Does she know that??

He continued: “I think this has the potential to fundamentally destroy our country, and my country is more important to me than any one person or any one person's ideology. … I think this is the most horrible thing.”

For God's sake, it's a parliamentary quirk that has turned '51' into '60', man!

I mean, if you Do If you believe that a comprehensive filibuster is “the Holy Grail of democracy,” then it follows that restricting it in any form would “destroy our country.” But it could –could— be it that his premise is a little over the top. (There are reasonable arguments for the filibuster tactic — and then there is the description of the filibuster tactic as the “Holy Grail of Democracy.”) Especially since Harris' opponent has significant democratic concerns that he should consider when evaluating his choice.

But there is good news for Manchin, McConnell and the rest of the filibusterists. First, Republicans have the advantage of winning control of the Senate, so all of this will be moot. (Unless there is unified Republican control of the government, President Donald Trump is again calling for republican If we get rid of the legislative filibuster, we see what kind of backbone would-be Senate Majority Leader John Thune is made of.) Second, it wouldn't really be a President Harris' job to limit the filibuster. Democrats, if they retained control of the Senate by 50 votes, would have to get 100 percent of their caucus to agree to any change. Manchin and Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema — who isn't a big fan of Harris' comments either! — have been the two biggest obstacles to filibuster reform during Biden's presidency. With a Harris presidency, don't be surprised to see a new spoilsport. turn up.