OPINION:
Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was tutored by his late predecessor in the office on how to grab today’s snack while missing the main meal (“Manchin skeptical about blowing up filibuster to pass Biden’s partisan voting overhaul,” Web, Jan. 4). The late Sen. Harry Reid famously removed the filibuster on federal judicial nominees save those for the Supreme Court, feeling that stuffing ourts of Apapeals with liberal jurists just below the high court would, on balance, pay off for his side. Perhaps Reid also felt that the American people would never countenance a filibuster ban for a Supreme Court nominee, but he obviously did not recognize that his cynicism and that of the mainstream media is now baked into voter beliefs.
With his threatened assault on the filibuster and its hallowed position as protector of minority rights, Schumer is still counting on a flimsy Reid. Senators Sinema and Manchin, if they hold firm against eliminating the filibuster, may save Democrats from themselves and keep minority rights sacrosanct.
PAUL BLOUSTEIN
Cincinnati
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