Commentary

It always gives me pleasure when the Democrats turn on one of their own when they don’t follow the party line put forth by Sen. Chuck Schumer or Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, once the darling of the bleeding-heart liberal columnists of the Arizona Republic, has been the subject of two recent columns by E. J. Montini.  Not since she took her stand against ending the filibuster in a Washington Post op-ed. It is rather bittersweet, however, since I admire Sinema for her stand.

In Montini’s latest column, “Will Sinema waste chance to save democracy?” he again attacks her for continuing to protect the filibuster rule, as if that stance will doom democracy.  Montini singles her out for “allowing” Republicans to protect their “multi-state voter suppression efforts.”  How ludicrous.

It’s not the first time in recent weeks Montini criticized Sinema for her stand on the filibuster. His previous attack on her position appeared in his column, “Will Sinema dishonor her ‘dear friend’ John Lewis helping nix the filibuster?”

Laurie Roberts, the other liberal columnist on the Republic has been concentrating on hit pieces against Governor Ducey, Attorney General Brnovich, Representatives Biggs and Gosar and other GOP representatives.

She did write a guarded column, “Democrats are underestimating Kyrsten Sinema (again).”

Regular readers of this blog may recall my quoting Sinema telling Politico, “I want to restore the 60-vote threshold for all elements of the senate’s work, giving the minority part even more power to hold up legislation.”

“If anyone expected me to reverse my position because my party now controls the Senate,” said Sinema, “they should know that my approach to legislating in Congress is the same whether in the minority or majority.”

She was accused of “becoming a swamp monster selling out the folks back home,” in a Jacombinmag.com hit piece.

In the leftist Salon, More Perfect Union communications manager Cesar Fierros said, “Sinema’s choice to obstruct the Biden agenda during her time in the Senate can only be described as a complete and utter betrayal to the good people of Arizona that cast a vote for her in 2018.”

“From Radical Activist to Senate Obstructionist: The Metamorphosis of Kyrsten Sinema,” reads the headline in the July-August 2021 edition of Mother Jones over a piece written by Tim Murphy.  In it he recalls Sinema’s “thumbs down” vote on the $15 minimum wage on the Senate floor as a mirror image of John McCain’s “thumbs down” vote on ObamaCare.

“Her issue,” she said was that “the wage increase had nothing to do with Covid relief.”  Sinema has become a stickler for the rules.

Meanwhile, on the right, the September 26, 2021 Wall Street Journal, published a piece by Eliza Collins and Kristina Peterson, “Kyrsten Sinema Is Enigma at Center of Democrats’ Spending.”

They point out that Sinema has made clear that she won’t support the package’s current $3.5 trillion price tag, reiterating her opposition in July.

“She’s got strong opinions and she’s not going to be pushed around,” Rep. Scott Peters a California Democrat who served with her in the House, told the Journal.

By now, I assume President Biden and Chuck Schumer know where she stands.  It will be interesting to see if she stays strong in the end.  She has company in West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who has also made his feelings known on spending and the debt.  Stay tuned.

Now, more than ever … may God continue to bless the United States of America.