British Tory Party's Game Of Musical Chairs To Pick Next UK Prime Minister Enters Final Round

 A race by eleven pygmy right-wing politicians who all wanted to be the next chair of the "Conservative" (Tory) party in Britain began about two weeks ago. Only one will get to sit in the seat. That person will then be anointed prime minister of the country, head of government, since the Tories control Parliament with a big majority of MPs (Members of Parliament).

The field was winnowed down to four by several rounds of voting by the Tory MPs. The final round between the two left standing will be decided by the entire Party membership. The lucky winner will then be anointed by the Tory politicians in Parliament as prime minister. 

So the next PM will be chosen by the approximately 200,000 members of the Conservative Party. Britain is a country of over 67,000,000 people. But there will be another election for Parliament in a couple of years. The citizens will then get to choose which politicians will pick the next PM. That's democratic enough, right?

The Magnificent British Parliament, Birthplace Of Democracy! Sail On, Oh Noble Ship Of State!

Manchin Insists Earth Not Hot Enough Yet

 Democratic Senator Joe "Motherfucker" Manchin III has done it again. Once again he has almost singlehandedly struck a blow against humanity. This time he's prevented passage of Federal legislation desired by the president of his own party and by all or almost all its Congressional members to finally take steps to mitigate the disastrous warming of our planet caused by burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, methane gas, and the products of oil such as gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, etc.).

With the U.S. Senate split 50-50 between the Democrats and the Republicans, the Party of Evil, the Democrats need every single vote to pass anything in the Senate. (The vice president of the U.S. casts tie-breaker votes in the Senate, and currently she's Democrat Kamala Harris.) But they also need to vote to eliminate the filibuster, a rule instituted long ago by Southern racist Senators which in its current form requires assent by 60 Senators to pass most legislation. Manchin, and his fellow reactionary Democratic Senator Kirsten Sinema, adamantly opposes eliminating the filibuster.

The same pattern of the past year and a half has played out yet again. House Democrats either pass or are for necessary legislation, whether it's to build infrastructure, fill holes in the pathetically inadequate U.S. social safety net, or protect human rights, especially the right of women to decide whether to have children when they become unintentionally pregnant. Manchin jerks his Senate Democratic colleagues, the House Democrats, and president Biden around for months, making them grovel and water down their legislation more and more, until finally saying No. He did it again this time, "negotiating" in bad faith, taking up time until the Republicans can seize control of Congress again after this November's mid-term elections. Manchin behaves exactly like Republicans, insisting Democrats should seek "compromise," which is just code for "surrender to me." Manchin is a DINO, a Democrat In Name Only.

 

MAN O MANCHIN! 

Most political observers expect the GOP (Gang Of Plunderers) to win the House, and possibly the Senate.  (The GOP state legislatures have so gerrymandered Congressional districts that currently House Democrats represent 40 million more people than GOP ones, even though the two sides have almost the same number of Representatives. In some states they control overwhelming majorities in state legislatures with a minority of voters due to their gerrymandering, which has made peaceful change through the ballot box almost impossible in the U.S. now.)

Manchin represents the woebegotten State of West Virginia, a primitive backwater largely populated by ignorant slugs. His rightwing Democratic partner in sabotage is Senator Kirsten Sinema representing the awful state of Arizona, who on occcasion has joined Manchin in saying Nyet to a Democratic Party proposal. (Arizona is the State that gave the world neofascist racist Senator Barry Goldwater and racist fascist Sheriff Joe Arpaio.)

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with the Democrats and is effectively a left-wing auxiliary of them, denounced Manchin on one of the Sunday morning TV yak shows July 17. Democracy Now aired on excerpt the next day during its "Headlines" segment narrated by host Amy Goodman.