Going to the Sinema

Over the past couple of months, whenever I get into a political discussion with a friend of mine, he’d go into a rant about Joe Manchin.  And every time he did, I’d stop him and say that the issue is not Joe Manchin, but Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.  He’d dismiss that and say that whenever Manchin settles, so will she, that she’ll follow his lead.  I’d reply that I didn’t think he had any basis on which to think that.
 
And I felt the same whenever I saw news stories during the past months about Joe Manchin holding things up.  And people posting on social media.  It was always, only Joe Manchin.  That Joe Manchin was holding things up.  When is Joe Manchin going to come around?  And every time, I’d wonder why on earth are people letting Kyrsten Sinema off the hook, because her vote was 100% as necessary as Manchin’s – and he seemed a more understandable and reasonable voice, especially given that he’s a Democrat in the state that voted more heavily from Trump than any other.  She, however, kept saying silly things and having press conferences with Sen. Jon Cornyn, the very conservative Republican from Texas.
 
At least, when I wrote about it, I made sure to always mention her prominently, like here (where I put both in the title) and here, where I singled her out alone.
 
At least now, within the past couple weeks, the news media has finally come around and realized that Kyrsten Sinema is as big an issue as Joe Manchin, and almost more of a loose cannon.  And also, sort of irresponsible, which came to a head yesterday, when NBC News reporter Frank Thorp posted an excerpt from his exchange with her, where she though it would be cute to be flippant over issues that are essential to President Joe Biden’s agenda and critical in many ways to democracy --
 
Q: What do you say to progressives who are frustrated they don’t know where you are?
 
SINEMA: “I’m in the Senate.”
 
Q: There are progressives in the Senate that are also frustrated they don’t know where your are either.
 
SINEMA: “I’m clearly right in front of the elevator.”
 
Obviously, I have no idea where things stand, or what she wants (and the same with Joe Manchin) and if an agreement is possible with them, I think one is, because they’re still both Democrats, even if moderate-to-conservative, and likely (I assume…) know their own political futures are at stake.  But what I think doesn’t matter.  We’ll see.
 
Still, though, frustrated and deeply annoyed as I do get with them, there’s one thing I always acknowledge and pass along when anger is directed their way.  And it’s not even that they do vote with President Biden on most other issues (and voted with him on the massive jobs bill early in his presidency.)  It’s that because they’re both Democrats, however one feels about them, however they voted, be grateful that that they are Democrats – because their being Democrats, however they vote, is why Chuck Schumer is Majority Leader and not Mitch McConnell, and why Democrats are in charge of every committee in the Senate.
 
And in the end, I’m glad that people are now, at last, focusing attention on Krysten Sinema as much as Joe Manchin.