Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Joe Manchin: A Profile In Courage

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In a Rasmussen survey published yesterday, we learned that "only 31% of American voters say Joe Biden represents their beliefs."

Democrat Senator Joe Manchin would not be counted among the 31%.

As reported over the weekend, Manchin told the country he could not stand with President Biden on his "Build Back Better" agenda---likely killing Biden's multi-trillion dollar dream. 

Jim Hightower once said, "The opposite for courage is not cowardice, it is conformity. Even a dead fish can go with the flow."

Senator Manchin is not going to go with the flow, nor is he going to conform.

What he is personally giving up in standing for what he believes to be right, is a new profile in courage.

Be informed, not misled.

The Rasmussen Reports survey published yesterday reveals that Republican voters overwhelmingly say President Trump represents their personal political views, but Democrats are less likely to say the same of President Joe Biden, and independent voters strongly prefer Trump to Biden.

Only 31% of all likely voters say President Biden represents their political views.

Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin (WV) would be among those Democrats who have a different view than Biden.

He has become a new profile in courage.

Manchin's decision 

As reported over the weekend---and continuing this week, the White House is furious with Democrat Senator Joe Machin after he told Fox News on Sunday he will not vote for President Biden's multi-trillion-dollar spending plan.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, 

"Senator Manchin's comments this morning on FOX are at odds with his discussions this week with the presidenr, with the White House Staff, and with his own public utterances. Weeks ago, Senator Manchin committed to the president, at his home in Wilmington, to support the Build Back Better framework that the president then subsequently announced. Sen. Manchin pledged repeatedly to negotiate on finalizing that framework 'in good faith'."

Psaki continued to make the case that Manchin has misled and lied to the president and to the Democrat Party...essentially calling Manchin a liar.

But the record shows it's the Biden administration that is being untruthful about how things went down.

Manchin and Schumer signed an agreement in July, then the Democrats spent five months disregarding every provision of it and somehow thinking they could bully Manchin into going along.

Remember that the White House's first effort to work with Manchin was sending Kamala Harris to do local TV in West Virginia to pressure him, where she confused abandoned mine lands with abandoned land mines.

Manchin says, "They figure...we can badger and beat up one person, I'm from West Virginia, I'm not from where they're from, and they think they can beat the living crap out of people."

For President Biden---it all came down to the fact that he needed every single Democrat vote in the Senate, and he didn't get Manchin.

Psaki is promising, "We will find a way to move forward next year."

What Manchin rejected in voting his conscience.

Peter Schweizer, president of the Government Accountability Institute (GAI) praised Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) as a "profile in courage" who rejected offers for self-enrichment.

While guest-hosting Sean Hannity's radio show, Schweizer noted that he has done a lot of research into politicians from both parties---and has called them out for cronyism, for corruption, for self-enrichment--- "Joe Manchin resisted those temptations in voting 'no'," he said, "because believe me, he was offered a lot of things, and it's a time honored tradition in Washington DC to, basically, if you can't buy a politician, to at least rent them."

Schweizer has documented the corruption in his best-selling books including, "Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America's Progressive Elite."  He says, " Manchin must have rejected bids to procure his support for Build Back Better, including offers to financially benefit him and his family."

He concluded, "There's a time-honored tradition of buying off politicians. This is no doubt the sort of thing that was thrown at Joe Manchin, that was offered to him, that was offered to West Virginia, that was offered to his family."

It's public knowledge that Biden had already previously nominated Gayle Manchin, Joe Manchin's wife, to a government position relating to the distribution of taxpayer funding ostensibly designated for "infrastructure." The position includes a $163,000 salary and authority over funding appropriated in the Build Back Better legislation.

On the first try, Biden had offered Gayle the position of co-chair of something called Appalachian Regional Commission---an entity that distributes funds to help improve infrastructure networks.

In his follow-up attempts to buy Manchin, the Biden administration offered upward of $300 million to "distribute" as needed, by her Commission.

Senator Manchin has said "no thanks," and did what he believed in his heart was best for his state and his country. He did the right thing.

Ronald Reagan said: "There are no easy answers. We must have the courage to do what is morally right."

Takeaway

C. Mitchell Shaw, writing for the New American, says, "And so, McConnell---never one to miss an opportunity to score political points---offered Manchin an invitation, saying 'He doesn't fit well over there, but that is a decision ultimately that he has to make. We certainly welcome him to join us if he was so inclined."

Shaw notes that it is Manchin, not Biden, who is reading the direction of the political winds. 

McConnell says,  

"Democrats have pushed too far, too fast, and they're paying for it. The American people have seen what liberalism looks like. Actually, I'd say more accurately what socialism looks like, and we're headed toward a very significant midterm election next year. And we should, in all likelihood, flip both the House and the Senate to the Republican Party."

I agree. But politics aside.

I think there is an awakening of the "Christian Consensus" that Francis Schaeffer spoke of a generation ago, among the good and decent people of America---and there are many. They have seen first hand the leadership---or lack thereof, of Biden and Harris and Schumer and Pelosi and AOC and Sanders and Warren and all the other luminaries of the Left.

We now know what socialism and progressivism actually looks like in our community. And it isn't working. 

Perhaps this is a time when we will return to the "old paths."

Billy Graham said, "Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened."

Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Engaged. Be Vigilant. Be Prayerful.