Holy shit, these people are so unbelievably weak and craven and stupid. Look at this Twitter thread, regarding the Senate’s upcoming vote on the AHCA, and the Democrats’ idea of “opposition”:

The buzz today from Senate Ds offices is there is no chatter of withholding consent over AHCA, contra demands of @IndivisibleTeam/@MoveOn — Jeff Stein (@JStein_Vox) June 12, 2017

Senate Dems believe escalating by using 'nuclear option' over AHCA would unify GOP, make AHCA more likely



From an aide on background: pic.twitter.com/nVyCUH7T67 — Jeff Stein (@JStein_Vox) June 12, 2017

Ds also say withholding consent/grinding Senate to halt only delays vote by 1-2 weeks. Why risk having it backfire if meaningless anyway? — Jeff Stein (@JStein_Vox) June 12, 2017

Activists see it differently. They think 1-2 weeks may make huge difference, & want maximum pressure on GOP, not olive branch. @ezralevin: pic.twitter.com/crJQPWFtRB — Jeff Stein (@JStein_Vox) June 12, 2017

.@Indivisible is telling its membership to call Senate Ds and demand they withhold consent over TrumpCare. MoveOn, CREDO have same position — Jeff Stein (@JStein_Vox) June 12, 2017

Just got off phone w/ Sen. Murray (D-WA), who argued w/holding consent would not meaningfully stall the vote. Said she'd do it if it would pic.twitter.com/ttyxMCYP1I — Jeff Stein (@JStein_Vox) June 12, 2017

Top Senate D aide emails to say not going nuclear on AHCA also allows them to hammer out bipartisan Russian sanctions deal. So there's that — Jeff Stein (@JStein_Vox) June 13, 2017

I can't get too deep into this or my head will actually explode, but there are a couple points I'd like to make.

1. Who fucking cares if the Republicans won't listen? Who cares if it's basically an inevitability that they're going to pass their heinous health care bill that will boot 23 million people off insurance? You still fight! Holy shit, you still fight! You fight because it shows people that you're the damn opposition, and not a bunch of wilting ninnies who prostrate themselves on the floor to kiss the jackboots of the all-powerful Republicans. You tell the world, over and over again, how disgusting this bill is, and you shine every spotlight you have on the citizen-hating scourge that is the Republican party. THIS MATTERS. THIS INFLUENCES ELECTIONS.

2. You're afraid that showing a backbone will “unify” Republicans? THEY ARE ALREADY UNIFIED. It doesn't matter how they hesitate, or what concerns they voice—in the end, they are a vicious pack that will always close ranks when it matters. This is a massive tax cut for the rich, and there is not one single Republican, including Maverick McCain, who is going to stand in its way.

3. All you accomplish by failing to fight them is to normalize this awful piece of legislation. You are missing an enormous opportunity to show the American people the true extent of its grotesquerie. You are sacrificing a huge advantage in 2018, and allowing Republicans to accurately say that “well, the Dems didn't oppose it either!” You are giving average Americans nothing to distinguish you from your political enemies, except for your total lack of courage.

4. How hard is it to see that you need to drag this out, and, as Ezra Levin said, put “as much sunlight” on the AHCA as you can? If your opponents are going to pass legislation that hurts the American people, for God's sake, don't let them do it in the dark!!

5. Stein's last tweet, about “hammering out Russian sanctions,” is the most offensive of the bunch. First off, the fact that any Democrat believes making concessions to Republicans now will lead to concessions from them later…well, that Democrat should be jailed for utter fucking stupidity, because clearly he or she did not watch the ENTIRE OBAMA PRESIDENCY. Republicans give nothing, no matter what, and they laugh with glee at the concept of quid pro quo.

6. Second off, holy shit, the American people do not give two shits about sanctions on Russia. I'm not saying it doesn't need to happen, but all the average person is going to remember at the next election is that he got kicked off health care, or saw his premiums skyrocket, and Democrats didn't lift a finger to stop it. But these absolute idiots in leadership truly believe that it will mitigate the damage somewhat if they can say, “well, yes, but we fought to punish Russia!”

Fuck everything. Can somebody please start a new progressive party so we don't have to deal with these incompetent cowards any longer?

Here are some tweets. I have nothing more to say.

Democrats explicitly sacrificing the health care of millions of people to pursue the Russia shit? That is a spicy meatball. — Matt Christman (@cushbomb) June 13, 2017

lol imagine losing your healthcare so that mccain can block some russian guy's itunes account or some shit — good baking memes (@scaredofbabies) June 13, 2017

No. Nope. No backing off fascists in hopes of their possible/unlikely future fairness. How many times must we learn this lesson. — Sara NK (@sznk) June 13, 2017

Murray misses the point. It won't stall the vote, but it's the legislative equivalent of civil disobedience. — Joshua Zeitz (@JoshuaMZeitz) June 12, 2017

In a world where the Senate majority violates democratic norms, the minority party can make them experience public shame & inconvenience. — Joshua Zeitz (@JoshuaMZeitz) June 12, 2017

americans killed by russia: 0



americans who will be killed by the AHCA: hundreds of thousands https://t.co/2SOWyuAqlg — Lana Del Raytheon (@LanaDelRaytheon) June 13, 2017

dem leadership is more interested in trump/comey/russia than AHCA because they're — Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) June 13, 2017