June 10, 2021: Reality has set in for the advocates of the radical socialist-progressive agenda who hijacked the Democrat party during the Trump Administration — they don’t have the votes they need inside the Democrat party and it’s now time to “name names”.

Joe Manchin is not a lone-wolf moderate playing the role of a large rock in a fast-moving stream.  The left-wing agitators have finally realized that Manchin is playing a role which he was willing, and more importantly able to play in helping to strangle in the crib the terrible ideas of socialist simpletons like Bernie Sanders and political neophytes led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

AOC realizes what Sanders has long known, and is demanding accountability WITHIN the Democrat party for those who secretly oppose the socialist-progressive agenda she and other socialists have forced upon the party as a whole.

I have written numerous stories about Joe Manchin and why he was unlikely to ever cave in to the demands of AOC and the radical left-wingers.  The bottom line is he doesn’t agree with much of what their legislation would do because he thinks the changes would not be in the interest of West Virginia.  Right now, with the backstop of the filibuster protecting him, Manchin has his hand firmly on the “emergency brake” to stop the socialists from doing “crazy.”

Joe Manchin is a West Virginia Democrat and a Catholic.  His political ideology was formed in the aftermath of the Presidency of John Kennedy. On the spectrum of the Democrat party, he’s on the opposite end from George McGovern.  He’s not allowing a Democrat Party legislative lollapalooza to happen by voting to eliminate the legislative filibuster because it would unleash forces of change he doesn’t support.  He will vote for Democrat-sponsored legislation that has GOP support.  But he will not let the Senate become a majoritarian body that would allow political agitation to drive “crazy” stuff through and into law in the same way it happens in the House — by either party.  He understands that Mitch McConnell and the GOP did not do it when Pres. Trump agitated for it, and he’s not going to allow the Democrats to do it — not while he’s able to prevent it from happening.

I found much humor in the headline of this story yesterday in The Hill:  “Some Democrats Wonder When Schumer Will Get Tough With Manchin.”

Joe Manchin sees a headline like that and knows he’s won.  What are his progressive critics going to do — come to West Virginia and campaign against him on the basis that he’s opposing Democrat legislative priorities like the “Elect Only Democrats Act”?   West Virginia voted 70-30 for Donald Trump.  Progressives coming to campaign against him only improve his re-election chances by making him more acceptable to Trump supporters.  From Manchin’s perspective, he’ll send a bus to pick up AOC, Rashida Talib, and Cori Bush and bring them to Charleston and Wheeling to campaign against him.  Unleash the power of the congressional socialist caucus to whip this Democrat cracker into line.

The fact that he has nothing to fear from them politically means that he can provide cover for Democrat friends in the Senate who agree with him but might have something to fear them in more purple or blue states.

AOC believes those people exist, and she wants the world to know who they are. so they can be rooted out and driven from office in a favor of a more radical left-wing socialist.

“There are certainly more senators with reservations about the filibuster that are giving Manchin steam to stay firm. But I have also heard from colleagues that none of those other senators want to play Manchin’s role…. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be pressed for their position and offer clarity to their constituents, though,” she said of the senators letting Manchin do the talking. “People deserve to know with clarity where their elected representation stands on the filibuster.”

Chuck Schumer spent two decades in the Senate waiting to become the majority leader and he’s not going to flush that down the toilet because of AOC and The Squad.  He has vulnerable incumbents to protect in November 2022. He knows the history, and his overriding concern is not making AOC and the radicals happy, but protecting his slimmest possible majority — and with it his position as Majority Leader.  So he will pay lip service to their most radical agenda items, but he’s not going to punish Manchin or anyone else for insufficient fealty to the nutjobs in the House.

The battle is now joined — inside the Democrat party.  AOC and the progressives know they have lost the legislative initiative with the unwillingness of Manchin and others to allow the socialist-progressive agenda to be driven through on a majoritarian basis. Cleansing their ranks internally of those not sufficiently pure and devoted to the socialist-progressive agenda is a necessary priority that runs parallel with taking over more GOP Senate seats — far from a sure thing.

The GOP has more Senate seats to defend in 2022, but the election won’t be about Donald Trump, it will be about Joe Biden and the Democrat party’s first two years in office.

But even that is not accurate — it will be about Joe Biden and the Democrats’ first 12-14 months in office because one year from now some states will already be conducting primary elections for the November 2022 midterm election.  That’s where the intra-party blood will be spilled, and AOC and her allies will see just how much flex they have by testing their power at the ballot box to take out Democrat incumbents they see as insufficiently committed to passing their agenda.

AOC and her ilk thought they could accomplish their legislative goals while they appeared to be ascendant within the party — “get on board or get left behind”.  But the progressives/socialists never had the votes even when the media touted every move they made.  Yes, the Democrat caucus is more liberal, but it is not monolithic.  It’s easy to vote “Yes” in the House or Senate when you know the legislation is DOA because Joe Manchin said so.

Joe Manchin is the Senate’s exterminator, and he allows a lot of Democrat friends to make “Show Votes” to keep the socialist hounds at bay back at home.

But AOC has seen enough. She knows he’s not the only problem.

We’ll know if she more than “just talk” when it comes time for her to decide whether to try and slay the King himself — a primary challenge to Chuck Schumer.