Consolation of the sea

Bicameral mayday

When the omnibus reconciliation bill that has somehow taken the place of a properly announced and debated budget (how did they manage to break that norm too?!) was passed by the House, I felt the end of American democracy was near. In the meantime the Senate parliamentarian has, I think, stripped away the effort to kneecap the judiciary, but the reckless Supreme Court majority has since filled in the gap. Republican Senators in smoke-filled rooms have only made the bill even more regressive on care of the needy, fossil fuels, the terrorization of immigrants and the redistribution of wealth - not to mention national debt. And what gave me the worst chills remains, and the President's decision to celebrate the day at Florida's own future CECOT confirms the reality of the threat: they're building concentration camps. And we pay.