Why can’t Sen. Sinema be more like Rep. Gallego?

I’m all for civility, except sometimes.

Like when an ignorant kook says something truly insulting or outrageous.

For example, when Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, the conspiracy-spouting Trump sycophant who was stripped of House committee assignments over dangerously inflammatory comments, like endorsing the assassination of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, recently said that “Democrats are the enemy within.”

That was not a nice thing to say. Especially to a Democrat.

Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego is a Democrat.

During his time in Congress, Gallego been very vocal in defense of his beliefs, like when the Marine combat veteran said that veterans linked to the Capitol riot should lose their benefits.

So, in response to Taylor Greene’s comment he tweeted:

“I was trying to figure what type of pen to stab your friends with if they overran us on the floor of the House of Representatives while trying to conduct a democratic transition of power. So please shut your seditious, Qanon loving mouth when it comes to who loves America.”

Democrats in Arizona find themselves wishing that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema would take a page or two – perhaps even an entire chapter – from Gallego’s playbook.

Not necessarily to be as combative, but at least a little more pugnacious. And more realistic. At least about what really needs to be done.

Sinema has different concerns than Gallego, of course. It might not suit her personality to be so assertive. And doing so would be more politically risky. Gallego represents a largely Democratic district. Sinema must campaign statewide.

Still, Sinema’s belief in reaching across the aisle – even when it only gets her hand slapped – is leaving many Democrats frustrated.

The senator told The Arizona Republic’s political podcast, The Gaggle, “There’s a lot of talk about, ‘Oooh, the pressure is mounting and the pressure is out there.’ But as everybody knows, I don’t bend to pressure from either party, and I just stay focused on what I think is right, and delivering for Arizonans.”

I’m not sure about that “delivering for Arizonans” stuff.

The biggest threat to Arizonans these days is the ongoing assault on the democratic process being orchestrated by the Republicans who run the Arizona Legislature. It’s happening in Republican-controlled legislatures

across the country.

Voter suppression. Voter list purges. A return to restrictions that come very close to the Jim Crow laws that kept minorities from the polls for generations. Not to mention the dangerously distructive sham election audit going on in Arizona.

Sinema points out that she is an original cosponsor of the Democratled For the People Act, which would expand voters’ rights, provide election security and assure independent redistricting, among other things.

But being a sponsor means nothing if the bill has no chance of being passed, and Sinema’s steadfast belief in the Senate’s filibuster rule – which requires a 60-vote majority to approve legislation – will keep that from happening.

Sinema has explained her support by saying, “I have long said that I oppose eliminating the filibuster for votes on legislation. Debate on bills should be a bipartisan process that takes into account the views of all Americans, not just those of one political party.”

A vast majority of Americans support the protections in the For the People Act.

It’s just the Republicans in the Senate who don’t want it.

There is nothing in the Constitution about the filibuster. The rule already has been altered in order to approve the appointment of judges by a simple majority vote.

Sinema may very well believe in compromise, but that’s only effective if the belief is shared by the opposition, and the Republicans in the Senate aren’t in the mood to protect voting rights. In fact, they have a distinctly uncivil, undemocratic view on the subject.

Refusing to take on a bully is not an act of civility. It’s not compromise.

It’s surrender.