On Monday, 81 Senators—led by a bipartisan group of nearly 30 Senators calling themselves "the Common Sense Coalition"—voted to pass a continuing resolution that keeps the government open for another three weeks and funds the Children's Health Insurance Program for six years. The three week extension allows Democrats and Republicans to keep negotiating an immigration deal despite the fact the DREAM Act already exists and has plenty of support. Since immigration supposedly figured heavily in votes to shut down the government, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said "it would be [his] intention to proceed to legislation that would address DACA, border security and related issues," which is being framed as a promise we're supposed to take seriously.

DACA recipients and other DREAMers were rightly pissed. Indivisible activists were rightly pissed at Democrats for caving after three days. But Matt Fuller at the Huffington Post said the capitulation was a good idea. Citing a poll that suggests a majority of voters like DACA but don't want to shut down the government over it, he argues a prolonged shut down would only sour opinions on DACA. However, other polls suggests that a majority of American voters like DACA and also think we should shut down the government in order to secure protections for DREAMers. Those same polls show that voters blame Trump and the Republicans for the shut down more than they blame Democrats, suggesting that opinions on DACA wouldn't sour.

Part of what made the shut down so confusing was Democratic failure to present a single, clear reason for why they were voting to shut down the government in the first place. Some only pointed the finger at Republicans for shutting down the government. Some presented a long list of policies they wanted Republicans to act on, which included but didn't stress the importance of DACA. Some championed a DACA fix the whole way. Washington State Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell have been maddeningly vague and gutless in their positions on this issue, suggesting that neither are willing to truly fight for a DACA fix or a greater solution for millions of DREAMers.

Before I parse Murray's nonsense and Cantwell's nothingness, it's worth reminding citizens how serious this issue is. Come March 5, if Congress doesn't figure something out and if McConnell fails to deliver on his "intentions," ICE will start deporting nearly 800,000 DACA recipients, people who have paid fees and endured background checks in exchange for a promise of a pathway to citizenship. That's on top of the 2.8 million other DREAMers already facing potential ICE raids. For all of these people—these doctors, these teachers—America has been the only home they've known in their adult life.

Meanwhile, ICE is raiding 7-Elevens when they could be sending e-mails to franchise owners requesting proper documentation. They're apparently targeting undocumented activists for deportation in retaliation for speaking up. Border Patrol also appears to be targeting volunteers who are leaving water at the border so immigrants don't die of thirst.

And apologies to Godwin, but, suddenly declaring hundreds of thousands of residents stateless is some serious 1941 Germany shit. Every American should be taking heed, but especially those of you who used the Holocaust to justify your support of punching Nazis. It could happen here, but they're not going after the Jews this time, not yet.

This inhumanity will continue while the "common sense collation" clinks glasses in Susan Collins's office and gives each other another few weeks to maybe work something out, maybe not.

Cantwell has released no statement about her vote to reopen the government, nor will any of her aides return my calls and e-mails. Her lack of accountability and transparency on this issue is insulting. The immediate future of 17,000 Washingtonians is on the line, and she hasn't said one word about it. She's up for re-election this year. She thinks her seat is safe. You can call her office at (202) 224-3441 and tell her how you feel about that.

In a statement released last Friday, Murray said she'd "do everything I can to persuade the Republican majority to reopen the government and get to work with Democrats to increase investments in defense and domestic priorities, pass a long-term extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program and critical primary care programs, and finally pass legislation to protect our DREAMers who have known no home but America and who now have to live in fear for their futures."

She also said she voted to shut down the government because she was "so frustrated" that Republicans were "punting on a number of things that affect families across this country" by passing a continuing resolution that funds the government for four weeks. Her frustration here is with the process: no more punting!

But Monday she voted to punt for three weeks. "I support this short-term agreement not because I blindly trust Republican leaders to deliver on their commitments," she writes in a statement released yesterday afternoon, "But because I believe this path offers us the best chance to reach a comprehensive deal to protect families and communities in this Republican Congress." So her new algebra is punting for three weeks + a "promise" from McConnell to hear a bipartisan immigration bill = "the best chance." Punting for four weeks with no promise = shut down the government!

The only way that math makes any sense at all is if Murray truly trusts McConnell, Ryan, and Trump. Murray claims in the statement that she's going to "stand ready to hold this Republican Congress accountable for results." She adds: “If Republican leaders renege on their commitment to work with us and to allow votes on the critical issues before us, they will shut down the government in just a few weeks and the pressure will be right back on them to work with us."

But an aide told me over the phone that it's too early for Murray to commit to a vote to shutdown the government on Feb. 8 should no bipartisan immigration bill emerge. The one thing Murray can do to hold "this Republican Congress accountable" is promise that she will vote to shut down the government on Feb. 8 if a solution isn't reached, but she's not doing it.

This wishy-washy politicking stands in contrast to Murray's previous fiery statements in support of the DREAM Act. "Because every single day Republican leaders refuse to bring the DREAM Act to the floor to a vote, another 122 young people lose their DACA status, lose their ability to work legally, and lose their protection from deportation," she said. "Stop letting so many promising young men and women fall off the rolls of this program each and every day. Stop kicking this can down the road, and come together to do what’s right for these young people."

So Murray's worried about DACA recipients and DREAMers, but not worried enough to use what power she has to force the Republicans to act on the issue. Classic.

You won't be surprised to learn that Murray's press secretary, Kerry Arndt, disagrees with my assessment of the Senator's vague pronouncements on this issue. “You may not agree with that tactic, but it’s wrong to confuse a disagreement over tactics with a lack of commitment to the result or the people," Arndt said. "Senator Murray is focused, above all else, on what moves us closer to protecting the DREAMers from President Trump—not who ‘wins’ or ‘loses’ the political fight of the day.”

The hope here is that Republicans will put out a deal that at least protects DACA recipients before the Feb. 8 deadline. If they don't, then McConnell would feel compelled to "proceed to legislation that would address DACA." If he doesn't, then the Democrats get to call McConnell a liar AND they'll get to decide whether they want to vote to punt or shut down the government again. This doesn't strike me as a particularly strong move, because McConnell will likely make up some bullshit reason about the Democrats changing the terms of agreement during the negotiation, which he has done in the past, and any accusations of hypocrisy will fall on deaf ears.

The only other reason for this spinelessness is the worry that Democratic Senators in red states might have a harder time winning closely contested races in 2018, and so she shouldn't press too hard on immigration. But this line of thinking is also dumb. As I mentioned in my last post about the government shut down: there is no escape from right wing attack ads. They're going to accuse Democratic candidates of being complicit in the murder of children and women, of privileging immigrants over Americans, and whatever other odious shit they can think of. And—like Ed Gillespie in Virginia and like Roy Moore in Alabama—they're going to lose. (Hopefully.) Why then are the Democrats like Murray and Cantwell so scared?