On beating the living crap out of people – Emily Cochrane and Michael D. Shear in NYT:

‘“I knew where they were and I knew what they could and could not do — they just never realized it because they figured, surely to God we can move one person,” Mr. Manchin said. “Surely we can badger and beat one person up, surely we can get enough protesters to make that person uncomfortable enough they’ll just say, ‘OK, I’ll vote for anything, just quit.’” Mr. Manchin continued: “Well, guess what, I’m from West Virginia. I’m not from where they’re from and they can just beat the living crap out of people and think they’ll be submissive. Period.”’

(…)

‘For Mr. Biden, the stakes are enormous. Just last Thursday, Mr. Biden expressed optimism that he would find a path to compromise with Mr. Manchin.
“I believe that we will bridge our differences and advance the Build Back Better plan,” he said.
But much of the president’s optimism has been built on Mr. Biden’s belief in the kind of good-faith negotiations that he built his career on during 37 years in the Senate. One of his favorite lines is to declare that people can trust him because he’s given his “word as a Biden” to follow through.
His expectation, according to people familiar with his thinking, was that Mr. Manchin, whom he considers a friend, would adhere to the old rules of that chamber, working toward a solution even if they disagreed about the details.
But the West Virginia senator’s declaration on Sunday that he was done negotiating appears to have shattered the president’s belief that Mr. Manchin was negotiating in good faith. The subsequent statement on Sunday from Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary — which Mr. Biden personally approved — says as much.
“If his comments on Fox and written statement indicate an end to that effort, they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position, and a breach of his commitments to the president,” Ms. Psaki wrote.
The tone of Ms. Psaki’s statement underscored that Mr. Biden had reached his breaking point, just as Mr. Manchin had reached his.’

(…)

‘Senate Democrats are set to convene a caucus meeting on Tuesday to discuss the path forward. Asked if he would consider switching parties given the public tensions, Mr. Manchin suggested that he would prefer a Democrat.
“I would like to hope that there’s still Democrats that feel like I do — I’m socially and fiscally responsible and socially compassionate,” Mr. Manchin said. “Now if there’s no Democrats like that, then they’ll have to push me wherever they want me.”’

Read the article here.

If your fellow are metaphorically beating the living crap out of you, what are your enemies doing with you?

I believe I read in an article about Willy Brandt that your worst enemies are your comrades.

Then it all depends on the question: where is your breaking point?