Once again, the filibuster is in the news. Once again a Republican minority is trying to wield the same political power they did when they had a majority. Once again the democrats lack the nerve to eviscerate the filibuster, even though McConnell neutered it for blocking judicial appointments in the blink of an eye. That was incredibly disheartening, after 4 years of hearing how difficult it would be to change the filibuster rules when Dems were in charge, and all the handwringing by Harry Reid and others, Mitch did it with a snap of his fingers the first year of the Trump admin (for judicial filibusters only albeit.) One rule for Republicans, another for Dems, just like with the latest Supreme Court appointment. Everything old is new again…
A decade ago, the first time this came to my attention, when the Obama agenda was being crushed time and again by the Republican filibuster, which in effect required a super majority for every piece of legislation that had a chance of helping someone in America I tried to find a way to help. Because the key issue is that when people hear filibuster they think of Jimmy Stewart, passing out on the senate floor in a desperate effort to keep talking. That was fine. But at a certain point the filibuster changed from a rule of debate to an antidemocratic minority veto, when the requirement that to keep the filibuster going you had to keep talking was removed. This…
