Kevin Drum reviews a bit of recent history, and ends with this:
Yes, Democrats are filibustering some of George Bush's judges, but they're doing it only because Republicans have relentlessly dismantled all the avenues of dissent they themselves took advantage of back when Democrats controlled the Senate. There's no principle involved in this, just a raw exercise of power.
Remember that the next time you hear one of them whining about the "unprecedented" use of the filibuster by Democrats. It wouldn't have come to this in the first place if it weren't for the unprecedented destruction of senatorial tradition ruthlessly engineered by Senate Republicans over the past six years.
The image I get is of two guys preparing for a duel (Zell should like this metaphor), and one of them has gone into the weapons cases and removed some of the choices. BB gun...no, might lose an eye. Tazer...no, might cause a seizure. Club, no. Mace, no. Slingshot, no. Sword, no... Come time to meet on the field, all that's left is the bazooka. Wha- wha??? How dare you point that thing at me!
Posted by Jason at November 11, 2004 09:45 AM