A Filibuster for Me?!?! No, Really, You Shouldn’t Have.

Posted by Mary Mancini on July 17, 2007 under Uncategorized |

Senator Harry Reid grew some “thatchers” suddenly, which I am going to consider a special birthday present for Vince Guaraldi, The Hoff, and me.

Senate Republicans are threatening to filibuster a bill by Senators Levin and Reed that would require President Bush to begin troop withdrawal within 120 days, with most coming home by April 2008. Reid stated on the Senate floor yesterday that if Republicans will not allow a vote on the Amendment, he would use his special magical powers a majority leader to keep the Senate in session “straight through the night on Tuesday” thereby forcing Republicans to carry out their filibuster threat:

“It’d be one thing for the minority to vote against this bill; if they honestly think stay-the-course is the right strategy, they have the right to vote no. But now Republicans are using a filibuster to block us from even voting on an amendment that could bring this war to a responsible end.”

It’s probably true that Senate Democrats won’t have the votes to stop a Republican filibuster, but it sure is nice that they’re trying to hold Senators accountable to the American people for a vote on this thing. I’d certainly like to see who’s for and who’s against ignoring our wishes, disregarding the advice of military experts, and staying the Corker Course.

Filibuster Trivia: The longest filibuster - which derives from the Dutch word meaning “pirate” - on record is from South Carolina’s J. Strom Thurmond, who in 1957 filibustered against the Civil Rights Act for 24 hours and 18 minutes.

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