Let Them Filibuster

Let Them Filibuster
by David Mixner
Copyright by David Mixner
Feb 5 2010
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Brown Well, it is party time for Republicans in Washington, D.C as newly elected Senator Scott Brown takes his seat in the Senate. The GOP is thrilled to have who they call "Senator 41" to block progressive Democratic legislation. Evidently part of the celebration is that no longer do they believe being a majority is sufficient to pass legislation. They clearly have lost ability to count and should get some good math tutors. By using the age old tactic of bringing the business of the nation to a stand still by filibustering, they now can make a majority 60 votes out of 100 instead of 50 as intended by the Constitution of the United States.

There is no doubt that the filibuster, an archaic and undemocratic rule, has been used by both parties over the years. The Southern Democrats used it repeatedly in the last century to block freedom for African-Americans. The concept is to simply paralyze government until you get your way no matter how many people on the other side have been elected to the United States Senate. Like a child who refuses to stop whining, crying or throwing a hissy fit until everyone around him focuses only on him, the GOP plans to use this rule to stymie the business of the nation.

Let them do it. And force them to do it the old-fashioned way of standing up and ranting for hours on end until their irritating voices give out and they fall into a dead faint.

Let the Republicans filibuster for days to stop healthcare and see how the citizens of America will react. I think soon some of those 'teabaggers' would eventually begin to bang their coffee cups for healthcare. Let's not be intimated by their tantrums and most importantly let's not give into them.

Fine with me if the Republicans want to filibuster civil rights for the LGBT community. Do the citizens of American want jobs, education and supporting our military overseas to come to a grinding halt for them to filibuster on gays? I think not. So let them rant from the floor of the Senate spewing intolerant nonsense and let the nation see their true colors. Don't give in to their childlike behavior and let them act out.

If they chose to filibuster tax cuts for the rich, again give them the floor of the Senate. Let the American public see they are willing to halt transportation, environmental and childcare legislation in order to protect their rich friends' bonuses! Hold the door open for those Republican senators who want to filibuster for the rich and lets be sure to get tape for our daily 'youtube' videos of their behavior.

So let them filibuster. Let the Republicans show their true colors. Most importantly let newly elected Senator Scott Brown return to Massachusetts and explain all these filibusters that he is enabling. My bet is that some conservatives are going to be disappointed real soon by their new hero "Senator 41