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You are here: Home / Politics / Filibuster Nuked

Filibuster Nuked

by Betty Cracker|  November 21, 20131:12 pm| 312 Comments

This post is in: Politics

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Kaboom:

Senate smacks down filibuster

After years of Republican obstructionism, Senate Dems have had enough.

The upper chamber of Congress voted on Thursday to deploy the so-called “nuclear option” to change the rules of the Senate. The move now clears the way for Obama’s judicial nominees who were being blocked by Republicans.

On a 48-52 vote, the Democrats voted to officially go nuclear. A “no” vote was a vote to change the rules.

Just three Democrats sided with the Republicans, including Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.

Let’s weep for the lost comity, fellow citizens. Or not.

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Reader Interactions

312Comments

  1. 1.

    Big R

    November 21, 2013 at 1:15 pm

    Does Pryor think he’s going to save his seat by being Republican? Pretty sure he won it by being Not Asa Hutchinson.

  2. 2.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 21, 2013 at 1:15 pm

    David Broder is spinning in his grave.

  3. 3.

    gbear

    November 21, 2013 at 1:15 pm

    I blame Obama.

  4. 4.

    Anoniminous

    November 21, 2013 at 1:15 pm

    Senate voted to advance the Millet nomination, Yes 55, No 43.

    he-he-he, Fuck You McTurtle

    (repeat post. Because I want to spread the gloat.)

  5. 5.

    BGK

    November 21, 2013 at 1:17 pm

    Has Miss Lindsey taken to the fainting couch yet?

  6. 6.

    The Dangerman

    November 21, 2013 at 1:17 pm

    Surprised the Dung of Six couldn’t swing a deal.

  7. 7.

    Betty Cracker

    November 21, 2013 at 1:18 pm

    @Big R: What’s Levin’s deal? Anyone know?

  8. 8.

    Belafon

    November 21, 2013 at 1:18 pm

    How many nominations can they clear in one day?

  9. 9.

    Suffern ACE

    November 21, 2013 at 1:18 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Nope. He woke up just in time to die of a broken heart.

  10. 10.

    comrade scott's agenda of rage

    November 21, 2013 at 1:18 pm

    I think we all can predict how the Villagers will react:

    “If only the President had exercised some leadership.”

    “Partisan warfare will only increase.”

    and so on.

    I’m soooo glad I went totebagger-radio free starting four months ago.

  11. 11.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    November 21, 2013 at 1:19 pm

    This is good but it’s no kind of smackdown. Legislation will still be ground to a halt and it’s this grinding halt that is seen by the general public as “gridlock”, not three vacancies on a Federal court.

  12. 12.

    PaulW

    November 21, 2013 at 1:19 pm

    Dear Republicans:

    IT’S YOUR OWN DAMN FAULT ABUSING THE FILIBUSTER FOR EVERY DAMN THING.

    Signed:

    A U.S. Constitution that doesn’t have one word about a filibuster system

  13. 13.

    taylormattd

    November 21, 2013 at 1:19 pm

    Scott Lemieux said this:

    Luckily, 1) the GOP seems to have the same evaluation of Reid as the typical liberal blog commenter, and 2) they’re both wrong.

  14. 14.

    JMG

    November 21, 2013 at 1:20 pm

    Levin has been in the Senate so long he is a victim of institutional capture. The Senate is a special place that can’t be changed because then it wouldn’t be so special. Same way he opposes Gillibrand’s bill on military sex crimes. He’s been in the Armed Services Committee so long that whatever the services say is what he then thinks.

  15. 15.

    gbear

    November 21, 2013 at 1:20 pm

    @Anoniminous: The rest of this week could be kind of fun that way.

  16. 16.

    comrade scott's agenda of rage

    November 21, 2013 at 1:20 pm

    Kudos to Senator Reid for finally pushing the nukelar button.

  17. 17.

    Ash Can

    November 21, 2013 at 1:21 pm

    The LGF front page has a post on this up now that features a tweet from Harry Reid. The tweet shows a video loop of Mitch McConnell calling for up-or-down judicial votes on several occasions during the Bush years. Atta boy, Harry. :)

  18. 18.

    taylormattd

    November 21, 2013 at 1:21 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    I’m not sure why you are assuming something can only be a “smackdown” if it resonates with the general public in the media. I’ll also note that there are something like 93 federal court vacancies and a lot of executive branch vacancies. So “three” is not correct.

  19. 19.

    Waspuppet

    November 21, 2013 at 1:21 pm

    Wanna see a wingnuts head explode? Tell him “That’s OK; if you loved the filibuster so much you can reinstate it the next time Republicans are in charge.”

    Come to think of it, how come none of Our Highly Paid Media Stars have ever said that, even tongue in cheek?

  20. 20.

    liberal

    November 21, 2013 at 1:22 pm

    @JMG:
    Yeah, I was wondering WTF is wrong with him.

  21. 21.

    Fake Irishman

    November 21, 2013 at 1:22 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: Hardly matters for now — anything the Senate sends to the House is DOA anyway.

  22. 22.

    LanceThruster

    November 21, 2013 at 1:22 pm

    BOOSH!

  23. 23.

    liberal

    November 21, 2013 at 1:23 pm

    @comrade scott’s agenda of rage:
    I’m not sure what I’ll enjoy more, the thugs reaction, or the medias.

    I do vacillate between “top level media people are just paid-for whores” and “they ain’t very smart.”

  24. 24.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    November 21, 2013 at 1:23 pm

    @taylormattd: It’s bare minimum filibuster reform. It’s not a smackdown and it’s not “nuclear” (or “nucular”.) If you sell it that way, people are going to be pretty fucking let down when they see nothing substantial changes.

  25. 25.

    taylormattd

    November 21, 2013 at 1:24 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: Who is going to be “let down”?

  26. 26.

    Malovich

    November 21, 2013 at 1:24 pm

    BAM!

    I NOM ALL THE SEATS NAO!

  27. 27.

    liberal

    November 21, 2013 at 1:24 pm

    @taylormattd:
    Agreed.

    Sadly, the “general public” probably doesn’t understand what an Article III judge is to begin with.

  28. 28.

    comrade scott's agenda of rage

    November 21, 2013 at 1:25 pm

    I wonder how many of our Village betters will bring up the rank hypocricy of 11 sitting Senators and their fillibustering of judicial nominees in light of what they said back in 2005:

    http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/11/08/2915251/gop-senator-2005-filibuster-presidents-judicial-nominee-period/

    An example:

    Jeff Sessions (R- AL): “[The Constitution] says the Senate shall advise and consent on treaties by a two-thirds vote, and simply ‘shall advise and consent’ on nominations…. I think there is no doubt the Founders understood that to mean … confirmation of a judicial nomination requires only a simple majority vote.”

  29. 29.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    November 21, 2013 at 1:25 pm

    @taylormattd: Anyone who thinks something huge happened today to end gridlock.

  30. 30.

    Richard Fox

    November 21, 2013 at 1:27 pm

    At least this stops for the time being the gibberish / claptrap / fluff about the ACA website. I can read the internets again. Thanks Harry! Go Dems!

  31. 31.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    November 21, 2013 at 1:28 pm

    @Richard Fox:

    At least this stops for the time being the gibberish / claptrap / fluff about the ACA website.

    Yes, that is something to celebrate for sure!

  32. 32.

    taylormattd

    November 21, 2013 at 1:29 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    Anyone who thinks something huge happened today to end gridlock.

    Who would that be? Why do you believe a single person would believe that?

    Also, what are you arguing about and why?

    Assuming your strange theory (that for some reason the general population will believe what happened today will magically end gridlock and then will later be angry and disappointed when it doesn’t) is true, what is your point?

    Are you saying that because people will later be disappointed by continuing legislative gridlock, that therefore completely ending the filibuster for executive and judicial nominees (save Supreme Court), thereby filling nearly a hundred judicial vacancies is . . . bad?

  33. 33.

    chopper

    November 21, 2013 at 1:29 pm

    woo hoo! damn, i didn’t think harry had it in him.

  34. 34.

    Aji

    November 21, 2013 at 1:29 pm

    @Betty Cracker: High-Broderism “elder statesman-itis.”

  35. 35.

    ranchandsyrup

    November 21, 2013 at 1:30 pm

    “It only reinforces the narrative of party willing to do or say just about anything to get its way,” said McConnell.

    Projection, it always is. *Yoda

  36. 36.

    mdblanche

    November 21, 2013 at 1:31 pm

    @Big R: Pryor is one of the last two Democrats left from the Gang of 14 who are still in the Senate. The other is Mary Landrieu, who’s in the running for Most Improved Senator.

    @chopper: The question was never whether Harry had it in him. The question was whether his caucus had it in them.

  37. 37.

    Ash Can

    November 21, 2013 at 1:31 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: In all seriousness, it’s probably a good thing that it’s not a smackdown, as in, frying the filibuster mechanism completely. It’s a surgical strike, and a much-needed one, since Federal-level judges can have immediate and significant impacts on state-level laws around the country, and can do so over a very long term.

  38. 38.

    Face

    November 21, 2013 at 1:31 pm

    Dear Obama —

    Nothing but ultra-liberals to the bench. No more moderates, unless they’re the absolute best choice. No longer any need to appease the Gridlock Fuckers on the GOP side.

    Lets pack the courts with OUR team. Fuck ’em.

    Signed–
    Fed up Dems

  39. 39.

    max

    November 21, 2013 at 1:32 pm

    @Waspuppet: Tell him “That’s OK; if you loved the filibuster so much you can reinstate it the next time Republicans are in charge.”

    The Republicans should TOTALLY campaign on a platform of bringing back the filibuster. That would be so awesome.

    max
    [‘Awesomely funny.’]

  40. 40.

    jon

    November 21, 2013 at 1:32 pm

    Oh noes! The packing the courts with horrible centrists will now commence! The Mondale-ization of our nation will now lead to a reign of moderate views and reasonable-ness unseen since the days of… well, who knows anymore? All I know is that this will be very very dangerous to the nation as a whole.

    I’ll figure out actual reasons sometime later, but for now I am experiencing very mild outrage. I may raise my voice slightly and remark, “I’m slightly offended and I’m probably going to remain this way as long as I don’t have anything else to do!”

  41. 41.

    Trollhattan

    November 21, 2013 at 1:32 pm

    @Ash Can:

    That’s awesome.

    Now, Dems, just keep hold of the Senate, m’kay?

  42. 42.

    chopper

    November 21, 2013 at 1:32 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    there are a hell of a lot more than 3 judges waiting to get nominated. this applies to more than just the DC circuit.

    it also applies to executive nominations. so the EPA will actually have a head, as will the ATF, etc etc.

  43. 43.

    Aji

    November 21, 2013 at 1:32 pm

    @comrade scott’s agenda of rage: That would be zero.

  44. 44.

    Anoniminous

    November 21, 2013 at 1:33 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    Unless Reid changes the filibuster rule for legislation as well. Which, I’m guessing he won’t since anything the Senate passes is DOA at the House anyway.

    ETA: the point of this was for President Obama to be able to staff the Executive Branch and appoint judges to vacant positions. The GOP were holding up historically routine appointments because they were assholes. Now they can’t do the former they are still the latter.

  45. 45.

    Anya

    November 21, 2013 at 1:33 pm

    Democrats being tough again? If they keep this up, I may need to invest in a fainting couch…

  46. 46.

    the Conster

    November 21, 2013 at 1:35 pm

    Oooh, Walnuts is threatening… something. Says Dems “will rue the day”. LOL.

  47. 47.

    Mike in NC

    November 21, 2013 at 1:35 pm

    The Koch Brothers and their allies are going to be pouring millions of dollars into North Carolina in the hopes of picking up an easy GOP Senate seat in 2014. Right now it looks to be about a 50-50 proposition and we’re nearly a year out from the election. I’ve never lived in any other state that had such a huge level of voter apathy. Promising lower taxes seems to be the key to everything here.

  48. 48.

    MattF

    November 21, 2013 at 1:35 pm

    One point that’s been raised is that if R’s take the Senate next year, the first thing they’d do is nuke the filibuster faster than you can say IOKIYAR. I believe that’s true.

  49. 49.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    November 21, 2013 at 1:35 pm

    @Ash Can: I agree it’s a good thing but it shouldn’t be sold as something extraordinary. I’m already seeing the Facebook shouts of “the end of gridlock”. The truth is the whole damn filibuster needs to be blown up because it is in direct contravention to the Constitution which specifically lays out a 50+1 majority vote to pass legislation. How do we go back for the rest of the filibuster when we’ve already nuked it? Use a death star?

  50. 50.

    Belafon

    November 21, 2013 at 1:35 pm

    @taylormattd: I disagree with JSF,TL, but his statement was not that ending the filibuster was bad, but that’s not as huge as the title might make you believe, because it only ended it for non-SCOTUS nominations.

    I still think it’s a pretty big deal. Kind of like the ACA.

  51. 51.

    Amir Khalid

    November 21, 2013 at 1:36 pm

    @chopper:
    And valued commenter Yutsy’s agency will finally have a head.

  52. 52.

    Cassidy

    November 21, 2013 at 1:36 pm

    @Anya: You’ll have to wait in line. It’s already being used.

  53. 53.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 21, 2013 at 1:36 pm

    @liberal:
    I don’t think they have to be paid for whores. They are willing and eager. National level journalism is dominated (numerically and by seniority/power) by rich old white men who think they’re liberal but are ‘mature’ enough to realize that Republicans are right about things like how the poor will be better off if you starve them, and cowboys are the best diplomats. There are a few other influences (like the belief that politics is a game), but it all points in the same direction. Their corporate bosses don’t need to pressure them.

  54. 54.

    maximiliano furtive, formerly known as dr. bloor

    November 21, 2013 at 1:36 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: In this case, getting those “three” (have you been paying attention?) nominees onto the courts is far more important that whatever our Honey Boo Boo-driven population is told to think for the next 6-nanosecond news cycle.

  55. 55.

    shortstop

    November 21, 2013 at 1:37 pm

    The Muslim tyrant Obummer wants to be a dictating king! Good luck liking and sharing this — the liberal homofascist Mark Zuckerberg won’t let you!

    Just saving my southern Indiana relatives the trouble of writing their own FB posts today.

  56. 56.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    November 21, 2013 at 1:37 pm

    I initially read the post title as “Filibuster Naked” and am now ready to throttle Betty over the images that came to mind.

  57. 57.

    mdblanche

    November 21, 2013 at 1:37 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: But enough about yourself, Mitch.

    @Anya: Well don’t bother looking in the Village. All their fainting couches are in use right now. Clutching pearls also too.

  58. 58.

    Kay

    November 21, 2013 at 1:38 pm

    McCain says Democrats will pay a “heavy, heavy price”. I think he means “on the Sunday shows”.

  59. 59.

    Belafon

    November 21, 2013 at 1:39 pm

    @Face: Now here’s someone who will be disappointed. I expect a lot of Kagans and Sotomayors.

  60. 60.

    Anoniminous

    November 21, 2013 at 1:39 pm

    @Anya:

    On the good side, my investment in pearl futures is going to pay off as thousands rush to purchase a strand to clutch.

    Speaking of that, I need to investigate the manufacturers of fainting couches. Opportunity?

  61. 61.

    aimai

    November 21, 2013 at 1:41 pm

    I wish they’d done this early in Obama’s first term, but I think the issue had to “ripen” from the point of view of the Democratic Senators. We’re going to see that whatever fears they had about how toxic this move may have been pale in comparison to how crazed the Republicans will become but the truth is that there is very little left to their destructive capability that they weren’t already going to explore. The Republican party is like an addict who is addicted to violence–they need to keep finding new and more vicious ways of expressing themselves in order to keep the high going. They will find it. Filibuster or no filibuster. Meanwhile the Democratic Senators can go back to the business of trying to actually run the country.

  62. 62.

    lamh36

    November 21, 2013 at 1:41 pm

    @Ash Can:

    Yeah, Harry Reid wins the internets for a while due to this tweet and the accompanying Vine video:

    Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid)
    11/21/13, 11:52 AM
    I’m old enough to remember when Sen. McConnell insisted on up-or-down votes for judicial confirmations. vine.co/v/hFX9FUmaV0Q

  63. 63.

    taylormattd

    November 21, 2013 at 1:41 pm

    @Belafon: “only for non-SCOTUS nominations”

    That’s literally all of them, unless a Supreme Court justice dies or retires. All of them. Nearly 100. It’s not a “minimal” change as JSF said, it’s *massive*. I’ll also note this ends filibusters on executive nominees. No fucking around on Janet Yellin or anyone else. This probably was the most important vote in Obama’s second term.

    JSF is downplaying that based on some silly concern about people from his facebook being possibly disappointed sometime in the future about continued legislative gridlock.

  64. 64.

    Anoniminous

    November 21, 2013 at 1:41 pm

    @gbear:

    I sure the heck hope so. I’d like to see Reid bring two bills to the Senate Floor:

    1. To approve all of Obama’s appointments to the Executive Branch

    2. To approve all of Obama’s appointments to vacant Judicial Seats

    That’d larn ’em.

  65. 65.

    biff diggerence

    November 21, 2013 at 1:42 pm

    Harry, I can feel the aftershocks here in SE PA.

    Nice work.

  66. 66.

    Rommie

    November 21, 2013 at 1:42 pm

    Man, Sen. Grassley is projecting at 110 percent. It’s kind of awesome in the crazy.

  67. 67.

    Anya

    November 21, 2013 at 1:43 pm

    @Cassidy: @mdblanche: According to my mom, most fainting couches are being filled by NPR political commentators and even news people.

  68. 68.

    ranchandsyrup

    November 21, 2013 at 1:43 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: So what if your FB buddies are saying that?

  69. 69.

    NotMax

    November 21, 2013 at 1:44 pm

    So, let’s recap.

    The ACA was originally a Republican proposal (Heritage Foundation), which the Republicans are now ostensibly aghast about.

    The so-called “nuclear option” was originally a Republican proposal (outlined by Nixon in ’57, christened “nuclear” by Trent Lott in ’03, threatened by Frist in ’05) which the Republicans are now ostensibly aghast over.

    Can’t spell hypocrisy without Oy.

  70. 70.

    chopper

    November 21, 2013 at 1:44 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    my agency doesn’t have a head either right now either. not really due to gooper obstructionism, but i’ll bet it will still be easier to fill the post now.

  71. 71.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    November 21, 2013 at 1:44 pm

    Washington Post heading and sub-head, on their front page right now:

    Historic vote limits filibusters

    The move severely curtails the political leverage of the GOP minority and assures an escalation of partisan warfare.

    The rules and protocols of Washington Journamalism are thus observed: Republicans abusing the process: business as usual. Democrats fighting back: extreme partisanship

  72. 72.

    Citizen_X

    November 21, 2013 at 1:46 pm

    @Belafon: I expect a lot of Kagans and Sotomayors.

    Fine by me.

  73. 73.

    MattR

    November 21, 2013 at 1:47 pm

    @Rommie: Seems like the opening statement from My Cousin Vinny is appropriate,

  74. 74.

    Big R

    November 21, 2013 at 1:48 pm

    @taylormattd: I think it refers to Executive Branch nominees, so heads of independent entities like the Fed might still be subject to filibuster.

  75. 75.

    chopper

    November 21, 2013 at 1:48 pm

    @taylormattd:

    exactly. there are currently about 90? 92? vacancies in the federal judiciary. that’s a hell of a lot. more than 10% of the judiciary.

  76. 76.

    MikeJ

    November 21, 2013 at 1:48 pm

    Really who gives a shit about how much the Republicans whine? They despise America, and they despise democracy. The only people that elect Republicans are the states that tried and failed in their treason before.

  77. 77.

    Belafon

    November 21, 2013 at 1:48 pm

    @Anoniminous: Then the House would be involved. And it would violate the constitution.

    Reid should just write all of the back logged nominations on a Santa Claus Scroll, with a big black marker, and just start reading down the list, holding votes. It would be a nice visual aid to show people how many nominations have been held up.

  78. 78.

    Ash Can

    November 21, 2013 at 1:49 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: I think it’s extraordinary insofar as it (finally) flies in the face of all the efforts to maintain a facade of comity in the Senate, which everyone (especially Dems) have been poossy-footing around for so long. I agree that claiming this ends gridlock, period, is thoroughly overblown. But it does end the “gridlock” — or, more accurately, the obstruction — with regard to these particular nominees.

    I understand what you’re saying about the strict constitutionality of the filibuster, but I’m also gun-shy enough about what the GOP has done in the past, and remains willing to do, to the people of this nation to believe that the filibuster mechanism in general is (just barely) a net positive. There are definitely times when lack of action is preferable to the action being proposed. The difficult part is determining whether the avoidance of harm under GOP leadership outweighs the absence of positive action under Dem leadership.

  79. 79.

    Chris

    November 21, 2013 at 1:49 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    I agree with this. The MSM’s a self-selecting club, which pretty well weeds out anyone who doesn’t tow the line. No need for much buying anymore.

  80. 80.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    November 21, 2013 at 1:49 pm

    @Belafon:

    I still think it’s a pretty big deal. Kind of like the ACA.

    Yeah, that’s a pretty good example of the hype followed by the soulcrushing reality.

  81. 81.

    Jockey Full of Beaujolais Noveau

    November 21, 2013 at 1:49 pm

    It’s a small-scale change (only for executive and judicial nominees except for SCOTUS), But now at least maybe we’ll be permitted to have something resembling a functional government.

    I also no longer worry about what happens when the GOP gets their turn as Senate majority again. In a weird way, Dem filibusters gave them political cover (it lets the GOP push their rhetoric further right than it otherwise would, secure in the knowledge that they could use “Democrat Obstructionism” to appease their crazed base when primary season came).

  82. 82.

    Ken Adler

    November 21, 2013 at 1:50 pm

    This is good because Obama will be POTUS until 2016 and whatever happens in the Senate in 2014, the democrats will have it in 2016. So 2018 will be the first time to worry about a R pres and R senate.

  83. 83.

    Another Holocene Human

    November 21, 2013 at 1:50 pm

    @Mike in NC: Promising lower taxes seems to be the key to everything here.

    When your neighbors talk about low taxes do you ever tell them what they’re saying is that they hate the beautiful vistas and nice roads and other amenities in NC and really yearn to live in the shitholes known as TN and SC next door?

  84. 84.

    taylormattd

    November 21, 2013 at 1:51 pm

    @Big R: This rule chance eliminates the filibuster for all executive nominees (save Supreme Court nominees).

  85. 85.

    Citizen_X

    November 21, 2013 at 1:51 pm

    @the Conster:

    Oooh, Walnuts is threatening… something. Says Dems “will rue the day”. LOL.

    Huh. Speaking of “rue the day,” Senator: Sarah Palin.

  86. 86.

    Jose Arcadio Buendía

    November 21, 2013 at 1:51 pm

    @Big R: No, he and Manchin think they are saving their influence. No one needs them anymore.

  87. 87.

    Another Holocene Human

    November 21, 2013 at 1:52 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: Or you have Gwen Ifill on PBS. I saw her on Colbert last night and nothing shook my conviction that she is deeply stupid.

    Oh, but she got angry at the suggestion that her news coverage was comfort to the comfortable… sponsors.

  88. 88.

    NotMax

    November 21, 2013 at 1:52 pm

    @MikeJ

    The only people that elect Republicans are the states that tried and failed in their treason before.

    That’ll be a surprise to Maine.

  89. 89.

    Patricia Kayden

    November 21, 2013 at 1:53 pm

    About bleeding time! Finally Reid and the Senate Dems show some spine.

  90. 90.

    Anoniminous

    November 21, 2013 at 1:56 pm

    @Belafon:

    Damn. You’re right. “Bill” was the wrong word. What I meant was What You Said.

  91. 91.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 21, 2013 at 1:56 pm

    @NotMax:

    The ACA was originally a Republican proposal (Heritage Foundation)

    Not true. In this, the Republicans are being consistent. Basing universal healthcare around an insurance mandate was the part of the Heritage Foundation proposal that the ACA includes. The Republicans are, and have always been, absolutely against the two thousand pages of regulations that are needed to make the mandate work. Once it started inconveniencing rich people / helping poor people in any way, it became anathema.

    EDIT – @Another Holocene Human:
    I absolutely agree that a lot of them are stupid. Lazy, shallow coverage is another thing they don’t need to be pressured to provide. It goes hand-in-hand with their love of everything Republican.

  92. 92.

    ericblair

    November 21, 2013 at 1:57 pm

    @jon:

    Oh noes! The packing the courts with horrible centrists will now commence!

    “What do we want!” “MODERATION!”
    “When do we want it!” “AS SOON AS IT’S REASONABLY CONVENIENT FOR MOST OF THE PEOPLE INVOLVED!”

    Yaay, it looks like we might be getting at least part of a government back.

    JSF: Jeez, dude, way to make a sow’s ear out of a silk purse. Lighten up, Francis.

  93. 93.

    NotMax

    November 21, 2013 at 1:57 pm

    @Chris

    weeds out anyone who doesn’t tow the line.

    Toe the line.

    /pet peeve

  94. 94.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    November 21, 2013 at 1:57 pm

    @Ash Can: I am mostly in agreement. However, the filibuster on legislation, in its current form is the complete antithesis to the rules laid out in the Constitution. It isn’t, as once used, a clever parliamentary trick attempted by only the most stalwart to subvert majority rule in extraordinary situations, but rather a defacto never-ending override of the Constitutional majority requirement to pass legislation. Regardless of how you think it may benefit one side versus the other side at any time in history, it has to go because it is anti-constitutional and allows a conspiring minority faction (representing a minority of Americans in this case) to shut down the entire workings of the legislative branch and thereby subvert the will of the American people as expressed by their choice of candidates.

  95. 95.

    Karen in GA

    November 21, 2013 at 1:58 pm

    @the Conster:

    Oooh, Walnuts is threatening… something. Says Dems “will rue the day”. LOL.

    “Rue the day? Who talks like that?”

    /real genius

  96. 96.

    lamh36

    November 21, 2013 at 1:59 pm

    President Obama will be speaking shortly on the new filibuster option

  97. 97.

    mdblanche

    November 21, 2013 at 1:59 pm

    @MikeJ:

    Really who gives a shit about how much the Republicans whine?

    Just your Very Serious Village Betters.

    @Karen in GA:

    “Rue the day? Who talks like that?”

    Just cartoon villains who have just lost.

  98. 98.

    Mary G

    November 21, 2013 at 1:59 pm

    Suddenly…Obamacare, who cares? Brilliant move. Plus we get some desperately needed judges.

  99. 99.

    Another Holocene Human

    November 21, 2013 at 2:00 pm

    Okay, so healthcare.gov was mostly working for my wife last night, even though our income and household is complicated. Having a little trouble actually buying the plan she wanted, but the end is in sight.

    Watched Mon and Tue TDS and Colbert and they’re still flogging the notion that healthcare.gov isn’t working and nobody’s signing up. That’s just not true. The big story right now is trying to bar navigators in TX and FL. And there’s been some topsy-turvy news in reproductive rights that weren’t as exciting as Rob Ford. But it isn’t election season and they’re all in NYS not bothering with what’s going on to the south right now.

    The website is a PITA to use (like, it’s not obvious where to click to advance in the process) and hates certain browsers but it IS working.

  100. 100.

    eemom

    November 21, 2013 at 2:01 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    Fuckhead sir, getting those judgeships — fer life, ya know — filled by Dem appointees is HUGE all by itself. Fucking huge.

  101. 101.

    NotMax

    November 21, 2013 at 2:01 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck

    Must admit that how you’re explicitly agreeing that the ACA/mandate emanated from Republican sources makes my short statement of exactly the same thing untrue.

  102. 102.

    PaulW

    November 21, 2013 at 2:01 pm

    This vote won’t unlock the total gridlock our nation is suffering in terms of legislation and bills passed, especially since the House GOP won’t even bring Democratic Senate bills to a committee vote.

    But it will make it easier filling the vacancies of executive and judicial posts, which should make things work more smoothly with getting things done.

    Now, to get Congress to passing bills like it should, we need to get every Dem out and voting in 2014 in the congressional midterms and switch enough House R seats to D while maintaining their hold on the Senate.

  103. 103.

    PaulW

    November 21, 2013 at 2:03 pm

    @Karen in GA:

    We have to get even with Cantor. It’s a moral imperative.

  104. 104.

    Another Holocene Human

    November 21, 2013 at 2:04 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: I should have clarified. I doubt Ifill is lazy, although there is a shallowness to her thought, which she thinks is a virtue, to wit, not having a thought framework by which to judge and filter the talking points being spewed at her. Instead, she has a level of agreeableness that has her agreeing to everything no matter how much of a pretzel that makes her.

    Compare her to that tough-as-nails Jersey navigator Colbert was baiting in his Obamascare segment. He pushed and pushed and pushed and completely failed to derail her.

  105. 105.

    gelfling545

    November 21, 2013 at 2:05 pm

    I had grave reservations about this owing to the use the Republicans will probably make of it when they are in the ascendant sometime in the future. Then I realized that when they do get into control again, abolishing the filibuster would probably be their first order of business so we may as well get the good of it before that happens.

  106. 106.

    liberal

    November 21, 2013 at 2:07 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:
    Well, yes, there’s the “filter” effect that occurs in many walks of life. For “elite” journalists (workaday ones are different), I’m sure that folks that are capable of even forming coherent questions about the status quo are filtered out.

    That said, I think a lot of them aren’t that smart. E.g. Richard Cohen, David “never met a cliche he didn’t like” Broder.

  107. 107.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    November 21, 2013 at 2:08 pm

    @eemom: That’s great, but THE FILIBUSTER HAS NOT BEEN NUKED.

  108. 108.

    Mike E

    November 21, 2013 at 2:08 pm

    Presser: PBO hits a grand slam. Perfect. Nice tie, too!

    /obot (w00t!)

    ETA msnbc cuts away to fat cargo plane sitting on a tarmac. HA!

  109. 109.

    MattR

    November 21, 2013 at 2:09 pm

    @gelfling545: This is why I find all of Sen Levin’s complaints on the floor right now about precedent so absurd. If there is a loophole in the rules that works to their advantage, I fully expect this batch of Republicans to take advantage of it, precedent or not.

  110. 110.

    liberal

    November 21, 2013 at 2:09 pm

    @Another Holocene Human:
    Well, here in tax-loving MA, people can seem to bother about paying for traffic lights at relatively major intersections.

  111. 111.

    agrippa

    November 21, 2013 at 2:10 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    I agree.
    I think that you are right.

  112. 112.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 21, 2013 at 2:10 pm

    @Another Holocene Human: I am not an Ifill fan either, Washington Week is one of the worst Punditubbie gab fests. She and her panel keep giggling when they are discussing issues of life and death. Its all a big joke to them.

  113. 113.

    liberal

    November 21, 2013 at 2:11 pm

    @Ash Can:
    Re comity, my mom claimed that Harkin once told her that Bob Dole walk into some kind of Dem meeting and said something like it being much more pleasant than the place he came from. (Meaning, that his fellow thugs were nasty.)

  114. 114.

    agrippa

    November 21, 2013 at 2:11 pm

    Excellent.

    I am glad it was done.

  115. 115.

    barbcat

    November 21, 2013 at 2:12 pm

    I like the way the POTUS is framing the reasons in his presser, “…what the American people voted for last year”. I can’t wait to hear from Lindsay.

  116. 116.

    liberal

    November 21, 2013 at 2:13 pm

    @Anya:
    Some of the local commentators I’ve heard on WGBH Boston are just complete morons. (They were talking about Obama not reaching out enough.)

  117. 117.

    Cervantes

    November 21, 2013 at 2:14 pm

    @Another Holocene Human: Or you have Gwen Ifill on PBS. I saw her on Colbert last night and nothing shook my conviction that she is deeply stupid.

    That’s an insult to people who really are deeply stupid.

  118. 118.

    Barbcat

    November 21, 2013 at 2:14 pm

    Like the POTUS’s framing, “…what the American people voted for last year.” Excited to hear from Lindsay “poutymouth” in Charleston.

  119. 119.

    cleek

    November 21, 2013 at 2:15 pm

    never thought it would happen.

    g..gg..gg.g.ggg….ahem.. g…goo… Good job, Harry!

  120. 120.

    Suffern ACE

    November 21, 2013 at 2:16 pm

    @Belafon: Yes. He could actually keep them voting through Friday afternoon! Now that would be a switch.

  121. 121.

    liberal

    November 21, 2013 at 2:16 pm

    @Ash Can:

    In all seriousness, it’s probably a good thing that it’s not a smackdown, as in, frying the filibuster mechanism completely.

    Huh? As Scott Lemieux has written, the historical evidence is that the filibuster has primarily been used as a tool of reaction.

    Get rid of it.

  122. 122.

    rikyrah

    November 21, 2013 at 2:16 pm

    it’s about damn time.

  123. 123.

    Trollhattan

    November 21, 2013 at 2:18 pm

    Taking a page from Cheney’s playbook, Obama should dress up as Emperor Palpatine, assemble all his nominees in neat rows, dressed as Imperial Stormtroopers, and command them to issue forth and “take no prisoners.”

  124. 124.

    rikyrah

    November 21, 2013 at 2:18 pm

    The President needs to re-nominate Liu of California.

  125. 125.

    Mike E

    November 21, 2013 at 2:18 pm

    Willy is freeee! Big plane flies!

  126. 126.

    Betty Cracker

    November 21, 2013 at 2:18 pm

    @lamh36: I can’t find a live stream! The whitehouse.gov site just has a press briefing. Did I miss it?

  127. 127.

    LanceThruster

    November 21, 2013 at 2:20 pm

    @Anya:

    Maybe spines are being stolen like Black Market kidneys!

  128. 128.

    LAC

    November 21, 2013 at 2:22 pm

    @taylormattd: Well, you have to consider that some folks like to think that they are the smartest people in the room and that a win has to involve the victor pulling entrails out and skip roping with them. Movement foward is fer sissies!

  129. 129.

    Hill Dweller

    November 21, 2013 at 2:23 pm

    @rikyrah:

    The President needs to re-nominate Liu of California.

    Liu is now on the California Supreme Court. If the President nominates him for anything, I suspect it will be for the US Supreme Court, should he get the chance.

  130. 130.

    Trollhattan

    November 21, 2013 at 2:23 pm

    @rikyrah:

    I doubt he’d leave the California Supreme Court for the district court, but a SCOTUS nomination would be interesting.

    Do Scalia and Cheney ever hunt together?

  131. 131.

    Patricia Kayden

    November 21, 2013 at 2:23 pm

    @the Conster: Dems (and their supporters) have already rued the day. That’s why they nuked the filibuster for routine court/executive appointees. Rethugs need to get that through their heads.

  132. 132.

    dedc79

    November 21, 2013 at 2:23 pm

    We’ll . . . meet again . . . don’t know where . . . don’t know when

    The prospect of elections having actual consequences clearly terrifies today’s GOP.

  133. 133.

    Bobby Thomson

    November 21, 2013 at 2:24 pm

    I think the Ninth Circuit is calling out to a certain California Supreme Court Justice

  134. 134.

    Tommy

    November 21, 2013 at 2:25 pm

    At my core I LOVE we did this. But as many have noted, this WILL come back to bite us. One day we will lose the Senate and then well we are fucked. Look as best I can follow the folks Obama wants to appoint, most seem very qualified and mostly middle of the road. They also have experience for the job Obama wants them to hold.

    When the Republicans are in charge I could see them putting up somebody like Ralph Reed to run gosh knows what. They have no shame.

  135. 135.

    NotMax

    November 21, 2013 at 2:25 pm

    Will Repub senators now gather in the cloakroom to gang up and knock Dems unconscious?

  136. 136.

    Mike E

    November 21, 2013 at 2:25 pm

    @dedc79:

    The prospect of elections having actual consequences clearly terrifies today’s GOP.

    This, and their soon to be demographic irrelevance.

  137. 137.

    MikeJ

    November 21, 2013 at 2:26 pm

    @Mike E:

    Willy is freeee! Big plane flies!

    Why is the flying pickle [1] flying into an Air Force base (or attempting to) to pick up components made by a private company? Is Boeing paying for using the facilities or is it just more corporate welfare?

    [1] When that plane was new they did the test flights around Seattle with the green shrink wrap still on the plane.

  138. 138.

    Matt McIrvin

    November 21, 2013 at 2:27 pm

    @Ken Adler: The next presidential election after 2016 is 2020, so under the scenario in which Democrats have it in the bag for 2016 the first realistic time for a Republican President is January 2021.

    That said, I wouldn’t at all count out a Republican win in 2016 at this point. It’s too early. Stuff happens and demographic change works slowly. I still think it’s entirely possible that Obamacare will be a long-term partisan loss for Democrats even if it’s successful, because the only people for whom the law will have continued salience in elections will be people who hate it. (Which is not to say pushing it was a bad idea: politics has to be for something.)

  139. 139.

    Patricia Kayden

    November 21, 2013 at 2:27 pm

    @chopper: And the Department of Homeland Security. May the weeping and wailing on the other side commence.

  140. 140.

    raven

    November 21, 2013 at 2:27 pm

    @Tommy: Someone was looking for you for housing advice in your AO this morning.

  141. 141.

    Mike E

    November 21, 2013 at 2:28 pm

    @Mike in NC: Surprises await statewide, methinks, but Hagan is a goner here, no doubt. Sen Tillis sez hello!

  142. 142.

    Hill Dweller

    November 21, 2013 at 2:28 pm

    @Tommy: When Dems tried filibustering Dubya’s nominees, the Village treated it as a crime against humanity. That ultimately led to the gang of 14, and the end of judicial filibusters during Dubya’s term.

    This will be a net plus for Dems.

  143. 143.

    Elizabelle

    November 21, 2013 at 2:29 pm

    @Tommy:

    We just have to do our best not to lose the Senate.

    Also, people and voters like to be on a winning team.

    It’s now way harder for Villager media to point out the Democrats lost — again! — 57 to 43.

    This is a gamechanger, and Obamacare will work out and be a gamechanger too. (It will be hard to get that news out, past the rightwing and “liberal media” wailing, but people will notice.)

  144. 144.

    catclub

    November 21, 2013 at 2:30 pm

    @Tommy: “When the Republicans are in charge I could see them putting up somebody like Ralph Reed to run gosh knows what. They have no shame. ”

    They named James Fucking Watt as Interior secretary and not a peep from the democrats.
    Ralph Reed would not be a change.

  145. 145.

    Tommy

    November 21, 2013 at 2:30 pm

    @raven: Well if they are still around I know the St. Louis metro area pretty well, more so on the Illinois side. Really most of southern IL.

  146. 146.

    Mike E

    November 21, 2013 at 2:30 pm

    @MikeJ: I find this to be somehow teh awesome, sorta like a secret space shuttle sighting or a ginormous black helicopter seen in broad daylight.

  147. 147.

    LanceThruster

    November 21, 2013 at 2:31 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    It’s now way harder for Villager media to point out the Democrats lost — again! — 57 to 43.

    Well, sure…if you go by “numbers.”

  148. 148.

    raven

    November 21, 2013 at 2:31 pm

    @Tommy: She was looking at the Illinois side of St Looie

  149. 149.

    Patricia Kayden

    November 21, 2013 at 2:31 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: Shouldn’t Obama have lost in 2012 if Obamacare, which was passed over three years ago, is a partisan loss for the Democrats? Hopefully long before 2016, the majority of Americans like the ACA or it isn’t as much of an issue as social issues (immigration, gay rights, reproductive rights, voting rights, etc.). I don’t see Republicans gaining any traction among minority or female voters between now and 2016 given their doubling down on social issues.

  150. 150.

    Elizabelle

    November 21, 2013 at 2:32 pm

    GOP senators are losing it.

    They’re shrieking about Obamacare.

    Which means they don’t got a leg to stand on.

    Look! Over in that corner! It’s Obamacare!

  151. 151.

    catclub

    November 21, 2013 at 2:32 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: Was that Melvin Watt?

    I was impressed by how the filibuster list was filled with women and minorities. I would not be surprised if that was part of the plan by the Obama admin.

  152. 152.

    Kay

    November 21, 2013 at 2:32 pm

    See, I think Harry Reid is refreshing because he revels in nastiness when he finally lets loose. He doesn’t pretend to hate being his vicious and vindictive self:

    Reid was asked if he was worried about a future GOP majority ending the filibuster for legislation or Supreme Court nominees, as Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) threatened on Thursday.
    “Let them do it,” Reid said. “Why in the world would we care?”

  153. 153.

    Tommy

    November 21, 2013 at 2:33 pm

    @Elizabelle: I am in the group of folks that think the Federal courts are very, very important. So on that I am happy. The Republicans stacked the courts on purpose and now don’t want us to do the same, even through we won the last two Presidental elections.

    That is coming to be about all I care about. The courts. Sure I want Obama to have the folks in place he wants to run this or that department/agency, but it all about the courts for me.

    And I just fear if we lose the Senate (and agreed we need to work hard to never do that) I have no idea what kind of loans they might appoint. I mean they are bad now, imagine what they might do if we can’t filibuster.

  154. 154.

    FormerSwingVoter

    November 21, 2013 at 2:33 pm

    Harry Reid don’t take no shit from nobody.

  155. 155.

    the Conster

    November 21, 2013 at 2:34 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    That was why I LOL’ed – like everything else McCain says, he’s got it upside down and backwards. The Dems are ruing the days they didn’t do this, and McCain’s Pukes will be rue the days they couldn’t control themselves from abusing it. Maybe this will make him grumpier and nastier. It’s such an appealing demeanor on TV.

  156. 156.

    Suffern ACE

    November 21, 2013 at 2:34 pm

    @catclub: There was plenty of Peeping. But comity, comity.

    If we want more liberal firebrands appointed when Democrats are in charge, we’re going to have to win over the Democratic party. But for now, we’re going to have to risk Ralph Reed just to get sober moderates into the system.

    I’m assuming these appointees fall in the sober moderate camp, as I’ve not heard any names pop up as “Disqualified for once having had dinner with Michael Ortega 30 years ago and ain’t apologizing for it” controversies pop up.

  157. 157.

    MikeJ

    November 21, 2013 at 2:34 pm

    @Mike E: Found a pic with the shrink wrap on.

  158. 158.

    Suffern ACE

    November 21, 2013 at 2:35 pm

    Ugh. That’s Daniel Ortega. Michael Ortega went to my high school and I did have lunch with him a few times.

  159. 159.

    Matt McIrvin

    November 21, 2013 at 2:35 pm

    @Tommy: For it to have any bad effect, Republicans will have to take the Senate and the Presidency. Someday they may well do that.

    But Democrats never did the kind of omni-filibustering the Rs are doing now, anyway. They just did it for the worst lunatics. And even if they could be persuaded to in the future, and even if the Republicans wouldn’t go nuclear… that way lies madness. We end up in a situation in which either Presidents hardly ever get to appoint anyone, or, more likely, Republicans get to appoint anyone who isn’t too egregiously bad, but Democrats still don’t get to appoint anyone. Forget it.

    There will come a time when this hurts. But we can remember the reasons.

  160. 160.

    shortstop

    November 21, 2013 at 2:36 pm

    @Trollhattan: They actually have hunted together in the past. Given how unstable Scalia is sounding lately (I know, I know, but demonic possession? He’s definitely getting worse), chances are good that he’d shoot Cheney instead of the other way around. Which would be fine in the general karma category, but not help us with our little Supreme Court problem.

  161. 161.

    raven

    November 21, 2013 at 2:36 pm

    @Tommy:

    rikyrah says:
    November 21, 2013 at 9:23 am

    There’s a poster here at Balloon Juice that lives in Southern Illinois. They speak of all the improvements their community has made that have been positive and how their community has grown.

    Would they please leave the name of their town?

    I have a niece thinking about a job in Saint Louis, and I believe this poster wrote that they are right over the border from Saint Louis in Illinois.

  162. 162.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    November 21, 2013 at 2:36 pm

    @catclub:

    They named James Fucking Watt as Interior secretary and not a peep from the democrats.

    If I recall correctly, Democrats were pretty quiet about Bush nominating his cleaning lady, Harriet Miers, for Supreme Court. It was Republicans that blew that one up.

  163. 163.

    Mike E

    November 21, 2013 at 2:36 pm

    @the Conster: Clouds will be properly chastised!

  164. 164.

    max

    November 21, 2013 at 2:37 pm

    @dedc79: The prospect of elections having actual consequences clearly terrifies today’s GOP.

    The prospect of LOSING elections terrifies today’s GOP. Most of what they want is not actually popular (and even less so now after 2008), so actually having democratic elections conducted among well-informed citizens is a BIG BIG LOSER for them. That’s why they keep arguing for the repealing the 17th amendment, increasing voting limitations and so on.

    A lot of the arguments spring forth from the fact that they’re Southern, but the fact that they’re the Southern white people’s party means that they’re in the exact same situation the old plantation owners were in: institutional factors favor them, but demographics and economics do not, so they’re afraid of losing the ability to dominate.

    Because that might mean the South (in particular) would be dragged into the modern world again.

    max
    [‘Almost all the other factors (low taxes on rich people, Wall street, whatever) affect barely 10% of voters, so all those uh, ‘concerns’ would go down the toilet without the South/fundamentalists/racists/what have you.’]

  165. 165.

    catclub

    November 21, 2013 at 2:37 pm

    @Suffern ACE: You are right. I am sure there were objections, but nothing like even threatening a filibuster. My error.

  166. 166.

    Tommy

    November 21, 2013 at 2:38 pm

    @raven: Just a few things if that person is still around. The IL side of metro St. Louis is kind of strange.

    I love in St. Clair county, which outside of the Chicago area is the largest county in IL. Plus our last rep, was one of the most powerful folks in the House until he retired. He was a “pork” king and my District/county has a lot of “nice” stuff. At the top of the list is rail and bus service, but a lot of other things.

    Not saying other counties are not nice, but there are some difficult communities (like East St. Louis and many others).

    What you would find is taxes are a little higher here, but a lot cheaper cost of living. You can buy a new, 3-4 bedroom house, two car garage for $200,000 (or under). And since 64 runs through my county, you can get to work in St. Louis in a fraction of the time from the St. Louis side (nobody lives in St. Louis BTW).

  167. 167.

    mike with a mic

    November 21, 2013 at 2:38 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Obamacare didn’t have much of an effect on the election honestly. The election was all about women and minority voters. We’ve reached the point where elections are entirely about social issues and identity politics. Keep in mind that on foreign policy, economics, entitlements, the elite of the two parties who decide what we all do for us are pretty much in lock step. However the culture war issues they throw to the plebes for their votes are different.

    2012 was about sexual freedom, reproductive rights, immigration, and minority voting rights. Not a damn other thing. Here’s hoping we win again 2016 so we can get our grand bargain, entitlement reform, and tax reform. Kick the GOP out so they can’t keep blocking it.

  168. 168.

    Judge Crater

    November 21, 2013 at 2:39 pm

    @MikeJ: I was stationed at McConnell many years ago. Boeing has a maintenance facility on the other side of the runways from the Air Force base. They used to fly B 52s in for overhauls etc. It’s probably leased from the federal government.

  169. 169.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    November 21, 2013 at 2:39 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: Christ, it’s worse than that.

    From Wiki:

    “Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) recommended Miers as O’Connor’s successor.”

  170. 170.

    Mike E

    November 21, 2013 at 2:39 pm

    @MikeJ: Whoa, wtf is it venting in the background? Wait, sorry…that’s background fog. But, still, that thing is lookin’ ominous in that pic there.

  171. 171.

    Tommy

    November 21, 2013 at 2:39 pm

    @raven: Have a link to that comment? I’d email them.

  172. 172.

    raven

    November 21, 2013 at 2:41 pm

    @Tommy: I’ll keep track if they show up again,

  173. 173.

    ericblair

    November 21, 2013 at 2:41 pm

    @Tommy:

    I mean they are bad now, imagine what they might do if we can’t filibuster.

    Dems don’t filibuster. Bork wasn’t filibustered. Also, they’d need the Presidency, which in my opinion is pretty much out of their hands until a big enough political party realignment that our calculations don’t mean anything, anyway.

    Also, the filibuster gives political cover to the minority throwing sand in the gears. It looks like a political failure of the majority instead of a win by the minority, which lets the minority off the hook for the consequences. Our side needs legislative action, and theirs just needs to keep the host country alive until their masters suck all the life out of it.

  174. 174.

    Mike E

    November 21, 2013 at 2:42 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: 4th Estate vetoed that one, too, IIRC.

  175. 175.

    rikyrah

    November 21, 2013 at 2:42 pm

    @Tommy:

    thanks Tommy.

    Can you give me the names of some towns? So I can pass them along to the family so they can do research.

  176. 176.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 21, 2013 at 2:42 pm

    @Trollhattan:

    Do Scalia and Cheney ever hunt together?

    Yes.

  177. 177.

    Trollhattan

    November 21, 2013 at 2:43 pm

    @shortstop:

    That’d be what you’d call a win-win-win.

  178. 178.

    PaulW

    November 21, 2013 at 2:43 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Senators accuse Obamacare of being on the Grassy Knoll. Film at 11.

  179. 179.

    Kay

    November 21, 2013 at 2:44 pm

    Rand Paul says Harry Reid is a “bully”.

    The best thing about the GOP primary will be Rand Paul whining. He’s a huge whiner. I think Ron Paul coddled him.

  180. 180.

    Ash Can

    November 21, 2013 at 2:45 pm

    @MikeJ: Lol! That’s one ugly plane. But then, if it gets the job it was built to do done, it doesn’t need to have a pretty face.

  181. 181.

    Tommy

    November 21, 2013 at 2:45 pm

    @ericblair: We just play a different game then they do. I feel like we have to look at ourselves in the mirror each morning and live with our decisions/votes.

    I don’t think the Republicans care if they win and/or have power.

    I just feel like how we have the “nuclear” option Obama still isn’t going to nominate some far left, left socialist to run an agency. Sure the Republicans will call them that, but there are these things called facts and the person’s actual past performance.

    The Republican when in power would and be proud of it!

  182. 182.

    Belafon

    November 21, 2013 at 2:45 pm

    A comment at TPM:

    Charlie Brown just said “fuck it” and kicked Lucy.

    (I got the quote from LGF)

  183. 183.

    cckids

    November 21, 2013 at 2:45 pm

    @Karen in GA:

    “Rue the day? Who talks like that?”

    Melodramatic villains in bodice-ripper novels. Guess we know what McCain likes to read.

  184. 184.

    ericblair

    November 21, 2013 at 2:49 pm

    @Tommy:

    We just play a different game then they do. I feel like we have to look at ourselves in the mirror each morning and live with our decisions/votes.

    Democrats want to govern, and Republicans want to rule. The biggest thing that the goopers had going for them in the last five years is that Dems care if the hostage gets shot and goopers don’t.

  185. 185.

    cckids

    November 21, 2013 at 2:51 pm

    @Trollhattan:

    Do Scalia and Cheney ever hunt together?

    Yes. Caused some eyebrow raising last administration, both Cheney & Scalia, typically, told everyone to GFY.

  186. 186.

    Trinity

    November 21, 2013 at 2:52 pm

    @JMG: This. I was a Michigan resident all my life until 2006. Levin is a certified dinosaur. His vote today speaks to his commitment to the Senate and against any commitment to actual voters.

  187. 187.

    Elizabelle

    November 21, 2013 at 2:53 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Do they hunt animals or people?

  188. 188.

    muricafukyea

    November 21, 2013 at 2:54 pm

    Gotta be careful what you wish for. Repukes have a good chance of getting control of the Senate in 2014 and it’s not going to be so nice when the shoe is on the other foot. You gotta look at the big picture. That is the whole reason a lot of reasonable dems were apprehensive about this.

    In hindsight, if it was going to come to this it should of happened way back after Obama was first elected but nobody knew just how far Repukes would go to try gum up the works.

  189. 189.

    Betty Cracker

    November 21, 2013 at 2:54 pm

    @Kay: He is by turns an arrogant prick and a puling infant. Not an attractive combination.

  190. 190.

    the Conster

    November 21, 2013 at 2:55 pm

    @Mike E:

    It warms my heart to know how much that cursed Obama foiled him again.

  191. 191.

    cckids

    November 21, 2013 at 2:56 pm

    @Kay:

    See, I think Harry Reid is refreshing because he revels in nastiness when he finally lets loose. He doesn’t pretend to hate being his vicious and vindictive self:

    Its one reason people here in NV like him (the Dems, anyway). He learned how to be nasty fighting the mob, when they were trying to kill him. Also, he’s old enough & close enough to retirement to just think “fuck it, we gave them every chance to be decent”.

  192. 192.

    Matt McIrvin

    November 21, 2013 at 2:56 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Shouldn’t Obama have lost in 2012 if Obamacare, which was passed over three years ago, is a partisan loss for the Democrats? Hopefully long before 2016, the majority of Americans like the ACA or it isn’t as much of an issue as social issues (immigration, gay rights, reproductive rights, voting rights, etc.). I don’t see Republicans gaining any traction among minority or female voters between now and 2016 given their doubling down on social issues.

    In 2012, the “crappy website” and “I lost my policy” attacks didn’t function yet; most people thought of Obamacare as universal healthcare, not the complicated real-world unmagical thing it really is. Now it’ll be in the same category as the DMV; even though nobody proposes abolishing the DMV, and almost everyone recognizes that it serves a vital purpose and there would be disaster if it went away, you can still get some mileage out of hating it.

    That said, it’s true that other things will probably be bigger issues by 2016. The Republicans won’t gain traction among minority voters, but white women, I’m less sure about: they’re not a monolith. Younger white women, certainly they won’t win them over.

  193. 193.

    Southern Beale

    November 21, 2013 at 2:57 pm

    The president’s nominees will get an up or down vote. And the very same people who rallied for this very same thing back in 2005 and 2006 are now going apeshit.

    It’s delicious.

    Seriously, go over to the Free Republic. They are LOSING. THEIR. SHIT. So much irony.

  194. 194.

    Belafon

    November 21, 2013 at 2:58 pm

    @muricafukyea: Considering Obama will still be president, what are they going to do with it?

    As for 2016, they will have to get a Republican elected president.

  195. 195.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 21, 2013 at 2:59 pm

    @Elizabelle: Depends on what’s in season.

  196. 196.

    Tone in DC

    November 21, 2013 at 2:59 pm

    @chopper:

    There are a hell of a lot more than 3 judges waiting to get nominated. this applies to more than just the DC circuit.

    it also applies to executive nominations. so the EPA will actually have a head, as will the ATF, etc etc.

    Hell yes, Harry. This is the most do-nothing Congress in HISTORY. They’ve done nothing but collect their checks and gut SNAP.

  197. 197.

    Elizabelle

    November 21, 2013 at 3:01 pm

    Transcript of President Obama’s remarks on the Senate changing filibuster procedures.

  198. 198.

    Davis X. Machina

    November 21, 2013 at 3:01 pm

    @ericblair:

    Democrats want to govern, and Republicans want to rule.

    Nonsense. Ask any Republican — it’s all driven by patriotism of the most dis-interested kind…

    The first desideratum when staffing any of the branches of the American government is that it be filled with Americans, that is to say with Republicans, and not with not-Americans, that is to say Democrats.

  199. 199.

    The Thin Black Duke

    November 21, 2013 at 3:01 pm

    @Southern Beale: The Klingons were right. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

  200. 200.

    cckids

    November 21, 2013 at 3:03 pm

    @muricafukyea:

    Gotta be careful what you wish for. Repukes have a good chance of getting control of the Senate in 2014 and it’s not going to be so nice when the shoe is on the other foot. You gotta look at the big picture. That is the whole reason a lot of reasonable dems were apprehensive about this.

    Why, in the sweet name of FSM do you possibly imagine they wouldn’t nuke it themselves, taking it far, far farther than Harry just did? Is there some imaginary Republican-led Senate in your head that would respect the rights of a Democratic minority? What respect have they paid to the wishes of the MAJORITY of the voters; to election results, to basic common sense & decency? Reality is, if the Repubs get the Senate, they will run it as 50+1 for everything, and piss on everyone else.

    That’s who they are.

  201. 201.

    rikyrah

    November 21, 2013 at 3:03 pm

    Tommy,

    need towns with good schools – family has school-aged child.

  202. 202.

    A Humble Lurker

    November 21, 2013 at 3:04 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:
    Not a bad strategy, considering how that one turned out.

  203. 203.

    chopper

    November 21, 2013 at 3:05 pm

    not that i like to read comments at places like nbc.com, but boy are the wingers pissed about this. they just lost their biggest tool in stopping the kenyan usurper.

  204. 204.

    Kay

    November 21, 2013 at 3:06 pm

    @cckids:

    Its one reason people here in NV like him

    I could see liking him for it. I got such a kick out of him going after Romney on taxes, because Democrats felt they had to say it was completely unsubstantiated (he obviously had nothing, or nothing he could reveal anyway) yet he didn’t care.

    Romney was so completely the opposite, with the nasty little digs and “food stamp President” bullshit. I think he pegged Romney (correctly) as a coward. Happy warriors are always fun to watch. People who actually like a fight.

  205. 205.

    mdblanche

    November 21, 2013 at 3:06 pm

    @dedc79: “Where in Hell is Senator Reid?”

  206. 206.

    Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicor

    November 21, 2013 at 3:07 pm

    @Face: “Dear Obama —

    Nothing but ultra-liberals to the bench. No more moderates, unless they’re the absolute best choice. No longer any need to appease the Gridlock Fuckers on the GOP side.

    Lets pack the courts with OUR team. Fuck ‘em.”

    From your keyboard to the appendages of the Great Durum Wheat One in the sky. (Oh, and to Obama’s ears, too.)

  207. 207.

    Tommy

    November 21, 2013 at 3:07 pm

    @rikyrah: Tried to post a couple comments and they are going gosh knows where. Check out Belleville/O’Fallon/Fairview Heights.

  208. 208.

    Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn

    November 21, 2013 at 3:09 pm

    Crap! Tossed into mod purgatory for mistyping my handle. Take 2:

    @@Face: “Dear Obama —

    Nothing but ultra-liberals to the bench. No more moderates, unless they’re the absolute best choice. No longer any need to appease the Gridlock Fuckers on the GOP side.

    Lets pack the courts with OUR team. Fuck ‘em.”

    From your keyboard to the appendages of the Great Durum Wheat One in the sky. (Oh, and to Obama’s ears, too.)

  209. 209.

    scav

    November 21, 2013 at 3:09 pm

    @Belafon: That deep dish of attractive, effective and unified candidates working as a well-oiled team for mericafuku has us all quaking. But then, as the planet and universe will eventually all go “pouf!-splozy” someday, what’s the use of breathing or governing in the mere here and now?

  210. 210.

    catclub

    November 21, 2013 at 3:09 pm

    Remember those rules in the senate, that either senate from the state of a judgeship nominee can blackball the nomination? I wonder what will happen with those rules.

    Also, the ‘secret’ holds.

  211. 211.

    rikyrah

    November 21, 2013 at 3:11 pm

    @Tommy:

    thanks so much, Tommy!!!

  212. 212.

    Elizabelle

    November 21, 2013 at 3:11 pm

    Money quotes (as Andrew Sullivan would say) from PBO’s remarks on filibuster reform:

    ….But today’s pattern of obstruction — it just isn’t normal. It’s not what our founders envisioned. A deliberate and determined effort to obstruct everything, no matter what the merits, just to refight the result of an election is not normal, and for the sake of future generations, we can’t let it become normal.

    So I support the step a majority of senators today took to change the way that Washington is doing business, more specifically, the way the Senate does business. What a majority of senators determined, by Senate rule, is that they would restore the long-standing tradition of considering judicial and public service nominations on a more routine basis.

    And here’s why this is important. … Over the six decades before I took office, only 20 presidential nominees to executive positions had to overcome filibusters. In just under five years since I took office, nearly 30 nominees have been treated this way.

    This year alone, for the first time in history, Senate Republicans filibustered a president’s nominee for the secretary of defense, who used to be a former Republican senator. ….And in each of these cases, it’s not been because they opposed the person, that there was some assessment that they were unqualified, that there was some scandal that had been unearthed. It was simply because they opposed the policies that the American people voted for in the last election.

    This obstruction gets even worse when it comes to the judiciary. ….

    …But my judicial nominees have waited nearly two and a half times longer to receive yes or no votes on the Senate floor than those of President Bush. And the ones who eventually do get a vote generally are confirmed with little if any dissent.

    So this isn’t obstruction on substance, on qualifications. It’s just to gum up the works. And this gridlock in Congress causes gridlock in much of our criminal and civil justice systems.

    …So the vote today I think is an indication that a majority of senators believe, as I believe, that enough is enough. The American people’s business is far too important to keep falling prey day after day to Washington politics. I’m a former senator. So is my vice president. We both value any Senate’s duty to advise and consent. It’s important and we take that very seriously.

    But a few now refuse to treat that duty of advise and consent with the respect that it deserves. It’s no longer used in a responsible way to govern. It’s rather used as a reckless and relentless tool to grind all business to a halt.

    And that’s not what our founders intended. And it’s certainly not what our country needs right now.

    And public service is not a game, it is a privilege. And the consequences of action or inaction are very real. The American people deserve better than politicians who run for election telling them how terrible government is, and then devoting their time in elected office to trying to make government not work as often as possible.

  213. 213.

    scav

    November 21, 2013 at 3:13 pm

    @Tommy: O’Fallon IL side, right? My visit to O’Fallon MO side did not leave me impressed. Granted, short visit.

  214. 214.

    IowaOldLady

    November 21, 2013 at 3:15 pm

    How different is this from the gentlemen’s agreement that Reid and McConnell theoretically reached before? I can’t believe it goes far enough beyond that to justify the hysteria.

    But then hysteria seems to be the sum total of public discourse these days.

  215. 215.

    Tommy

    November 21, 2013 at 3:16 pm

    @scav: Yes. IL side. Three of my last four posts I’ve tried to write about this went, well I don’t know. In one I noted there is an O’Fallon IL and MO. I am talking IL.

  216. 216.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 21, 2013 at 3:16 pm

    I just went to the Corner, and am invigorated after a drink of fresh wingnut tears.

  217. 217.

    Tone in DC

    November 21, 2013 at 3:17 pm

    @shortstop:

    Antonin being up for a felony (assault with a deadly weapon) might get his sorry, wide ass off the bench.

    Just sayin’.

  218. 218.

    Tommy

    November 21, 2013 at 3:19 pm

    @rikyrah: I will try this again and see if it appears. Best schools in my area, in this order are Althoff (private Catholic high school), O’Fallon, and Mascoutah (maybe where I live). But the two schools in Belleville (called East and West) are pretty solid.

  219. 219.

    dmsilev

    November 21, 2013 at 3:25 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: RedState appears to be studiously ignoring the entire issue. Except that their lead story is about how Janet Yellen MUST BE STOPPED from becoming Fed chair and calling on Republicans to block a vote on her confirmation…

  220. 220.

    Violet

    November 21, 2013 at 3:25 pm

    As a general rule, the average person isn’t paying much attention to politics or even news at the moment. Thanksgiving is next week, Christmas is just around the corner. Holiday season is is full swing. This vote is going to be one of those “Huh?” pieces of news that gets forgotten quickly.

    In January, when the sky hasn’t fallen, if the Republicans bring it up and try to make a big deal out of it, it’ll be old, old news. No traction.

  221. 221.

    Tommy

    November 21, 2013 at 3:26 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: I bet. I bet. I won’t head over to any of those sites but I have to imagine heads are literally exploding.

    I got a lot of “cred” with my Republican family members cause I tend to treat the Republican in office the same as I treat those that I voted for. I try very hard not to have double standards.

    Sure if they put up Ralph Reed to run the DoJ I’d be yelling. But honestly I think a President should be able to appoint people to run the agencies and serve on a court they want. That is why ELECTIONS MATTER.

    So if the Republicans did this I wouldn’t be happy, but my head wouldn’t be exploding either.

  222. 222.

    Tractarian

    November 21, 2013 at 3:26 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    The American people deserve better than politicians who run for election telling them how terrible government is, and then devoting their time in elected office to trying to make government not work as often as possible.

    Sums it up pretty well.

  223. 223.

    Tone in DC

    November 21, 2013 at 3:27 pm

    A comment at TPM:

    Charlie Brown just said “fuck it” and kicked Lucy.

    (I got the quote from LGF)

    I can’t keep chuckling at my desk. The stuff we are working on here ain’t nowhere near funny.

    Charles Schultz never drew a vengeful cartoon like that. Maybe some Peanuts fan with a mean streak oughta give it a shot.

  224. 224.

    raven

    November 21, 2013 at 3:28 pm

    @Tommy: Kris Jenner was from Mascoutah!

  225. 225.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    November 21, 2013 at 3:29 pm

    Aw, they didn’t have to go and nuke it! The Republicans were just about to start cooperating, but now that the Democrats did this, they’ll have no choice but to – more in sorrow than in anger – go on obstructing everything as best they can.

  226. 226.

    NotMax

    November 21, 2013 at 3:29 pm

    @Violet

    Crystal ball gazing:

    December will be “Budget conference stymied” month.

    Then January shall be “Shutdown threat looms” time all over again.

  227. 227.

    Aimai

    November 21, 2013 at 3:29 pm

    @IowaOldLady: its totally different. Try reading the links.

  228. 228.

    rdldot

    November 21, 2013 at 3:32 pm

    @Tommy: They did that last time and the Dems never filibustered the vast majority (Alberto Gonzalez?)

  229. 229.

    Violet

    November 21, 2013 at 3:33 pm

    @NotMax: Yep. Probably right.

  230. 230.

    Tommy

    November 21, 2013 at 3:33 pm

    @raven: LOL. Mom was friends with his parents. Heck his childhood house is like 4 blocks from where I type this.

    BTW: Worse Rose Bowl game in the history of the world :).

  231. 231.

    liberal

    November 21, 2013 at 3:36 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    And here’s why this is important. … Over the six decades before I took office, only 20 presidential nominees to executive positions had to overcome filibusters. In just under five years since I took office, nearly 30 nominees have been treated this way.

    The sad thing is that elite newsmen/women are either too stupid or too whored-out to understand why this makes the Dems maneuver just.

  232. 232.

    Villago Delenda Est

    November 21, 2013 at 3:37 pm

    The way to restore comity to the Senate is to replace every single motherfucking Republican incumbent with someone else, preferably a Democrat.

  233. 233.

    raven

    November 21, 2013 at 3:37 pm

    @Tommy: Nope, 82 Liberty Bowl. Bear’s last game and the Illini’s first bowl since the 63 Rose Bowl. Poor guy kept coming in when Eason got hurt over and over. We froze our butts off but it was memorable.

    eta If memory serves he had a basketball scholarship to Kentucky and chose to go to Illinois to play football.

    eeta The 84 Rose Bowl was the worst in history and I was at that one too!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Rose_Bowl

  234. 234.

    liberal

    November 21, 2013 at 3:39 pm

    @muricafukyea:

    You gotta look at the big picture.

    The big picture is that, historically, the filibuster has been used as a tool of reaction. Period.

  235. 235.

    scav

    November 21, 2013 at 3:39 pm

    OT microrant
    If there was a just and humorous deity that loved mankind, Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas John Paprocki would have disappeared in a puff of smoke today behind the altar. If a merciful one, it would have been a painless puff. /microrant

  236. 236.

    Ben Grimm

    November 21, 2013 at 3:41 pm

    @shortstop:

    If Scalia killed someone that might be enough to get him forcibly removed from office.

  237. 237.

    MikeJ

    November 21, 2013 at 3:41 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    The way to restore comity to the Senate is to replace every single motherfucking Republican incumbent with someone else, preferably a Democrat.

    It worked in California.

  238. 238.

    Tommy

    November 21, 2013 at 3:42 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: I say this over and over again. I am a far left liberal. Far to the left of Obama. My parents are moderate Republicans. You couldn’t pay them money to watch Fox Noise or listen to Rush.

    They often come and stay at my house (like all next week) to see me, well really their only grandkid (my brother’s little girl). We can talk politics for hours.

    Funny thing, often we can come to agreement on pretty complex issues. And often they come my way when I have time to talk to them about things like unions, the military, wages, you name it.

    But alas I’ve come to learn there are too many crazies in the Republican party. Folks not only wouldn’t I talk to, but my parents would laugh at.

  239. 239.

    Comrade Mary

    November 21, 2013 at 3:45 pm

    I doubt I’m the first one to say this, but I totally read this as “Filibuster Naked”, which led to a mental image of Paul Ryan wearing nothing but that goofy hat and grin from 2012, and … Nope, still doesn’t work for me at.all.

  240. 240.

    dedc79

    November 21, 2013 at 3:45 pm

    @mdblanche: I was debating between the clip i went with and yours.

  241. 241.

    Elizabelle

    November 21, 2013 at 3:45 pm

    Frisson of worry about what the GOP would or will do if they regain the Senate, but the status quo is not workable.

    Add the filibuster to another list of things the GOP broke.

    Yes, it’s used in a reactionary manner, but it gives some protection to the minority in egregious circumstances.

    The GOP, naturally, used it routinely to obstruct, and thus it had to be removed from their grasp.

    But Brave New World territory here. We’ve still got a populace that would rather vote on musical talent than political issues. A news media in the pocket of corporate masters. And Citizens United out there.

    I am proud of Harry Reid, though, and Democrats, for realizing this had to be done. The GOP forced their hand.

    (And that’s what gives me pause. …)

  242. 242.

    Jay C

    November 21, 2013 at 3:47 pm

    Maybe OT, but is anyone else having problems with the site crashing Firefox? I’ve been wasting time perusing BJ all afternoon, and FF keeps dropping and restarting on me. On Mac, only btw: my Windows computer doesn’t seem to have the problem…

  243. 243.

    ShadeTail

    November 21, 2013 at 3:51 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    Are you saying in that comment that the ACA is a soul-crushing disappointment? Because I don’t want to tell you to go fuck yourself if I’m misunderstanding you. If I am understanding you correctly, then go fuck yourself. Thanks to the ACA, about a year ago I was able to get health insurance for the first time in a solid five years. And it’s a pretty decent plan also. Prior to that time, for the full five years, I lived in abject fear of ending up in the hospital. I knew that if that happened, my financial independence was pretty much gone forever.

    I think I hate people who say what you appear to have said even more than I hate the GOPers who are trying to destroy the system. I can’t expect anything better from them. You, on the other hand? You’re at least nominally on my side of the politics, and yet you’re looking at the system that gave me a year’s worth of peace of mind, for the first time in five years mind you, and spitting on it. You clearly have no clue how huge the ACA really is, particularly to folks like me.

    If I misunderstood you, I apologize and take it all back. But if I did understand you, then go fuck yourself.

  244. 244.

    the Conster

    November 21, 2013 at 3:52 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    The Democrats would never be able to march lockstep like Republicans do to obstruct. The filibuster has been a one way street since Obama was elected, and it’s impossible to imagine a scenario where the Dems would behave similarly.

  245. 245.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    November 21, 2013 at 3:52 pm

    @ShadeTail: Are you coked up or something? What the fuck is wrong with you people?

  246. 246.

    Keith P

    November 21, 2013 at 3:52 pm

    One gripe I have with this whole thing is that when the GOP did this, they got away with changing the name to “The Constitutional Option”. Gradually, the media started calling it that instead of “Nuclear”. Here we are doing it again, but everyone wants to call it “The Nuclear Option” again. It’s like no one has any recollection of more than 4 years in the past.

  247. 247.

    Tone in DC

    November 21, 2013 at 3:54 pm

    The GOP forced their hand.

    (And that’s what gives me pause. …)

    I see your point. I’d be very worried about the Senate’s future… if I didn’t know that most g00pers don’t think ANYTHING through. They’re like a bunch of tantrum throwing toddlers in suits and ties.

  248. 248.

    Tommy

    November 21, 2013 at 3:56 pm

    @ShadeTail: I work for myself. I am 44. I pay almost as much money for a “trash” health insurance as I do for a mortgage on a five bedroom house. I am saving about $100 via the ACA and have a plan that is far better.

    I am blessed with the best health in the world. I don’t even get headaches. So from like when I was 24 until 40 I had the best health care plans in the world. The best of the best and literally I NEVER used them.

    So for those that say, well I am only 25, why should I have to pay for you?

    Well for many years myself and my employer did and I don’t recall ever bitching about it.

    Now as I get older I am happy I can get the plan I have through the ACA.

    I am not sick. Heck I don’t worry about getting sick, but I am starting to get to the age I need to head to the doctor and start to have tests run and this or that.

    The ACA has given me a plan (I would have paid a ton with my current plan) where I can do that for almost nothing.

  249. 249.

    ShadeTail

    November 21, 2013 at 3:58 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    I can only assume from your childish bullshit reply that I did interpret your remark correctly. In which case, go fuck yourself. With a pointed rock. That you just pulled out of a red hot lava flow.

  250. 250.

    raven

    November 21, 2013 at 4:00 pm

    @ShadeTail: This is one badass motherfucker you are talking to, better watch it.

  251. 251.

    Cassidy

    November 21, 2013 at 4:00 pm

    @ShadeTail: Some people always have to complain. They ain’t happy unless they’re making others unhappy.

  252. 252.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    November 21, 2013 at 4:01 pm

    @ShadeTail: Yes, and you can go fuck yourself too, because that isn’t childish bullshit. A pointed rock, not childish bullshit.

    Get some meds, moran.

  253. 253.

    EriktheRed

    November 21, 2013 at 4:03 pm

    @Belafon:

    I fear for any SCOTUS nominations the President puts forward, btw. It was likely gonna get ugly anywya, but now this makes sure of it.

    Not that I don’t agree this was the right thing to do, mind you…

  254. 254.

    tybee

    November 21, 2013 at 4:03 pm

    half a TBogg.

  255. 255.

    Ash Can

    November 21, 2013 at 4:03 pm

    @Comrade Mary: Now that’s an image that would be enough to give Hieronymus Bosch nightmares.

  256. 256.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    November 21, 2013 at 4:04 pm

    Wow, the PA brigade is gonna take me down with some well placed mumblings to each other. Ya know, it doesn’t have to be this way, clowns. You can pie me and put me out of your misery.

  257. 257.

    burnspbesq

    November 21, 2013 at 4:06 pm

    Among today’s winners: Guantanamo detainees. The Republican appointees on the D.C. Circuit have achieved some amazing feats of legal “reasoning” in their ongoing attempt to deny these guys justice.

  258. 258.

    Tone in DC

    November 21, 2013 at 4:06 pm

    I have decent, but not great, insurance. The ACA might only save me five or ten bucks a month. An amount that is barely worth the stamps and trouble (not gonna enroll online, na ga happen).

    But it IS worth it for so many other people. Including 28 year old me, years ago, with a sky high deductible, shitty coverage and high co-pays. Plenty of folks like that out here these days, what with these companies dropping them due to pre-existing conditions, rescission and such. Not to mention catastrophic stuff like cancer and severe, debilitating injuries.

    The ACA is NOT perfect. No way. But it’s a big time improvement over the status quo ante.

  259. 259.

    burnspbesq

    November 21, 2013 at 4:07 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    You can pie me and put me out of your misery.

    Or you can stop being a dick.

  260. 260.

    burnspbesq

    November 21, 2013 at 4:12 pm

    @scav:

    If there was a just and humorous deity that loved mankind, Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas John Paprocki would have disappeared in a puff of smoke today behind the altar. If a merciful one, it would have been a painless puff. /microrant

    Dude, that was today’s moment of comic relief.

  261. 261.

    Elizabelle

    November 21, 2013 at 4:12 pm

    I like Kevin Drum’s take on today’s vote:

    Once Again, Republican Obstinacy Bites Them in the Ass

    cue the sad tuba sound:

    Instead, by refusing to compromise in any way, they’ve lost everything. Just as they lost everything on health care by refusing to engage with Democrats on the Affordable Care Act. Just as they lost everything on the government shutdown and the debt ceiling. Just as they lost the 2012 election.

    Hard-nosed obstinacy plays well with the base, but it’s not a winning strategy in the end. Republicans never seem to learn that lesson.

    James Fallows has not yet weighed in, but he will. Probably some good reader comment excerpts to come.

  262. 262.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    November 21, 2013 at 4:12 pm

    @burnspbesq: I know. I can rahrah Obama and CHEER LOUDER and be The New Internet Jesus around here in a few short days. I tell myself this every time I express a perfectly valid and uncontroversial opinion and get savaged by you freakishly cultlike pricks. Trust me, I know what yer saying.

    And really, Burns, you advising someone else not to be a dick is high comedy. Are you even sentient?

  263. 263.

    TooManyJens

    November 21, 2013 at 4:13 pm

    @Jay C: It’s been happening to me too. It happened about half an hour ago, in fact.

    Edit: and then again, right after I posted this comment.

  264. 264.

    Chyron HR

    November 21, 2013 at 4:15 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    Does young master require a gentle balm to soothe his savaged fee-fees?

  265. 265.

    shortstop

    November 21, 2013 at 4:20 pm

    @Tone in DC:

    I may say you’re a dreamer, but you’re not the only one. (There’s also Ben Grimm.)

  266. 266.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    November 21, 2013 at 4:21 pm

    I think we should call it the nuculur option. Because, I can see the Capitol dome from my office building, and there’s no mushroom cloud there, so it’s not really nuclear. Also, kinda laughable that people actually think there’s any comity left in the Senate after what the Repugs have pulled these last 5 years.

  267. 267.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 21, 2013 at 4:23 pm

    @raven:
    @Tommy:

    The 84 Rose Bowl was the worst in history and I was at that one too!

    (Snickers)
    [/Bruin]

  268. 268.

    Ripley

    November 21, 2013 at 4:24 pm

    Or you can stop being a dick.

    The other Nuclear Option, though far less likely.

  269. 269.

    shortstop

    November 21, 2013 at 4:26 pm

    None of this would have been necessary if Obama had been a true uniter.

  270. 270.

    shortstop

    November 21, 2013 at 4:28 pm

    @Tommy: Um, yes, people do live in St. Louis. Jesus.

  271. 271.

    SectionH

    November 21, 2013 at 4:28 pm

    @rikyrah: Check out Edwardsville, too. It would be a bit more of a commute, but that’s where I’d look first if I had to live in the area. SIU-E means interesting events, extra restaurants etc for a town its size. My grandparents retired to there. I hadn’t been back in years, was there in May for my remaining aunt’s funeral, and the downtown was still encouragingly alive.

    @Tommy: Plz correct me if I’m wrong about Edwardsville. IDK anything about the local schools.

  272. 272.

    Tone in DC

    November 21, 2013 at 4:28 pm

    @shortstop:

    Hey, it’s ALWAYS clobberin’ time somewhere.

  273. 273.

    shortstop

    November 21, 2013 at 4:30 pm

    @Tone in DC: Don’t think for a minute that I don’t love your ending to the story, ’cause I do. That would be a drop-dead-gorgeous twofer.

  274. 274.

    SectionH

    November 21, 2013 at 4:33 pm

    @shortstop: Oh yes… I grew up in the Central West End. Was back there too in May. Some of the old places are still around, which was cool. Barnes Hospital has swallowed up the block my old school was on, though.

  275. 275.

    handsmile

    November 21, 2013 at 4:36 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Returned home a short while ago, read today’s EXTRAORDINARILY GOOD (and gotta say surprising) news, and I’m now bouncing around between websites. I don’t know which group is caterwauling the loudest, congressional Neo-Confederates or the Villagers. Music, sweet music to my ears!

    And I am so totally stealing this: “We’ve still got a populace that would rather vote on musical talent than political issues.”

    (“Charlie Brown just said ‘fuck it’ and kicked Lucy” so far is my favorite summation of today’s proceedings.)

    So I guess every single person who reads or comments on this blog now knows what she/he will be doing in the fall of 2014: GOTV!

  276. 276.

    Tone in DC

    November 21, 2013 at 4:38 pm

    Tone in DC: Don’t think for a minute that I don’t love your ending to the story, ’cause I do. That would be a drop-dead-gorgeous twofer.

    Glad ya like it.

    In about 90 minutes, I’ll be at a proper watering hole. The filibuster changes (and Scalia hunting with Darth) will make me smile as I hoist a few 16 ounce weights.

  277. 277.

    shortstop

    November 21, 2013 at 4:42 pm

    @Tone in DC: Plus, I just thought of this: If Scalia accidentally shot Cheney, there’s no way he’d get Cheney to call a press conference apologizing to Scalia for putting his face in the way of Scalia’s gun.

    There’s really nothing not to like about this scenario, now that I think more about it.

  278. 278.

    Tone in DC

    November 21, 2013 at 4:45 pm

    @shortstop:

    LULz.

    As liberals/progressives/people with sense, I doubt we are that lucky.
    Maybe Liz Cheney will insult Tony S. at some capital function, and some open microphone will catch him going off on little Palpatine in a profanity-laced tirade.

  279. 279.

    GRANDPA john

    November 21, 2013 at 4:45 pm

    @muricafukyea:
    If the Repubs gained control they could do it anyway so no loss
    really the gain is all the excutive appointments can be filled, and 90 something empty judgeships can be filled.

  280. 280.

    Belafon

    November 21, 2013 at 4:53 pm

    @EriktheRed: Not sure how this messes any of that up. They will probably filibuster that nomination, and then Reid will extend it to the SCOTUS. The problem is that the Republicans have filibustered things no one ever did before, and for no reason. The Secretary of Defense is one example.

  281. 281.

    catclub

    November 21, 2013 at 5:04 pm

    @Belafon: “The Secretary of Defense is one example. ”

    But he was later confirmed, so not really a relevant example. Likewise, because of the prominence of the SC, people will notice when a position is not filled for years. But for all those lower level positions that are not filled – no one has particularly been outraged about those. There is no single person to focus on. So I see the possibility that a SC nominee gets filibustered for a while – like Hagel, but then gets confirmed.

  282. 282.

    Kay

    November 21, 2013 at 5:05 pm

    “Last night I got a call from one of my Republican friends saying, Harry, we’ve got a deal for you,” he said at a Capitol Hill press conference. “I’m anxious to listen. What is this — we’ll give you one of the D.C. Circuit [Court nominee], that way it will be 5-4.”
    “I just can’t imagine — and one of my friends, he’s a friend, anyway, we’ve been in the House together, Senate together, a long type, what would you do? What would you do, I said?” he added. “And he, just the two of us, he didn’t want to, he said I’m not answering that question.”
    “Everyone knows that what has gone on is absolutely unfair and wrong and I’m glad we changed it. It’s a day of freshness for this great country of ours,” he said.

    “Everyone knows…” :)

  283. 283.

    Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn

    November 21, 2013 at 5:06 pm

    @Ash Can: What I’d like to know is, why can’t legislative filibusters be like “coaches’ challenges” in the NFL? The minority party getx XX number of filibusters per legislative session; once the allotment is used, no more are allowed. The majority can try to get shit done, while the minority doesn’t necessarily have to feel steamrolled.

  284. 284.

    chopper

    November 21, 2013 at 5:10 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    sounds like someone needs to relax. calgon, take him away!

  285. 285.

    mdblanche

    November 21, 2013 at 5:16 pm

    @Kay: What, no magic beans?

  286. 286.

    xian

    November 21, 2013 at 5:50 pm

    @Anoniminous: did any other besides Patricia Millett advance?

  287. 287.

    xian

    November 21, 2013 at 5:50 pm

    @comrade scott’s agenda of rage: how do you increase 24/7 nullification?

  288. 288.

    thruppence

    November 21, 2013 at 5:50 pm

    @Jay C: Try temporarily disabling Flash. I’d like to support BJ’s advertisers, but their ads grind the site to a halt.

  289. 289.

    xian

    November 21, 2013 at 5:51 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: because legislation was sailing through Congress before this, yes?

  290. 290.

    Jay C

    November 21, 2013 at 6:17 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Hard-nosed obstinacy plays well with the base, but it’s not a winning strategy in the end. Republicans never seem to learn that lesson.

    I usually like, respect and generally agree with Kevin Drum, but he’s whistling into the wind if this is what he really believes: “Hard-nosed obstinacy” is what keeps getting Republicans elected to more offices in this country than is really good for the nation. “The base” who Drum seems to dismiss turn out in droves to vote at EVERY election; vote a straight party-line ideological slate; refuse the slightest attempt at any political compromise of any sort as unacceptable – and still, despite the general unpopularity of their hardline ideological obsessions, manage to control at least half of Congress, and statehouses (often with unassailable supermajorities) all across the country. Teabaggery may (to us here at least) be simpleminded lunacy, but to claim that it isn’t a “winning strategy” is WAY off the mark…

  291. 291.

    xian

    November 21, 2013 at 6:22 pm

    @Anya: Cokie Roberts probably shat herself.

  292. 292.

    xian

    November 21, 2013 at 6:29 pm

    @NotMax: the deeper point is that Heritage proposed it insincerely, as a conservative alternative to cock-block Hillarycare. There was never any substantive support for the idea on the right.

  293. 293.

    xian

    November 21, 2013 at 6:33 pm

    @Tommy: why are we fucked if we lose the Senate and the other side passes its laws? Their ideas are stupid and will fail, and they will reap the whirlwind. As someone said upthread, the filibuster isn’t some sort of goo-goo protection against bad right-wingers. It has tended to be a reactionary block against progress.

  294. 294.

    John Casey

    November 21, 2013 at 6:35 pm

    @IowaOldLady: the gentleman’s agreement required gentlemen(and gentlewomen) on both sides to abide by it.

    the rules change requires 51 votes in favor of a nomination, and the character and behaviour of the other 49 is irrelevant.

  295. 295.

    xian

    November 21, 2013 at 6:37 pm

    @FormerSwingVoter: I think he’s got David Vitter a-skeered:

    https://twitter.com/davidvitter/status/403578833343107072

  296. 296.

    xian

    November 21, 2013 at 6:40 pm

    @mike with a mic: you just said two opposite things about entitlement reform. you’ve always got this glib, reductive, dismissive take on politics and I don’t think it’s as clever or spot-on as you do.

  297. 297.

    Mnemosyne

    November 21, 2013 at 6:44 pm

    @Tommy:
    @xian:

    The way it hurts us is if the Republicans gain control back of the presidency and both houses of Congress. But, in that case, we’d already be pretty fucked, so not having the filibuster isn’t going to hurt that much more.

  298. 298.

    xian

    November 21, 2013 at 6:49 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: that’s silly. Since 2009 the GOP has been savaging Obamacare with an assist from the media. Nobody thought it was magickal universal health ponies.

  299. 299.

    xian

    November 21, 2013 at 6:50 pm

    @Mnemosyne: exactly. let the people work their will. I’m not afraid.

  300. 300.

    SteveinSC

    November 21, 2013 at 6:53 pm

    Hate to be Latte, I mean Late, maybe not, but Let’s Fucking Rumble!

  301. 301.

    xian

    November 21, 2013 at 6:54 pm

    @Elizabelle: say amen, somebody.

  302. 302.

    xian

    November 21, 2013 at 6:59 pm

    @Tone in DC: I don’t see how what the Dems did today has ANY effect at all on what a hypothetical future GOP Senate majority might do. If they want to nuke the filibuster entirely, then they will, and they would do it with or without the fig leaf of a Democratic precedent.

  303. 303.

    xian

    November 21, 2013 at 7:04 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: no, just keep winning arguments with straw men and ad-absurdum black vs. white figments of your own imagination.

  304. 304.

    The Other Chuck

    November 21, 2013 at 7:06 pm

    Dear Senior Senator from Nevada,

    Who are you, and what have you done with Har — actually, scratch that, you just keep him there, okay?

  305. 305.

    The Other Chuck

    November 21, 2013 at 7:10 pm

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):

    I initially read the post title as “Filibuster Naked”

    Sounds like another good change to make to the filibuster rules. Not that I’ll be too inclined to turn on C-SPAN after that though…

  306. 306.

    The Other Chuck

    November 21, 2013 at 7:14 pm

    @Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn:

    The minority party getx XX number of filibusters per legislative session; once the allotment is used, no more are allowed.

    SB5787672495: The Naming the third of Senator Paul’s new Puppies and Defunding of Obamacare Act.
    SB5787672496: The Naming the fourth of Senator Paul’s new Puppies and Outlawing of Abortion Act.
    SB5787672497: The Naming the fifth of Senator Paul’s new Puppies and Elimination of the EPA Act.

    Have the filibuster or don’t, but technical tricks aren’t going to slow down people who’ve spent their entire career gaming the political machine.

  307. 307.

    Villago Delenda Est

    November 21, 2013 at 7:18 pm

    @xian:

    Precisely. These vile thugs will do whatever they can to pack the benches of the Federal Courts with Federalist Society scum, no matter what Dems did at any time.

  308. 308.

    grillo

    November 21, 2013 at 7:22 pm

    @The Other Chuck: Does Senator Paul actually name the puppies before consuming them

  309. 309.

    fuckwit

    November 21, 2013 at 7:44 pm

    @MikeJ: A-fucking-men brotha. The ultimate solution is a political solution: remove and replace.

  310. 310.

    A Humble Lurker

    November 21, 2013 at 7:48 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:

    Get some meds, moran.

    Which s/he can, thanks to Obamacare.

  311. 311.

    Jebediah, RBG

    November 21, 2013 at 8:27 pm

    @Jay C:
    Been having that problem for days and days. Mac, Firefox 25.0.1

    ETA: Fucking did right now while posting this comment.

  312. 312.

    Yatsuno

    November 21, 2013 at 9:59 pm

    @fuckwit: My Senators are awesome. Patty is gonna eat the Zombie-eyed Granny Starver for lunch with a delicate wipe of the napkin for final effect in the budget negotiations.

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