The Filibuster Fantasy

The Filibuster Fantasy

The minute Martha-Ann Alito cried we lost. I said so at the time and it doesn't matter why she cried. That many Democrats couldn't understand her feelings only made matters worse.

On George W. Bush Day, SOTU Tuesday, we'll have to see where Mrs.
Samuel Alito sits, but rest assured, she'll be on camera somewhere.

To win a battle, you have to know how to pick
your battles. The Democrats evidently still don't know how to pick 'em,
because if they did, Alito would be ripe for a filibuster. Instead, the Democrats
blew it.

Yesterday, John Aravosis said a
mouthful. He gets much of it right, actually.

However, I still support a filibuster, because I wanted one from
the beginning. There's not a lot I can do if Democratic senators caught a 72-hour
virus version of why Alito simply shouldn't be confirmed. Now we'll just have
to go down amidst the flames of our filibuster fantasy.

But let's put the blame where it belongs.

The hearings couldn't have been a worse spectacle. Senators going
off on their on, all different directions, without a coherent plan in place,
no leadership to be found.

The argument against Alito was always good, but in order to get
your point across you have to have one. The Democrats in the Senate never did.
And as Matt says, you don't
get points for trying.

You also don't get points for writing a blog stating that it takes
more advocacy than what senators can do. Translation: if the filibuster doesn't
work it's because the blogs couldn't mass their readers into action.

Aravosis says Kerry is using us. I could care less, frankly, because
again, I wanted the filibuster, so details don't matter. In the end, it's Kerry's
face on the joker card if the filibuster fails, because he didn't have the chops
to get it done. We can call, email and fax all we want, but if Kerry, Kennedy and Hillary
can't convince their fellow senators, we're screwed, the country, that is.

The real importance of this filibuster fight is going to get lost,
unfortunately, because of the laxidasical manner in which it was waged, last
minute, flailing around, with the details left to bloggers to tape together.

Let's face it, the Democratic Party senators just didn't have
the spine for the fight. I don't know what they're waiting for, because this
is the second time our senators have been unwilling to stand up and do what's
right, damn the consequences. Principal is the point. First, it was the
Iraq war resolution. Now, the Democratic Party is going to allow an ideologue,
with a record to prove it, to be escorted into the highest court in the land,
as the presidency becomes more powerful, the court turns further right, and Democrats still can't find their way to leadership.

It didn't have to be this way, but the Democrats in the senate
don't seem to have the calculation, spine, let alone someone to lead the fight.