[Fishtalk]

I remember watching the Civil Rights filibuster on TV at the time. I was but a young lass but was mesmerized by the sight of those senators reading the bible late into the night.

I recall thinking 'all of this so black people can't attend college?' or some such. And yes, the southern Dems were the WORST. Although hey, as a young child it was my first exposure to the world of politics. Now THAT was a real filibuster.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

A little more from that Washington Post piece:

Frist sometimes speaks of the current judicial impasse in terms that take the Fortas case's complexities into account. "Never before in the history of the Senate has a nominee with clear majority support been denied an up or down vote on the Senate floor because of a filibuster," Frist said Tuesday. Such language puts him on more solid historical footing. The New York Times wrote of the 45 to 43 cloture roll call: "Because of the unusual crosscurrents underlying today's vote, it was difficult to determine whether the pro-Fortas supporters would have been able to muster the same majority in a direct confirmation vote."