If the Dims want to filibuster, make it a real one. Bring in the cots and run the Senate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Make Dowd and Biden talk until they get laryngitis.
ITA. If a filibuster was really a filibuster...things would be different. It would catch the public's attention and really get the issues out in the open. I see this kind of filibuster a sign of general laziness and lack of discipline.
If the Dims want to filibuster, make it a real one. Bring in the cots and run the Senate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Make Dowd and Biden talk until they get laryngitis. This has been brought up several times. Even Dick Morris said this is what Frist should do. As it stands now, Frist and Reid meet in an air conditioned office, sit in nice leather chairs, and Frist asks Reid "You got the votes?" Reids says "Yup--sure do." Then Frist calls a nice, short, clean vote for cloture (which fails) and that is that. Then the Senators retire to the bar.
The reason Frist will not force the Democrats to really filibuster is that the Republicans are lazy. They don't want to sleep in cots, and really work long hours. Unfortunately, this is what it is going to take. Gingrich lost the "Government Shutdown" because the public saw the GOP as obstructionists. This is what we must force the Democrats to do.
Sleep on this:
...while Kennedy and Byrd read this....
We are at a disadvantage. We need to keep a qurom, the donks only need teddy and a few others around to yeild the floor to.
Point is the majority needs to keep a lock on their senators in house, not the minority. Given that the gang of 7 won't stick with the party out of a matter of constitutional principle, d'ya honestly think they have the gumption to honor the majority leader's request to set up cots and eat out of brown bags.
Forcing a filibuster hurts the MAJORITY not the MINORITY.