Make Them Walk The Walk

It's becoming apparent that it will be necessary to increase the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate in 2008 but also get some new leadership - or should I just say leadership, it seems to be lacking. It used to be that when you filibustered you had to well, filibuster. Stand up there and talk for hours or days bringing the Senate to a screeching halt. Now apparently all you have to do is shout "filibuster", kind of like yelling "olly olly oxen free" during a game of hide and seek. Kevin Drum reports on the result:

As you can see, Republicans aren't just obstructing legislation at normal rates. They're obstructing legislation at three times the usual rate. They're absolutely desperate to keep this stuff off the president's desk, where the only choice is to either sign it or else take the blame for a high-profile veto.

As things stand, though, Republicans will largely avoid blame for their tactics. After all, the first story linked above says only that the DC bill "came up short in the Senate" and the second one that the habeas bill "fell short in the Senate." You have to read with a gimlet eye to figure out how the vote actually broke down, and casual readers will come away thinking that the bills failed because of some kind of generic Washington gridlock, not GOP obstructionism.

So why not make them actually filibuster - stand up there and say a lot of things the majority of the American people disagree with. In other words make them take the hit and get some bad press. I'm sorry Mr Reid but I just don't understand. But I do understand that you are not showing me in leadership.