if the nuclear option passes, the Dems have threatened to filibuster an up or down vote on John Bolton in the Senate...since Bolton's post is not in the judiciary, filibustering remains an option.
here's my problem: filibustering doesn't make for good TV.
This whole deal threatens to completely screw up the normal action packed excitement that is C-SPAN (last week i caught 4 senators picking their noses...no kidding...two opted for the pants wipe, one quick flick and one dubious under the bench activity - just think of the history encrusted down there)
it all stems from Senate Rule 19 which was amended in the early 40's to ensure that debate on legislation be germane to the issue being debated. Before that it was totally cool for Senator Huey Long to read Shakespeare, recite shrimp and oyster recipes and talk about "pot-likkers." (ewwww)
Nowadays, a filibuster is more of a boredom marathon...Strom Thurman still holds the record - filibustering for 24 hours and 18 minutes - against a voting rights bill (go figure). This dude was a machine. He dehydrated himself so that he wouldn't have to go potty, and made it through the night on a single steak sandwich and oodles of malted milk balls. Thurman could filibuster yo...who knows how long he could have lasted if he was allowed to read aloud "Tuesday's With Morrie".
It is time to repeal this outmoded amendment to Rule 19. I'm not dissing the folks who passed it in the first place, they couldn't have imagined that one day some jackass in brooklyn would be counting the number of nose drillers on the Floor through a magic picture box.
but it happened.
in a truly democratic society we could choose what content was permissible, maybe even vote on filibuster day via text message. I for one would love to see Hillary do impersonations of the cast of Friends, or Dodd reading Winnie the Pooh (you know he's got a good eeyore voice in him somewhere)
and for God's sake, a little practice wouldn't hurt...after all, it is a Show and I'll all be watching.
edited to add:
as promised in a prior post, here's a link to an annotated version of Finke's article.