Another cog in the wheel known as the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy to combat the Extreme Left-Wing Media.

Sunday, April 17, 2005

What's the filibuster fight all about?

Most people are being misled about the filibuster fight. A traditional filibuster was basically a way for a senator in the minority on an issue to continue the discussion with the hopes of changing minds. An example would be Robert "KKK" Byrd's unsuccessful filibuster of the Civil Rights Act in the 1960's. In the past few years, filibusters have been a tactic used to completely avoid voting on federal judges. Here is an article which explains the issue.

Myth No. 1:Filibuster of judges is a sacred tradition.
Fact: The filibuster is nowhere in the Constitution. It is not among the "checks and balances" our Founding Fathers created. It did not even exist until the 1830s, and the "tradition" involves legislation, not judicial appointments. The filibuster was used to defend slavery and oppose the Civil Rights Act — hardly noble purposes. The current obstruction of judges is no "traditional" filibuster: it is the first time in more than 200 years that either party has filibustered to keep judges with majority support off the federal bench.

1 Comments:

Blogger John A said...

Also rarely mentioned is the so-called "gentlemen's filibuster", a fairly recent development. Unlike Byrd's, or those shown in movies (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) there is a new style: just publish your intent to filibuster in the Register, and everyone agrees to shut down for a while. No need to actually strain the voice, or even state a position.

5:26 PM

 

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