Post-Filibuster Post-Mortem

By Mimikatz

So the Republican filibuster of the Levin-Reed Amendment continues.  Yes, traditional media, it is a Republican filibuster.  The Republicans prevented the Levin-Reed withdrawal amendment from coming to a vote by insisting that it pass by a supermajority of 60 votes.  No majority rule democracy for you, America!  The new rule is that nothing important or controversial shall pass without the Democrats mustering 60 votes for it.

At the close of the cloture vote, in which all Dems (but the still-recovering Tim Johnson) and Bernie Sanders, plus GOPers Collins, Hagel, Snowe and Smith voted to end debate and all other GOPers plus Lieberman-for-Lieberman voted No (and Harry Reid voted Yes, but changed his vote to be able to ask for reconsideration), Reid asked for unanimous consent to consider 5 measures with bipartisan support, including not only Levin-Reed but the toothless Salazar and Warner measures, and minority leader ""Ditch Mitch" McConnell of Kentucky, doing his David Spade impression, said "No." 

At that point Harry Reid pulled the Defense Authorization Bill and went on to the Homeland Security Bill.  Reid asked that the Chair (Levin) and ranking member (McCain) of the Armed Services Committee cut the bs and reach agreement on amendments and procedure for bringing the bill to a vote, including up-or-down votes on Levin-Reed and the other Iraq amendments.  If Reid follows through, no up-or-down vote, no bill.  No bill, no money.

This is a good strategy, even though the lazy and spineless press cannot bring themselves to accurately report that it is the Republicans who are stalling by insisting on a 60-vote margin to even bring the bill up.  There is really no need to rush the Defense Bill.  It won't take effect until October 1, and they already cut a deal in May to fund the war through then at least.  They can wait for the Senators to go home and talk to the home folks and wait for General Petraeus to tell us how things are in Glockamora--excuse me, Iraq--and whether the surge is working or we need to continue the surge by extending the already-extended-to-15 months tours of duty to 30 months so Bush can leave office without facing the consequences of leaving Iraq.

Kagro has ably shown the limits of legislation to change war policy in the post below.  But every time there is a vote, those 22 GOP Senators have to make a decision whether to stand with their constituents or stand with their King and his Rasputin.  In between there will be time for visits, calls, demonstrations, contributions to their challengers, billboards, editorials and all the other activities you will find here.  Maybe come October, if Harry Reid does not capitulate and ask for a continuing resolution to extend funding,  Bush/Cheney will find that the Unitary Executive can't pass budget legislation.  We can test their ability to move funds around.  We can see what happens in Iraq, good or bad, in September, and after.

We can't know the outcome.  But there comes a time when the Democratic Congress simply has to  take a stand, do what's right, explain its position as best it can, let Bush/Cheney make their moves and just play the hand out.  Impeachment, as several of us have been saying, is the Founders' remedy for a runaway executive.  Sooner or later, it has to be invoked or Bush/Cheney will run this country over the cliff, whether by war with Iran, a move that spooks the financial markets, locking up critics of the war, martial law, whatever.  And if the Dems haven't taken and maintained a strong stand against this tyranny, history will not look any more kindly on them than on Bush/Cheney.  It's what in auto accidents is called the "last clear chance" rule.  If you could have done something to stop the accident and didn't, it was your fault as much as the bad driver's.   

So I apoligize to the Democratic party fundraiser who had the misfortune to call me just as I was starting this post and got an earful.  But as I told her, it's Time for Impeachment.  No more money to prolong the war.  None.  Thanks. Harry Reid.  Keep up the good work.

Comments

[bmaz]

This gambit was just another piece of crap out of Harry Reid's bottomless bag of dung. I trust everyone was suitably thrilled, impressed and thankful for the powerful message and winning results form Harry's little girl scout slumber party. As Condi would surely say, "who could have imagined that this would end up being a pathetic joke that accomplished absolutely nothing". Oh yeah, that's right, I did. We have to stop bringing a plastic toy knife from a Cracker Jack box to the gunfight with the Republicans. I'll say this about the Republicans, they are horribly wrong on just about everything, but they have some major cojones; while our pathetic side doesn't have squat in the cojones department. This is just flat out embarrassing after a while.

[Mimikatz]

Well, if Reid refuses to bring up the bill without McConnell allowing an up-or-down vote on the Iraq amendments, it will be something. But that is a ways off, it won't make any difference until late September, and it will take balls to do it, as you say.

[bmaz]

Well, if I am to be holding my breath, you might as well order out the coroner's wagon to my residence. Ackerman at TPM says, and I think this is correct from some analysis of the appropriations minutiae a year or two ago when there was talk of harnassing that process to impose mandatory benchmarks for Bush, that this this newest and latest threat by Reid is another toothless joke because it is the Appropriations Bill that matters, not the Authorization Bill for their overall funding.

[phred]

Thanks for the post Mimikatz and thanks for the comments bmaz. Bmaz, you nailed it. I have been despondent today, not by the failure of the cloture vote (big surprise there), but by all the folks who seem to think that somehow this really showed somebody that Dems mean business. Huh?

As you note, Mimikatz it will be at least until September before anything whatsoever comes to pass with any Iraq legislation -- and like bmaz, even then I am not holding my breath.

There are already plenty of people wringing their hands saying that there isn't enough time left to impeach (what a load of hooey), and so now we get to sit here and watch them Dems run out the clock even further. Pssst, Harry Reid, you're team is losing, you need to go on offense, 'cause running out the clock just means you will lose for sure.

Between Feingold's contemptible anti-impeachment stance and Reid's dismal performance, I feel sick.

[bmaz]

If none of the current nightmares extant in our government as a result of direct, intentional malevolent action by Bush, Cheney, Gonzales and the Administration do not collectively, if not each individually, amount to probable cause to initiate an impeachment investigation (not impeachment itself, just the freaking investigation) to determine where we are really at; what would it take? Would Bush and Cheney have to molest babies and club puppies? Seriously, impeachment was the designated remedy for protecting the sanctity, order and process of our constitutional government. If making Habeas Corpus optional for even American citizens at the President's whim is not enough to even "put impeachment on the table " for discussion, why have it in the Constitution at all? Our leaders are sick and lost; they seem to have no idea of why they in Congress or what their duties are.

[phred]

Now now bmaz, if Bush molested babies and clubbed puppies, Congressional Democrats would lecture you on the need for them to win more seats in 2008 so they could do something about it. They wouldn't actually have a plan for what they would do with those additional seats, but they know that they could use them -- maybe to surround the unfortunate babies and puppies in a makeshift playpen to keep out bad Mr. Bush -- yeah, that's what they could do.

Question is, how will they win more seats? Why would anyone bother to vote for such craven unprincipled sock puppets? Babies and puppies are in trouble...

[Mimikatz]

The only thing that makes any dofference ios cutting of the DEMS' money. No more contributions except to challengers who promise action. I'm fairly impressed with Webb (a good imvestment) but so far I feel we will be lucky to have elections unless events really force Bush/Cheney's hand.

[phred]

Yep. I'm cutting off all contributions to incumbents until they step up to the impeachment plate.

[ab initio]

Now when the Dems were using the filibuster in the last Senate - the good Dr. who could diagnose via video and others in the Repub camp were always threatening nuclear option.

Why don't we hear about it anymore? What was it anyway?

[bmaz]

The nuclear option was to amend the Senate Rules to eliminate filibuster and cloture so that a simple majority puts a bill or matter on the floor for a vote. Pretty much obviates any and all power the minority party has for influence; they would be continually subservient to the majority party.

[emptypockets]

I have been trying to figure out what the hell happened so I just wanted to say thanks for posting this.

I still don't really get the details, in all honesty. Did Reid have the option of holding out and making Republicans continue to filibuster, effectively shutting down Senate actions? Why didn't he hold out longer (not forever, but at least through the weekend)?

I have skimmed various postings on this and I've seen plenty of derision and name-calling, but I still haven't figured out the non-sarcastic answer to what went into the decision to end the stand-off.

[ab initio]

Thanks bmaz. Did that mean there was no filibuster available to the amendment to remove filibusters?

What I don't get is why Sen. Reid does not make the Repubs actually filibuster? It would be fun see on nighly news --" today was the 120th day of the filibuster aimed at preventing a vote on legislation that would provide our troops as much rest as their combat time served.."

Then there would be no August recess and no chance for those sneaky recess appointments.

[Anon]

Defunding Exercise: How To Cut the President's Budget

Think nothing can be done? Guess again: Programs can be terminated. Link explains how to do this, who to call, and what needs to be done to make this happen.

"The GOP has backed themselves into a corner. There is something called a descriptive summary which the Congressional Committees can zero-out, and deny the President funding. The GOP has to pass an Amendment to change this. They do not have enough votes; and the President's veto will not change the budget document."

Those who defy We the People and subpoenas shall lose their gold. Program managers, contracts, and civilians are on the table for a summer budget review.

[larue]

Mimi . . . great post.

We can't WAIT for September . . . as it will only get worse, and worse, and more Executive Privilaged from top to bottom.

Even if the Dem's start now, we've likely lost any ability to fight, win, and overturn Executive Privilage's, Concentrations Of Power, and the PLACEMENT of idealogues representing the Powers That Be, in all departments of our government.

And, frankly, the Dem's are all in on it anyway.

This country's in deep doo doo . . . but more realism from you and others will help . . . I thank you, Mz. Wheeler, and others, for the same . . .

Nice to have a site to visit, that's not thrown in with the PTB . . . from the get go.
And as I've seen, this site supports Constitutionalist issues and I greatly appreciate that.

Marcy Wheeler rawkhs.

Others, on other sites, not so much . . ;-)

[masaccio]

First, we clearly showed that our party sticks together on these issues. The Republicans are losing, and they know it. The rovian plan to roll something out in September was totally disrupted by this effort. They pieced together some trashy optics, and got blind-sided by the NIE at the same time their stupid Interim Report got low marks even in the MSM. If our side continues to push on it, when Rove and company do roll something out, it will look coerced, and our side can claim as much of the victory as we want, or shove more.

I think the main push is to disrupt republican appearances in our red states. Tennessee is a great choice. The senior senator, Lamar Alexander, is a wishy-washy guy with no stomach for trouble. The junior senator is also a nebbish. Corker barely beat Harold Ford, despite spending millions of dollars. In the republican primary, the r's ran two crazy right-wing candidates, who beat each other, leaving him free to run in the aimless Alexander mode of someone with some common sense. He has no background in aggressive right-wing politics, and I think we can make an impression by calling him on putting politics above national interest.

People need to be on the lookout for opportunities to talk to these guys and others like them in public settings. The key is to ask the right kind of question. Here is a possible question.

There are more than 55,000 names of dead soldiers on the Viet Nam Memorial wall. Friends of mine are on that wall, dead for nothing, and I cannot face it without coming near tears. Someday there will be a wall of the dead in Iraq. In the first two votes you faced, you wanted to wait, rather than evaluate the existing factual situation. Names will be on the Iraq wall because you chose to support the unsupported hopes of the Republican president. Those dead are already on your conscience. How many names go on the Iraq wall before you put your nation ahead of the republican party?

The question is asked deliberately, with increasing pauses after each sentence, and ends with a note of sadness.

Now, you cannot establish a personal relationship with these guys in a single question, but you can change from a rational tone to an emotional tone, and force a response in emotional terms. You can focus the issue onto the conscience of the senators. This question, I hope, forces them outside the talking points, by focusing on their personal responsibility. "Fighting them there to keep from fighting them here" sounds foolish as a response to the emotional tone of the question. Or so I hope.

[sona]

I seem to remember GOP outrage and threats to use the 'nuclear option' when the Dems fillibustered - I am confused - why that 'nuclear option' is a GOP prerogative to insist on cloture rather than an up and down vote.

[Boo Radley]

Nuclear option

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