I love it when I see things on the net that echo something I’ve already written. I realize that such a reaction is rather childish, but there it is. I direct my readers to this article (Challenging the GOP’s Filibluster) from the American Prospect. In it, Andy Balkan makes the same points about the Democratic response to the Republican filibusters that I made here, here and here. (Since those posts were in real time they evolve a bit as I learned more about what Harry Reid was actually doing).
Balkan argues that Reid set a trap for himself by announcing beforehand that he would cut off debate on the Defense Bill after holding 30 hours of debate. The Republicans simply waited him out. He also argues that the Democrats should force the Republicans to really filibuster and that the first battle should be over a bill that has wide support in the country. He suggests that the debate be over the Webb Amendment, which mandates that American troops get sufficient rest between combat assignments.
Why? First off, the Webb amendment is exceptionally popular. Republicans can’t seriously oppose more rest and recuperation time for soldiers and marines. They’ll say that Congress shouldn’t micro-manage the war, but with many troops on their third tour in Iraq, that argument doesn’t carry much weight. Second, because the vote was so close last time, at the outset of this debate the outcome would be in sincere doubt. Add to that the fact that such Very Serious Republicans as John Warner and Dick Lugar have long billed September as the moment of truth regarding Bush’s surge, they may finally (with some pushing) feel the need to vote against the president, and the Webb amendment offers the perfect “non-defeat” bill on which to do it. All of this adds real uncertainty — which constitutes exactly the drama that the press loves. If Reid can keep the floor debate going for 3 or 4 days, the excitement will only build — if the Senate is deadlocked over the fate of thousands of U.S. soldiers, America will tune in.
I agree 100%. How could I not, since Balkan agrees with me 100%. I find it amazing that the Democrats apparently still believe that if they fight according to the Marquis of Queensbury rules, that guy kicking them in the balls is, at some point, going to see the error of his ways and stop.
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