CT Blue

I greatly respect Chris Dodd for all he’s done, but I must say that it’s apparent that his time has passed, and we can be thankful that he has stepped aside. If I’d had any doubts, and I hadn’t, this interview, in which he says that the filibuster rule should not be changed, would have removed them. The money quote (via MyLeftNutmeg):

“I’m totally opposed to the idea of changing the filibuster rules,” the Connecticut Democrat said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”. “I think that’s foolish in my view. You can write all the rules you want. At the end of the day if the chemistry isn’t there [it won’t work].”

When one puts the good of an institution-any institution-over that of the country, then one’s priorities have become seriously misplaced. If Dodd does not see the dysfunctional reality of the institution in which he currently serves then it’s hard to see any possibility that he would have been part of a solution to its problems in the future. In fact, his statement is absolutely wrong. We would have health reform now, most likely with a public option, were it not for the filibuster rule. That’s a difference; a huge difference, and the system would have worked by delivering what the American people wanted, and still say they want when asked in a reasonable fashion. We would have had better stimulus legislation had there been no filibuster. Instead of wasting money on worthless tax cuts, we could have saved the states from bankruptcy. We would have votes on Obama’s appointees. Obama could actually appoint what are now doomed nominees, given the fact that Ben Nelson, who felt it was wrong to filibuster nominees when a Republican was in office, now feels free to filibuster those of a Democratic president. Whether a change in the rules will disturb the chemistry of the Senate is debatable, but also irrelevant to the American people, particularly the people who put Dodd in the Senate. Parenthetically, it is probably the abuse of the filibuster that has destroyed the chemistry at present. If there were no filibuster, the Republicans would either have to play nice or become wholly irrelevant.

It’s understandable, but not really forgivable, that a Senator could equate institutional traditions with the public good. It’s impossible to believe that any Democrat could fail to perceive the direction in which the dysfunctional Senate’s is leading us. The filibuster can be abolished by majority vote at the beginning of the next Senate session, provided the Democrats don’t destroy their majority by further weakness. We need to get Dick Blumenthal on record on this issue. Will he vote to return majority rule to the United States Senate? Does he understand what’s happening? If not, we’re doomed.