Pirates of the Parliament

I suppose things must be getting really fouled up when the timid toreador Harry Reed decides to actually take action on something. He is again threatening is to amend the Senate rules to limit the use of the filibuster. Since the rules can be, under the appropriate circumstances, amended by a simple majority of Senators, such an action is within the realm of the possible, especially given the almost ubiquitous use of the filibuster by the Republican minority to forestall consideration of anything Glenn Beck doesn’t approve of. It remains to be seen whether Senator Reed has the courage to do anything but piss himself when Mitch “The Turtle” McConnell glares at him, but I very much support the elimination of what is to my mind the political equivalent of a muzzle-loading flintlock.

Part of the deep-rooted political schizophrenia of our great nation stems from the dilemma that faced our forefathers as they contemplated ditching King George for Plan B. While they clearly understood the potential for abuse of authority inherent in hereditary, autocratic regimes, they were also a bit lukewarm on the aptitude of the common man for self-governance. Parlor tricks like the Electoral College and the Senate itself were devised to potentially frustrate the will of the majority should it deviate too severely from social stability and the solvency of the banks. In defense of the sainted founders of our nation, the French Revolution just a few years later demonstrated that their fears were not completely unfounded. The bottom line was, you could limit the franchise to white guys with property, but you could never be sure that a bunch of idiots wouldn’t accidentally be born white and luck into property through inheritance or the lottery.

So our democracy was conceived in metaphysical dysphoria and was designed as a procedural obstacle course to prevent anything precipitous from occurring. In this respect, our forefathers would be proud of what we have become. Unfortunately, the world has changed since the 1780’s and the role of the federal government has evolved to the point where paralysis can actually do practical harm. The filibuster itself has been around in the Senate in various incarnations since the mid 1800’s, but really took its modern form in the 1930’s. Without troubling myself to do any actual research, I believe the process requires a vote of 60 Senators to bring an end to debate on any proposed action and move it forward to a vote. It used to be a requirement that someone actually be debating for a vote to be filibustered, hence the melodramatic “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”, but now Senators can sit in their offices and get pedicures while refusing to end debate on an issue and effectively defeating it, denying a potential majority of Senators the opportunity to consider approval of an action.

As matter of full disclosure, I am what Mr. Reagan would describe as “so far Left, I have left America”, and I am sure that there are those who would suggest my newfound distain for the filibuster is just partisan polemics, but I have convinced myself that it is really a pretty silly idea. As far as Citizen Obama’s agenda is concerned, filibuster reform in the Senate would likely result only in improved success of judicial appointments since the MENSA gang over in the House will never approve anything that a black man supports. To me, the issue is more of a call to recognize that as a nation we only perfunctorily embrace true majority rule and, as each political group takes its turn sucking hind tit in the wilderness, we are becoming more and more absorbed with simply defeating the evil machinations of our opponents and less and less committed to any real principle. In that vein, I was dismayed to see Texas State Senator Wendy Davis elevated to hero status for filibustering an anti-abortion measure, not because I support such theocratic, totalitarian falderal, but because it just demonstrated that Democrats are as hypocritical and void of principal as the abominable Republicans.

   

Anyway, there are no innocent parties in this agglomerated mess we have made of our political process, but the proponents of obstructive minority rule are nothing more than treasonous royalists who seek to place King George back upon the throne. I see the mental state of participants in our present political system as being like that of jilted lovers who selfishly murder their former paramours simply to prevent them from being with anyone else. If you only believe in democracy when you are in the majority, then you belong in the Soviet Union. The filibuster is a bad idea that makes a whole lot of other bad ideas worse and Senators of every political stripe need to grow up and act like adults instead of spoiled children who didn’t get what they wanted for Christmas.