Normalizing the Filibuster

Well it's happened.  The Senate Republican caucus has convinced journalists that filibusters are normal

In the New York times Jeremy W. Peters and Jonathan FBD Weisman write.

"All Mr. Reid needs are 51 Democrats to vote with him — not the usual 60-vote threshold required for most Senate business "

Evidently, filibusters are usual, part of normal order.  The strange fact that 51 senators count for more than 49 senatorls is not usual. It wasn't always this way.  I'm old enough to remember when filibusters were rare and the norm that Senators only filibustered bills related to  issues on which they cared passionately. The new normal is that anything but naming post offices requires 60 votes. 

The secret (aside from Jonathan FBD Weisman being hired by the New York Times) is that the House Republican Caucus is so extreme they make the Senate Republican caucus look like statesmen.


Also note that bloggers need to learn about civility from respectable journalists like Weisman.