WASHINGTON -- Speaking in the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration on the history of the filibuster earlier today, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., argued against making any radical changes.
The filibuster is the right of any senator to hold the floor for an unlimited period. You might recall the scene in Frank Capra's "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."
"The only thing different about the Senate is the almost absolute right to unlimited debate and unlimited amendments," Alexander said. "If you get rid of that, you get rid of the Senate."
Its advantage is illustrated by history, Alexander said. He noted that President Lyndon Johnson called the Republican leader in the Senate, Everett Dirksen, every day at 5 p.m.
"Now why did he do that? The civil rights bills provide an answer to that. I think it's because the president needed not only to get the bills passed, but, in 1964 and 1968, he needed to get the country to accept them. And we've seen with the health care debate that as soon as it's passed by a bare majority, suddenly, all over the country there is a campaign to repeal it. President Johnson, I think, wanted to avoid that."
What Alexander's defending here is his own arrogance and that of each member of his exclusive club.
Put another way, what he said is what comes out of the rear of a male cow.