It’s Only Taken 90 Days For The GOP To Get Drunk With Power

It’s only been three months and change since the November elections but already one well placed GOP pundit is calling for an end to the Congressional filibuster…now that it’s inconvenient for his Party. The Washington Posts’s Charles Krauthammer writes the following in his typical “I’m oblivious to the things I say” fashion.

I’ve been radicalized. By Harry Reid and Barack Obama. Goodbye moderation and sweet reason. No more clinging to constitutional and procedural restraint. It’s time to go nuclear.

In the fourth quarter of his presidency, Obama unbound is abusing presidential authority at will to secure a legacy on everything from environmental regulation to immigration, the laws of which he would unilaterally suspend.

Republicans find themselves on the sidelines bleating plaintively about violations of the separation of powers. They thought they found an instrument of resistance in funding for the Department of Homeland Security. The House has funded the whole department except for the immigration service, which was denied the money to implement Obama’s executive amnesty.

But Democrats have filibustered the bill in the Senate, where it will die. And as the night follows day, Republicans, not the filibustering Democrats,will be blamed for shutting down DHS and jeopardizing the nation’s safety at a time of heightened international terrorism.

A nice cul-de-sac. But there is a way out for the GOP. Go bold. Go nuclear. Abolish the filibuster. Pass the bill and send it to the president.

In short, end the filibuster “because reasons.” Those reasons being “otherwise our stuff will get filibustered.” This is in stark contrast to the GOP’s cries of “foul” when some Democrats were floating the idea of getting rid of the Senate rule over the last couple years.

What were Republicans saying back then? Well they were desperately trying to make sure that the Democrats didn’t vote the filibuster out of exist and start ramming legislation down their elephantine trunks until they choked. Back then the GOP had blocked a record 82 judicial nominees via filibuster. It was an integral part of staying relevant and asserting power.

Now though, now it’s a bridge too far that Democrats can do the exact same thing to the Republican majority and it’s barely taken any time at all for them to start coming around to it.

For the record, Chuckie K is right about getting rid of the filibuster but for all the wrong reasons. He seems to think it will embolden his party and make them powerful and popular. Well, it will make them powerful but, given recent trends, they’d likely soon be drunk on power and overturning abortion rights and enforcing prayer in schools. Then they’d get voted out for their trouble and see abortion rights reinstated and mandatory prayer suddenly gone from schools.

So, go ahead, GOP. Get rid of this archaic and annoying congressional rule that’s plaguing our modern era of governance. Make it so no one can hide behind it anymore and has to actually engage with those across the aisle or face reprisals both immediate and wide ranging come the next election.

But the filibuster really is killing us so let’s get this done and see if the bastards start getting voted out.