Quit Blaming the Democrats

Again, there seems to be much angst among the blogosphere and liberal talk radio against the Democrats on capital hill for the Senate's failure to pass measures pushing back against the President's failed policies. This week alone, the Senate failed to pass a bill rescinding the abolishing of Habeus Corpus for so-called "enemy combatants," failed to pass the Jim Webb amendment that would have mandated more leave time for our soldiers, and failed to pass a measure mandating a time-line for troop withdrawal in Iraq. Much of the chatter amongst liberals is that these failures are but a growing symptom of Democrat's unwillingness to actually do something about Bush's executive power-grab.

It's time for a little civic's lesson here, folks. In the Senate, no bill may be brought to the floor for an "up or down" majority vote until debate is closed. It takes 60 votes to close debate. The vote to close debate is called a "cloture vote." The Democrats have 50 members in the Senate, plus an independent, who used to call himself a Democrat and who caucuses with the Democrats, but who usually votes with the Republicans.

O.K., repeat after me: we don't have the votes in the Senate to close debate.

Once again, a little differently: the Senate Democrats can't get past a cloture vote. The Republicans are free to obstruct anything they want. Yes, the same Republicans who, not too long ago, threatened the "nuclear option" of scrapping Senate rules that today allow them to hang on to a thread of seeming power. The Democrats can't pass any bill unless at least nine Republicans go along with it, and that's assuming Joe Lieberman would actually toe the line.

Quit blaming the Democrats for not stopping the occupation (I refuse to call Bush's Folly a "war" any longer). If anything, blame yourselves for allowing so many Republicans to remain in their senate posts for so long. And pray that nine more Republicans are thrown from their Senate seats in 2008, so Democrats can affect some real change, regardless of who holds the White House.