Great post ACE. I can still recall when I was in high school and a teacher told us that the filibuster was necessary to prevent the majority from runniing roughshod over the minority. This helps put that Liberal falsehood into perspcetive.

Wow... "sharpening a bowie knife"... that's hardcore!

Man, I hope I'm somehow related to that guy.

Geez, remember the days when you could take a bowie knife into the House of Representatives and brandish it in a threatening manner at your colleagues?

Me neither.
Pretty nifty little bit of history.

Great post. I liked history and doubled history and Engineering degrees as an undergrad, but I either never read that story or blew past it because it was Unlikely to be On the Exam......

It makes me wonder if it is time to end the Seante Filabuster all together. As certain Asian & European nations are showing they can make national decisions as fast as some corporations do - we are in a fast-moving world with an 18th Century Senate capable of blocking meaningful change, moving at it's own pace. We have real problems that don't get debated let alone adressed because politicians understand certain issues are blocked...but maybe in another 4 years or decade they could be at least discussed.

Another bitch is the Filabuster introduces the "compromise" where Republicans get all the programs and pork for favored constituents as long as the Democrats get the same. Which as long as they can borrow and Bush could care less as long as the evildoers are fought and the tax cuts for the wealthy continue.....means ballooning deficits and being more in hock to China, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, and Japan..........