Debate it like you've got a pair

Being in DC for 3 weeks has given me sort of an inside look at the workings of the city. And there's one thing about it that's really been bothering me. There seems to be a 10 foot thick level or proverbial bullshit covering the entire city. People here just seem so superficial and pretentious that there's no dealing with actual people, there's just dealing with their invented facades. And I don't deal well with that. I'm no good at bullshitting.

As you might imagine, there's a ton of that going on in politics. As much as the political dialogue in this country has deteriorated over the last few years, there's still far too much feigned niceties going around, in my opinion, and I'm getting sick of it.

Don't get me wrong...I'm not saying we need to start having blatant partisan division and ad hominem attacks. There are some democrats that I actually like that aren’t wild-eyed partisans...such as Joe Lieberman. Likewise, there are some republicans that piss me off for various reasons...like John McCain, George Voinovich, and increasingly, Bill Frist (sorry Amanda...he just creeps me out sometimes).

However, I’m not a fan of all this being nice to the point that nothing gets done. Sometimes, people are just bitter and obstructionist (like Ted Kennedy and Harry Reid) and we just let them get away with it. And that’s stupid.

Like I’ve said before, I’m a political purist. I don’t mind playing a little hardball every now and then. For example, the filibuster thing with the judges and the John Bolton UN nomination. I’ve got no problem with the Democrats wanting to filibuster. That’s they’re right as the minority party. What pisses me off is that they never actually filibuster.

They just tell the Republicans that they’re going to filibuster if they try to vote on those things, and the Republicans are just like ‘Oh, ok. We won’t try to vote on them, then.’ So lame. If Democrats want to filibuster, I say let them filibuster. But make them actually do it. Make them take the senate floor and talk for 24 hours straight, or however long they want. Get the cots out, and stay in the senate chamber for a few days. Have a slumber party.

If a senator can beat another senator to death on the senate floor with a cane, I think we can stand to have a little filibustering. It would certainly be a lot more interesting than this sanitized, kid glove stuff we’ve been seeing lately. What a bunch of sissies.

(Ironically, the guy beaten to death was an anti-slavery Republican...and he was beaten to death by a pro-slavery Democrat. Go figure.)