08-29-2009, 10:35 AM
Quote:For me it smacks of a capricious abuse of the system to maintain power, and not just for Massachusetts, but for implementing a filibuster proof majority in the Federal Senate. Even though there are perhaps 15% of the citizens of the State registered as Republicans, even the remote chance of losing total power by democratic means motivates the tyrannical to seize the power from the whimsy of mere citizens.Stripped of your flowery pseudo-populism and anti-state mindset, I actually agree with you here. Changing the rules to meet circumstance is not something that is necessary or desirable in this case.
Not, of course, that the filibuster-proof majority is some kind of aberration. No matter how much you might not like it, the "whimsy" of "mere citizens" elected a large democratic majority last election. That their governance hinges on having not just a majority, but a 60 seat supermajority, shows just how bitter and petty the congress has gotten. It's why you're seeing both parties trying to pull tricks like this - if they can't work together, they're going to work the system.
But it's nothing new. It's just underhanded.
-Jester