{"id":17125,"date":"2010-04-15T12:01:17","date_gmt":"2010-04-15T18:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/04\/15\/unblogged-bits-for-thu-15-apr-2010-201pm.html"},"modified":"2010-04-15T12:01:17","modified_gmt":"2010-04-15T18:01:17","slug":"unblogged-bits-for-thu-15-apr-2010-201pm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/04\/15\/unblogged-bits-for-thu-15-apr-2010-201pm.html","title":{"rendered":"Unblogged Bits for Thu, 15 Apr 2010, 2:01PM"},"content":{"rendered":"
Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries …. <\/p>\n
    \n
  1. Can the filibuster be fixed?<\/a> – The fundamental problem is that trying to protect majority rule and minority rights in a democracy assumes a certain degree of decorum and willingness to make the system work. The use of the filibuster by the GOP this Congress has proven that assumption, but seemingly the only way to resolve it will likely make it easier for the GOP, at such time as they retake the Senate majority, to overbear any minority resistance (assuming the Dems ever had the balls to try to block them).<\/li>\n
  2. Another doctor puts politics ahead of patients<\/a> – I’d like to hear more about the medical professionals who “have actually committed suicide” over the stress caused by the ACA. Really.<\/li>\n
  3. Why Nebraska’s new abortion limits matter: Steve Benen<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Mitch McConnell’s lie is off to a rough start<\/a> – Money graf (sadly): “Mitch McConnell is lying. He knows he’s lying, as does anyone with even a passing familiarity with the issue. But as we know, the lie doesn’t have to make sense; it doesn’t have to withstand scrutiny; it doesn’t even have to be persuasive. It just has to be repeated, endorsed by conservative media, embraced by right-wing activists whose ignorance is easily exploited, and folded into the ‘debate’ for the American mainstream.”<\/li>\n
  5. AFA’s Fischer: Gays Are Biased, Sexually Deviant Felons And Can Never Serve On the Supreme Court<\/a> – Money graf: “Imagine, just for a moment, what the response from the Religious Right would be if we replaced every use of the word ‘homosexual’ in this piece with the word ‘Christian’ in opposing a Republican SCOTUS nominee.”<\/li>\n
  6. Pebble as Metaphor for Directory<\/a> – Certainly a nice rebranding of buggy whips …<\/li>\n
  7. Cutting libraries in a recession…<\/a><\/li>\n
  8. Vatican Issues Useless Abuse Procedures : Dispatches from the Culture Wars<\/a> – When you are used to being the arbiter of Guilt and Innocence, I suppose it’s difficult to give up the role.<\/li>\n
  9. Patrick Henry and the Tea Parties [Dispatches from the Culture Wars]<\/a> – I suspect Henry would be a Tea Partier — he was a firebrand in the Revolution, and an avid defender of the rights of the states (particularly his own) — to the point that, as one of the most avid anti-federalists, he opposed passage of the Constitution. Hmmmm … not sure there aren’t some mixed messages there. (He also engaged in dancing around assassination rhetoric — read the full context of his “if this be treason” statement.)<\/li>\n
  10. Neurotoxic soyburgers story came from pro-meat\/anti-vegetarian group<\/a> – Which doesn’t mean it isn’t true, or that, if true, it isn’t meaningful.<\/li>\n
  11. Space Weather: big solar prominence, blow to Earth’s magnetic field tomorrow<\/a> – Just in time to zorch everyone in the US trying to eFile their tax returns, no doubt …<\/li>\n
  12. The Threat – SMBC April 15, 2010<\/a> – “But that trick never works!”<\/li>\n
  13. Congress outlaws all Caller ID spoofing (VoIP too)<\/a> – Excellent. This seems like a fine idea.<\/li>\n
  14. Toyota Stops Selling Lexus SUV After Consumer Reports Says “Don’t Buy”<\/a> – I’ll note that the whole idea of a Luxury SUV is more than a bit appalling at best, but CR singling out the Lexus for safety issues AND Toyota taking the unprecedented step of taking those issues seriously is certainly worth noting. Most car manufacturers that get downchecked by CR either pooh-pooh the findings or threaten to sue; Toyota, at this point, can afford to do neither.<\/li>\n
  15. A golden state; Phantom Falls in the North Table Mountain Reserve, California<\/a> – That’s like five kinds of pretty.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries …. Can the filibuster be fixed? – The fundamental problem is that trying to protect majority rule and minority rights in a democracy assumes a certain degree of decorum and willingness to make the system work. The use of the … Continue reading “Unblogged Bits for Thu, 15 Apr 2010, 2:01PM”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-potpourri"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":128300,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/10\/13\/senate-majority-considers-weakening-the-minority-filibuster-again.html","url_meta":{"origin":17125,"position":0},"title":"Senate Majority considers weakening the Minority filibuster (again)","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 13-Oct-15 7:30pm","format":false,"excerpt":"So all those GOP Senators who were so adamant that the filibuster was the critical tool to maintain civility, order, and to prevent radical law-passage by a tyrannical majority -- back when they were the minority in the Senate -- are now beginning to wonder if they should chip away\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39782,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/11\/22\/going-nuclear-in-the-senate.html","url_meta":{"origin":17125,"position":1},"title":"Going Nuclear in the Senate","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 22-Nov-13 2:34pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Gee, remember back when the GOP had the majority in the Senate, and they were peeved that some of Dubya's nominees were being filibustered by the Dems, and they called the Nuclear Option the only way to preserve American democracy? \u00a0Fortunately, someone does, as attached. (Limbaugh's neck-snapping pivot from 2004\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31307,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/11\/10\/a-world-without-filibuster.html","url_meta":{"origin":17125,"position":2},"title":"A World without Filibuster","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 10-Nov-12 2:09pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A look at some recent Senate actions that would have passed without the GOP refusing a cloture vote. Of course, it's possible some of these might not have passed if the Senate Dems hadn't known they would be blocked, but still... Embedded Link 13 things that would have passed the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31521,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/11\/27\/reforming-the-senate-filibuster.html","url_meta":{"origin":17125,"position":3},"title":"Reforming the Senate Filibuster","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 27-Nov-12 9:36am","format":false,"excerpt":"People still tend to think of the filibuster in the Senate as Jimmy Stewart pulling an all-nighter talk-a-thon to desperately block something he felt, in his heart, was wrong.Today, it's a mere procedural move, far too easy to invoke. One can see that in the GOP minority's abuse of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133932,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/07\/21\/the-senate-parliamentarian-says-the-senate-gop-health-bill-needs-60-votes-not-50.html","url_meta":{"origin":17125,"position":4},"title":"The Senate Parliamentarian says the Senate GOP health bill needs 60 votes, not 50","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 21-Jul-17 6:12pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The Senate has an elaborate interlocking set of rules that dictate how and in what ways it conducts business and passes bills. For most legislation, for example, the Senate must vote to close debate on the bill. These cloture votes require a super-majority of the Senate -- 60 votes [1].\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11335,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/09\/19\/voting_rights_redux.html","url_meta":{"origin":17125,"position":5},"title":"Voting Rights Redux","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 19-Sep-07 2:20pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The Senate GOP minority blocked (through filibuster threat) a move to give District of Columbia residents congressional representation through some crazy-ass arrangement splitting the representation with Utah (the idea being...","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17125\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}