The Pendragon's Hall

Having what's known as a life, I rarely watch C-SPAN but I ended up doing it the other day as it was a choice between that or "Leave It To Beaver" reruns. What can I say? TV just ain't what it used to be. At any rate, I found myself watching (with such fascination that I actually woke myself up several times) a debate between Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-T.N.) and Minority Leader Harry "He-Sure-Ain't-Daschle" Reid (D-N.V.) on the issue of the continuing Democratic filibuster of President Bush's judicial nominees. Dingy Harry decided that, lacking what's known as a commonsense argument, he'd tell stories, and forthwith launched into one of the most ridiculous anecdotes I've ever heard...and I've heard some doozies. Supposedly Thomas Jefferson asked George Washington what the purpose of the Senate was, something I've been wondering too, and Washington supposedly asked Jefferson why he poured his coffee into his saucer before drinking it. Jefferson replied he had done so to cool it down. "Just so," Washington replied grandly, "we pour legislation into the Senatorial saucer to cool it down." Yeah, yeah, about as much truth as the old cherry tree story. "This is precisely what the filibuster does," Dingy Harry proclaimed. On the contrary, Mr. Minority Leader, the filibuster heats up--you get all your liberal ideologues out there shouting and demonstrating until the Republicans, used to being the minority party for half a century, decide it's not worth the stress and cave in. This doesn't teach that "cooler heads will prevail" but that shouting and screaming gets its way in the end. If you're going to tell stories, at least try to tell ones that prove your point.