Elsewhere: Filibuster, More

I have a new column up at The New Republic: I argue that we mostly don't really know why Dick Lugar was defeated, but we do know that it will be interpreted as an ideological purge, not as a case of Lugar getting out of touch.

At Greg's place, it's an old favorite: repeal-and-replace, and how Republicans are finally admitting that they don't really mean it on the replace part. I titled it "Repeal-and-replace, RIP." but I suspect that was too optimistic; this one has zombie written all over it. (Inside look: Greg usually does the headlines for my posts over there, but sometimes I do; sometimes we hash them out together. At the other place at the Post, I suggest them, and they often take it, sometimes editing it. Columns, as you probably know, have headlines written by the editors, not me, and often not what I'd have put, but I've basically decided not to care about it).

And my Post Partisan post is about the filibuster: I call out Harry Reid for being far too passive, and urge him to threaten to go nuclear unless he can at least get votes on all the exec branch nominees and on district court judges. Yes, he can threaten it now. All this stuff about waiting to the beginning of a Congress is hogwash. It's not clear what the best procedure is to do it within a Congress by majority vote, but it's certainly possible.