Scott Brown or Why the Dems are Going to Hell in a Handbasket.

A Political Post:

So Massachusetts voted for a Republican. Surprising, but not like: Oh my god the world is ending, exciting. The Democratic candidate said she wasn't a Red Sox fan. She was doomed to lose.

But the problem that's exposed to me at least, by this is threefold, exposed by the reaction of the Democratic party to the loss as represented via the effort to reform health care. (By the way Scott Brown's position on this was disgusting. See here.):

1) Democracy in this country is no longer rule by majority. The Democrats have a bigger majority still than anyone has had in the Senate since the 70s, but they are worried they can't get their policies through. That's because rule in this country is now by the supermajority. That's a problem.

2) The Filibuster has become an abused tool in the Senate. Which is why you need a supermajority. In the 1960s, 11% of bills that came to the floor in the Senate were threatened to be filibustered. By the 1990s that had jumped to 80%. Now I think the Filibuster is probably a useful tool within our democracy, but politics has become so partisan and so win at all cost, that it actually prevents anyone from governing the country.

3) The agenda of the opposition is neither to present new or different ideas, but to obstruct the President's agenda. Thus making it impossible for the governing party to, well, govern.