Marathon Filibusters a Thing of the Past

[Kerrytravelers]

(my commentary)
Not actually waiting for it to happen, Yahoo places this AP article on it's front page. Basically, it's a look-back at the fillabuster used by Democrats in the past (and Alphose D'Matto) without emphasising WHY we have the fillabuster- to override the tyrrany of the majority party.


<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050516/ap_on_go_co/no_more_mr_smiths>

Marathon Filibusters a Thing of the Past

By DONNA CASSATA, Associated Press Writer
Mon May 16, 6:22 PM ET


WASHINGTON - It was a Senate filibuster that did justice to all the celluloid versions and spirited talkathons of bygone years. New York Sen. Alfonse D'Amato chattered, crooned "South of the Border," answered questions from a visiting colleague around 3 a.m., recited names and controlled all Senate business for 15 hours, 14 minutes.

The issue was parochial for the Republican just weeks before a tough re-election contest in a Democratic-leaning state — the fate of a small typewriter company in Cortland, N.Y.

<snip>

Some filibusters have been driven by matters that divide a nation, such as civil rights, while others represent a single enraged lawmaker. In 1981, Sen. William Proxmire, D-Wis., was furious with the rising national debt ceiling, and spoke for 16 hours, 12 minutes.

D'Amato's filibusters had more to do with constituents and politics. In 1986, D'Amato set the record for the second-longest filibuster — 23 hours, 30 minutes. At issue was an amendment to a defense bill that would have stopped funds for a jet trainer plane built by a Farmingdale, N.Y. company. The talkathon came just weeks shy of a re-election contest for the man who once had the moniker "Senator Pothole."






I guess this is passing for reporting on the historical use of the fillabuster and why it is important to American democracy.