That should say deeply undemocratic.

Bill, But the filibuster itself is deeply unpatirotic and has been wielded as a tool of reaction in deeply non-trivial ways. It has thwarted -- for either a time or permanently -- some rather important things. It is, itself, taking on the shape of an extra-constitutional amendment to the manner in which the Senate operates. If the founders envisioned an institution that required a super-majority, they would have put it in the Constitution. They did not do so for a reason. Filling judicial vacancies is incredibly important work and shapes the character of the bench for a generation at a time. The Republicans are playing games because they do not want the Dems to have the same chance to influence the make up of the courts that they enjoyed and pushed to great partisan advantage. I say let's get rid of the whole thing and return to a constitutionally envisioned Senate.

Bill, I think that the filibuster has largely been a tool of extemism -- specifically right wing extremism. It has been used to thwart anti-lynching measures, civil rights and voting rights laws, labor law reform in 1978, right to work repeal in 1964, and was a signifcant reason why the ACA is as flawed as it is. Had Obama only needed 51 votes in the Senate, the health care reform measure could have been considerably better in many respects.

Bill and oddjob, I love the architecture in Philadelphia. It runs the gamut and is a bit more interesting than DC, which though attractive in many respects is somewhat limited due to the height restrictions. It creates a sometimes dull effect visually to have blocks of buildings at identical heights. City Hall here is quite cool. Philadelphia is physically so much bigger than Boston, which is incredibly compact, and DC. My client is within the city limits, but a good 13 miles from the train station. In Boston you would be a couple of towns over. It's a great resturant town too. Lex, Thanks for the kind thoughts. To all, I am absolutely thrilled that Harry Reid pulled the trigger on the filibuster issue. It's been a long damn time coming.

That would be "weakest." Jesus.

nancy, Typepad is clearly an enemy of the people. It's betrayed me at a couple of my weekest moments. I have a new Stanley photograph that I have to upload. It's a thing of beauty. We had a friend who is a professional photographer take some family photos. Only Stanley emerged with his dignity intact. I have actually had trouble with typepad in terms of uploading video and photos recently -- indeed was thwarted last night trying to post a youtube video, which left me scratching my head. As I write this, I am on a 7:00 AM train heading to Philadelphia, which is a nearly weekly event these days. I love the train, but the leaving the house at 6:15 gets a little old. Great client though. I love these guys. And Philly's a trip -- so old school.

Hey guys. The blogosphere isn't dead -- it just smells funny. I think Typepad is doing its bit to singlehandedly kill at least this small bit of the lefty blogosphere. Christ, it's brutal. I did not list it as one of the reasons for my lack of posting, but it killed a couple of my posts -- not to mention comments -- at the point where I could least afford it. On a serious note, I think that there is a little bit of a difficult moment for the lefty blogosphere. It is a movement that has institutionalized itself to an amazing degree -- but it can't quite figure out what its identity is and what its next move is. Actually, that implies a unity that doesn't really exist -- each of the big blogs has its own unique position I think. Kos remains a behemouth, Eschaton seems insular, albeit funny and bitter still, but without anything much new to say, FDL -- well I really don't know, because I don't bother, Amanda seems to have moved on, Ezra's gone pro, Yglesias has gone full on Slate. I'm not sure where it all leaves us.

Corvus! Paula, That Tumulty line is very funny.

Hey guys. I am still alive. Sorry for the complete absence. As noted in the new post, politics has just been depressing the hell out of me and the rest of life has been rather busy.

Eric, I honestly don't think it's money. I think ideology is far more powerful than money on this question. People are nuts about their guns. Yeah, the manufacturers play this to the hilt and the NRA fills its coffers with it, but the people who go out and vote for this madness really are driven by their fanatical attachment to fire arms.

Bill, That's a pretty good trio of events. I am not sure I envy you being at that Packers game. It is one of my first sports memories and really an epic contest. But somehow I think watching on TV might have been the preferable venue.

Amen. What a putz.

Gene, There was another real estate bubble in the 1980s (remember the S&L crisis) that claimed a fair number of victims as well. We saw it in DC -- my wife and I bought a place at the peak of the market in 1989 and sold in 1997 for what was in reality -- when factory what we put into the place -- probably a 15 - 20% loss. We were hardly the only ones. (We had the good fortune to then buy a place that has appreciated a great deal -- but we have also held it for nearly 16 years.) The house flipping mania of the aughts was of a greater magnitude though. And the exotic mortgage instruments, coupled with the tremendous use of leverage, and the securitization of loans, made it a vastly more damaging event than the 80s-90s version.

americangypsy, I recall walking out into the yard of a masonry company during a break in negotiations and trying to pick up a twelve inch split faced with one hand and failing embarrassingly -- it weighed about 65 pounds and was rough as crap. Naturally one of my clients succeeded at the task. I am reasonably strong -- for a 53 year old lawyer -- but I am afraid that I have what would be derisively known as gym muscles. And soft hands. I would have a tough time out there -- but 1) I know that -- and respect the work-- and 2) I am pretty sure I would outlast young Matthews.