Democrats recently voted to shut down the filibuster in the Senate by a simple majority rather than require sixty votes. The final straw came when Republicans refused to allow a vote on all of Obama’s nominations for the U.S. Court of Appeals, a breeding ground for Supreme Court justices, which currently has four conservative and four liberal members. (Legislation and Supreme Court nominations still require sixty votes to end a filibuster.)

But that’s not the only reason. Republicans have been using the filibuster on just about everything the president tries to do. Here are some statistics according to MOTHER JONES magazine, pertaining to eras when one party controlled the Senate and the presidency. Under Lyndon Johnson 17 motions were filed to end a filibuster; under Jimmy Carter 53; under Reagan 113; under Clinton 80; under George W. Bush 130; so far in Obama’s fifth year, there have been 307 and rising.

Obama has had a hard time appointing federal judges, period. Republican wrath over the nuclear option is especially hypocritical when you consider Alberto Gonzales, the Bush attorney general who tried to corner the market on federal prosecutors for conservatives by refusing to consider qualified democratic candidates.

Americans in general don’t pay much attention to the news, especially political news. They think both sides are guilty of playing politics, but when a major political party comes out with the mantra “Just say no”, that’s obstructionism. Americans have to learn that word; the above statistics on the filibuster prove it’s happening. The democrats didn’t use the filibuster when George W. Bush decided to go to war against Iraq; they assumed he knew what he was doing when he sent General Powell to give a speech to the United Nations, claiming Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Actually most democrats acted in a cowardly manner as they felt it would affect reelection possibilities, but I wonder whether the GOP would’ve done the same thing. The Tea Party was all ready to renege on our debts, which would have plunged our economy into another recession and lowered our credit rating, which would have made borrowing money more expensive. As is, the government shut down cost the government 24 billion dollars. Of course the national media, which is beginning to resemble Sarah Palin’s “Lame stream media” blamed it on both parties. Is there a Tea Party in the Democratic Party? There are Blue Dogs who got elected opposing gun control and abortion, but they don’t rant about the Constitution and Freedom. The Tea Party acts like the Big Brother in George Orwell’s 1984.

Black is white; good is bad; dumb is smart. They actually claim that the First Amendment meant Christianity was the national religion. The Founding Fathers weren’t that far removed from The Salem Witch Trials, which occurred in 1694. Puritan judges put men and women, mostly women, to death because some young girls, who later recanted, claimed they were witches. England was also a great model for what happens when religion and politics become entwined. Henry VIII founded his own religion, Anglicanism, and declared it the national religion. Eventually a civil war ensued with Charles I losing his head and Oliver Cromwell becoming dictator for life (When he died, his son proved incompetent, and the monarch, Charles II, became king. A law was passed in Parliament making Catholics ineligible for the throne. No way did the Founding Fathers intend for Christianity to be a national religion. They believed in separation of church and state, and that’s what the First Amendment says. Many of them were actually Deists; at least Franklin and Jefferson were.

Here it is December already and Congress still hasn’t passed a Farm Bill. It’s all about SNAP, the amount of money Congress will invest in food stamps. You know, for a political party that says it cares so much about values and religion, they sure don’t know much about them. The Bible is pretty clear about picking on poor people. “Whatsoever you do unto the least of my brothers, so you do unto me.” Then there’s the eighty percent issue. Republicans would have you believe that Obama is responsible for the whole 16 trillion dollars of our national debt (I’m only exaggerating a little bit). In reality, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush were responsible for eighty percent prior to Obama’s term. Reagan alone siphoned four trillion into the military and got credit for destroying the U.S.S.R. Baloney; they destroyed themselves. Yes, Obama spent almost a trillion in stimulus money, which proved not to be enough. Europe didn’t spend near that much, and they’re actually bragging about a 0.2 improvement in their economies.

If that farm bill does not pass before New Year’s, the price of milk will double, and the GOP can forget about what a mess the Obamacare web site was. They’ll lose not only the Senate, but also the House, and some Republicans, those who need milk for their babies, will vote against them.

Dave Schwinghammer's unconventional mystery, SOLDIER'S GAP, is available on authorsden and at Amazon.com, new and used. Thank you.