has once again kicked into high gear. Now that a dozen Republicans are promising to filibuster gun control legislation that 92% of the country plainly wants, Harry is swearing he'll use his power as Majority Leader to restrict the filibuster. Poor man, he is actually under the delusion that anyone takes him seriously when he stamps his feet, makes his angry face and vows to rain down the mighty power of his sword if the recalcitrant senators in the other party don't get a grip and shape up.
Honestly Harry, has no one ever told you the story about the boy who cried wolf???? A threat of Armageddon when demands aren't met only carries weight if there is the remotest possibility that Armageddon will take place. The Republicans, and for that matter the Democrats, simply roll their eyes when you make these feeble attempts to show you're in charge. No one is frightened that you'll carry out your threats, after all, you've never done it before.
You had a chance at the beginning of this congressional session to remove the filibuster as a tool of obstruction from the hands of a Republican party hell-bent on stopping any nominee, legislation or senate business that the President and senate Democrats proposed. After weeks of watching you dither about what the new filibuster reform would entail, to absolutely no one's surprise, you came to a hand-shake deal with Mitch McConnell that left the filibuster rules almost completely unchanged. To add insult to injury, it was widely reported that McConnell and his fellow Republicans had a good laugh over it the very evening the "gentlemen's deal" was struck. Way to show them you mean business, Harry.
To be fair, Harry wasn't the only Democrat who was balking at drastic filibuster reform; old guard senators like Feinstein and Levin made it known that they weren't sold on a change that could come back and bite them in 2014 if the senate changes hands. The flaw in that reasoning should be obvious to a second grader. If and when the Republicans regain control of the senate, they will not hesitate to remove the filibuster in its entirety if it thwarts the Democrats, leaving the Democrats as impotent in the minority as they are in the majority. And, by the way Senator Feinstein, how is that reluctance to reform the filibuster working out for you and your attempt to reinstate the ban on assault weapons?
Whether its filibuster reform, gun control, protecting Social Security and Medicare, immigration reform or a whole host of other issues too numerous to mention, nobody is the least bit intimidated when Harry Reid draws a line in the sand or threatens acts of retaliation. Here's a tip Harry: if you want people to be afraid when you say you'll take action, you have to demonstrate that you're willing to take action of which they should be very afraid.