Filibusters gone wild

A very useful chart showing the really shocking number of times Republicans have killed action on legislation by threatening a filibuster. As Kevin Drum notes, a Republican is in the White House who can veto anything that escapes Capitol Hill, so unlike Dems before last November, the GOP has other ways to kill legislation they don't like. No, what they really want to do is kill really popular legislation quietly, because they know the press has no desire to tell their readers/viewers that Congress can't get anything done because Republicans won't permit it.

Thus, as a friend keeps reminding me, griping about obstructionism per se won't really get us very far. For the most part the public just tunes it out as "politics." It's a point worth making, but it has to be secondary to the main point: making sure the public knows what it is that Republicans are opposing. Unfortunately, I'm not really sure how to do that given the current state of the press in America. More funny YouTube videos?