My post today is short, but very important.

It is easy to find clips of Democrats railing about the GOP’s threat to use the “nuclear option“. In 2005, Sen Biden called it the “arrogance of power“. This clip of Senator Obama highlights the hypocrisy of those who did this.

I have written in the past about the dangers of the nuclear option, and I take back not a word of what I have written. Today, the US Senate leadership took that option. They pushed through a measure that changes Senate rules to eviscerate the filibuster. This is a very bad development. As Senator Obama said, it is “ends justifies the means” at its worst. It is impatience trumping process and good judgement. We will all regret it.

The filibuster is a vital mechanism to protect the minority from the will of the majority. The core of our constitution is to allow self government while carefully protecting against the tyranny of the majority.

Our founders gave us a Rule of Law, and a constitution with checks and balances that made it very difficult to pass laws. The reason was that they believed that only those laws that enjoyed broad, long-lasting public support were valid. Fashion, passion, and simple majorities should never be able to impose their will on others.

Our founders gave us gridlock, because gridlock protects the minority from the majority. A key part of that gridlock is the filibuster in the US Senate.

This action by the US Senate strikes at the heart of our constitution. It must be vigorously opposed.