Let's Bring Democracy to the US Senate

 Over the years, I have heard alleged experts on politics describe the United States Senate as "the greatest deliberative body on earth". Of course, these are many of the same folks who describe Joe Biden as being "sharp as a tack". When our founders wrote the Constitution, it is believed that they envisioned something like the Senate of Rome from the days of the Roman Empire. It is more likely that they were modeling it more after the House of Lords in Britain, since that was where most of the settlers in America had originated. 

More than 235 years after starting to operate, the "greatest deliberative body on earth" has devolved into a group that more closely resembles the British House of Commons without their level of civility or their National Health Service dental plan. It is well past time for a reset on the entire Congress, but today's topic is the US Senate. I will bash the House on another day.

We have a two-term limit on the President of the United States. We have the 25th Amendment which provides a path for a President who is not physically or mentally capable of performing his job to be removed. We have neither of those avenues available for members of the Senate. As of this writing, we have at least ten Senators who have served more than four complete terms. We have forty-six Senators who have served more than two terms. If two terms are the limit for the President, why not have two terms as the limit for the Senate? 

The Senate can expel members for various types of misconduct. The last time that a Senator was expelled was in 1862. In 1861-1862 they expelled 15 Senators because they represented Confederate States which were no longer in the Union. Let's just remove those from consideration. Prior to that only one man, William Blount had been expelled from the Senate. After being expelled, Blount went home to Tennessee where they named a county and other things after him. Oh, the humiliation!! Since 1862 they have tried to expel 18 Senators and expelled none. Six have resigned before their trial. There have been 2018 people serve in the United States Senate, and we have expelled only one. I just don't believe that we had only one person who was unfit to serve in the Senate. We need limits on how long people can keep that job. We need to give more voices a chance to be heard in the Senate.

Let's talk about that filibuster crap! We elect Senators by a simple majority of votes. If you get one more vote than your opponent, you're in. So why do we have to have 60 votes to do anything in the Senate? It appears that whether or not you favor the filibuster depends on the party in power and the party to which you belong. As a registered Republican, I favor eliminating the filibuster. The corollary to that is that I have never supported the filibuster.  

Right now, Republicans keep talking about what the Democrats would do if we eliminated the filibuster. When the Dims were in power, they said the same thing about Republicans and the filibuster. Here's a thought! Why don't we talk about what we could accomplish if we didn't have to deal with the filibuster? What could we do if we didn't have to accommodate that bastard Communist, Chuck Schumer? What great things are waiting to be legislated if not for the filibuster? It looks like we will never find out because there aren't fifty-one Senators with the courage/balls/backbone to regulate their own power.

 You can't help but notice that they don't have the filibuster in the House. In that body, reforms go to an endless number of committees to die a long and painful death. 

 Let's quit playing this bullshit government shutdown game. The future of the nation is tied up in this silly game that you are playing in the Senate. No one ever said that majority rule required a 60% majority for every bill to pass in the Senate. The Senate came up with this crap on their own. I am certain that the public has never had a vote on this.

They don't even have a real filibuster anymore. In a real filibuster, people have to be making speeches until they drop. Now, these pussy politicians just announce that they are having a filibuster. They need to get up and convince us why they are right. The way it is done now is just some form of oratorical masturbation. If you want a filibuster, we need a working man's filibuster again. I want to see some blowhard fighting to stay awake as he babbles incoherently. Senator Spartacus from New Jersey comes to mind on this. His performance was actually just a speech on policy as he wasn't trying to block a bill. He just wanted to share his Trump Derangement Syndrome symptoms with the nation. When filibusters end, a simple majority vote decides the issue. 

We are past the one-year mark of the Trump presidency, and the Senate has still not confirmed his nominees for various positions. This is how the party that lost the election tries to control the government. We need to end this crap now. The majority voted for Donald Trump. We voted for him to pick leaders, not for a minority in the Senate to keep the government from working. One day, the nation will collapse while the Senate waits on a "procedural vote".

It's way past time to end the "blue slip" thing on District Court Judge and US Attorney nominees in the Senate. For the will of the majority of the American voters to be thwarted by one or two United States Senators may be an even bigger affront to voters than the filibuster. We are told that the "blue slip" system is a "courtesy" to their colleagues. I am not the least bit interested in courtesy; I want the best damn judge or attorney. It reminds me of a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs who said, "I hire for diversity." Sorry pal, but I believe in hiring for competence. If our choices are competence or courtesy, competence should win every time. Call your Senator and tell them to break from cocktails long enough to end the "Blue Slip" bullshit. They are both "BS".

 The Congress passed a law that says that district judges can select a US Attorney if the Congress fails to approve a nominee within 120 days. This is so blatantly unconstitutional that I can't believe that it exists. Congress needs to end this now. A federal court will never rule this law unconstitutional because it gives them more power. If you can find a place in the Constitution where it says that federal district judges can appoint US Attorneys, contact me at once. The law is that Federal judges are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. I don't believe that there could be a bigger conflict of interest than allowing federal judges to choose US Attorneys. This is just another way to circumvent the Constitution and the will of the people.

If Ted Sorenson comes back from the dead to rewrite Profiles in Courage for JFK again, he won't find anybody in the US Senate worth mentioning. That's an updated insult based on the old shot about Diogenes wouldn't need to bother stopping in Washington DC looking for an honest man. Somebody would just steal his lamp or tax it.

These clowns in the Senate are governing by a bunch of rules that voters have not approved. I understand that Congress can make their own rules, but when those rules block the will of the electorate or violate the Constitution, those rules must go or Congress must go.

I will stop here as the veins in my forehead are bulging visibly and I sense my blood pressure pointing to stroke level. I will go shovel some snow and settle down.