The Real History of the Filibuster

So you thought that the filibuster was a 214-year tradition of the good old Senate now being threatened by evil theocratic Republicans? Not exactly.

Lee Harris traces its actual history, through the pre-civil war rantings of John Randolph, the pre-World War I anti-war speeches of Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr. and “the willful 11,” onto the segregationist filibusters of the 1940s and 1950s. In each case, the Senate rules were changed to de-fang the filibusters.

Still, the judicious Harris opines, one should be very reluctant to stiff-arm a vociferous minority. It leads to bad blood. The history of the filibuster shows that each talkathon crisis led from
confrontation to compromise. But what would be an acceptable compromise this time?