Time to stand up and be counted.
WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats refused to flinch Tuesday as the chamber moved toward a rare, all-night session of debate on legislation to bring troops home this fall.
They called for sleeping cots to be rolled into a room off the Senate floor and told members to prepare for repeated votes throughout the evening. Senators even left open the possibility of dispatching the sergeant at arms to summon colleagues from their homes to the floor if lawmakers ignored the debate...
...The goal of the planned marathon debate was to test the patience of Republicans, who have threatened to filibuster the bill. So far, the GOP leadership has been successful at blocking anti-war legislation because Democrats don't have the 60 votes to cut off what would become an endless debate on the war.
After months of threatened filibuster, Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said it was "time for a taste of the real thing."
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has a counter-proposal: let's don't debate; let's just require 60 "yea" votes on any Iraq bill. Yeah, Mitch, that's a great idea. If your goal is to protect the Dear Leader from the reality that the American people and, finally, a majority in the Senate, want to begin bringing our troops home.
Or if your goal is to provide political cover for your fellow party members, who don't want the public looking too closely at their support for Bush's failed Iraq policy.
H/T, Joe at Americablog. Cross-posted at Birmingham Blues.
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