the uniform don't make you brave There is something interesting going on in US politics tonight. I think it's fascinating that in many democracies of the world, one of the tactics used by politicians is the the threat of non-stop talking. I'm not extremely well-versed in American political tactics, but I understand that it is used to avoid voting on a bill until the party pushing for it agrees to change it. The Americans call it a "filibuster" - and often it's merely the threat of filibuster that forces the other side to back down. Wikipedia offers this insight:

"Under Senate rules, debate generally need not be relevant to the topic under discussion, and there have been cases in which a Senator has undertaken part of a speech by reading from a telephone directory. Strom Thurmond set a record in 1957 by filibustering the Civil Rights Act of 1957 for 24 hours and 18 minutes.

Preparations for a filibuster can be very elaborate. Sometimes cots are brought into the hallways or cloakrooms for senators to sleep on. According to Newsweek, "They used to call it 'taking to the diaper,' a phrase that referred to the preparation undertaken by a prudent senator before an extended filibuster. Strom Thurmond visited a steam room before his filibuster in order to dehydrate himself so he could drink without urinating. An aide stood by in the cloakroom with a pail in case of emergency."

Jebus.

So tonight it is the Republican party that is embarking on prolonged "debate" in order to avoid voting on a bill already passed by the House of Representatives which outlines specific withdrawal deadlines for Iraq. Of course, Shrub doesn't want this to pass (he's not done spreading freedom or something), so his party is taking action on his behalf. It's 11:30 pm and I'm watching the CSPAN live stream - yep, they're still talking. Fuuug.  | ¶ 11:32 p.m.