The world will little note nor long remember… the other Gettysburg address.

On everything from ancient Greece and the Pilgrims to the honored dead, Edward Everett rambled for two hours – all without notes.  In a diary entry, he later noted that the President expressed his gratitude.  Honest Abe then ascended the podium to deliver his concisely crafted, three-minute, Four Score and Seven Address.

To rescript “The Man With No Name” …every voice makes its own sound.  And though the First Amendment guarantees every man the right to shoot off his mouth, there is no right to be heard.  The filibuster was originally intended to allow Mr. Smith to “blow hot or cold” uninterrupted because he had something to say.  But today, the time-honored time-waster is about nothing but delay – no one pays attention, no one hears, and no one listens.

…or rather, obstruction.  No one actually filibusters anymore.  They just threaten to filibuster, requiring every vote to vault some arbitrary bar to bust-up some non-existent gabfest.

The Founders never intended for Advise and Consent to be shut down by a few antagonists.  But (as they claim) to protect the interests of the political minority, the victorious must submit to the whim of the defeated.  The filibuster is now a political participation trophy.

The true defender of minority opinion is the US Constitution.  And despite some ill-advised tinkering of the Authorized Version, The World’s Most unDeliberative Body remains as undemocratic as ever.  A majority of minor states can still outvote the few, the proud, the double-stuffed.

One Constitutional point further: Article V prohibits the democratization of the Senate, insisting on the “equal suffrage” of states… not counting every vote of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

“A fool’s voice is known by a multitude of words.”  King Solomon

When you hafta vote, vote.  Don’t talk.

President George
King George referred to President George as “the greatest character of his age.”

Monumental Robert E. Lee
One does not have to like the man to respect the man, or at least respect the men who do.