Go, Russ, Go!

Of course, you would have heard already from blogs that are more on top of things than mine (or even, *gasp*, the mainstream media) that the motion for clouture did not pass in the senate. "Um...is that good or bad for us" I wondered. "Good, I think", Gene replied. "But what the hell does 'clouture' mean?" I asked. Such is the understanding of Senate procedures here chez Battlepanda. (By the way, I looked it up, so no need to enlighten me in the comments unless you really want to rub it in.)

There's a whole mess of posts from Russ "the buss" Feingold (D-WI) himself at TPM Cafe. And Jonathan Zasloff (blogging at Kleimans) outlines the correct political angle of attack on this:

Bill Frist, always one to take the high road, accused opponents of being soft on terrorism, and refused to consider a short-term extension until differences can be worked out. John Kyl warned that opponents of permanent reauthorization will face political consequences come next November.

It's pretty obvious what the GOP strategy is. It's just as obvious what the response should be.

Every day, Democrats should bring to the Senate floor a proposal for a three-month extension, and let the Republicans vote no. When Alito's hearings start, Deomcrats on the Judiciary Committee should refuse to move ahead and halt the proceedings in order to deal with "security issues surrounding the Patriot Act"--and once again, let the Republicans move NOT to consider it.

Let them vote no on an extension over and over again. Then hammer them with it.