This Dawn Johnsen business is appalling, and it seems rather tactically unsound to me. Filibustering everything in sight is only going to make reform a more attractive option for the majority, and using it in such a partisan manner is going to ensure that even Blue Dogs will eventually be forced to turn against it. It's a dumb move, but Mitch McConnell is hardly one of the best political minds of his generation. Let Obama get the team he wants, barring real improprieties, I say.
I don't mind preserving the idea of the filibuster, but it can't work as it is working. It seems to me that the best path toward reform is to put a clock on filibusters--sort of like a suspensive veto. If a large enough minority of senators objects to a bill or nominee, they can filibuster it for a while--let's say three months. During that time, they can try to persuade other legislators, influence public opinion, or work toward a compromise. Three months later, if a majority of senators still supports the bill, they get to vote on it and it becomes law.
I'd be willing to tinker with the time limit, but I do think that some sort of bypass like this needs to take place. The status quo isn't particularly fair or democratic, and the reason it is the status quo is because the Senate dons--McConnell and Cornyn--are interested only in their own power and prerogatives. But I think they've overplayed their hand, and something is going to have to give, if not now, then later.
