Lileks - Da Man

James Lileks has perfected condensed, withering scorn on political stupidity so he has more time and column length to devote to the intricacies of shopping at Target. Which is fine by me, Target shopping has never seemed so fun. Anyhoo, here's a snippet on judicial filibusters:

The entire affair would have been over long ago if Senate Republicans had been less interested in cloakroom comity and more interested in ending this novel application of the venerable filibuster. But the Senate, as we are often told, is where the passions are sent to cool, congeal, dry out and crust over with a thick, furry coat of mold. Senators take pride in their role. And if you had that many servants, drivers, factotums and aides de camp scurrying after your Very Important Self, you'd be swollen with pride as well.

Hence, in the end, the GOP senators decided to represent some mythical idea of senatorial grandeur and collegiality -- as if the exercise of partisan advantage to do the right thing violated the founders' desire for sweetness and light and happy, chirpy bird song.

By all means read the rest.