When Filibusters Were Evil

No surprise---it was when Democrats were in the Senate majority, as Bob Novak recalls:

Usually, however, liberals were aligned against the filibuster, the bulwark preventing civil rights legislation until 1957. During Clinton's presidency, Senate Democratic leader Thomas Daschle and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy repeatedly demanded up-or-down majority votes on judicial nominations. Once Bush was elected, they crafted a filibuster strategy to block judicial nominees.

Through my reporting career on Capitol Hill, filibuster advocates did not utter the dreaded f-word (with Southern segregationists referring to it as ''extended debate''). ''Filibuster'' was talked about by foes, such as Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy on June 18, 1998: ''I have stated over and over again on this floor that I would . . . object and fight against any filibuster on a judge.''

Liberals now praise the filibuster by name. Leahy, the Judiciary Committee's ranking Democrat, on April 6 declared: ''Eliminating the filibuster by the nuclear option would violate and destroy the Constitution's design of the Senate as an effective check on the executive.''

Frist reiterated Tuesday that his plans refer only to nominations: ''I will not act in any way to impact the rights of colleagues when it comes to legislation.'' Robert Byrd observed no such boundaries when he was majority leader.

How times change when one's party can't cheat effectively enough to win elections anymore.