Exhibit B why politics are ridiculous

Ted Kennedy's passing has suddenly shaken up the political landscape in the United States Senate. Where before the Democrats had the 60 senators (58 Dem and 2 Independents) required to avoid filibusters they now only have 59, unless they manage to sway a Republican, which is highly unlikely to happen.

So, in the days leading up to Kennedy's inevitable death, Democrats were pushing to have an interim senator appointed by Governor Deval Patrick. No big deal right?

Wrong.

For the 2004 election, John Kerry, also from Mass., was running for President. Democrats were faced with the prospects of losing a senate seat should he be elected. The governor at the time was Republican Mitt Romney. Back then it was up to the governor to appoint an interim senator and the Democrats changed the law to put the power in the hands of the people with a special election to be held within 5 months of the seat becoming vacant. That took the decision out of the Republicans hands.

So now fast forward and it looks like Democrats are now pushing to put the power back in the hands of the governor. Maybe they are trying to get sympathy from Kennedy's death. I don't know. Whatever the case may be it's garbage self-serving politics. That in itself shouldn't be surprising considering that no politician can become successful without having first sold his or her soul to the devil.

But I can only ask, why does it matter to the Dems that they have their 60 votes? To this point they have showed no indication that they are willing to use some muscle to get their way. So far the Obama administration has been an essay on how to appease the minority party at each and every turn. So why bother? They've already shown they have no spine by caving on the single payer health care, which could be the set piece of the whole administration when all is told. Would reclaiming vote # 60 help them regrow their cajones? I doubt it. Maybe they saw the gleam in Mitch "I wear a catheter at all times just in case i get an opportunity to filibuster" McConnell's eyes when he found out that the Democrats were soon to lose their protection. That dude can talk.