A special thanks to Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

[Deep13]

He interrupted his personal grief and left his mother's funeral in Ohio to fly to Washington and cast the vote that broke the Republican filibuster. This was necessary because those Republican robot assholes would not shut up long enough to put the measure to a vote. Now, if I were a Republican Senator and a human being, I would switch my vote away from the filibuster just so Sherrod would not have to fly back to Washington during a time of personal grief. None of them had the decency to do that, of course.

I know Sherrod personally and know him and his wife to be good people who only want what is right. I don't always agree with him (though I usually do), but I always know that there is no malice in his heart.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear Deep13...

I join you in your special thanks to Sen. Sherrod Brown. What this must have cost him, we shall most likely never know.

He is a true patriot, and I honor and respect him for his actions here on our behalf.


K&R

:patriot:

[Laelth]

2. Hear, hear! n/t

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[aquart]

3. I don't know him, but I appreciate this.

I'll pay more attention to him in future.

[ilrslr3]

8. Amen! He has gotten my attention:-)

[Hippo_Tron]

4. It wouldn't even take a GOP crossover vote if they would just agree to suspend the rules

The senate can bypass more or less all procedural votes by asking for unanimous consent to do so. The Republicans know that there would be 60 votes if not for Brown's absence. The least they could do would be to allow a motion to suspend the rules and proceed to the actual vote.

[barbtries]

6. just more evidence

of what pigs they are. they really are.ugh.

[tbyg52]

16. It's really disgusting. They are just getting worse and worse. nt

[Enthusiast]

5. Rec! Thank you Senator Brown! nt

[Honeycombe8]

7. A special hug for Brown.

:pals:

(I'm pretty sure that he got a kick out of the drama, too. I mean, that was pretty dramatic, and he was at the center of it. You couldn't written a better passage of a bill than that.)

[Berry Cool]

19. How much of a kick can you get out of anything when you loved your mother and she's dead?

He nursed her for a long time himself, too. Flew back and forth constantly to do it. While part of him may be relieved her suffering is over, the rest of him must just be sad. I doubt he saw himself as the center of an exciting drama. Probably rather just have his mom back. And if not that, it might have been nice if his vote hadn't been needed so he wouldn't have had to come back and vote.

[Honeycombe8]

21. People can have two thoughts in their head at same time. Plus, sounds like he had

time to prepare for his mother's death.

My mother passed away years ago. A person can be very sad about a mother passing, and still experience other things going on around him, and appreciate drama and irony.

As an adult, when a parent passes (which is expected, of course...that one's parent will pass before you do), you are better able to handle it than when something unexpected, like a car accident, kills a family member while they are young, or when a child passes, which is totally unexpected.

I'm sure he appreciated the drama. After all, he made the trip back to vote, and then is going back for the funeral today. He apparently can do his job and grieve simultaneously, like I did.

[cherish44]

9. I'd love to see this reported more in the MSM

If the rule could have been changed so that Brown didn't have to leave his family at a time of grief and the GOP didn't allow it because they were being stubborn jackasses, well I think someone BIG needs to call them out. Keith O. "Worst Person in the World" is a 38-way tie for Monday's show.

[rosesaylavee]

10. He is a good human being

And I thank him for his sacrifice.

[treestar]

11. Seconded

Republics never do a decent thing; they only see that they might have used his mother's death to their advantage. That is all they ever care about.

[femmocrat]

12. Thank you for posting this.

Not ONE rotten republican --- not even Voinovich --- could change their vote so Brown wouldn't have to return to DC???!!

They are beneath contempt to put a colleague through such an ordeal.

I am going to send Brown a letter of condolences and gratitude. He is a GREAT AMERICAN.

[HughBeaumont]

14. That's my Senaturd.

:eyes:

Thankfully we'll no longer have to suffer with that Bewsh toad relic Voinovich much longer. He's a POX on Ohio. The sooner we get this guy outta here, the sooner we can put the Voinovich/DeWine years behind us for good.

[Deep13]

22. It's not like they would have had to vote for the bill either.

This was solely to allow it to come to a vote. Voinovich, for example, could have voted against the filibuster and then still opposed passage. It's like Jimmy Carter said on Olberman last night. The Rs are a bunch of robots who do what they are told.

[HughBeaumont]

13. Hopefully a future vice-president.

Senator Brown is one of the most progressive leaders in our Senate and has tirelessly worked for the rights of workers and the middle/working/poor classes. He has also spoken out in the fight for fair trade and against the "Winner-take-everything" set-up of the current free-trade agreements our nation is economically diseased by.

[Ocracoker16]

15. I am very thankful for what he did

He definitely cares about his country. I really appreciate it and I know many people do.

I will keep in my thoughts as he grieves the loss of mother.

[we can do it]

17. Call Him and Let Him Know

When I called to thank him for being our only senator that listens to the people of Ohio, I also asked the staffer to pass on my condolences, he seemed so pleased and thankful to do so...

[KitSileya]

18. Now, that's definitely an oxymoron

"If I were a republican Senator and a human being" is simply a contradiction in terms these days. If you're the former, you aren't the latter, and vice versa.

However, I join in your thanks to Senator Brown, and he has my condolances for the loss of his mother.

[Deep13]

24. I knew someone would say that when I wrote it.

I was thinking, "If they were human beings, they would not be Republican senators."

[lunatica]

20. He sure could use a boost by getting our thank you via email...

http://brown.senate.gov/contact/

[spooky3]

23. We need a Republican Robot smilie (thanks, Pres. Carter). And yes, special thanks to Sen. Brown

and condolences to his family.

[TahitiNut]

25. The 60-vote supermajority was required due to deficit spending, not cloture.

The rules adopted by the Senate under the banner of "fiscal responsibility" require that such spending be approved by the 60-vote supermajority, which is merely coincidentally the same as that required to invoke cloture.

That said, Senator Brown is to be applauded for being conscientious in his time of grief.

[Deep13]

27. I see.

So there really is no Constitutional basis for insisting on 60 votes. Article I requires only a majority.

[TahitiNut]

28. Well, the "Constitutional basis" is that each house of Congress makes its own rules.

Article I - Section 5 - Membership, Rules, Journals, Adjournment

Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.

Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of two-thirds, expel a Member.

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

[Deep13]

29. If the VP casts a vote if the senate is "evenly divided" ...

...does that sound like the writers assumed that equally divided + 1 = passage?

[TahitiNut]

30. That's an interesting conundrum.

Clearly, "usage" (i.e. tradition, convention, and precedent) would imply that much or most would be decided on the basis of a simple majority. And a 50-50 tie on a vote would be interpreted not as a failure to obtain a majority but as neither 'side' prevailing. I find it interesting that the wording of the rules often allows for no "tie" -- establishing instead a threshold which, if not met, is a failure of passage and not a "tie." If the 60-40 split were instead treated as a "tie" like a 50-50 split, then one could interpret that passage as permitting the VP to break the "tie" and make it either 61-40 or 60-41.

See what I mean? Only in the 50-50 split is there a "tie." Where 1/5th or 2/3rds or 60% are required, there's no "tie" recognized if the split is barely met and not exceeded.

The language, as I recall, is "fifty percent plus one" in many cases. I have to wonder how some votes are deemed a "tie" and some are not, independent of the proportions required to prevail.

I wonder if the Senate Rules could be designed in such a way as to eliminate the sense of a "tie" and then eliminate the opportunity for the VP to "break the tie." I'm nowhere nearly enough of a "Constitutional scholar" to know the answer to that.

[femrap]

26. I sent Sherrod a

sympathy card this morning. If others would like to do the same, his home office address is: 205 W. 20th St. Suite M280 Lorain, OH 44052

If sent to DC, it will take longer due to the anthrax scare that Shooter probably masterminded.

Republicans are heartless and cruel.

[bobbolink]

31. Thanks for sharing that... I didn't know that. This deserves a thank you call on Monday!

Will all join me in calling on Monday --opps, that's a holiday.. make it Tuesday...?

Here are the handy-dandy toll-free numbers:

TOLL FREE:
these are TOLL FREE numbers to the capitol hill switchboard
1 [phone]
1 ( 800) 459-1887
1 [phone]
1 [phone]
1 [phone]
1 [phone]
1-[phone]

[mmonk]

32. Aye

[DemReadingDU]

33. You'd think Voinovich could have voted yea for Sherrod

Voinovich (or another Republican) could have told Sherrod that due to family crisis, mother's death, that he'd vote a yea so that Sherrod could be with his family in time of grief.