Fili-bluster: Holding up nomination, while admirable, not productive

It was something to see -- more than 12 hours of filibustering to prevent a vote on CIA director nominee John Brennan.

The goal: To get a promise from the Obama administration that drone attacks would not be used on American citizens on American soil.

OK. Well, that should be a "duh."

How scary that it wasn't.

The sad thing is that everyone knew that no matter how long anybody held it up, eventually, sooner rather than later, there would be a confirmation vote and that it was likely to be positive.

Filibusters are tools -- to get attention and media coverage, not just to hold up votes. But they really are a waste of time when the outcome is just about determined.

But this latest attempt points to a need that perhaps is becoming even more pressing in Washington -- a real chance at real debate on a whole lot of real issues and their consequences.

It is time we paid a little more attention to these side questions.

Maybe that is what we need in Washington -- more chances to talk things out and more people who are willing to have those discussions in plain view of the people they serve.

The results might be very revealing -- and the transparency might be just what we need to move forward. That is, if we can get people to pay attention to the debate and to turn off the Kardashians.

Published in Editorials on March 7, 2013 10:37 AM