The term filibuster has burst back into the public consciousness due to several high profile political happenings. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has threatened a “nuclear option” in the United States Senate to prohibit filibusters of certain presidential nominees. And recently in Texas, state Senator Wendy Davis used a 13 hour filibuster to defeat an abortion bill by speaking until the legislative clock ran out. Many news reports on these two events have mentioned the filibuster in the context of parliamentary procedure and the parliamentary manual, Robert’s Rules of Order. Twitter even reported that during Senator Davis’ filibuster the phrase … Continue reading →