Yeah, it will fail, so what? Who cares?

So all our current and future Democratic leaders in the Senate distanced themselves as far as possible from a filibuster aimed at Judge Alito. In effect, they all said, I oppose him, but he is going to be confirmed, so I’m not going to try very hard. Biden, Obama, Reid, Feinstein – one way or the other, they all said that. The question is, why? Who was their intended audience? What did they think a prediction of failure would accomplish? Tell us, please, please!

Mr. or Ms. Senator, even if you do not think the filibuster is a great idea, or is 99% unlikely to succeed, instead of implicitly undermining the intelligence and good sense of your Democratic colleagues who feel more strongly about it, why not use it to inform the American people of the truth? Question from Russert et al: “Isn’t the Alito nomination a done deal, and won’t a filibuster fail?” Instead of saying, yes, it will fail (but I need to toss a bone to our leftwing nutcases), a better (and just as accurate) answer would be:

“It is going to be tough, no doubt, but we have to take a stand. This is a highly partisan appointment by the President, and the Republicans, even those who have grave doubts about his right-wing judicial philosophies, are basically falling in line out of fear. That’s how this Republican Administration operates: no differences of opinion allowed, even in a separate branch of the government, or you will pay for it. Unfortunately, too few Republicans, even the most respected Senators, are willing to stand up against that.”

Why can’t these situations be used to educate -- to lay down legitimate issues that Republicans will have to answer to? Why hang your more idealistic fellow Democrats out to dry, when you could be presenting challenges to the other side? Are you just oblivious, or does your world-weary cynicism show more concern for not being the butt of jokes by the Beltway journalists at the next big Georgetown party?