Mitch McConnell filibusters himself into making the case for filibuster reform

So this happened in the Senate Thursday.

As Sen. Dick Durbin explains, that's Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell filibustering himself. McConnell thought he could score some political points and embarrass the president by trying to force Democrats to vote on a bill that he himself proposed last year, assuming that the Democrats would break rank with President Obama over it. It's an idea that President Obama happens to support, which would give the president unilateral authority to raise the debt ceiling.

McConnell tried to attach it as an amendment to unrelated bill the Senate was currently working on, and Reid said no. But Reid did a quick head count and found he had 51 Senators who would support the bill as a stand alone. So he offered it. Seeing his little attempt at political theater disintegrate before him, all McConnell had left to do was filibuster, and object to his own bill getting an up or down vote.

That's McConnell making history again with the filibuster. Not only has he led more filibusters during his minority leadership than any other senator in history, he's now on record as one of very few senators ever to filibuster himself.

What could possibly make for a stronger case for reforming the filibuster?

Help make the filibuster a real, talking filibuster. Sign our petition.