Abbreviated pundit roundup: This is why we need real filibuster reform

Did anyone really expect anything different from obstruction-obsessed Republicans? The party of no showed its true colors again by blocking (for now) President Obama's cabinet nominee. Zachary Roth at MSNBC:

Chuck Hagel, President Obama's choice for Defense Secretary, is at risk of not being confirmed, thanks to a potential Republican filibuster'just weeks after Senate Democrats backed down in their bid to make such filibusters far harder. That's got progressive activists who pushed for reform telling Harry Reid and co.: 'We told you so.'

John Avlon at The Daily Beast:

Since the election, Republican talking points have reflected the fact that they need to reach out beyond their base: to be positive rather than negative; appear more reasonable, less obstructionist.

But how you act speaks more loudly than what you say, and Senate Republicans have doubled down on obstructionism with their shameful filibuster of secretary of defense nominee Chuck Hagel. Add to this fresh insult the hold Sen. Rand Paul put on Obama's nominee to be CIA director, John Brennan, and it looks like Republicans are backing a cynical political strategy that could compromise national security while proliferating hyper-partisanship even further in the future.

Let's put this in perspective'Republicans decided to filibuster a Republican secretary of defense nominee, someone Mitch McConnell once called one of the most respected foreign-policy voices in the senate, someone John McCain said would make an excellent secretary of state. The Senate, of course, is entrusted with the ability to advise and consent'but filibustering a cabinet nominee is virtually unprecedented, because it violates the time-honored principle that presidents should be able to pick their cabinet. In the process, Republicans are creating a dangerous precedent that could impact presidents of both parties for decades to come. If this is the new normal for national security appointees, I'm sure the next Supreme Court nomination will be a model of reason and civility.

Let's jump below the fold for more analysis from pundits on the news of the day.