Filibusters Aren't Just For The Senate Anymore

Students at Princeton University are staging their own filibuster to protest proposed changes in the Senate's rules regarding the use of this archaic parliamentary maneuver:

For the last two weeks, students, faculty and congressmen have kept the filibuster going around the clock, reading everything from Einstein's classic papers to the "Q" section of Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.

They're showing support for the practice of speaking for long periods to block pending legislation. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a 1974 Princeton graduate, has threatened to use the "nuclear option," reducing the number of votes needed to stop a filibuster if Democrats use the tactic to try to block some of President Bush's judicial nominees.

The mock filibuster has been going on in front of the Frist Campus Center, which was built with a $25 million donation from the senator's family.

Frist's son Harrison is a junior at Princeton.

One of the things that we like about this particular protest is that the students are engaging in a real filibuster, and not a recreation of the "fake" filibusters that have plagued the Senate in recent years.

We are more than a little curious to know if the students know the difference. ---------------------------For the latest edition of The Carnival of Education, along with entry instructions for next week's Carnival, please click here.

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