Plenty of Kossacks want a filibuster of the Alito nomination arguing (rightly) that he's not someone they want on the Supreme Court. Let's assume we get enough Democratic votes to mount a filibuster. Where do we go from here?
Show me we have people with more long-term foresight than the Bush administration in Iraq. What do we gain besides a feel-good victory? Will the filibuster peter out? Will we get a compromise replacement candidate? Will we end up with Bush sending in the names of a string of nuttier and nuttier conservative judges? Is the long-term goal for a filibuster that lasts until the 2009 inauguration when a Democrat is hopefully restored to the White House? I admit to some fear that a prolonged filibuster will blow up in our faces like the 1995 government shut down did to the Republicans and the burden will be on Democratic spinmeisters to show that it is not just partisan politics as usual.
So, tell me, where do you think we should go after initiating a filibuster? And any rosy scenario where a filibuster suddenly opens the eyes of America will be laughed at. Democratic success lies in planning and forethought, not in pinning hopes to finding the smoking gun (although we may find it, we can't rely solely on it). I'll be more impressed if you outline a possible future that includes things that might, but won't necessarily will, go wrong.