Yesterday, I could not find a single news source that would accurately report that a minority of US Senators blocked the Buffet Rule from consideration over the will of the majority. NPR? No. Washington Post? No. Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC? No.
Not a single one of those sources (and from my observation so far today, no other) reported the fact that a minority of 45% senators blocked the 51% majority from moving the Buffet rule forward using a filibuster. Instead, they all said things like... Senate rejects... Senate blocked... Couldn't get 60 votes.
Even Rachel Maddow (with Chris Hayes sitting in), which focused a whole news segment on the fact that public policy measures that have overwhelming majority of popular support of voters (Buffet, Public Option, defense spending among others) are continually thwarted in Congress, never mentioned the fact that Buffet was blocked by 45% minority. They did not once mention the impact the filibuster has had on these measures, or the fact that it's a minority of Senators who helped block such efforts that did have a majority of Senators supporting them.
It's like the filibuster has become so routine they don't even bother reporting on it anymore. Minority obstruction is the accepted fact, so no one bothers to explain it anymore.
There is no outrage that the minority is blocking progress. There is no one being held accountable by the media or the majority party. So how are voters going to hold the obstructionist minority accountable if they don't even understand the tyranny they are exacting on majority rule in this nation?
So, here's my new headline. "Senate Minority Blocks Buffet Rule Tax Fairness Using Procedural Tricks".
2:17 PM PT: Looks like Jonathan Bernstein of Plum Line over at the Post upstaged me by a mere 4 minutes with a similar dissection of the media coverage. I think he did a better job of it than i, so check it out over there.