The Homey Sage

Filibuster was borrowed into the English language from the Spanish "filibustero" which means "pirate" or "lawless plunderer"--someone who takes things illegally by force.

The filibuster is not in the constitution (making it unconstitutional?) as the founding fathers had no idea how large the legislative body would become and probably envisioned a process where majority vote decided the day.

The filibuster entered into Senate procedures quite accidentally in 1860 when someone, for convenience's sake, convinced the Senate to change a rule. It has become a tactic for the party that is not in power to prolong debate to obstruct legislative action, shifting the meaning to "talking a bill to death." Today, all it takes is a threat of a filibuster to do the same thing.

It is a pirate's tactic to get their way, or "they'll take their ball and go home." As one Democratic senator said recently, on camera, putting the people of America in distress--no SNAP benefits and shutting down airports, for example--"...is the only leverage we have."