Bureaucracy

This and this seem inconsistent with this and this.

Right-wing conspiracy

Damn Koch brothers and their conspiracy to overthrow the PATRIOT Act! Also their nefarious support of Lincoln Center, the American Ballet Theater, MIT, the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the Cornell Medical Center, PBS, the Smithsonian, the American Museum of Natural History, and the National Museum of Natural History. What’s next?!

When is it ok to walk out?

A thought experiment.

Part of the rancor in Wisconsin revolves around whether it is acceptable for the Democrats to obstruct passage of the bargaining changes by leaving the state. Kosher? Are the Democrats shirking their responsibilities as paid legislators and doing violence to the rule of law? It seems to me that it boils down to which part of the political process you hold in greater esteem — majority rule or the quorum requirement. Is it acceptable to use the latter to serve a political end for which it was not designed? Come to a solid answer to that question before reading the next paragraph.

Now consider the filibuster in the U.S. Senate, which Democrats accused Republicans of using improperly throughout much of the last term (and, previously, vice-versa). Was this an acceptable exercise in obstructionism? Is this not a fairly parallel scenario? Were your answers to the two questions consistent? (Or is there an important difference between the quorum and the filibuster that I’m missing?)