Filibuster rule; women serving in Iraq war

The filibuster compromise reached Monday night is being hailed as one that preserves Senate rules and the government's checks and balances. But for now, a more practical view seems more plausible. That is, both parties can read public opinion polls, and both knew that the average American was either not interested in the filibuster issue, or ready to place blame in the event of a showdown - on Democrats if they made good on their early threat to shut down the Senate, or on Republicans, if they followed through with their threat to change the filibuster rules.

Nothing is more offensive than to witness elected officials placing partisan advantage over their responsibility to do the public's business. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., summed it up perfectly: "The first question that most of the media are going to ask us: Who won and who lost? The Senate won, and the country won."

The Times Union, Albany