September 17, 2005
Misleading readers by vague language
Liberals fought the filibuster when it was used by the Senate's Southern segregationist minority to stall civil rights bills. It is funny how E.J. Dionne, who uses the terms Democrat and Republican throughout this essay, cannot own up to the fact that it was Democrats (like Byrd) who filibustered against civil rights legislation. He instead uses the phrase "Southern segregationist minority." It looks to me as though he wants readers unaware of the genuine history to assume that they were Republicans.
Ed Lasky 3 22 05