A friend called. His mother, who is 90, had talked with him about the filibuster. She wanted to think together about where it comes from, how it works, how it messes things up. Eventually she said roughly that an issue like the filibuster seems to have nothing to do with her, or actually the inverse: she has nothing she can do about it. Her exact words: "I don't feel as though I have a place in it." As though American politics is the game certain others can play, but not you or me. An insider game, played that way on purpose, a game that people can break into from time to time, but usually not.#