It didn't happen on one of those Constitution-shattering bills. It happened on a rather innocuous emergency funding amendment for drought suffering farmers. It wasn't Edward Kennedy or Barbara Boxer threatening to pull the trigger. It was Kent Conrad.

What happened in the well of the Senate this afternoon should leave no doubt about the extent to which these newly revived Democrats will fight for everybody in this country, even before they have the power to do so. The fact is that Democrats have always had the power, but the prospects of being a "permanent minority" undoubtedly stayed their hands. No longer. Not this afternoon.

Daniel Akaka and Kent Conrad spoke eloquently about the need to assist farmers who have suffered untold losses from drought. The amendment was to be attached to the currently being debated reauthorization of oversight for Iraqi reconstruction. The Republican response was inevitable. Judd Gregg (R-NH) stood in opposition along with Kay Bailey Hutchison. Gregg threatened to invoke Rule 16, governing appropriations bills, to crush the amendment. That's when Kent Conrad had had enough.

Conrad let the Republicans have it. He explained in all too unambiguous terms just how far the Democrats were willing to go to preserve their right to vote on the amendment. He responded to the Rule 16 threat with one of his own. If Gregg crushed the amendment, Democrats would go all the way. The proceedings of the Senate would grind to a halt as Democrats would deny support for unanimous assent motions. This is the same threat Democrats talked about using in response to the Republican's own nuclear option so many months ago. Then, it was the killing of the judicial nominee filibuster which threatened the Democrats. This time it was a funding bill for farmers. How times have changed. It's amazing what an election can accomplish.

The Republicans were notably stunned. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who controlled time on the other side, went white in the face. Nearly speechless, her sole action was to delay further proceedings by setting aside further debate on the amendment and calling for a quorum. The last one saw of her occurred seconds later as C-SPAN turned off microphones and cued the ominous sounding Prokofiev Symphony #5. At the side of the TV frame one saw Kent Conrad poking his finger in Kay Bailey's face, explaining to her the meaning of high dudgeon.

It was a pleasant sight. God, I'm proud of these people.

I posted a post earlier today about this. I thought a more full report would be appropriate for evening DUers.