Republicans 'bringing knives to a gunfight'

So says Deuce Geary, talking about a GOP filibuster threat against Obama appointees:

Ed Morrissey tries to take the high road at HotAir over threatened Republican filibusters of Obama judicial (and administration) appointees. Normally, I’m all for the high road, but in this case, I’m not sure. I’m not even sure that what he is advocating is taking the high road so much as it is driving right off of it and over the cliff.

Deuce is right, I believe. Republicans simply don't have enough votes to carry a filibuster. Arlen Specter and Olympia Snowe are not going to vote against cloture on an Obama appointment. There may be "holds" that delay confirmation, but it's silly even to talk filibuster at this point.

When Jon Henke is asked, "What do Republicans do now?" his answer is: "You lose." Which is to say that, unless and until the GOP can recapture control of at least one chamber of Congress (or the White House), what will happen in Washington is this: Democrats will ram their agenda through, and Republicans will be powerless to thwart them.

The only effective thing that Republicans in Washington can do at this point is to (a) vote "no" on everything, and (b) stand up and loudly proclaim, "IT WON'T WORK."

Unfortunately, too many Republicans in Congress (especially in the Senate) want to feel like they're "relevant" and "part of the process," and so they'll sign onto various elements of the Obama/Pelosi/Reid agenda, thereby giving the Democrats a fig leaf of bipartisanship.