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Wendy Davis' filibuster shoes praised in Amazon reviews

While junior Texas state senator Wendy Davis got thrust into the national spotlight this week for her starring role in an anti-abortion-bill filibuster, her tennis shoes are enjoying their own run with fame on Amazon reviews.

"Best damn shoe for being on your feet for 13 hours. Also the best shoe to kick Governor Rick Perry's ass!" reads one of a growing number of Amazon reviews of the Mizuno's Wave Rider 16 running shoes the Democratic lawmaker made famous overnight.

Reads another: "I am so glad that I have a choice about what shoes to buy! Imagine if some legislator tried to tell me what type of shoes worked best for me or what type of shoes were available to me... that is so un-American!" … Read more

Texas senator's filibuster heats up the Internet

YouTube and Twitter provided blow-by-blow coverage of a long, heated filibuster Tuesday in Texas that the major cable networks failed to carry.

State Sen. Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth) held the Texas Senate floor Tuesday in a filibuster and session that lasted almost 13 hours, the Texas Tribune reported Wednesday.

Davis was trying to prevent passage of Senate Bill 5, a controversial bill that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. It would also have required doctors to have hospital admitting privileges within 30 miles of an abortion facility, perform abortions in ambulatory surgical centers, and administer drugs that … Read more

Watching Kagan: Reality Check

The questions have begun for Elena Kagan, on what will be a long day of sparring with Republicans, trying to paint her as a liberal activist who lacks experience. But Democrats will be ready.

They will defend her as an intellectual heavyweight who can build consensus. And the plan to make this hearing as much about the conservative Roberts Court, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, as Elena Kagan herself.

I'll be filing regular posts the next two days on the questions--and also on the Senators themselves. With the help of my researcher, Georgetown Law grad Tim Middleton, we're going to show you what some senators have said in past nominations, and how they're taking directly opposite positions now on issues like timing, document production, filibusters, etc.

We'll call this Reality Check.

Elena Kagan called the confirmation hearings a "charade" and a "farce" back in a 1995 law review article. But are the Senators helping fuel that narrative by making these hearings overtly political?

You may have seen a little bit of that on Sunday's Face the Nation, when Bob Schieffer and I pressed Sens. Patrick Leahy, the Committee's Chairman, and Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican, for flipping their positions on the idea of a filibuster. Remember the Democrats efforts to filibuster Justice Samuel Alito after President Bush nominated him in 2005? And the Republican outcry?… Read more